Foodie Recipe: Homemade Salsa Verde

Being from California, I love Mexican food and the side dishes, condiments, especially salsa because it is so incredibly easy to make. I personally prefer pico de gallo, chunky salsa with tomatoes, but tomatoes tend to give me heartburn; so the next best thing is salsa verde, made predominately from tomatillos, and actually requires less work in my opinion, and is harder to mess up. Here is my recipe. The numbers aren't exact, I mostly wing it to whatever way my tastebuds feel, so you can tweak as necessary. This last batch was a bit on the spicy side since I risked using two jalapeños. I encourage you to make and gauge, and adjust accordingly. I never actually looked up a recipe other than reading a jar of a store-bought brand (do you notice a trend here?). The hardest part might be finding tomatillos. Luckily I've never had that problem.

Equipment
Food processor or blender
Knife
Cutting Board
Colander
Cookie sheet (with silicone liner optional)
Oven
Container for salsa

Ingredients
Tomatillos (1.5 to 2 pounds)
Cilantro - 1/3 cup
Lime Juice (freshly squeezed 1/3 to 1/2 cup)
Onions (chopped 1/2 cup)
Jalapeños (optional 1-2 chopped)
Salt 1 tsp or more to taste
Pepper 1 tsp or more to taste


1. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and discard.

2. Wash the tomatillos well, usually they have a waxy feeling.
3. Place tomatillos on a lined cookie sheet.



4. Bake on 450F 15-30 minutes or until slightly brown and softened. Be careful not to spill any juice as you remove them.



5. Roughly chop the onions, cilantro, and jalapeños and add to the food processor/blender.



6. Carefully pour the juices from the tomatillos and the tomatillos into the food processor/blender.

7. Add lime juice and salt and pepper.

8. Blend until completely liquified.  Add more salt and/or pepper to taste and blend again.



9. Pour into container and cool in the fridge.

10. Enjoy. I usually keep mine for 5-7 days (if it lasts that long)


See our other recipes:

• Foodie Recipe: Vegan Pesto
• Food recipe: DIY vegan protein powder
• Foodie Tip Cream of Coconut
• Foodie Recipe: Vegan Cream & Mushroom Pasta

Marquita Bell is soaper-in-chief and the owner of The BodyBuffet where foodie meets beauty. Based out of Philadelphia, The Body Buffet aims to cultivate beauty inside and out from foodie adventures, self-care tips, and via handmade artisan soap, shampoo bars, facial bars, laundry soap and more. They use local ingredients when possible and have aimed to make conditioning skin-loving, hair-loving, clothes-loving soap since 2009. 

Foodie Tip: Cream of Coconut

Our slogan is “Where foodie meets beauty.” We have been lacking on our foodie emphasis. We will start bringing out the foodie in us (and you!) more often. YAY! Plus we need ways of channeling our foodie energy.

Recently we have started adding cream of coconut (NOT coconut cream) in our smoothies and we LOVE the results. Using a tablespoon or less in a smoothie gives it a light sweetened taste without being overbearing. 

Simply open a can, put it into a container and refrigerate when you want to create a smoothie. It is dairy-free and similar to condensed milk. I personally don’t like coconut-flavored anything, so the cream takes on whatever flavor the other ingredients has.

I know, looking at the list of ingredients is probably sketchy, but we found this to be a dirt cheap, satisfying way to get quick results without having to get powdered coconut milk, or trying to have a bunch of coconut milk on hand.

What is your favorite sweetener and/or dairy alternative?  

P.S. Stay tuned: we will share our homemade vegan smoothie powder recipe with you next week!

• Foodie Recipe: Vegan Pesto
• Food recipe: Homemade Salsa Verde
• Food recipe: DIY vegan protein powder
• Foodie Recipe: Vegan Cream & Mushroom Pasta

Marquita Bell is soaper-in-chief and the owner of The Body Buffet where foodie meets beauty. Based out of Philadelphia, The Body Buffet aims to cultivate beauty inside and out from foodie adventures, self-care tips, and via handmade artisan soap, shampoo bars, facial bars, laundry soap and more. They use local ingredients when possible and have aimed to make conditioning skin-loving, hair-loving, clothes-loving soap since 2009.