I didn’t know it until I moved away from Colorado, but hatch green chile salsa is like A THING in Colorado. Probably because it is more southwest than any other state I’ve lived in and these lovely chiles are grown in New Mexico. Also, probably because Spokane Washington isn’t known for its phenomenal Mexican food!! Anyways, I saw these at the store at the beginning of the month and knew I had to make some salsa. The recipe is to come, but first, lets talk about hatch green chiles and why they are so awesome.

Chiles are vegetables, which means they contain a lot of nutrients for a little amount of calories. Some of the nutrients these chiles contain are:

Vitamin A: all green peppers contain vitamin A, which help with eye health and immunity.

Vitamin C: is a precursor in collagen growth as well as an antioxidant.

Capsaicin: this is what gives peppers their spice. The more heat a pepper has, the more capsaicin in contains. Capsaicin can help reduce pain because the heat/spice increases blood flow. This has been shown to help internally, for example with headaches. Capsaicin also comes in cream form, as it can also help if applied externally to sore joints and muscles. Hatch chiles aren’t known for their heat, but they do still contain a bit of capsaicin.

Now for the recipe!!

Hatch Green Chile Salsa

Ingredients:

• 4 cloves garlic

• 1/2 white onion

• 2 green onions, diced

• 1 jalapeno, deseeded

• 1 1/2 lbs tomatillos, shells removed and roughly chopped

• 5 hatch chiles, seeds removed and cut lengthwise

• 1 TBSP olive oil

• 1/2 cup cilantro

• 2 TBSP lime juice

• 1 tsp cumin

• 2 TBSP white vinegar

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp pepper

How to:

1. Turn oven to broil. Clean and prep garlic, jalapeno, tomatillos, and hatch chiles. Cut them all into large chunks for roasting.

2. Mix tomatillos and hatch green chiles with 1 TBSP olive oil.

3. Place all vegetables on a baking sheet or two. Arrange them so they are spread out a bit.

4. Broil in oven for about 10 minutes, or until vegetables are slightly charred.

5. Remove from oven and add to food processor or blender. Add cilantro, white onion, green onion, lime juice, cumin, white vinegar, salt and pepper. You may have to work in batches depending on how big your blender is. Blend until smooth.

6. Serve and enjoy!

We made hatch green chile burgers:

Turkey burgers with pepper jack cheese, spinach, avocado and A TON of salsa :-)