Cinco de Mayo Dips: Tomatillo Salsa and Guacamole

Cinco de Mayo is just a few days away and I wanted to share some dip recipes. I love chips and salsa, it's my favorite snack. However, tomato doesn't love me. This can making eating ethnic foods kind hard. I love Italian, but can't do tomato sauce - even thought I do every once in a while, because I just can't get away from it. Then Mexican food also has a lot of tomato, but I solved that problem with my recipes. I decided to try something new, tomatillos and roasted red peppers.

Tomatillos are funny green looking vegetable that look like a tomato with a paper husk. They can cost a bit of money, but luckily you only need a few for this recipe. I love peppers and I thought why not use red peppers to make the red color of salsa instead of tomatoes. I roasted my ingredients to create a more in depth flavor.  

Tomatillo Salsa
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 jar of roasted red peppers (about 2-3 peppers)
4 tomatillos pealed and roasted
1 clove garlic
1 jalapeno seeded and rough chopped (optional or use other pepper or only half)
1 ear of corn roasted and cut off the cob (optional)

Preheat the broiler. Take the husks off the tomatillos and cut them in half. Place tomatillos on a baking sheet, face side up, and put them into the oven, just several inches below the broiler.  Roast the tomatillos for 5 minutes on each side. You can do the same with the red peppers, but I like the jarred ones the best. Scrap the black skin off the tomatillos with the back of a knife. Roast the corn on the grill till the ears start to turn dark, beware they may pop if they get too hot. Let the corn cool before cutting it off the cob.

Add all of the ingredients to a blender or a food processor and puree till smooth. Add water if you want a thinner salsa. Makes about 2 cups. 

 I love avocados, they go great on everything and they are super healthy. This is a very standard type of guacamole, but you can dress it up however you want for what every crowed you will be serving. I normally just do avocados, onions, a lemon juice; but at times I throw in chopped tomatoes, corn, peppers, and cilantro. 

Guacamole 
3 avocados
1 lemon
1/2 a large onion finally chopped
1 jalapeno seeded and finally chopped (optional)
1 tomato seeded and chopped (optional)
salt to tastes
red pepper flakes to taste. 

Put the flesh of the avocados into a bowl and smash with a fork. Add the lemon juice, onion and other vegetables of your desire, and mix well. You can blend this if you want a smooth creamy guacamole or you can keep using your fork to create a lumpy texture. Add salt and pepper flakes to fit your taste. I do add a lot of salt to mine, and you could use a coarse salt or even a margarita salt to this if you like.  Makes about 1 1/2 to 2 cups.