Avocado Tomatillo Salsa

Once again, here’s a co-op driven recipe (I belong to a local co-op that delivers “surprise” baskets every other week). Seems as though the produce I received from my last two co-op pickups was just begging me to make Mexican! Included in my baskets were: tomatillos, cilantro, limes, avocados and tomatoes…so I thought, “how about a green salsa?” I created this recipe, which was friend-approved at our dinner get-together last night:

Ingredients:

• 2 large tomatillos, peeled, washed and cut into small cubes
• 1 small tomato, cut into small cubes
• 1-2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (I used one and the product had just a little “kick”)
• 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 lime, rolled on the counter and sliced in half
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• Kosher salt, dash
• Fresh ground pepper, dash
• 1-2 avocados, removed from peel and cut into small cubes (when ready to serve)

Instructions:
Add all ingredients, except lime and avocados, in a small bowl. Squeeze both halves of the lime over mixture. Mash with potato masher until about 1/3 of the ingredients are left in cubes and some juice has formed in the bottom of the bowl. Stir and refrigerate for 1-2 hours to let the flavors marry. When ready to serve, gently fold avocado into salsa mixture. Serve as an appetizer with baked tortilla chips.

The tomatillos add a unique, light tartness to this salsa and the avocados cool it down. Refreshing! This is a super easy-to-make recipe that's, of course, also super healthy. It’s lower in sodium than canned salsas and the avocados are rich in healthy unsaturated fats. Again, the co-op has nudged me to be a little more creative…I would be unlikely to purchase tomatillos on my own, but now I’ve created a new recipe that I’ll make again in the future!

If you have leftovers, remember you can always use them! I’m going to use my leftovers this week to top a grilled ahi tuna steak. I love it when I can enjoy my recipes twice in different ways and save myself some energy in cooking later in the week.