This bright-tasting sauce is a great accompaniment to grilled foods of all descriptions—steak, chicken, shrimp, or vegetables—and it is also wonderful as a dip for tortilla chips or as a sauce for tamales.

　　

Ingredients

makes 2 cups

　　1 pound tomatillos (about 12 medium)

　　2 jalapeño or serrano chiles, seeded and sliced

　　1 cup chopped cilantro leaves and stems

　　1 garlic clove, sliced

　　Salt

　　

Step 1

Remove the husks from: 1 pound tomatillos (about 12 medium).

　　

Step 2

Rinse them and put them in a saucepan with water barely covering. Add a pinch of salt, bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer until just soft, about 4 to 5 minutes. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid. Measure 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid into a blender with: 2 jalapeño or serrano chiles, seeded and sliced, 1 cup chopped cilantro leaves and stems, 1 garlic clove, sliced, Salt.

　　

Step 3

Add the cooked tomatillos and blend briefly. The sauce should have a coarse texture. Taste for salt and add more as needed. Let the sauce sit to develop the flavors. It will thicken as it cools and may be thinned with more of the cooking liquid.

　　

Variations

Step 4

For a more spicy salsa, add another jalapeño or serrano chile.

　　

Step 5

This salsa is also delicious with a mashed medium avocado mixed in.

　　

Step 6

Make the sauce with chopped raw tomatillos and with water instead of the cooking liquid.

　　

Step 7

If you have the opportunity, substitute the rarer purple tomatillos, which are a little sweeter and especially wonderful used raw.

　　The Art of Simple Food