The previous owner of our house must have loved green. The porch was covered in grass green astroturf, the porch itself is painted a hunter sort of green. The bottom half of the house is painted Necco wafer green as is the whole garage, including the doors. I don’t have anything against this color; in fact it’s a good fashion choice for the golf set, but for a house? I think the neighbors agree. When I met them, the first thing they asked was whether or not we’re going to paint it. You should see the inside I told them. It came with mint green carpeting, green linoleum and kelly green blinds. I’m going to banish green from making an appearance in our décor, but not on our table.

Salsa verde, or green sauce, is a standard Mexican cooked sauce. You can eat it with chips like any salsa, but it’s also excellent when used in tacos, on enchiladas, with grilled pork or chicken or as a topping for chalupas, which is today’s recipe. The main ingredients are green: tomatillos, jalepeños, cilantro and lime, with some onions and garlic thrown in for flavor. Have you heard that myth that there is some sort of gene that makes about 40% of the population hate cilantro? I’m not buying that one, because that would mean that 40% percent of Mexicans and Thai hate it too and that’s just not possible. If you grow up with the taste, you love it, if you encounter it for the first time later in life, you might say yuck it tastes like soap, or you might love it. My virtual friend Luisa, aka The Wednesday Chef, recently had a cilantro epiphany and is jumping on the Mexican food bandwagon. She is looking for more Mexican recipes and also said she’d like to see more pictures of the house. And that’s about as close as I can get today to tying these two unrelated paragraphs together, aside from the green part, of course.

chalupas de pollo con salsa verde (chicken chalupas with green sauce)
adapted from epicurious.com

For the salsa verde

• 1 lb fresh tomatillos, husks discarded and tomatillos rinsed and quartered
• 1-3 jalapeños, coarsely chopped (use just one for a milder sauce, up to 3 for more heat)
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion
• 3 garlic cloves, quartered
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 T vegetable oil

For the chalupas

• 1 to 2 T vegetable oil
• 12 small corn tortillas
• 1 cup shredded cooked chicken (from 1 chicken breast half)
• 1/4 cup sour cream mixed with the juice of one lime (put this in a squeeze bottle if you have one)
• 1/3 cup finely chopped white onion
• 1/3 cup finely crumbled queso fresco (Mexican fresh cheese)
• 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro
• For serving: 1 lime cut into wedges

Put all of the salsa verde ingredients except the oil in a blender and purée until smooth. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Carefully add purée (the oil might splatter). Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes. This mixture can be made ahead of time and keeps well in the freezer.

Heat 1 T vegetable oil in a skillet until hot but not smoking. Cook tortillas three at a time turning every minute or so until they are crisp on both sides. Add more oil as needed. To serve: top each tortilla with a little chicken, some onion, cheese, salsa verde and some of the sour cream mixture, then top with a sprinkling of cilantro (but only if you like it) and put a wedge of lime on each plate. Serves 3-4 people (or two really hungry ones).