Salsa Verde Fresca

When I was weeding my garden over the weekend, I found the cutest little jalapeno pepper growing.  It was just big enough to pick, which made me very excited.  It's all I could think about for the last 4 days.  Well, not really.  I have thought of other things, but whenever I have thought about my garden, I've thought of that pepper.  And, the nice green onions that are coming up so well.  I've thought about those a lot, too.  Plus, the lettuce - it's almost ready for the first cutting.  As you can see, I have a whole green theme going here.   I don't think I can express how much I love fresh produce, and knowing it comes from my garden makes it even better.  Much as I hate weeding and watering it, the reward is so worth it.

As I mentioned the other day, we have had some very warm weather lately, and I don't mind it, at all.  I just think about wintertime here, how we beg and plead for summer to come, and it keeps me from complaining about the heat.  One nice thing about summer is all of the fresh, quick dishes that can be made from the produce that's in abundance now.  A favorite of mine it pico de gallo, but my tomatoes aren't even close yet.  However, I was really in the mood for something like that tonight.  Then I decided to try my hand at salsa verde.

Most salsa verde recipes call for cooking it, or roasting the tomatillos.  I like it that way, but didn't want to mess with all that.  I wanted all the ingredients fresh and crisp, instead.  It makes for a refreshing change.

Here's your Cast of Characters (which includes the jalapeno pepper and green onions from my garden).

8 - 10 Bright green tomatillos
1 Bunch of cilantro
3 - 4 Various chile peppers - whatever heat level you desire (I used my little jalapeno, a red fresno pepper and 2 Amarillo peppers - deseeded & deveined - unless you want more heat.  I left some in for a little kick.)
2 Large green onions, or 1 small onion
3 Cloves garlic
1/4 Cup lime juice
1 1/2 Teaspoons kosher salt

First, remove husks from tomatillos, and wash well in cold water, to remove the stickiness from them.

Quarter the tomatillos and peppers, and add to a food processor, along with everything else, except the lime juice and salt. 

Pulse for a minute or two, until chopped pretty well.

Add lime juice and salt.  Pulse for another couple of minutes.

Serve immediately with chips, or refrigerate for an hour or so to let the flavors marry.

Enjoy!