Recipe: Avocado Salsa Verde

It's springtime in California, and this warm, sunny Sunday calls for avocado salsa and cold Pacifico cerveza. I've adapted this recipe from a old issue of Food and Wine Magazine; they found the original recipe in a cookbook from a hotel in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Coincidentally, my friends Catie and Connor were married in San Miguel de Allende last summer. Throughout our stay, we enjoyed bowl after bowl of guacamole and salsa verde much like this recipe I'm sharing now.

Here I am in the San Miguel outdoor fruit market.


You don't have go to a fresh market like this one, however, to obtain the ingredients for this recipe. Staple ingredients combined in flavorful ways make this recipe one of my favorites. Simple to prepare, this salsa verde makes guests feel special because of the grilled jalapeños and the fresh tomatillos.

Serve with blue corn tortilla chips, tacos and lots of cold beer. Feliz Primavera, amigos!


Chunky Avocado Salsa Verde

2 jalapeños
2 TBSP olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 pound tomatillos, husked and chopped (Tomatillos look like green tomatoes with a papery husk on the outside. Don't worry, even SaveMart has them.)
1 avocado, diced (Cut the avocado in half. Pull the pit. Scoop the flesh out with a spoon and cut into squares as if it were a graph paper grid.)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (You can omit the cilantro if you dislike its flavor, but I highly suggest including it. The avocado can taste a little too creamy without it.)
1 TBSP fresh lime juice

1. Heat a grill pan. Grill the whole jalapeños until charred. Their outer skin will turn black; that's OK. Stem and seed the jalapeños. (Scoop all or some the white seeds out if you don't want too much spice. Leave the white seeds in if you're name is Trisha Patel and you were raised on chilis for breakfast.) Finely dice the jalapeños.

2. In sauce pan, heat olive oil. Add diced jalapeños, onions and garlic, and cook over moderate heat until golden, about 10 minutes. (At this point, your entire kitchen will smell crazy delicious.) Add tomatillos and cook until softened. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.

3. Stir in cubes of avocado, cilantro and lime juice, season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Party.