There used to be a Mexican food stand at my local farmer’s market that made the most amazing chilaquiles. They’d take a big bowl of chips, throw them on this huge screaming hot griddle, pour loads of salsa verde on top and toss the chips and salsa around together. Piled on top was onions and cilantro (and some kind of meat). Simple and delicious.
The first time my boyfriend and I ordered from this stand, we chose the spicy chilaquiles. Big mistake. Neither of us could finish them because the spice was so overwhelming. That had never happened to me before (and it hasn’t happened since). I can really manage some spiciness – sometimes my nose runs excessively, or I’ll reach for ice water after every bite – but it had never phased me like this before.
Even though that spicy salsa was some kind of bio-hazard, we had to go back the next week. We’d never had chilaquiles before that, and despite the searing pain of the spicy salsa, we were hooked on this new find. We chose mild the second time. This allegedly “mild” salsa was still one of those nose-running, reaching-for-ice-water foods. But amazing. We ordered the mild chilaquiles many, many, many more times. And then the stand disappeared!
I had to find a similar fiery salsa recipe (coincidentally from a chilaquiles recipe!) and make these at home. This was really easy to health-ify too, using my own oil-free baked chips instead of fried or store bought ones.
They were a no-brainer to vegan-ize too – I just replaced the meat with some black and pinto beans.
Delicious.
Super Spicy Salsa:
adapted from Marcela Valladolid
yields about 2 cups
1 lb tomatillos, husked
5 serrano chiles (mine were fairly small, so 5 was fine – if they’re large, stick to 3 or 4)
4 cloves garlic
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
1/2 C cilantro
Preheat broiler.
Place first four ingredients on baking sheet. Do not peel the garlic before roasting or it’ll burn. Broil about 5-10 minutes, until veggies are wrinkly and a have some charred spots. Stem serranos, peel garlic, and then blend all ingredients, including cilantro, together.
If you’re concerned about the heat, then broil 3 large or 5 small serranos, but blend them into the salsa one at a time, tasting after each one, until you reach your desired heat level. If you really don’t like much spice, then take the seeds out. Or just use one jalapeno instead of the serranos.
Chilaquiles:
serves 2
4 whole wheat tortillas
1 C Super Spicy Salsa recipe above
1/4 C black beans
1/4 C pinto beans
small onion, diced
big handful of cilantro, finely chopped
juice of one lime
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut tortillas into strips or wedges or whatever you want. Place a cooling rack on a baking sheet, and put tortilla strips onto rack. Bake until crispy, about 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, do two things – first, heat up a big griddle pan or just a big frying pan (a wok would probably work really well here too). Second, chop onion and cilantro, and mix them with lime juice in a small bowl.
When chips are ready, throw them and the salsa verde on the griddle, and move around constantly. It can get pretty steamy – you’ll definitely want to turn your fan on for this one!
Cook for about 5-7 minutes. You want the chips to be just a little bit soft from the salsa, but with plenty of crisp edges left for you to grab onto. Then throw beans in and mix, just until beans are heated through (only takes a minute).
Remove from heat. Top with onion and cilantro mixture.
Serve alongside some fajita-style veggies. And lots of ice water.
Nutrition facts per serving (will vary depending on tortillas): Calories: 420; Calories from Fat: 35; Total Fat: 3.9g; Cholesterol: 0mg; Sodium: 403mg; Total Carbohydrates: 88.9g; Dietary Fiber: 17.3g; Sugars: 8.6g; Protein: 20.5g
For a printable version, click here.
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