Grilled Tomatillo Salsa over Chile and Lime Chicken
Grilled tomatillos and chiles make a quick salsa that goes wonderfully with grilled chicken, fish or pork. The salsa can be made in large batches and frozen in one cup containers for future use. The tomatillos and lime give the salsa a tangy citrus flavor while the grilled chiles bring fire and smoke. It makes a great sauce for quick cheese or chicken enchiladas. This recipe is easily made outside on the grill or under the broiler. We served with lime and chile chicken.
Ingredients on the grill. Cooked the chicken after.
Grilled Tomatillo Salsa
Grilled tomatillos, poblano and jalapeño peppers are mixed with lime and garlic for a quick and easy salsa.
Ingredients
- 1 quart Tomatillos – husked and washed
- 2 Poblano peppers washed
- 1 Jalapeño pepper washed
- Zest of 1 Lime
- Juice of 1 Lime
- 1 large clove of garlic (or two small) finely grated
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Possibly 1 tsp to 1 Tbl sugar
Instructions
- Heat a good bed of charcoal. I use a full charcoal chimney. Once the coals are hot spread them on 1/2 the grate to make a very hot bed under half the grill.
- Husk and wash the tomatillos. Wash the Poblano and Jalapeño peppers.
- Place the peppers and tomatillos over the hottest part of the grill. Grill for three minutes and then turn. The peppers should be blackened all over but the flesh should still be firm (about 3 minutes per side)
- Cook and turn the tomatillos until the have some char marks and have turned soft. They will turn from bright fresh green to a more yellow-green and they will soften. (about 10 minutes total depending on the size of the tomatillos).
- When the chiles are blackened, place them in a paper bag for 10 minutes to cools some and steam the skin off.
- Pull the tomatillos off the grill and pulse in a food processor until chopped. They turn to liquid pretty quick so don’t over pulse them. You would like a little texture left.
- Grate the garlic into a large bowl using a microplane grater.
- Grate the lime zest into the bowl. Juice the lime and add the lime juice to the bowl.
- Add the pulsed tomatillos.
- Peel and seed the poblano peppers and dice into 1/4″ pieces and add to the bowl.
- Peel and seed the jalapeño and mince finely and add to the bowl.
- Give everything a good stir and taste. Add salt and pepper as needed.
- If the salsa is very tart, add 1tsp of sugar and stir in. Taste and add more if it is needed. It shouldn’t be sweet but the sugar will bring the lime and citrus flavors to the front.
Preparation time: 30 minute(s)
Cooking time: 10 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 6
Recipe by Jim Phelps.
Microformatting by hRecipe.
Ingredients for the dish.
Chile and Lime Chicken
SummaryQuick and easy grilled chicken breasts that go great with the salsa above.
ingredients
- 4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts, patted dry
- 1 tsp finely grated Lime Zest
- 1 tsp Chile Powder (hot if you want it spicy)
- 1 large clove Garlic, grated on a microplane
- 2 tsp dried Mexican Oregano (or Italian), rubbed in your palm with your thumb to break it up
- Salt and Pepper
- Canola Oil (1 to 2 Tablespoons or so)
instructions
- Pat the chicken breasts dry with paper towels. Note: I use “air chilled” chicken. It has much less water than cheaper chicken breasts.
- Salt and pepper the breasts well on both sides.
- Mix the lime zest, chile powder, grated garlic and oregano in a small bowl.
- Add enough canola oil to the bowl to make a loose paste, thick oil.
- Spread the flavored oil on the chicken breasts evenly.
- Move to the fridge and cover while you heat the grill and make the salsa.
- Once the salsa is made, grill the chicken over the hottest part of the grill for 2 to 3 minutes a side. Cover the grill between flips.
- You will cook them on each side twice. If you turn them on the grate, you can make fancy cross-hatch grill marks.
- Cook for about 10 minutes until cooked through in the thickest part.
- If the breasts are very thick, you might need to finish them on the cooler side of the grill for a few minutes.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Cooking time: 10 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 4
Recipe by Jim Phelps.
Microformatting by hRecipe.
My Market Year(s) 
Very nice…