Eat your veggies.
I’ve mentioned my cousin Tony three times in my blog. There are two things you should know about Tony and I’ve never mentioned either of them before. First, he was my best friend for the first 20 years of my life. We had weekend sleepovers at our family’s homes, celebrated holidays and birthdays together and spent our summers vacationing and working at my parents’ garden center. We both went to college in Maine and lived together the summer after our junior year. While life has taken us in different directions, thanks to that time we shared, when we see each other we can pick right back up where we left off.
The other thing you should know about Tony is that he did not like vegetables. Tony would, with facial expressions that would make Jim Carrey envious, choke down the 3 green beans or slivers of zucchini my Mom insisted he eat at dinner. Corn was tolerated when necessary.
The summer after our second year at college Tony had a break through. For the first time we were living out from under our parents’ roofs and, living high off of our summer job earnings, would go out to eat most nights. At least three dinners a week would find us seated outside on the deck at the now defunct La Cazuela Mexican restaurant in Northampton, MA.
Tony’s self proclaimed breakthrough was the addition of lettuce to his tacos. Once the sole purview of meat and cheese, he had added thinly shredded Iceberg lettuce to his palate and nearly requested a standing ovation for the accomplishment.
Today, Tony and his wife Andi take their children out for sushi and Indian. To my knowledge there is little he won’t eat and he truly loves good food - including the vegetables.
While developing this recipe for asparagus salsa verde and slivered, skirt steak tacos the other night I couldn’t help but think of how appalled 19 year-old Tony would be at all of these additional vegetables finding their way into the tortilla headed for his mouth.
As I sat down to dinner I thought about how much he would like these today. And how much I wish we could share a plate of them together right now.
Skirt steak tacos with asparagus salsa verde
Serves 4
Sweet asparagus and mild heat lighten traditional salsa verde for a spring dinner. Marinated, thinly-sliced skirt steak provide the perfect foil for this salsa-meets-guacamole spring sauce.
Salsa:
1 medium onion, halved and peeled
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 jalapeño pepper, halved and seeded
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 lbs asparagus
6-8 sprigs of cilantro
1/2 tsp Piment d’Espellette or hot paprika
1 tbs epazote
Apple cider vinegar
White pepper
Skirt steak:
1 tsp Guajillo or other chile powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbs epazote (optional)
Cayenne pepper to taste
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil - the good stuff
1 1/2 lbs skirt steak
NOTE: Skirt steak usually comes in long thin strips, usually 4-5” wide and over 12” in length. The grain of the muscle runs crosswise, not lengthwise, through the steak. We cut it into 8” lengths so it will fit into a skillet and then into 4” pieces after cooking so we can thinly slice it perpendicular to the grain.
To serve:
8-12 corn tortillas
1 red onion, diced
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro
1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco or shredded white cheddar
Directions:
Marinate steak: Combine all ingredients except the steak in a medium bowl and whisk together. Place steak in a freezer bag and pour marinade over. Massage to coat steak in marinade. Return to refrigerator and marinade for at least 1 hour and up to 8.
Make salsa: Preheat broiler and set top rack 8” below heating element. Toss onion, garlic and jalapeño with 2 tbs olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and place on a rimmed baking sheet and place under broiler.
Meanwhile, snap tough ends from asparagus. Toss with remaining 2 tbs oil. Season with salt and pepper.
When onions and peppers begin to blister, turn the vegetables over and scatter asparagus around them. Return sheet pan to oven and cook until asparagus is bright green and just taking on a bit of color around the edges.
Transfer vegetables to a blender or food processor along with cilantro, Piment d’Espelette, epazote, a splash of vinegar, about 2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp or so of white pepper. Purée and season to taste with additional salt, pepper and vinegar as needed. Reserve. After dinner cool any unused salsa to room temperature and refrigerate.
Cook steak on the stove: Cut steak into 8-10” lengths. Pat dry with paper towels. Warm a 12” skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tbs olive or vegetable oil. Add steak and cook, turning once, to medium, about 140 F. Approximately 5-7 minutes total. Remove from pan and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting into 4” lengths and slicing horizontally against the grain.
Cook steak on the grill: Set a medium hot fire on your grill. brush gate with vegetable oil and place steak directly on grill, without patting dry first. Cook, turning once, to medium, about 140F. Remove from grill and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting into 4” lengths and slicing horizontally against the grain.
Warm tortillas: While your steak rests, warm tortillas one at a time in a dry 10” skillet over medium heat, about 45 seconds to 1 minute per side. Wrap in a dish towel after warming. This steams the tortillas and softens them slightly.
Assemble tacos: Fill with meat and top with onion, cilantro, cheese and asparagus salsa. Makes 8-12 tacos depending on how much you fill them.
TIP: Skirt steak is wonderfully flavorful but tougher than many other cuts. Undercooking it makes it chewy and over cooking it makes it tough.
TIP: Taco-sized tortillas are usually about 6-7” across. A street taco is more like 5” and easier to fill and eat. I often cut mine down with a paring knife or really large biscuit cutter.
