This past Saturday’s produce box included a nice quantity of the beautiful purple tomatillos pictured above. With sweet corn and tomatoes included in Saturday’s delivery, it was hard not to make some Mexican cuisine over the weekend. Along with the tomatillo salsa recipe I’ll share today, I made sweet corn pudding and chicken taco filling (to utilize some of the tomatoes). I’m working on fine tuning the sweet corn pudding recipe and promise to share it when I’ve got it just right.

Tomatillos are fantastic when you can get them fresh. In the past when trying to find enough at the grocery store to complete a recipe, it has been difficult as they are often past their peak. Store tomatillos in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them. Freshly picked tomatillos will keep for up to two weeks, though I always recommend using produce as quickly as possible because the longer it sits the less nutritional value it will have. Tomatillos are very low in calories and provide a decent amount of potassium.

My method for this salsa requires the ingredients to be broiled to mellow the flavors just a bit, but you can opt to make this completely raw which will shave about 12 minutes off the preparation time making this a super quick salsa. I really like to eat it on chicken enchiladas or chicken tacos.

Tomatillo Salsa

• 2 pounds tomatillos
• 1 -2 serrano peppers (or more according to taste)
• 2 small onions
• 8 large cloves garlic
• 1 t. coarse salt
• 1/4 c. fresh cilantro

Preheat broiler. Have a large sheet pan at hand.

Remove husks from tomatillos and wash off sticky residue - fruit and vegetable wash makes quick and easy work of washing away the stickiness! Cut tomatillos in half and place on sheet pan.

Remove stems from peppers and cut in half. Add to pan with tomatillos.

Peel and slice onion and lightly smash garlic cloves without removing the skin. Add onions and garlic to pan. Place 4″ - 6″ under broiler and cook until everything begins to brown.

Remove skins from garlic cloves and place all broiled ingredients in food processor along with the salt and cilantro. Process until as smooth as you like. Adjust seasoning to taste and enjoy!

Click here for a printer friendly version of this recipe.