Summer tables are filled with sweetness, ripe tomatoes, peppers, and fruit of all kinds. But we love the punch of astringent sours or mild bitterness to set against all that sweetness, plus enliven savory dishes. So I bring you three green sauces to use as condiments, or to pour over chicken, pork, or tofu for an easy braise. They are a Mexican tomatillo salsa, an Indian green chutney, and Italian salsa verde.
First of all, the colors of these sauces are stunning. The primary ingredient for the chutney and the salsa verde are soft herbs, cilantro for the first and parsley for the second, so the resulting color is a deep emerald green. The tomatillo sauce is a lighter celadon green. But if you don’t blend it too much, just pulse it in a food processor or even chop each ingredient and mix together, you get lovely flecks of darker green amidst that celadon.
The flavor of each sauce is quite distinct. Raw tomatillo sauce has a tangy, citrus flavor that gets more complex with the addition of onion, cilantro, and chile. You can easily adjust the flavor and heat by how much jalapeño or serrano you add, and whether you choose to use the cilantro as a main or secondary ingredient. I prefer the tomatillo to take center stage. There are many variations on this sauce from Rick Bayless,’ which is pureed with avocado, to Pati Jinich’s, who briefly roasts the tomatillos before creating a chunky puree with onion, garlic, and cilantro. I love Rick Martinez’s version, which has a lot of texture. Raw tomatillo salsa is often spooned atop tacos or eaten with chips, but I think its acidity suits it as an accompaniment to grilled or seared fish, whether whole or filleted.
Italian salsa verde with its addition of anchovy, garlic, and capers is an umami bomb that’s delicious tossed with chilled cooked shrimp. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
Italian salsa verde combines flat leaf parsley with garlic, anchovy, and capers stirred into extra virgin olive oil for a sauce that is filled with umami. Traditionally, one pairs Italian salsa verde with boiled meats like bollito misto, which we’ve talked about in the past. But why not toss boiled and cooled shrimp with a few tablespoons of the piquant sauce for a different kind of shrimp cocktail? I love it served with grilled tuna steaks or with chilled and sliced grilled flank steak. My relationship with salsa verde is akin to cookbook author Rachel Roddy’s, who adds basil and breadcrumbs to the mix. This recipe from Serious Eats goes traditional with the all parsley and the addition of a hard boiled egg, which mellows out the anchovy and capers, but you can easily leave it out.
Indian green chutney is a craveable and versatile sauce you can use as a condiment or as flavoring for a braise. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
As for the Indian chutney, I was inspired to talk about all these sauces from an essay Ali Slagle wrote in her newsletter 40 Ingredients Forever, in which she cooks chicken thighs in a chutney tweaked from a few she likes, including Samin Nosrat’s. Nosrat uses dates as the sweetener to round out the flavors of cilantro and the heat of chiles. I could eat this on anything. It’s wonderful as a topping for hummus.
Each of these sauces is an excellent condiment to accompany grilled meats, fish, or tofu.
And speaking of those summer tomatoes, imagine a plate of perfectly thick slices topped with any of these sauces. Also, they do double duty. If you have salsa left over the next day when the flavors have mellowed, just toss it on browned chicken thighs, then cover and cook. You can also brighten any soup with a tablespoon of any of these sauces.