When Josiah and I were in Austin a few weeks ago somewhere amongst our 9 taco-exclusive meals in a row, we had some tacos at this little local restaurant. We ordered a few of the vegetarian options they offered and were about to pay when the cashier said “Oh I forgot to ask, do you want any salsa with that?”
Don’t get me wrong, I like salsa, but it’s not a necessity for me every time I have tacos, so when I heard myself say “yeah, sure” I kind of surprised myself. Without really thinking much of it, I took the little cups they hand you to grab some from the condiment station and filled it with one of their spicy options. The green color spoke to me and spicy is something I often gravitate towards so this one fit the bill. There was minimal thought put into it otherwise.
I got back to the table and decided to dip one of the chips from our chips and guac order into the salsa (again, maybe not weird for others, but not a sure-thing for me). I dipped it and immediately knew that this salsa was different. It was hardly salsa. It was more of a godly nectar sent down from above. Fate intervened and salsa, which was merely an afterthought has become a staple. My life has been forever changed.
As soon as we got home I knew I had to attempt to recreate this deliciousness and this is what I came up with. We are currently putting it on everything: tacos, veggie bowls, eggs or even just straight up dipping chips! It’s on repeat in our life now and I hope you try it and can see why.
Spicy MAGIC Green Sauce
1 pound jalapeño peppers
12 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup cilantro
juice of 2 limes
Salt to taste
Turn the broiler on high.
Slice the jalapeños in half and remove most of the seeds (see note). Toss the jalapeño peppers in a little oil, then place on a baking sheet. Broil until the peppers are mostly blackened and soft, about 10-12 minutes.
Place the jalapeños along with the garlic, cilantro, lime juice, and salt in the base of a high-powered blender. Blend until mostly combined, then slowly drizzle in the olive oil to form a smooth and creamy sauce.
Transfer to an airtight container and store for up to a week.
Note: The amount of seeds to remove is completely up to you. I absolutely love spicy things and I think I have a pretty high spicy tolerance, but the first time I made this sauce I left about half of the seeds in and nearly burned my mouth off. The next time I made it I ended up removing 90% of the seeds and found that was a much better level of spiciness for me. Use your own judgement, but also note that jalapeño spiciness differs from jalapeño to jalapeños so each batch may be just a touch different because the peppers themselves will be slightly more or less spicy.
