Salsa Amarilla (Yellow Salsa)

Looking for a beautiful, fresh delight to spice up your summer meals?

I had some salsa amarilla at a taco stand years ago and never forgot that unique and tantalizing flavour. One day, years later, I decided to recreate this dip but none of the recipes I found online were very helpful as they mostly focused on raw sauces. So I started hacking and the result is this beautiful sauce.

It has the bright, fresh flavour you'd expect from something so happy and yellow. But don't let that sunny exterior fool you. It also has a dark side. Because it's a roasted salsa, it also has a great depth that will keep you dipping until it's all gone.

Use this salsa anywhere you'd use red and green salsas or as a colourful complement to them.

Chips and dip, tacos, raw veg - whatever - this sauce is beautiful and oh so delicious. Hope you love it!

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking / Cooling time: 20 minutes

Makes: about 1 1/2 cups

Dietary Notification: This recipe is vegan/vegetarian. It can be made with oil instead of cashews for those with allergies.

Supplies

Ingredients:

2 whole yellow bell peppers

1-2 whole yellow tomatoes *

2 light green or yellow moderately spicy peppers **

2-3 cloves of garlic, unpeeled

1 Tbsp raw cashews OR 1 Tbsp olive oil

lime juice to taste

salt to taste

pumpkin seeds (optional)

Equipment:

2 steel trays for roasting

knife and cutting board

blender or food processor

rubber scraper/spatula

*You can use under ripe regular tomatoes, especially Romas. If you have heirloom yellow tomatoes, choose them under ripe as well and still firm.

**I use a type of light green pepper found here in Thailand which may be an Anaheim pepper or a Caribe. They're fruity and range from mild to moderately spicy. You can also choose Amarillo peppers or something similar. We're looking for moderate heat here and a light colour. Remove/add seeds to control the heat.

Step 1: Soak Cashews

Boil a few tablespoons of water and pour it over your raw cashews in a small bowl. Leave them there to soak, the longer the better. Forget about them. Go out to dinner. Watch a movie. They'll still be there when you get back.

Step 2: Roast

There are many ways to roast your veggies. This is the one I like.

I place a pizza tray over a burner and put all of the veggies on (bell peppers, garlic, tomatoes, and moderately spicy peppers). Then I cover it with another pizza tray and blast the heat.

You could also:

-roast the whole veggies on a tray in the oven

-grill them over your burner

-roast them over hot coals

-use that blowtorch you've always wanted to try out

Step 3: Burn and Turn

We're looking for deep colour here. Translation? If it burns, great!

Let the skins get all blackened and turn things over every few minutes.

The garlic will be done first (about 2-3 minutes) so take it out and put it aside.

Everything else will take 8-10 minutes.

Step 4: Play It Cool

Take the trays off the burner and open them up for a few seconds to let the heat out.

Next, close it all back up and let it cool. The residual heat trapped in the peppers should help loosen their burnt skins which you'll be removing.

Step 5: Optional Garnish

Roasted pumpkin seeds are delish.

If you want a nice garnish for this salsa, toss some hulled pumpkin seeds in a small frying pan and dry roast them for a few minutes on medium heat while waiting for things to cool down.

You can sprinkle on top later.

Yum!

Step 6: Peel and Blend

Get your blender or food processor ready or run out and buy one while you're waiting.

IF you're using cashews, pour the water off and add the now slightly soft and bloated cashews to your mixer.

IF you're using oil, you'll add this at the end instead.

Both of these ingredients will add oil to the mix which will improve the mouthfeel and, most importantly, thicken the salsa and keep it from separating.

Peel the skins and stems off of all the veggies and discard, using a knife to help if that pleases you.

Slice open the moderately hot peppers and remove their seeds - set them aside if you think you may want to turn up the heat.

Put all the roasted veggies in your mixer along with a squeeze of lime juice and a pinch of salt. You can always add more later.

Blend the salsa viciously, as though you're trying to remove all trace of what it's made of.

Stop and scrape down the sides periodically and keep blending until the salsa is smooth and uniform.

IF you're using oil instead of cashews, drizzle it around and blend it in after the salsa is already mixed.

Do a final taste test and add more lime, salt, or the spicy pepper seeds you held back because you're a cool customer who doesn't leap before you look.

Step 7: Plate, Present, Devour

When your salsa amarilla is ready, pour it out into a nice bowl and prepare some dippers.

I used tortilla chips, carrots, red and green peppers, brocolli, purple Japanese sweet potato, and edible butterfly pea flowers (dok anchan in Thailand) because these things are all pretty and I'm also entering this instructable in the Colors of the Rainbow Contest.

The works is done... now get out there and eat it!