Salsa Verde - Mexican Green Sauce

Salsa Verde

I was inspired to take on this challenge when a recipe showed up in my "in box" with the word Basic in front of the words Salsa Verde. The recipe was from one of my favorite food bloggers - Kenji . I read through the 4 ingredient recipe and thought... is that all it takes to make bowl of GREEN sauce. I'm in!

I added a whole, very juicy lime and a couple cloves of garlic to the basic recipe and left one of the serrano peppers raw. The end result produced a delicious clean, fresh and well balanced salsa verde. Thanks for the cooking lesson Kenji!

I served this sauce over lime marinated grilled chicken and Spanish black beans and rice.

Lime Marinated Grilled Chicken

Spanish Black Beans and Rice

The flavored water that I cooked the veggies in was too delicious to waste, so added it to the Spanish Black Beans and Rice which was also a big hit!

This is my version of easy salsa verde.

SALSA VERDE - Mexican Green Sauce
(makes about 3 cups)

1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, husks and stems removed
2 medium serrano peppers, stems and seeds removed (1 cooked and 1 raw)
1 medium sweet onion, cut into quarters
2-3 garlic cloves
juice of 1 fresh lime (about 2 Tbsp.)
1 bunch of fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems close to the leaves
a good pinch or two of Kosher Salt

Place the tomatillos, 1- serrano and onion in a sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a full boil; then turn down heat to a simmer. Cook until all the veggies are soft. About 10 minutes.

Scoop out the veggie with a slotted spoon into a blender (save the water to thin sauce if needed or for cooking rice) add the other serrano, garlic, lime juice, cilantro and salt. Blend on medium speed until you get a smooth puree.