I have a list of things I want to do. One of them is to cook every recipe in a cookbook so I’m working my way through Rick Bayless’ Everyday Mexican. I’ve eaten a lot of good stuff. This series is the record of those adventures.

Clockwise from Top Left:Smoky Chipotle Salsa with Pan-Roasted Tomatillos, Toasted Guajillo Chile Salsa, Fresh Tomatillo Salsa, Chunky Fresh Tomato Salsa, Jalapenos en Escabeche. Middle:Roasted Fresh Chile Salsa

 A few months ago I felt like I needed to kick things up a notch recipe wise and so I called up Dahlia (aka the Deck-Building team CEO) and said “How about if we have a salsa-fest and make the rest of the book’s salsa this weekend.

Unsurprisingly, she was amenable.

#50 Chunky Fresh Tomato Salsa:Salsa Mexicana-This one was good but a little bit tricky at the time we made it (late Spring). I bet in August it would be ah-mazing! Like homemade salad dressings this (and really) all of the salsa are alarmingly easy to make. I don’t think I even chopped this too much, my friend Mr. Blender did all the work.

#51 Smoky Chipotle Salsa with Pan-Roasted Tomatillos: Salsa de Chipotle con Tomate Verde Asado-This was definitely a favorite despite the fact that I spaced out and bought the wrong kind of chipotle chiles. Oops. It still tasted great. Chipotles plus roasted-tomatillos=smoky bliss.

#52 Fresh Tomatillo Salsa: Salsa Cruda de Tomate Verde-This was so easy I couldn’t even handle it. Step 1: Throw stuff in blender. Step 2: Press button. I have three tomatillo plants ready to produce in my garden. I will be eating this refreshing concoction all summer long.

#53 Toasty Guajillo Chile Salsa: Salsa Roja de Chile Guajillo Asado-This one was the second favorite of my tasting crew and also of my co-workers who got all the leftover salsa. I really can’t say it enough, anything with guajillo chiles=delicious. I am just gonna put myself out there and declare them my favorite chile.Ooh…. bold! I am living on the edge, don’t tell jalapeños, they are a very jealous breed.

#54 Roasted Fresh Chile: Salsa de Chile Fresco Asado-This one in the middle is really more of a hot sauce than a salsa. It’s the stuff that the chile-heads pour all over their chips in their lunatic chile rages. My salsa tasters were not of the brave-chile types so this was not super popular. Weirdly it wasn’t even that spicywhich brings me to an important chile-related lesson: the little buggers are unpredictable. One week you will use a  jalapeño and produce a soothing mild salsa, the next week you will use one equally sized jalapeño and it will burn your FACE OFF.

The takeaway? Chiles are not to be trusted, but they should still be loved. The end.

I have a list of things I want to do. One of them is to cook every recipe in a cookbook so I’m working my way through Rick Bayless’ Everyday Mexican. I’ve eaten a lot of good stuff. This series is the record of those adventures.

I like this salad because it is a study of contrasts in flavor delivery. I know that sounds very weird, but stay with me. You start this salad by making a dressing of roasted garlic, jalapeños, lime juice, cilantro and oil. This produces a bright green sauce. I like bright green and consider this a good thing. You use one third of the sauce to marinate the grilled chicken, one third to dress the romaine lettuce and one third is mixed with avocados and grilled onions to make a sort of rockstar guacamole.

It’s so good! As Rachel Zoe would say “I die”.

Okay, back to my pretentious “flavory delivery” theory. This salad is genius because it basically delivers the same flavor on three different “canvases”(snob alert). The romaine is crispy, the guacamole is both creamy and onion-sweet and the chicken is smoky. The same flavor three ways! It’s a revolution people.

Add a little dusting queso fresco on top to bring it all together and enjoy my friends. En-joy.

I have a list of things I want to do. One of them is to cook every recipe in a cookbook so I’m working my way through Rick Bayless’ Everyday Mexican. I’ve eaten a lot of good stuff. This series is the record of those adventures.

I am a fan of both pork and dishes that can be made in a slow-cooker which means this dish wins on two counts. In fact it is so easy to make that I threw it together in 20 minutes before I left the house for an entire day of chocolate tasting. Win-win.

Pork and cannellini beans are both creamy and a bit heavy in and of themselves so they pair really well with the tang of tomatillos and the spice of chiles in escabeche. I will warn you though that this dish is a bit spicy. Arnold in particular was not pleased. When I came home “exhausted” after a long day of eating chocolate and tacos in San Francisco he pointed at the dish and said accusingly “I thought my mouth would burn off.”

I pulled out one of my Dad’s many pearls of wisdom. “Oh well, that’s more for me.”

I have a list of things I want to do. One of them is to cook every recipe in a cookbook so I’m working my way through Rick Bayless’ Everyday Mexican.  This series is the record of those adventures.

It’s kind of hipster-foodie-pretentious which is always a fun way to be. ;) Or is it annoying? Oops. Sorry guests.

Pretention aside you should cook this cause it’s easy and crowd-pleasing. I mean look at that bright red-color? If that doesn’t say fancy, I don’t know what does.

To make this you need a whole box of achiote paste/powder. I do not know exactly what it is, but it is bright red and when Arnold saw me adding it to the dish he was instantly alarmed “Is it spicy?” he said. “I have no idea.” I replied.

Our conversations are riveting.

For the record it was not spicy but rather tangy and it paired really well with the smokiness from the grill and the sweetness of the green beans. I am taco obessed so I served these with tortillas and the suggested roasted tomato salsa. I am like the taco version of that “Put a bird on it.” Portlandia video. Do you have green beans and Tikin Xic?

“Put’em in a tortilla!”

I have a list of things I want to do. One of them is to cook every recipe in a cookbook so I’m working my way through Rick Bayless’ Everyday Mexican. I’ve eaten a lot of yummy stuff. This series is the record of those adventures.

Rick gives you three options for how to make guacamole, simple, herby and luxurious. I like to fancy myself as being like Gwen Stefani so obviously I choose luxurious.

I’ll make my review of this guacamole short.

I like avocados. Avocados are good.

Find the whole recipe with variations here!

I have a list of things I want to do. One of them is to cook every recipe in a cookbook so I’m working my way through Rick Bayless’ Everyday Mexican. This series is the record of those adventures.

Would you also like to befuddle your friends by making fresh, delicious salsa using canned tomatoes? Look, no further. Today I will solve your, and perhaps the world’s roasted salsa problems with a not-so-secret ingredient.

This might be a shocking revelation for you, but…Tomatoes are not available year-round, even in sunny California! I hate with a passion using crappy tomatoes and I’m so thankful that this brand has extended my ability to use tomatoes year-round. So now, you know the secret world. Buy good-quality fire-roasted canned tomatoes, mix them with garlic and jalapeños that you have pan-roasted. Throw in some white onion that you diced up small and rinsed to remove the harsh edge and cilantro because it makes everything better.

And since I am in a sharing mood, I have one more secret to share: mint. I know it sounds weird, but they throw mint into their salsa at Tacolicious and if you have ever eaten at Tacolicious you know that you should obey their advice without question or delays.