Salsa Verde with Avocado

I have a love/hate relationship with our back patio. On one hand, we have food growing – mostly hot peppers like this one big, menacing ghost pepper that sits in the corner and surveys the scene – and that’s always exciting. On the other, there are frogs back there because we also have tilapia and a filtration system that the frogs love hiding around because it’s humid. And frogs like to jump and one time I was doing the laundry and a frog jumped right over me so I dropped all the laundry and refused to go back out on the patio ever again.

My husband now does all the laundry, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, right ladies?? So I guess I have a love/hate relationship with frogs too.

One of the most used ingredients in my house is red pepper flakes because my husband and I love spice in our food. We have about 50 thai chili peppers ready to be used on our back patio (sans frogs because they are all too busy keeping tabs on the tilapia).

So basically we have all these peppers and we have to think about when to use them in our dishes. What to make, what to make? ‘Cause I’ll be damned if those peppers just shrivel up! If you have any pointers, leave a comment below.

Which all leads me to a recipe that has no thai chili peppers at all. So what was the point of all that? I just don’t know. We like spice and so I have a spicy recipe for you.

GREEN SALSA! SALSA VERDE! I’M SO EXCITED CAN’T YOU TELL!

I love salsa. Chips and salsa is basically a food group for me, like I have an extra pocket in my stomach for chips and salsa at any time of day or night. Naturally, salsa verde, being spicier than the traditional red salsa, is key. So I set out to make salsa verde because a) I’ve never done it and b) I was making enchiladas and those little Mexican burritos needed some spicy sauce, basically to lay in and be drizzled over. So much green salsa, you guys.

I know there are a lot of salsa verde recipes out there that tell you to deseed the jalapeño peppers, but that’s not the game I play. Pepper rib and seeds all go into the mixture. And these jalapeños? Very ripe. At their spiciest, I’m pretty sure. No worries, an avocado mixed in there will do the trick to cut down on that spice and provide this velvety feeling to the salsa even though it’s pretty thin in texture. It’s a different sort of combination that I think even non-spice lovers will enjoy. And if you are “one of those”, feel free to get rid of the rib and seeds of the pepper and/or use less peppers, or more avocado or tomatillo or cilantro.

One of the best things about making salsa is it’s really hard to mess it up. You can start small and add more flavors as you go. I tasted mine at least 3 times throughout to make sure I had all the flavor I wanted. And then, somehow, tortilla chips just fell out of the cabinet into my hand and my hand moved over and over and over again between my mouth and the salsa verde. I DON’T KNOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING, BUT IT WAS CLEARLY BEYOND MY CONTROL!!!

Okay, so sue me, I can’t stop eating chips and salsa. For reals.

Print Recipe

Salsa Verde with Avocado

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

This salsa verde is a spicy variety you'll love. The avocado cuts through the heat to not only subdue it a little bit, but make the texture a little more velvety. It's a great dip for any par-tay!!!

Ingredients:

• 10 tomatillos, husks removed, cut into quarters
• 2 jalapeno peppers
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/4 yellow onion, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1 avocado, pitted and peeled, cut into quarters
• Salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Place tomatillos, peppers, garlic, onion, and cumin in a blender and pulse until all ingredients are mixed.
2. Add cilantro, avocado and salt (just a pinch to start), and pulse more until the texture is just slightly chunky. Taste and adjust for salt, or any other ingredient as you see fit.
3. Find some chips and go to town!

• When picking tomatillos, picks ones that have a husk, or covering, that's tight-fitting and blemish-free. The more loose the husk is, the most past peak the tomatillo is.
• To make the salsa a little less spicy, you can remove the rib and seeds from the peppers.