The Food Matters Project: Quick Salsa (and other stuff)

Hello everyone! I just got home from the most wonderful birthday weekend. We started out our weekend early with a very small get-together Thursday night. We barbequed all sorts of burgers (beef/turkey/veggie), roasted some sweet potato fries and ate the most delicious cake I've ever tasted. I am lucky enough to call Jacqui, of Good Things Grow, my friend. The darling birthday cake she made for me is literally the prettiest cake I've ever received.

Strawberry-Pistachio with Cream Cheese Frosted Deliciousness.

photo by scott haydon

We followed up our lovely Thursday evening with a three day trip to Pacific City, Oregon and the always amazing experience of Cirque du Soleil when passing through Portland on the way home. I had such a good time. The weather was great and we could see the ocean from our balcony. I can't think of a better way to spend my 32nd birthday.

Oh, and I forgot to mention it - but I am quite possibly the luckiest girl alive. My boyfriend's birthday gift to me was the creation of "our song". He collaborated with Elk & Boar and came up with a song that pretty much sums "us" up. I'm not one hundred percent sure how to share it with all of you but here's a sound cloud link if you're familiar with that application: http://soundcloud.com/scott-haydon/dark-eyes . Thursday night, in front of a small group of our friends, Scott played this song for me for the very first time. He wrote all of the lyrics down on a large sketchbook and flipped through the lyrics while the song played. It is the single most romantic experience of my life. Sharing that moment with people we love, although a little embarrassing for someone as shy as I am, is one of the best things that's ever happened to me. I love you, Scott Patrick Haydon, and you are my dream.



I actually DO have a recipe to share with you all today! The newest Food Matters Project recipe was chosen by Alissa, of BIG EATS tiny kitchen. I love the title for this week, "Five Quick Salsas for Chips, Dips, and Other Stuff". I find that it's pretty self-explanatory. I decided to make a tomatillo salsa two ways - tomatillo guacamole and tomatillo salsa. I LOVE green salsa. And although I can't eat avocados I know enough people who make it worth my while to accommodate other people's love for all things guacamole.

adapted from the food matters cookbook

12 tomatillos, dehusked and roasted for 12 minutes under broiler
3 garlic cloves, roasted with the tomatillos
2 jalapeno peppers, roasted with the tomatillos
2 small shallots
1 lime, zest and juice
handful cilantro
salt

3 avocados, diced

I decided to try roasting the tomatillos, garlic cloves and jalapeno peppers before making up the salsa. I rinsed all of them and tossed them on a pan under the broiler for about 12 minutes, til darkening.

After roasting, I put the garlic, jalapeno, shallots, lime zest and juice and salt into my food processor. I processed quickly, until chunks were roughly even in size. I added the tomatillos and cilantro and processed it another quick minute.

I then put the salsa in the fridge to let it cool down.

After it cooled for awhile I took the salsa back out and added a cup to the three diced avocados, combined by hand and put both the salsa and guacamole back in the fridge until serving.

I always place a layer of plastic wrap directly onto the guacamole to help avoid a brown mess.

Enjoy!

We took these salsas with us for a Cinco De Mayo Two Days Late Dinner Party. Instead of bringing chips, I created a monterey jack and tortilla "pie" to go with the salsa and guacamole. Delicioso!