I LOVE fresh salsa! It is one of my favorite things to make in the summer time. We love to eat it on top of grilled meat, fried eggs, and salads, or piled high on plantain or tortilla chips. “Tortilla chips are paleo?!”, you may ask. No. No, they’re not. Corn is a grain. But tortillas ARE delicious, and salty, and crunchy, and by far my favorite non-paleo treat. Tortilla chips and peanut butter – those are my biggest weaknesses by far, and I don’t let my self feel too guilty about enjoying one or the other every couple of weeks. Today, I feel that I simultaneously worked off last night’s tortilla chips and earned tonight’s tortilla chips with my trail run this morning, so it’s all good.
This green mango salsa came out perfectly sweet, spicy, and fresh! It was also a great use for my *freezer pesto, that I almost always have on hand. It’s a great way to use extra herbs – whether you’ve had a bumper crop in your garden, or picked up too much on sale at the grocery store. In this case, I used my jalapeno and cilantro pesto. To make, just blend cilantro, jalapeno, garlic, olive oil, and lime juice in a food processor until it is smooth. Then, pour into a zip lock bag, and smooth it out flat so that when it is frozen you are left with a “sheet” of pesto. You can break off what you need and keep the rest stored in the freezer.
Ideally, you would throw the tomatillos on the grill to get that nice charred skin. But here, it’s 106 degrees, and I just didn’t feel like hauling all my stuff down to one of the community’s grills, cleaning it, and standing outside to cook them. So, I took a short cut and sliced them, coated them in olive oil, and roasted them under the broiler until they were golden. If you are going to grill them, just remove their papery husk and pop them on the grill until they are softened and slightly blackened.
Green mango has a slightly tart flavor, and a really nice firm texture. It is not as overpoweringly sweet as the ripened version, which is what I think makes it perfect in salsa. It is also a little easier to work with when it is not soft and spilling juice all over the place. Just choose a mango that firm but not too hard, and only just starting to turn red/yellow at the top.
This salsa is delicious over grilled chicken and served along with one of Brian’s “Wicked Pissah Margs” – Stay tuned for this great, (almost) guilt-free version of a traditional margarita!
Green Mango and Tomatillo Salsa
4 Tomatillos, grilled, or sliced and broiled
1 Green (under ripe) mango
1 Bell pepper, diced
1 Jalapeno pepper, finely diced
3 Scallions, sliced
1 Lime, juice and zest
1 tbls. Cilantro Jalapeno freezer pesto*, or chopped fresh cilantro
Black Pepper
Peal husk from tomatillos and slice into thick slices, coat with olive oil, and broil in glass baking dish until charred, or grill whole tomatillos until charred and softened. Cool, chop, and toss into large mixing bowl. Peal mango with vegetable peeler, slice off from pit, and dice. Add to bowl along with bell pepper, jalapeno, scallion, lime zest and juice, and cilantro pesto. Sprinkle with black pepper, mix and serve!
Sarah Saw the Sun 