I’m a little bit behind. I realize – today is Ocho de Mayo and I’m late to the game with a salsa & taco recipe. But the way I see it – every day can be taco day. Aside from avocado smashed on toast, “stuff in a tortilla,” is my next go-to meal. I came up with this recipe a little bit by accident. A few weeks ago, I was in Chicago visiting my family, cooking with whatever was around my mom’s kitchen. On that particular day: a few tomatoes, an avocado, some onions, etc… Halfway through chopping all of these salsa components, I realized I had no jalapeño. Now, I’ve been living in Texas long enough to know that salsa is not salsa without some sort of hot pepper. So I searched for the next spicy thing and found sambal oelek.
I would have never thought to pair sambal with salsa, but it totally did the trick (plus it just sounds fun). If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a chile garlic paste similar to sriracha. (In fact, you could use sriracha here if that’s what you have). Because it’s a paste, the sambal incorporated smoothly with the tomatoes. But the best part – no more painful “jalapeno hands.”
I made this salsa again other night with some lovely local(ish) tomatoes from Marfa. To make it a meal, I scooped it on top of sprouted corn tortillas with black beans and a little bit of crumbly cheese. Simple and delicious.
