Newsflash: I do indeed make recipes which do not involve a slow cooker.  This is one of them.  I love my green salsa recipe and you will too.  Or scroll down to the bottom for a red salsa recipe which doesn’t taste “dumbed down” but is so full of shortcuts it’s embarrassing.

One nifty trick I learned from the Food Network is that you can turn your salsa into enchilada sauce by sautéeing it with a little flour (I’m simplifying–if you take that literally as the one step to make enchilada sauce, you will be a very dissatisfied, hungry person in the end).  But with that knowledge there are more ways to use this recipe–which is why I make a triple batch most of the time, because if I’m going through the trouble to roast vegetables and get the heavy blender down off the top shelf then I want to make it worth everyone’s while.

I’ve separated the ingredient lists into those for “roasting” and those “used raw”.  Partly because that’s how I remember what to buy at the supermarket without a written list and partly because I don’t have a single photo with all ingredients.

Saturated with olive oil, salt the silent killer, and freshly ground black pepper.  Let’s do this.

Ingredients for Roasting:

• ~1lb tomatillos, husked (one pound is about 1/3-1/2 the capacity of the baggie from the dispensers in the produce department)
• 1 yellow (or white) onion, chopped into thick pieces or wedges
• a couple gloves of garlic (yeah I used like ten cloves of garlic here)
• 1jalapeno pepper, to taste.  Or three.  I used three.

Roasting Instructions:

1. Organize ingredients on baking pan.  Drizzle with olive oil.
2. Sprinkle with salt the silent killer and black pepper.
3. Broil at 500° for 6 minutes.  Keep watching, it could take one or two more minutes before things start browning.  Then remove from oven.

Raw Ingredients:

• one bunch cilantro, roughly chopped (some stem is okay)
• one bunch green onion, sliced into thick pieces (your blender will pulverize them, so no need to spend the time to slice them shorter)
• juice of one lime

Instructions:

1. In a blender*, layer roasted tomatillos, onion, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, green onion & lime juice.
2. Set blender to pulse, being mindful that a chunky salsa is sometimes preferable to a completely smooth, pureed salsa.
3. It may require more than one batch in your blender–try to divide the ingredients so that a little of everything is in each batch, and then combine the mixtures.

*I used the Ninja Ultimate Blender for this recipe.  I included the top blade, which is what powers through chunky ingredients like the tomatillos.  This meant that my mixture spent less time at the bottom of the pitcher getting pureed and resulted in a slightly chunky salsa–which is ideal.  I will never use a regular blender again for this recipe.

Footnotes:

1. If you’re a tomatillo novice: you’ll find them in the produce section, usually around the jalapeno and bell peppers, although tomatillos are not spicy.  They look like small green tomatoes covered in a papery thin, green husk.  They’ll roast more evenly if they’re all the same size.  Also, be aware that sometimes there can be dirt on tomatillos which can be rinsed off, but if a tomatillo has black specks which require scraping off, that’s mold.  And mold is no good.
2. The recipe calls for a jalapeno, but you could use any pepper.  If I’m making salsa just for me, I use habanero or ghost peppers.  You could use a serrano, too.  I suggest starting with a jalapeno and see what you think.
3. Before juicing your lime, nuke it in the microwave for fifteen seconds.  It loosens up the juices inside.  Thanks for the tip, Rachael Ray.
4. If you have a Ninja Kitchen blender, use it for this recipe.  I’ve made this recipe for years using my regular blender (food processor works, too) and it does the job, but this recipe is just made for that dual blade on the Ninja.  So efficient.  It works like a dream.

MOAR CILANTRO!

I love tomatillo salsa.  The tartness of tomatillos is so appealing, and I love experimenting with different spicy peppers.  If this all sounds fine and good to you but you just don’t have the time or inclination, I give you permission to forgo this recipe and try out my go-to recipe for red salsa which is laughably easy but still tastes like it’s homemade.

