Roasted Tomatillo-Citrus Salsa
by Brenda Francis

I roast vegetables on the grill all year long. During the summer months, when cooking inside the house is not an option, I try to cook everything on the grill. Roasting vegetables is fairly easy, although it requires attentiveness. This recipe calls for roasting the following vegtables; tomatillos, a bell pepper, and garlic (roast a whole fist). You can roast on foil or directly on the grill. There are red potatoes pictured here, which are not in the recipe, but are a wonderful side dish to the salmon. I coat them in olive oil and spices before placing them on the grill.

Remove husks from tomatillos and rinse. Core bell pepper. Some people cut the whole top of the garlic fist off, I like to cut slits in the side cloves and cut some of the top off. Either way, you should have an opening in the garlic clove because once it is roasted, you can squeeze the clove out of the skin.

Place tomatillos, bell pepper, and fist of garlic on a hot grill. Bell peppers and garlic can take a fair amount of heat. Be careful with the tomatillos. They burn easily and can rupture, causing a loss in pulp. Turn the peppers and tomatillos frequently making sure they don't burn too much. Roast the skins so that when you remove them from the grill, the skin will slough off easily. Avoid burning the skins to the point where the inside of the vegetable is affected. The garlic should be soft to the touch and the cloves inside the skin should be slightly brown.

If you are roasting red potatoes too, keep an eye on them that they don't burn. Once the skins are roasted move them to a top rack for longer cooking. Potatoes take longer than the other vegetables. This method is similar to baking them.

Once the tomatillos, garlic, and bell pepper are roasted, remove them from the grill. Remove the skin from the bell pepper and place in a food processor. Squeeze three cloves of roasted garlic from the roasted fist into the food processor. Add the roasted tomatillos to the food processor. You will use half the tangello in the recipe. Cut the tangello in ½" to ¾" wheels so that you can peel fruit away from rind (remove seeds). Add the tangello pieces and remaining ingredients to the food processor. Process with a pulsing technique until all is blended to a salsa consistency. Place in a covered bowl to keep warm.

Grill your piece of salmon on a piece of foil on medium heat. My rule of thumb is 10 minutes an inch. If the salmon is one and ¼ inches, grill it for 12 minutes. Depending on the quality of the fish, I occasionally pull it off the grill a little early for a medium - medium well doneness. Feel free to take the fish off the grill to check it doneness. Check it at the thickest spot by gently parting the meat. Completely cooked fish is firm; if it is flakey it is overcooked!!!

Add tomatillos salsa to the top of the salmon when finished and serve with roasted red potatoes or any other side dish you choose. This is heavenly with the Relax Riesling.