The FoodTV Network: Like a broken record, I might normally go on and on complaining about how great it was but no longer is… I must say, though, that the more I watch “Mexican Made Easy”, the more I enjoy the show. Marcela Valladolid is knowledgeable, cooks great food, and is fun to watch. Plus, she’s fit, which is not an easy task when you’re cooking and working with food 24 hours/day. Or close to that. 😉 Apparently she owes her great shape to yoga. On one segment about healthy Mexican recipes, they showed her serene composure during a tough variation of Warrior III, and in an advanced Twisted Pigeon pose. Impressive, to say the least. ANYWAY, back to cooking. In another recent episode she shared a tempting recipe for Chicken Tostadas. I didn’t make it yet, but I prepared one of its components, the tomatillo-avocado salsa. It couldn’t be easier, and it couldn’t be tastier. You absolutely HAVE to make and serve this alongside anything! Ok, maybe not with that slice of chocolate cake… 😉
FRESH TOMATILLO-AVOCADO SALSA
(adapted from Marcela Villadolin)
6 ounces tomatillos, husked, rinsed and coarsely chopped
2 large yellow tomatoes, cored and seeded, coarsely chopped
1 avocado, halved, pitted and peeled
1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 Serrano chile, seeded, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt and black pepper
Combine the tomatillos, yellow tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, chile, and lemon juice in a blender and puree until smooth. Season the salsa with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer to a serving bowl, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 hours or until ready to use.
ENJOY!
to print the recipe, click here
I intend to make her chicken tostadas soon, my problem is the tostada part, as we still don’t have a gas cooktop. But I might improvise and come up with an alternative. Tomatillos are usually cooked before incorporation into salsas and sauces, but in this fresh preparation the trick is to mellow their sharpness down by adding the avocado and using lemon juice instead of lime juice, as most salsas would call for. Simple. Brilliant.
My adaptation was adding some yellow tomatoes because they were looking at me and begging to be consumed. So I did. Next time I might either process a little less, or save a few pieces of diced yellow tomatoes to add at the end and make it a bit more chunky. We served it with grilled steel head trout and steamed rice. Phil thought that a great idea for an appetizer would be a small piece of grilled salmon or trout over a blue tortilla chip, and a dab of tomatillo salsa on top. No doubt in my mind I married a guy with great taste. 😉
On a slight tangent: as I was preparing this post, I got the feed notification of a new article by Kelly, over at Inspired Edibles. She wrote a nice tribute to her yoga instructor, and I invite you to jump over there and read it, very inspring! As a bonus, you’ll also get a recipe for homemade energy bars…
I am all for energy bars these days! 😉
ONE YEAR AGO: Chocolate Intensity
TWO YEARS AGO: Shrimp in Moroccan-Style Tomato Sauce
THREE YEARS AGO: Golden Zucchini: A Taste of Yellow
Bewitching Kitchen 
I totally agree with you Marcela is a breath of freshness in a mostly stale format! I’ve adapted a few of her recipes for my Mexican loving clients. I have made roasted tomatillo salsa many times, will definitely try the raw version soon!
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Great minds cook alike! 😉 Glad I am not the only one who enjoys her show…
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Oh man, Twisted Pigeon was, like, my FAVORITE hair band back in the 80’s! Great to see that they’re still around. Rock on, bird-men!!
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I’ve always known you are into the twisted…. 😉
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Thanks so much for the mention Sally! That is quite a coincidence cyber sister… both of us being inspired by these lovely yoginis ;-).
You’re right, this salsa would work magic on just about anything…and so simple too – love that! It looks great atop your fish by the way… creamy delicious. I’m off to the gym this morning and then in search of tomatillos… Can you believe I’ve never watched the Food Network?!
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Well, you are not missing much – I have a few shows set to tape, and watch them when I have a chance, but nowadays apart from Marcela and Anne Burrell, not much appeals to me. But Anne Burrell’s shows are mostly re-runs, whereas I got to follow Marcela not too long ago
Well, guess what I’m getting ready to do? P90X Yoga!!!! No better way to launch the weekend, as far as I’m concerned….
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Marcela is from San Diego, and that’s always a good thing!
This condiment, especially when prepared with a serious kick of fresh green jalapeno or serrano is very popular in the southwest -especially authentic Mexican kitchens. We love it! Thanks Sally.
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There you go, cannot go wrong if you are from San Diego! Such a great city, we considered it as one place for the sabbatical a couple of years ago, but ended in Los Angeles instead.
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In the mid-nineties, when our cable company started carrying The Food Network, it was a joy, but that was long ago now. I love the combination of avocado and tomatillos, Sally, and have never watched this show since I no longer watch TFN. I’ll look for Marcela, thanks to you.
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Marcia, I hope you can get to see her show, I have the feeling you will like her very much.
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Great condiment – so simple and fresh. I like the use of raw tomatillos.
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It was my first time using tomatillos, actually. Next I will do the roasted tomatillo salsa, per Jim’s recommendation.
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This looks wonderful Sally! We all love avocado and anything avocado related. I like the use of tomatillos in this as well. And like you said, the lemon is just brilliant. A twisted pigeon pose? I’m going to have to look into that one. 🙂
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Here is the posture that seems closest to what she was doing, and it is actually called a King Pigeon
She mentioned the twisted pigeon when she was talking about her practice, so i guess she is heavily into birds. And not just to cook and eat them. 😉
at any rate, I probably cannot do either. The Warrior III yes, is a favorite of mine, but I say no to the birds.
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retornando…aos poucos, bjs
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Que bom te “ver” aqui, Angela… espero que tudo esteja caminhando cada vez melhor para voce! Beijao!
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I’m getting inspired for lots of creative uses for this!!! I’d start just as you did on top of fish! I’ve made something similiar, though roasting the tomatillas first… how much quicker your method is!! Note to make extra just for Phil’s chip idea!!!
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I am very fond of guacamole type things on top of fish – come to think of it, I am an avocado-addict, and got into it thanks to Phil… and he is very fond of tomatoes now thanks to me. AH, the mysteries of love!
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Well, if I was reading wiki correctly, she’s 34?? I’m certain I could twist my body into all kinds of shapes when I was 34, lol! *sigh* not any longer.. but I can make your dish and attempt to stay trim by walking:D My daughter LOVES avocado salsas and I can’t wait to show her this one!! When you say “husk”, is that the skin or that papery stuff on the outside? (never bought a tomatillo before but I saw them at the store yesterday). xx
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Yes, she is 34. But it’s amazing what yoga can bring back to your body in terms of flexibility, at any age. It does take some time though… 😉
I am calling husk the papery cover indeed – once you remove it, you will feel a sort of sticky substance, not too thick, barely noticeable, but definitely there. I wash each one well in warm water until I don’t feel it sticking to my fingers anymore. The actual skin of the tomatillo you don’t need to worry about.
I am sure your daughter will go crazy for this one… next day I used it in a sandwich… stay tuned! 😉
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i love salsa and I love avocados so this is perfect to me! just perfection
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