You don’t get pictures of this one.  It’s too easy.

You need:

1. Two cans Ro*Tel Tomatoes & Green Chilies (found on the shelf with other canned, diced tomatoes)
2. One bunch cilantro, washed and the bottom stems cut off (some stem is okay, just not the thicker, woody stems at the bottom)
3. One bunch green onion (scallions), roots cut off and the rest roughly chopped into smaller pieces
4. One jalapeño, stem removed, roughly chopped
5. Juice of one lime

Put all ingredients into your blender on pulse until you’re satisfied with the consistency.  Add salt and black pepper to taste.  You’re welcome.

They did all of the hard work for you.

Link to your favorite salsa recipe in the comments, or if you have a favorite brand of salsa that you don’t just tolerate but you love, share that too!

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Cassandra can be found on Twitter @aclevergirl.  Learn more about her family’s unique challenges and why they have hope for a cure for Spinal Muscular Atrophy at byrdsforacure.org.

Earlier this month I found something new and tasty-sounding try on BettyCrocker.com: Slow Cooker Chicken Gyro bowls.  Greek food (“Greek food”, as I assume Greek cooks would be offended if I thought this was true Greek food–it’s tasty, though) at home which doesn’t involve something complicated like buying lamb, or owning a vertical rotisserie attached to a broiler–imagine!

One of the reasons this recipe intrigued me (beyond it calling for the use of a slow cooker, for which you already know I have a weakness), is that it calls for pre-packaged flour tortilla “bowls” as a shortcut instead of making or finding pita bread.   I don’t typically endorse any brand of product–despite including photos of the actual ingredients/brand names that I use in a recipe–but as far as I know Old El Paso is the only maker of these soft flour tortilla bowls, so I suppose I’m not endorsing them so much as informing you that this product exists and can add to the convenience of this meal.  (That link takes you to Amazon, because Old El Paso’s website doesn’t finish loading when one navigates to the product’s page.)

Recognize that micro-plane? I used it to grate garlic cloves this time, but I sold you on this tool way back when.

Ingredients for Chicken Mixture

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried dill
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• juice of half a medium-sized lemon
• 1/3 cup of water

Yeah, it doesn’t look pretty.  Trust the process.

Directions

1. Put everything in your slow cooker.  Don’t forget your Crock Pot Condom.
2. Six hours on low, or four hours on high.  Something like that.
3. Upon completion of cooking, use metal tongs to shred and stir.  Throw in some extra red wine vinegar if it looks dry.  Mine did, so I did.

You can find the Stand N Stuff flour tortilla bowls in the Hispanic foods section at your grocer.

Ingredients for Tzatziki Sauce

• 16oz plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 English cucumber (peeled, seeded, diced) (also see photo below)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, grated or finely minced
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp dried dill
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• salt & pepper, to taste
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Pro-tip: After peeling the cucumber use short strokes with it on your grater, instead of dicing by hand.

 Directions for Tzatziki Sauce

1. Combine all ingredients except olive oil.
2. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over the top.
3. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Two words: YUM!  (Okay–just one word.)

Finally:

• Prepare sliced red onion, halved grape tomatoes, and feta crumbles to top off gyros.
• Fill tortilla bowls with chicken, add a few tablespoons of Tzatziki sauce and condiments.
• Enjoy!

Footnotes:

»  I definitely suggest to avoid low-fat feta cheese crumbles–with the fat goes the flavor, and then the calories which remain are totally worthless because there’s no taste anymore.

»  The Tzaziki recipe calls for just a teaspoon each of dill & oregano but I didn’t find that to be nearly enough.  I probably put a tablespoon of each in my recipe before it finally tasted right.

This dish is a tasty one, plus fun for each family member to assemble for him- or herself.

Enjoy!

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Cassandra can be found on Twitter @aclevergirl.  Learn more about her family’s unique challenges and why they have hope for a cure for Spinal Muscular Atrophy at byrdsforacure.org.