Tomatillo cucumber salad with agave sweetened dressing

I like getting lots of bang for my buck. I made one meal with 3 out of the 5 ingredients in it and another with the other 2.
For the salad portion of the meal, I made a salad Ben and I really liked! I removed the seeds from one peeled cucumber and diced it into small cubes. I diced 2-3 tomatillos to a similar size. I chopped some baby spinach leaves and tossed it together. I made a dressing out of red wine vinegar for the acidic taste, olive oil for the consistency, and agave for sweetness. It just took a little dressing, maybe a few tablespoons of each ingredient.

The salad tasted very fresh and crunchy. I would definitely make it again.

Tomatillo: Tomatillo Cilantro Ranch

If you've ever visited the Mountain West you may have seen Cafe Rio. If you were wise you stopped in for their amazing Mexican food. If not, I'm sorry. I've never done anything with tomatillos before so I decided to give Cafe Rio's ranch a try.

Ingredients:
2 Tomatillos
1/2 bunch Cilantro
1 medium Jalapeno (remove seeds for less heat)
1 Ranch packet
1 c Milk
1 clove Garlic minced
1 tsp Lime juice
1 c Mayonaisse
1/4 c Sour cream (optional)

Cut up tomatillos, cilantro, and jalapeno. Mince garlic. Since I'm a wimp in the spicy department (see my Butter Chicken post!), I removed all the seeds from the jalapeno. I used my handy dandy food processor (cut the cutting and mincing down significantly) and I'm sure a good blender would work as well. First combine all produce. Turn on food processor for 30-60 seconds. Repeat until everything is chopped nicely. Add milk and lime juice. Pulse a few times. Add mayo and ranch packet. Blend until smooth and mixed well. It will be thick!

The only picture I took of the dressing on its own. It doesn't look super appetizing in the picture but it was so good!

Substitutions: I didn't have a full cup of mayo so I just added in some sour cream and it worked well.

Tomatillos: "Cafe Rio" style sweet chicken/pork

This is the one ingredient from the challenge that I did get a chance to make! This was a big hit in our family. I got the recipe from my husband's side who eat this regularly, especially when the family is all together. It is really simple!

"Cafe Rio" style chicken/pork

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup salsa verde (that has tomatillos)

1 1/2-2 lbs chicken or pork

This recipe is so easy and it can be made a variety of ways. You can cook the sauce with the raw chicken/pork or pour it over the cooked meat and let it simmer for a bit. I usually shred the meat in my Kitchenaid mixer with the paddle attachment.

I serve it with shredded cheese, lettuce, cilantro rice (similar), and cilantro ranch (similar) on warm tortillas.  

Enjoy!

Tomatillos: Roasted Salsa Verde and Salsa Verde Chicken Quinoa (or rice)

Salsa Verde Chicken Quinoa
Roasted Salsa Verde
Special Ingredient: Tomatillos, chosen by Me!

I chose tomatillos for my special ingredient. I have made several things with tomatillos but wanted to stretch myself and branch out. I found a recipe for Salsa Verde Chicken with Quinoa. I don't love quinoa and so I just used rice. The recipe calls for homemade roasted salsa verde, which was pretty fun to make. Then you just bake it all together. The original recipe didn't call for cheese on top, but I thought it needed it.



I also served it with blue corn chips, fresh grape tomatoes and a sprinkle of cilantro. It was a good, easy dinner. However, I think I like my other tomatillo recipes better. (Our Best Bites' chili verde pork--only in their cookbook but AMAZING).

Tomatillos: Charred Tomatillo, Chicken & Broccoli Salad

I've only ever used tomatillos in salad dressing, but I was excited to give them a chance to star. I adapted a recipe from EatingWell 500-Calorie Dinners Cookbook when I read that tomatillos are great charred. The cookbook had a charred tomato salad, so I made it into a charred tomatillo salad.

4 c broccoli florets
1 lb tomatillos (smaller is better, I'm told)
2 tsp + 3 Tbps extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder (I omitted this)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 14-oz cans chunk chicken

1. Bring about 1" of water to boil in a large pot. Add broccoli and cook until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water; set aside.

2. Peel off leaves and rinse them. Toss with 2 tsp olive oil. Cook in a heavy pan over high heat until charred. Remove from heat and quarter. Do not clean the pan.

3. Heat remaining oil in the pan over medium. Add salt, pepper, chili powder, lemon juice and balsamic vinegar (watch out for spatter when adding liquid). Stir, scraping up any brown bits.

4. Break up chicken, and combine tomatillos, broccoli, and chicken. Pour pan sauce over. Serve warm or cold.

This was kind of acidic for me. If you like tomatillo flavor, you might like this, but we . . . didn't.

Wayward!

Tomatillos Food Challenge!

So when Jasmine gave the us the cooking challenge, I wanted to pick an item that was fresh and in season for summer, but not something we were all familiar with. Fresh summer produce makes me think of corn on the cob, tomatoes, and watermelon but those were so familiar! I finally settled on

Tomatillos! 

My sisters and mom told me this was a little more challenging for them. I'm pretty familiar with tomatillos but not everyone is, so here is a little about them:

(Image source: Popsugar)

Tomatillos look like a green tomato in a wrapper, that's called the husk. Husks should be removed before cooking or eating. The tomatillo's skin is sometimes a little sticky under the husk so I usually rinse them. Tomatillos can be eaten raw or cooked. Cooking, roasting, or blanching helps to enhance its flavor. Most salsas verde (green salsas) contain tomatillos. When selecting tomatillos at the grocery store, look for them to be about the same size, and green. A yellow hue means they are overripe. Can't wait to see how everyone used tomatillos!