A visit to Puerto Vallarta before I knew Mr. Spinach Tiger with someone else I refer to as the surfer heel, if I can use a very old fashioned word, led me to a near death experience and an authentic lunch in the middle of nowhere in Mexico.

The Near Death Experience.

Our hotel had a secluded beach and a riptide someone forgot to tell me about. The surfer heel insisted we venture further out into the water from the shore and as usual he went ahead not looking back. He never noticed that I got caught in an undertow only a few feet from shore. The good looking outdoor bartender came to my rescue, got me out of the water and somehow my top, that came off in the rough waters, got back on. I was too frightened to care about that at the time and am grateful there were no cell phone cameras back then to embarrass me.

The guests were stunned. Not because of my wardrobe malfunction nor my near drowning, but that surfer heel didn’t even look back or take notice. Finally, he realized I wasn’t there and he came back to find himself at odds with all the guests. They shook their heads with disgust and wondered what a nice girl like me was doing with someone like him. This was the vacation that led to the demise of this relationship and that wasn’t the worst of it.

The Unsettling Beach in the Middle of Nowhere, Mexico

The next day, he insisted we rent a car and drive from the semi-safe tourist part of town to a smaller town where odd looking stray dogs run wild and tourists are no where to be found. While he was surfing, I had the pleasure of sitting on a very unsettling beach, scared to death that something worse than an undertow was going to come along. It was time to end this relationship and wait for a real man who put me first.

Mexican Lunch in the Middle of the Nowhere, Mexico
The food was surprisingly good and that’s when I tasted my first real guacamole, assembled from chunks of avocado with simple ingredients

Budro’s Tableside Guacamole

The next time I tasted anything as good was at Boudro’s Texas Bistro in San Antonio. I had dinner there with Mr. ST one Valentine’s week many years ago, comforted in the realization that I had waited for the right man.  They took a picture of us on the patio wrapped in blankets which Boudro’s provides its guests.  Romantic that he is, he framed the picture and has it on his desk.

He became just as smitten with the their famous tableside guacamole and recreated the recipe as soon as we got back home, adapting it to his own taste. The serrano pepper can be left out, but we love it. 

His guacamole is legendary, and there is none better anywhere here in Nashville. He’s very particular about it, and I enjoy watching him do his table side magic especially because it always takes us back to that night in San Antonio, serving as a reminder to me how different my life could have been with the wrong person. (Although I’m not sure about those sunglasses. I think they are long gone, but he thought he looked like Bono. I laughed too).

Table-side Presentation for Authentic Guacamole

Table-side guacamole is something you can do when your guests arrive, but give them a drink first. The entire assembly takes about five minutes.How to  Make Sure the Avocado is Ripe Enough, but not too Ripe

There is a little brown stem (button) on the tip of an avocado. If you flick it off, you will see either a brown spot (too ripe) or a green spot (ripe enough)

Peel Your Avocados. Did you know you can peel avocados. Let me show you here.

Chop your cilantro with this Tuo Cleaver, my new favorite kitchen tool.



Tableside Guacamole and a Beautiful Presentation

The key to a beautiful presentation is to have everything ready to chop freshly on the spot peel the avocados. This is much easier than you may think and I did a post on it.  Peeling the avocado makes it easier to cut into attractive slices for some dishes or nice chunks for this one. It might be a good idea to have your onion pre-cut, but dice the tomato fresh.

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So tell me, did you wait for Mr. or Mrs. Right? Did it take you as many dogs as it took me?

More Avocado Recipes from Spinach Tiger

• How to Peel an Avocado
• How to Ripen an Avocado
• Avocado Margarita
• Avocado Shrimp Salad
• Avocado Chicken Pasta
• Chocolate Avocado Smoothie (low carb)
• Baked Avocado Egg with Lime Hollandaise

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Authentic Guacamole and Tableside Presentation

Authentic Guacamole and how to do a nice tableside presentation.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• Note: To make enough guacamole: use 1 avocado per person and adjust ingredients accordingly.
• 4 avocados
• juice squeezed from 1/2 large orange
• juice squeezed from one lime
• sea salt black pepper
• 1/2 purple onion diced
• 1 small tomato diced
• handful of cilantro chopped
• 1 serrano pepper diced very finely (optional)

Instructions

• Assemble the following into a bowl:
• Peel avocados or carefully spoon out the flesh, keeping the avocado and intact as possible. Cut into large chunks.
• Squeeze the juices of orange and lime over avocado.
• Season with salt and pepper
• Add in chopped onion, tomato, cilantro
• Carefully mix together. You don’t want the avocado turned into mush.
• Season again with salt as needed, perhaps another squeeze of lime.
• Serve immediately.

