Kiwano Salsa Verde

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This salsa verde is different from any that you have tasted before. It’s comprised of a variety of roasted vegetables, and one surprise ingredient: the Kiwano horned melon. If you’re unfamiliar with this fruit, you’re not alone. Once it was only grown in New Zealand, but now it is also grown in California, and made available by Melissa’s Produce.

They are seedy and mild in flavor with a taste of cucumber, melon, and lime. It will add a brightness to your salsa verde that will have your guests wondering why yours tastes so much better than theirs. You can introduce them to this colorful and spiky melon by using the scooped out halves as serving dishes. Turn something ordinary into extraordinary.

Kiwano Salsa Verde

2 lbs. Melissa’s tomatillos, husked
2 Melissa’s shallots, peeled
1 large Melissa’s jalapeño
3 cloves garlic
1 small bunch cilantro
Pulp from 1 Melissa’s Kiwano Melon
½ - 1 t. cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

Turn the broiler on in your oven and move the rack as high as it will go while you prepare your ingredients. Line a jelly roll pan with aluminum foil. Place husked tomatillos, shallots, jalapeño, and garlic onto the pan, and roast until charred, turning vegetables to be sure they are charred evenly.

Place roasted vegetables, all remaining ingredients, and pan juices into the work bowl of a food processor, and pulse until saucy. Taste for seasoning adding more salt, pepper, and cumin, if desired.

 

Salsa Verde

Is it too early to start thinking about Cinco de Mayo?  I think not! Particularly when you are hard at work perfecting your salsas. I think I've done it with my latest, and greatest, version of salsa verde. At least it would seem so since I am eating it on absolutely everything (even at breakfast where it has twice graced the top of a poached egg), and have to stop myself from just eating it, spoonful by spoonful, right out of the bowl. In fact, I was so excited about just how good this is that I decided I must make room in my deck container garden for a pot of tomatillos, perhaps near the potted jalapenos; I can see now that I'm going to be using a lot of these! You may have your favorite jarred salsa verde, but nothing, and I mean nothing, can beat the taste of homemade, particularly when the tomatillos are roasted.

This was a tricky recipe to compose. Essentially, it is just grab and dump when it comes to ingredients, adding more as you taste until it reaches flavor perfection. As taste is subjective, what appeals to me, may not particularly appeal to you. If you don't care for cilantro, eliminate it. Try some parsley in its place. If you like less heat, seed the jalapeno.  If you like more heat, use two. The recipe below reflects what I did. Feel free to experiment.

Salsa Verde

2 pounds fresh Melissa's tomatillos, husks removed
3 small cloves garlic, peeled
1 large jalapeno
1 small bunch cilantro
1/3 cup chopped scallions
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Juice of half of a lime
1/4 cup chicken stock
Salt, to taste

To roast tomatillos, preheat your broiler, line a rimmed cookie sheet with foil and place the tomatillos on top. Place as near to the broiler as your oven shelves will allow and roast until charred. Flip over to the other side and char. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. You can roast the jalapeno along with the tomatillos, but watch it as it may roast more quickly. Do not remove the charred bits, they add flavor to the salsa.

Place tomatillos, jalapeno, garlic, cilantro, scallions, cumin, and lime juice in the work bowl of a food processor or blender. Pulse until saucy. Remove to a bowl and stir in stock until it reaches desired consistency. Salt to taste.

This post is linked to:

Metamorphosis Monday 
Melt In Your Mouth 
Recipe Sharing Monday
Amaze Me Monday

Inspire Me Tuesday

Foodie Friday

Five Star Frugal

Seasons on Saturday

Chilled Cucumber-Avocado Soup

I made this soup for the first time last summer.  When my husband asked me how it was I said, quite truthfully, "It's so good I could swim in it."  True.  This is the chilled soups to end all chilled soups.  Decadent, one might say; with fresh cucumbers it is ambrosial! Cooling, delicious, what an excellent way to get your daily vegetables.  Try it!

Chilled Cucumber-Avocado Soup

1 large, ripe Haas avocado, peeled and pitted

1 large cucumber, unpeeled, and cut into large chunks

1-1/2 cups homemade chicken stock (canned, if you must)

4 scallions, diced

2-1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

1/2 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt)

3 tablespoons salsa (homemade, if possible, jarred, if not)

1-1/4 teaspoons cumin (more or less to taste)

Pinch Kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Place avocado and cucumber into a large capacity food processor fitted with a metal blade and process until smooth.  With machine running, gradually pour chicken stock through feeder tube.  Process until smooth.  Add scallions, citrus juices, sour cream or yogurt, salsa, and cumin; process until combined.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Chill for at least 2 hours (the longer the better).  To serve, ladle into small cups or stemmed glasses and top with your choice of salsa, salsa verde, or sour cream.

This post is linked to:

Foodie Friday
Foodie Friday @ Little Brick Ranch
Food on Friday
Friday Favorites
Friday Fat Camp
I'm Lovin' It Friday

Home Grown Home Made Salsa Verde

I took a major step today: I planted something.  To be precise, I planted red peppers, green peppers, poblano peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos, cucumbers, bottle gourds, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, basil, parsley, and potatoes.  Clean up of the tornado damage begins this week and I'm encouraged by the very thought of this.  It will take months, I'm not going to try to convince myself otherwise, but it's a beginning.  Thanks to my son who has diligently helped us during this past month of chaos and disruption, the potager has been cleared, the soil turned, and the beds prepared, so I can begin to get back to what I consider a "bit of normal."


For those of you who enjoy a vegetable garden and also like a great salsa, let me encourage you to grow tomatillos this summer.  I don't think there is a plant any easier to cultivate.  In past years I've grown it in containers, damp areas, dry areas, partially shady areas, and have always gotten a bumper crop.  This means lots of salsa verde, and nothing is better tasting than fresh homemade salsa verde derived from your own home grown tomatillos.  How can one fail to feel such a soul filling satisfaction from that?

Here is the recipe that I use, but it can be tweaked to suit your own tastes.  If you like it hotter, leave the seeds in the jalapenos.  Add more onion or garlic if you like; add or reduce the amount of cilantro.

This is one of those condiments that you're going to find a lot of uses for other than just as a dip for tortilla chips.  I like it on top of a poached egg, as a potato topping, on tacos, on top of a grilled steak, stirred into a cream sauce and poured over fish or chicken.

Salsa Verde

2 large fresh poblano peppers

1/2 pound tomatillos, husked, rinsed, diced

1 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth

3 scallions, chopped (include both white and green parts)

1 large jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded

1 large garlic clove

1/4 cup (packed) fresh cilantro leaves (or to taste, I used a bit more)

1 tablespoon whipping cream

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Char poblanos directly over gas flame or in broiler until blackened on all sides. Place in bowl. Cover top of bowl with plastic wrap and let stand 10 minutes. Peel, seed, and chop chilies.

Combine tomatillos, broth, scallions, jalapeno, and garlic in medium saucepan; bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until mixture is reduced to 1 2/3 cups, stirring occasionally, about 18 minutes. Transfer mixture to blender, food processor, or use immersion blender to blend ingredients thoroughly.  Add poblanos, cilantro, and cream. Puree a second time, until smooth. Season salsa with Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Add lime juice, if desired. Can be made a day ahead.  Serve warm or cold. 

This is linked to: 

My Meatless Mondays

Metamorphosis Monday

and Mosaic Monday at Little Red House