Roasted Tomatillo & Corn Salsa

This week, I decided to try out a recipe with an ingredient that’s new to me. The farm stand has introduced me to quite a few vegetables that have now become my favorites. Almost every single time, local produce tastes significantly better than from the supermarket. 

One of our freshest items at the stands right now is tomatillos. They are the small, green tomatoes that have their lantern-like husk around them. You may have had them before in their classic dish, salsa verde. This Mexican tomato is the main component for that salsa because it has a uniquely bright and tart flavor. Contrary to popular belief, a tomatillo is not spicy at all. Their smell is sweet and tomato-ey, which immediately reminded me of my favorite Mexican plates.

After doing some research, I chose to roast the tomatillos to bring out their flavor along with some other fresh Norman’s veggies. Roasting the vegetables for the salsa took only 15 minutes, and I even saved a whole extra jar of salsa for snacking with chips later this week. If you are interested in trying out a new cuisine or have never used tomatillos, I recommend giving this one a try!

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb of tomatillos (about 5-6 tomatillos, husks removed) 
• 2 jalapeno peppers (seeds and ribs removed) 
• 4 cloves of garlic (skins removed) 
• 2 ears of corn (kernels removed) 
• 1/2 cup of cilantro (and extra for garnish)
• 2 tbsp of olive oil 
• 1 handful of cherry tomatoes 
• juice from 1/2 lime + lime zest 
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions: 

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. In a sheet pan, arrange your tomatillos, peppers, corn, garlic, and cherry tomatoes in a flat layer. Drizzle 1 tbsp of olive oil evenly over them all and roast for 12-15 minutes, or until everything has blistered. 
2. Add all the roasted veggies plus their liquids to a food processor and pulse until things have combined. Taste test and add salt, cilantro, lime juice, and olive oil. Pulse a few more times until you achieve a slightly runny but still chunky salsa.

Double this recipe if interested in saving more!