Simple Red and Green Salsa Recipe (a flavour fiesta!)

You’re going to love this simple red and green salsa recipe using tomatoes and tomatillos.

There is so much to love about summer produce in part because summer makes it easy to eat local, eat organic, eat in season and eat healthier overall.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t already mourning the loss of the fruit and vegetable bounty that crops up during the warmer months. Easy and plentiful access to organic berries, organic kale and other greens, organic sweet peppers and celery, and of course – the juicy tomato!

That’s my kind of eating, oh yea!

And it honestly takes every ounce of willpower I have not to stuff my face with local fresh fruits and vegetables when they’re perfectly ripe and in season.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on some late-season local tomatillos. They were a speedy eight-minute drive from my house.

If you’ve never seen or eaten tomatillos, behold these fabulous green orbs. Don’t they have a lovely charm to them?

The tomatillos above are naked… but let’s not get x-rated: they’ve simply been relieved of their papery, thin husks.

As tomatillos ripen, the fruit fattens until it gets too big for its jacket and then splits open, signalling to us that it’s ready for picking (and eating!). Nature will let you know when it’s good enough to eat.

Full of potassium and vitamin C, tomatillos are very tart, refreshing and crisp. Some say they taste like apple, citrus, pear or cucumber. In any case, they don’t taste like an unripe green tomato! These babies have a flavour that is all their own.

Here I’ve married these fun tomatillos with fresh garlic, fresh parsley, fresh lime juice, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, ground cumin and cayenne, and a small amount of ripe, red tomatoes because I love the idea of contrasting colours in a traditionally green salsa.

I added apple cider vinegar because I have been studying its reputation as a blood sugar stabilizer. If you’re curious about apple cider vinegar’s benefits for blood sugar, you can learn more here. If you don’t have it, feel free to substitute it with another type of flavourful vinegar like white wine.

You’ll be happy to know that making a fresh homemade salsa couldn’t be easier: just chop, blend and season. Let’s never forget the salt, friends. It helps every dish’s true flavours shine through.

This recipe yields a tangy salsa that is as good fresh as it is stored in the freezer. Especially in late winter when fresh tomatoes seem impossible to find.

Print

Red and Green Salsa (with Tomatillos & Tomatoes)

Servings 4 cups or 1000 ml

Ingredients

• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 small handful of fresh parsley
• Juice of 1 large lime
• 2 medium about 240 g, ripe tomatoes
• Ripe tomatillos about 750 g
• 3 tablespoons of high-quality olive oil
• 6 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or less; taste and see how you like it after 3; I like it really tangy and acidic
• 2 1/2 tablespoons of sea salt more or less to taste – your call
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne for a bit of kick – you can also use hot peppers of your choice
• 1 teaspoon of ground cumin

Instructions

1. Chop all ingredients by hand and mix together. Or, for a faster but finer and smoother texture, combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until you are satisfied with the texture.
2. Enjoy this fresh salsa in every which way.

Serve with fresh veggies, homemade crackers or kale chips. You could serve it on baked eggs or any other meal that needs a full-on, kick-in-the-pants flavour boost! 

This might give a traditional salsa verde a run for its money. What do you think?

Do you ever make homemade salsa? What do you love to eat it with? Let me know below.

Life is a plate… Eat up!

Ashleigh