Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde

Salsa makes everything taste bettter. Seriously, I mean salsa on chips, on meat, on eggs, the list keeps going and going. I would like to personally thank the first person who decided to invent this amazing food. Since I am growing tomatillos in my little backyard garden, I figured this would be a good way to use some of them up. I have always loved salsa, but I also truly enjoy salsa verde. If you have never tried growing tomatillos, they are super easy to grow and there is nothing better than going outside to your backyard and picking a few to make this wonderful salsa.

1 1/2 lbs tomatillos
1 med onion, quartered
1 pasilla pepper, halved lengthwise and stem removed
2 jalapeno peppers, halved
 1 cup cilantro
juice of 1 1/2 limes
pinch of sugar
salt to taste

Heat oven to 400°
Peel and wash your tomatillos. Cut them in half and place them cut side down on a Pam sprayed broiler pan. On the same broiler pan, place your onion quarters, pasilla pepper halves and your two jalapenos that have been halved. Place the broiler pan in the oven and roast the vegetables until the tomatillos are soft. This might take anywhere from 10-20 minutes depending on your oven. Just keep checking to see if they are soft. They don't need to be mushy, just soft enough to blend up. Remove from the oven and place the roasted vegetables into a food processor along with the cilantro, lime juice sugar and salt. Process until it is the consistency of a salsa. Place in refrigerator to cool.

Stuffed Salmon wth Sriracha Cream Sauce

I'm not sure I could ever truly convey my genuine love for sushi!! I think I could eat it day and night and not tire of it. I have always like the sriracha cream sauce on the top of the rolls at sushi restaurants. So when I stumbled across this recipe, I just knew I would have to try it. It's not sushi, because the salmon is cooked, but the sriracha cream sauce is a perfect copycat of the sauce that comes on the rolls at sushi restaurants. The next time I make it, I will leave out the cream cheese on my portion as I am not a lover of cream cheese mixed with my seafood.

Here is a link to the recipe:
http://theboogieblog.net/2011/02/27/stuffed-salmon-w-sriracha-cream-sauce/

Basil Pesto

Let me first admit that I could sit down and eat this entire making  of pesto sauce with a spoon. Who needs pasta when this tastes so good by itself? Secondly I admit that I did continue to taste this, under the guise of taste testing of course, to make sure I had it right! ;)
So....luckily I had some left to use in my stuffed shells I am making tonight for dinner. (I will post the recipe for those also, after I get a picture of it tonight)

2 cups basil leaves, packed down
1/2 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt/Pepper to taste

In your food processor, pulse the pine nuts and basil a few times. Add the garlic a pulse a bit more. Slowly add the olive oil while the food processor is running. (Stream it in continually while the food processor is going) Turn off the processor and scrape down the sides. Run again for just a few seconds to mix it all up. Add the grated parmesan and mix again until thoroughly blended. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with pasta or you can put it over chicken or anything else that sounds good!