Tomatillos, Two Ways

A couple of months ago, I made an offhand comment on an article in my local newspaper (which only exists on-line, so why do I persist in calling it a paper?). My comment prompted a personal response from the editor like 30 seconds later, and the next thing I knew, both my husband and I were signed on as volunteers to help get a new farm market off the ground.

Well.

It started Saturday and it turned out to be glorious. The day was perfect, the vendors were great, someone was there with a pizza oven on a trailer making piping hot fresh pizzas, and I spent two and a half hours chatting with friends and neighbors and acquaintances and farmers and strange dogs. And I felt relieved and proud that people showed up, because publicity - which is what I've been doing - is not my strong suit.

Anyway, I came home with a weird mish-mosh of things, like a wild boar cacciatorini and some fresh eggs and a jar of "cream of sausage" tomatoes (which was neither cream nor sausage, but just pale yellow plum tomatoes) - and a quart box of tomatillos. Why I bought the tomatillos is kind of a mystery to me, but it could be because they came from a tiny farm run by two charming women with dirt under their fingernails.

Of course, then I had to figure out what to do with the tomatillos - something I've never ever before bought.

First up, I made a salad, more or less as follows:

• 1 ear of leftover corn, kernels sliced off
• 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/3 cup of quinoa (which cooked up to about a cup and a half)
• 10 tomatillos, cleaned and diced
• some chopped parsley
• some chopped fresh oregano
• juice of a lime
• a glug of olive oil
• smoked paprika
• salsa salad seasoning
• salt
• pepper

Toss together and eat. I had the leftovers for lunch today, and if anything, it was even better.

The next night, I made kind of a salsa, which we ate with grilled chicken and polenta:

• 20 tomatillos, cleaned
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• a glug of olive oil
• a splash of moscatel vinegar
• a few springs of oregano, chopped
• salt
• pepper

We roasted the tomatillos until they collapsed. After they'd cooled, I buzzed them with the hand blender and stirred the rest of the ingredients in. I should have chopped the tomato up a little finer, but no matter - it was a lovely, sweet sauce.

Moral of the story? Try the tomatillos.