Beans and Baby Potatoes with Roasted Tomatillo Sauce

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market, you can look forward to a bounty of summer produce from Good Food Easy at Sweetwater Farm, pastured meats and eggs from Fair Valley Farm, and beautiful fresh cut flower bouquets from Tiger Lily Art Company.

Sweetwater Farm has started harvesting their tomatillos, which, when juxtaposed last Sunday with spicy peppers and baby potatoes, seemed to dictate dinner.

I pan roasted halved tomatillos, along with some garlic cloves and peppers, for my favorite roasted tomatillo salsa from Rick Bayless. Then I drizzled the salsa over baby potatoes and tender yellow beans for a delicious vegetable side with broiled salmon. Summer simplicity packed with flavor.

Beans and Baby Potatoes with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Salsa (adapted from Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday)
1 pint of tomatillos
1-2 cloves garlic
1-2 spicy peppers such as jalapeños
salt

To roast the tomatillos, you will want to use a cast iron or nonstick skillet, or to avoid a messy cleanup, you can line a regular skillet with foil. Heat the skillet over medium high heat, and place in the unpeeled garlic cloves and whole jalapeños. Meanwhile, remove the husks from the tomatillos, rinse them, and cut them in half. Turn the jalapeños and garlic and cook until they are charred on both sides. Remove from the pan to cool. Place the tomatillo halves into the hot pan, cut side down, and allow to cook until they start to soften and collapse, turn more yellow, and char on the bottom. Flip them over and cook them for a few minutes on the other side. Remove the skillet from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. While the tomatillos are cooking, peel the garlic and place in a blender jar. Remove the stems from the jalapeño and all or some of the seeds, according to your preference for spiciness, and add these to the blender jar. Once the tomatillos have cooled a bit, add them to the blender jar, including all the charred bits from the bottom of the pan. Add a generous pinch of salt and blend until smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed. Reserve. 

Vegetables
I pint baby potatoes
2 handfuls yellow or green beans

Set a medium pot of salted water with the baby potatoes over medium high heat and cooked until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, slice in half, and arrange on a platter.

Set another medium pot of salted water to boil. Trim the beans. When the water is boiling, add the beans and cook for 4 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Arrange the beans over the potatoes. Drizzle with the salsa and serve water or at room temperature.