Video

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I’ve been eating salsa verde for years, but it took me three times to get it right in my own kitchen. I made it in the oven. I made it raw. Not until I tried the recipe from Rick Bayless, did I have success. He made it so simply.

How to Make Roasted Salsa Verde

Broil tomatillos and serrano peppers for four minutes on each side, cool, process and add white chopped onion and salt. Truly a perfect recipe. I’ve seen lots of recipes adding avocado, cilantro, tomato, lime or garlic or any combination of these. I just happen to like a very, clean, simple salsa verde.

In this recipe, I only used one serrano pepper and at first, I thought it was almost too hot, but when I served it, everyone loved it. The heat is counteracted by the food you serve it on, so tasting it by itself is not a good measure.

What are Tomatillos?

Tomatillos  look like green tomatoes wrapped in a skin or husk and are often referred to as a Mexican green tomato, but they come from a different plant and are very tart.  Packed with nutrients, I like them for their anti-inflammatory and cancer fighting properties.

Tomatillos are typically cooked into a tart relish that wakes up any taco, and perks up any pork or chicken dish. and are cooked into soups and stews.

I always make salsa verde when I make carnitas. 

I’d love to hear about your roasted green salsa verde recipe. Let’s connect on facebook and instagram.

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Roasted Salsa Verde

Roasted salsa verde made simply with tomatillos, onion, serrano peppers, a simple and balanced recipe, using the broiler to char, adapted from Rick Bayless, perfect for any Mexican dish.

Course Salsa

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 minute minute

Total Time 11 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 6 to matillos
• 1 serrano pepper
• 1 small white onion diced
• salt

Instructions

• Turn broiler on high.
• Make sure you have a broiler proof baking sheet, not a stone sheet.
• Peel off skin of tomatillos, and wash sticky stuff off.
• Pat dry.
• Trim stem off serrano pepper.
• Put all in oven under the broiler 4 minutes each side.
• Cool.
• Process in food processor. You might have to cut off any parts that are too black.
• Add in about 1/4 cup chopped onion, more if you like.
• Season with salt to taste.
• Salsa will thicken further as it sits.
• Refrigerate.

More Mexican Food from Spinach Tiger

Pico de Gallo

Tableside Guacamole

Shrimp and Mango Tacos

Cuban Picadillo Tacos

Fresh Citrus Margarita

Avocado Margarita

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Homemade Pico de Gallo is a fresh, tomato salsa that is so much better than anything you buy at the store, where it’s usually too water, or too something. It’s nice to make it your way, so take these directions with a grain of salt, and balance it out according to your own taste.

The only thing I advise is that unless you can get very fresh summer tomatoes, use Roma tomatoes, which dice well and are less watery.

You can make pico do gallo up to an hour in advance to let the flavors meld together, but keep it at cool room temperature.

Tomatoes, once refrigerated, loses flavor, freshness, brightness, all the things that make a homemade pico de gallo wonderful to top any taco, protein dish or tortilla chip.

Homemade Pico de Gallo

I use red onions, first soaked in ice cold water, so they don’t overpower the tomatoes, but you can use white onions, and at times I’ve even used shallots. The homemade pico de gallo is finished with fresh cilantro, serrano peppers, salt and lots of fresh lime. You could use habañero or jalapeño peppers also. The serrano is hotter than the jalapeño, but I don’t choose it for its heat; I like it’s brighter flavor.

Sometimes, depending on what I’m making, I’ll add in fresh pineapple, especially if the rest of the dish is very spicy, like  ahot chicken or fish taco. Sometimes I’ll add fresh avocado, especially if I’m serving this with shrimp.

No matter what I’m serving if we’re having Mexican food at home, we always have pico de gallo, and here are a few of the ways we’ve eaten it

Steak Tacos made with Teres Major, a steak cut of value, often compared to filet mignon.

Carnitas, slow cooked pork braised with orange and lime for classic pork taco.

Avocado Margarita if you like something different and fresh.

Homemade Margarita with Fresh Citrus beats using a mix any day.

So tell me, do you make your own pico de gallo? Do you have a special recipe? I’d love to hear about it in the comment below or at my facebook page.

I would love to connect with you at instagram and you can find all my recipes in one place on my pinterest board.

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Homemade Pico de Gallo

Freshly made pico de gallo with serrano peppers, fresh lime juice, cilantro, onions to perk up any dish or use as a dip.

Course Salsa

Cuisine Mexican

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 6 roma tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons red onion finely chopped (can use white onion or shallots)
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 serrano or jalapeño pepper seeded, minced
• heavy dash of salt
• 1/2 lime

Instructions

• Cut off end of tomato. Slice in half cross wise. Make four cut lengthwise and dice.
• Finely dice red onion. If onion is very strong, reduce amount.
• Seed serrano pepper and finely dice.
• Add everything together.
• Squeeze lime.
• Season with salt.
• Gently toss.
• Taste for balance. You can add in more onion, lime juice, cilantro, peppers to taste.

