Have you heard? It’s hatch chile season. If you frequent Central Market or Whole Foods I’m sure you’re well aware. August is all about these green chilies harvested in the Mesilla Valley of New Mexico near a little town called… Hatch. They’re a staple of New Mexican cooking and are quite mild, coming in below the jalapeno on the heat scale. For weeks now I’ve seen them turning in the drum roaster outside of my Whole Foods. The entry way is lined with patches of green chiles and there are neat little plastic containers sticking out of ice coolers with the roasted gems ready to go. I’m not usually one for the packaged fruit or veggie containers in the produce section. I’ll save my $7 and cut up my own pineapple thank you very much. But these aren’t your everyday prepped produce. $2 buys you one pound of hot or mild fire roasted chiles. Unless you have a drum roaster in your backyard, I’ll say that’s a pretty good deal. Beats the canned stuff in more ways than one, a 1/2 cup canned runs $3 a pop. I know because the first crop came in a little late this year so I settled for the canned stuff to make these amazing sweet potato enchiladas (coming soon).

Besides adding flavor, green chilies are high in vitamin A, C, K, B6, folate, potassium, manganese and magnesium. And like all vegetables they’re a great source of fiber.

I made this super simple hatch chile salsa with tomato, red onion, lime, cilantro, salt and pepper. That’s it. Use hot chilies if you want a spicier salsa, or mild ones for something a little tamer.

Hatch Chile Salsa

What you need:

1 lime, juiced
1 heirloom tomato, diced
1/4 red onion, diced
1 roasted hatch chile, diced
1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper

What you do:

Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Season with salt and pepper.