roasted tomatillo & avocado salsa

Hi! Remember when I used to cook and post recipes?! Oh my lands! I still cook - y'all see it all on instagram (if you follow @eunamaes), but it's another whole fish to fry when it comes time to sit and write the recipe out for y'all. But this recipe is so worth sitting and down and sharing with you! Let me tell you how I ended up with roasted tomatillo and avocado salsa...

My best college friend Erin comes from Dallas to visit us in Northwest Arkansas each Fall and brings her family. We eat and visit and stay up late and tell stories and laugh. And we love to talk food, eat food, and make food! Well last Fall, she brought a jar green salsa from Wrights of Texas that we nearly drank. I had never ever had anything like it. It just tasted so fresh! It was loaded with cilantro, lime, real pieces of avocado, and diced bits of cucumber! That was last Fall 2014. And I have thought about it often. More often than I can confess and still keep my dignity. 

So I set out to research recipes and make a batch for myself. And today was the day. It was the hottest day of the year so far in Arkansas, and we were having beautiful steak fajitas for supper. And I knew I was gonna figure out a similar recipe so I could have it with chips and spoon some of that freshness on my fajitas. 

Y'all.

You have to make this.

Don't be scared of the steps. And don't be afraid to buy tomatillos if you haven't ever used them before. They're just little green tomatoes that come in paper-y jackets. They're a teeny bit sticky on the outside after you slip their paper-y jackets off, so you'll want to rinse them. But when they're roasted - oh my stars! - they're out of this world! And the roasted flavor they give this salsa! I promise you'll daydream about it. 

ROASTED TOMATILLO & AVOCADO SALSA
{makes about 3 cups I'm guessin'}

6 tomatillos, about a pound
1/2 red onion, cut into thick slices
olive oil

salt and pepper

1 English cucumber, skin removed then chopped

these are the long skinny ones that are usually individually wrapped

 1 ripe avocado, cubed

cilantro to taste

juice of 2 limes

1-2 teaspoons of jarred jalapeno juice

Preheat oven to 400. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or silicone mat. Quarter the tomatillos, cut the red onion into large thick slices, and toss the two together in a bowl with about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Spread out onto the lined baking sheet, olive oil and all. Season with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Then roast for about 15-20 minutes until the tomatillos get juicy and tender and the edges of the tomatillos and onions begin to get a little brown roasty color on the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Chop the cucumber and put half of it in the pitcher of a blender. Hold on to the other chopped half. Add to the blender a little handful of cilantro according to your cilantro preferences. Then add the roasted tomatillos, onions, and all of the drippings from the baking sheet into the pitcher. Puree this mixture until smooth. Pour into a serving bowl and stir in the remaining chopped cucumber, the cubed avocado, lime juice, and jarred jalapeno juice to taste. Season with salt as you prefer. Chill for a few hours before serving.

Use within 10 days...as if it'll last that long.