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It’s food that is not “messed” with, kept as whole and untouched as possible so that each ingredient can be a star in its own right. This is my idea of a happy meal, not in line at all with the vision of modern culture’s happy meal. You can’t wrap this and put it in a bag. It’s not a carry around eat with your hands on the way out the door meal. It’s a “sit down, taste, enjoy, and savor each and every bite” meal. It was so good that I’ve been remembering it all day, wanting to eat it all over again. So good that I couldn’t eat dinner, because I’m ruined to be hungry for anything else. I may have to run to Whole Foods tomorrow and have it all over again.

Mango Crazy – How it Started
I am committed to two mango dishes this week and thought why not be like my fellow food blogger friend Greg at Sippity Sup. He went mint crazy last week and made no less than FIVE mint dishes that are worth checking out.

Mangos are not a go to food for me, but why not take on the challenge and prepare five dishes with mangos. It was easy to know where to start. We could be in separate rooms and answer the question correctly. What would DC want me to do with mangos. Make a salsa and put it on seafood. He got excited and brought me home a case of mangoes, which led to a back and forth on what I could do with them.

I had to pair the mango with tomato. I can’t say why but it was in my head, and I discovered I like the two sweet fruits put together. They are beautiful side by side. Perhaps it works because one doesn’t take away from the other. They can remain distinctly who they are, each exhibiting a different kind of sweet.

My First Attempt was a Failure
You need to know that I have kitchen failures trying to develop my own recipes. If I could give you a cooking lesson, it would be to go with your instincts, your own taste buds, use recipes as guides and be willing to try again. This time, I made the mistake of putting the mango tomato and onion in a food processor all at the same time, and all I got was mush. With a box of mangos staring at me, I started over, realizing the importance of keeping each ingredient separate and chopping by hand.

On my second try, I decided to use some mango I had macerated in limoncello using Italian lemon liqueur, but you can skip that step if you use very ripe mangos. I roughly chopped up each ingredient separately and then brought it all together. I did not use a lot of heat or a lot of red onion, because they can overpower the mango and tomato flavors and the delicate flavor of the halibut.

Cilantro or Basil
We had one disagreement. DC wanted cilantro. I wanted basil. Of course, I divided it up and made it both ways, thinking I would change his mind. He thinks his version was better, and I still disagree. Normally, I trust his taste buds, which are incredibly sophisticated and spot on. He knows immediately, what I need to take out or put in. I marvel at this, and feel the hand of divine intervention in making us a couple.

The recipe is for the salsa and halibut. The fish was served over brown rice made with mango and basil, but you could easily figure out how to do that, or I might return with a rice recipe. You could use white rice, wheat berries, couscous, orzo, etc.

Arrange raw spinach on a dish, drizzle with olive oil. Cover most of the spinach with the hot rice or hot grain. Place halibut on top of rice, and then arrange salsa on top of the halibut. It’s an all in one dish meal, but certainly no casserole, not even close. You will be able to taste everything individually and that is what makes this such a superb meal.

Recipe for Grilled Halibut with Tomato Mango Salsa
Ingredients

• 1 pound halibut
• olive oil
• salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Allow halibut to sit out before grilling for 20 minutes so it will cook in center.
2. Brush grill or spray grill with oil so fish will not stick. Brush lightly with olive oil, lemon. Season with salt and pepper.
3.  Heat grill to very hot, and then turn to medium high. Sear on grill skin side down, for 5 minutes. Turn over for another 4-5 minutes, watching carefully to not overcook. Time will vary depending upon thickness of fish. The fish is done as soon as the translucency disappears.

Tomato Mango Salsa

Ingredients

• 1 mango, macerated in liquor such rum overnight, sliced, diced
• 1 tomato, seeded, diced
• handful basil leaves chopped or cilantro
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion or finely chopped shallots
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped serrano pepper, seeded, deveined
• 1/4 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, seeded, deveined, diced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• juice of 1 lime

Instructions

1. Peel mango, using a potato peeler. I use a mandolin to medium slice the mango, then dice.
2. Slice tomato, squeeze out seeds, dice.
3. Dice or cut herbs with kitchen scissors, finely
4. Mix olive oil and lime juice together.Bring together gently to avoid over blending or making mushy.
5. Add lime zest at end.

Allow to sit in refrigerator for at least one hour.

Notes: Macerating a mango will help to bring out it’s flavor as it breaks it down. I used limoncello, but you can use a syrup made of citrus sugar water or a different alcohol, such as rum.

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