One of my summer kitchen stand-by’s is salsa verde. In minutes, you can use fresh herbs to transform simple grilled meat or fish into a special dinner that’s full of big summer flavors.
Salsa verde is more of a formula than a recipe — just use parsley, capers, lemon, olive oil and something from the onion family (scallions, chives, thinly sliced red onion) and a fresh herb of your choice (basil, mint, tarragon, etc.). I generally use about four times as much parsley as anything else. For lean proteins like fish, add more olive oil. For richer ones like beef steak or lamb, use less. But salsa verde calls for improvisation –I don’t think I’ve ever made it exactly the same way twice.
Here’s a video showing two adaptations of a basic salsa verde –one adding avocado for grilled swordfish and another that incorporates a tangy spoonful of mustard to serve on a grilled ribeye.
Recipe follows.
Recipe
For four servings
Ingredients
For the basic salsa:
About 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons choopped scallions, white and light green parts only
2 tablespoons basil, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed, dried and roughly chopped
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
lemon juice to taste
olive oil
salt and pepper
For fish add 1 small avocado, chopped
For beef add 1 or more teaspoons of mustard
Instructions
Mix together the herbs, scallions, capers and lemon zest. Add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, mix again and taste. Season with salt and pepper and add lemon juice, if necessary to brighten the flavor.
To garnish fish, add another 2 or more tablespoons of olive oil and gently toss in the avacado.
To serve on top of a steak, stir in 1 to 2 teaspoons of mustard.
When the grilled meat or fish are ready to serve, spoon the salsa verde over them and bring them to the table immediately.
