PYRC #6: Roasted Red Salsa & Avocado Fries with Cilantro Lemon Dipping Sauce

Because our house is “under construction,” I’ve been refraining from having friends over, but since it’s been almost four months since we’ve moved in, I finally gave in a couple of weekends ago, and we had a cookout. In order to embrace the currently non-remodeled look of our home, I decided to welcome my friends with a message.

I then proceeded to let my friends write all over the walls with permanent markers and paint pens. Considering the wallpaper is getting ripped off or covered over, it really mattered none whatsoever.

Anyway, Jeff and I decided we were going to have a fajita cookout, and since we were having fajitas, I decided to pick out a couple of complimentary Pinterest recipes: roasted red salsa and avocado fries with cilantro lemon dipping sauce. These two items were perfect for the menu: chips and salsa, guacamole, avocado fries, beef fajitas (marinated by Jeff), Mexican cream corn, black beans and refried beans. Yum yum yum!

Salsa Roja (Roasted Red Salsa)

This recipe was too easy. Halve the vegetables and lay face-side-up on a cookie sheet in the oven to roast. Once the peppers are roasted and the tomatoes are soft, let the vegetables cool. Run all ingredients through a blender, stir and serve. That’s it! Other than blending in one too many pieces of roasted garlic, the salsa was perfect. Not too hot, not too chunky, not too tomato-flavored, etc. Considering I had personally never made homemade salsa, tackling this too easy, yummy salsa recipe was a score for me. If you’d like to make your own batch, you can find the recipe here at One Particular Kitchen.

Avocado Fries with Cilantro Lemon Dipping Sauce

This recipe was perfect for the occasion considering (1) I had a plethora of ripe avocados on hand, (2) I don’t normally cook fried appetizers for just me and Jeff, and (3) there were plenty of people over to eat it all. The methodology was pretty straightforward too: cut avocado wedges, dredge them in breadcrumb mixture, then in egg mixture, then again in breadcrumb mixture, and then fry them for a few minutes in oil (just like chicken). I did my frying in an electric skillet but using an actual fryer would have been even handier. As for the cilantro lemon dipping sauce, all you had to do is blend the ingredients together and voila! (Credit to Kelly on that part.) Aside from the fact that they were a bit of an appetite crusher, the avocado fries were a hit amongst everyone. The only downside was the fact that I couldn’t prep and make them ahead of time. If you want to try a new, different snack for an upcoming gathering, you can find the recipe here at Adventures in Cooking.

All-in-all the Pinterest Yummy Recipe Challenge #6 was a success!