Sara's Roasted Green Salsa

I LOVE Fall flavors - and green chilis are at the very top of the list! For years, I have roasted peppers and tomatillos for my Green Chili Chicken Stew (get that recipe), and I always try to make extra to have on hand for a salsa. The salsa goes great on roasted chicken thighs or breasts, with eggs, or in a burrito or taco, or just to dip in corn chips (always non-GMO or organic as corn is one of the top GMO foods).

I usually make this green salsa with poblanos, which are usually fairly mild, but there were some beautiful Hatch green chilis at our local grocery store recently, so we decided to pick a few up at the store last time instead. They had mild, medium, and hot - we grabbed the medium ones (thankfully, I did not get the hot ones!)...and it turns out that medium hatch chilis are significantly hotter than poblanos!

When you peel and seed roasted peppers, you are supposed to wear gloves, as the hot peppers can burn your fingers. I usually use poblanos, which are pretty mild - so I never have used gloves to peel and seed them, and I have never had a problem. But this was the first time I was using Hatch chilis, and even though we selected medium, they had quite a bit more heat than the poblanos that I typically use - and it kind of creeps up on you - I didn't realize it while I was peeling them - but the heat came on afterwards - and because I don't think I realized it right away, and just gave my hands a quick wash afterwards, I don't think I got all of it off, and it soaked in, and this tingling/heat feeling lasted for hours, I mean like 6 hours!!! It was really kind of interesting. I tried all sorts of things - soaking my fingers in vinegar and water, putting a baking soda paste on them. I didn't have milk, but I guess soaking in milk can help. Finally - about 5-6 hours later, the tingling just kind of went away!

So needless to say - if you are going to make these - be smarter than I - and wear gloves for the seeding and peeling part!!

This recipe is great as a dipping salsa, or you can use it to make my Green Chili Chicken Stew recipe. I also also put it on to chicken thighs before baking.

Ingredients:

• 12-15 tomatillos

• 3-4 poblanos

• 3-4 garlic cloves (or more if you like it more garlicky)

• cilantro

• Real salt (start with 1/2 teaspoon, taste & adjust)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to about 420 degrees.

2. Remove the papery skin from the tomatillos, rinse and dry

3. Coat the tomatillos, peeled garlic cloves and poblanos in oil (I use avocado oil)

4. Put tomatillos, poblanos and garlic on a sheet pan in a pre-heated 420 degree oven for about 25 minutes – I turn the peppers and tomatillos with tongs about halfway through. They should be roasted and slightly charred.

5. Carefully remove pan from the oven when done.

6. Using tongs, put the poblanos into a bowl and cover it with saran wrap or a lid for about 10 mins, this helps to sweat/steam the peppers to make the peels come off easier. Once cool enough to handle, put on a cutting board, peel off the skins, de-seed, and put the pieces into the blender.

7. Add tomatillos, and garlic (and optionally about 1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves) into a blender and pulse till blended, but still chunky. Add salt & pepper to taste (I use 1/2 - 3/4 tsp usually).

8. Put into a glass container or jar in the refrigerator.

9. Use or discard after 3 days.