Featured in the November 1999 issue of Texas Monthly

Spicy Tomato-Avocado Salsa From Tacos Santa Cecilia, El Paso

1/2 bunch cilantro (cut off large stems)
2 scallions, white part and some of the green stem
1/2medium onion, peeled
2 tomatoes
2 serranos or 1 jalapeño, stemmed
(seeded if you wish)
1 avocado, peeled
1/2teaspoon salt or to taste

Divide first 6 ingredients into 2 batches. Coarsely chop ingredients of one batch. Put cilantro, scallions, and onion from that batch in a blender with 1/2cup water and pulse briefly. Add tomato and chiles from same batch and pulse briefly again. Add avocado from same batch and pulse again. Do not overblend. Pour into a bowl and set aside.

Finely chop ingredients from other batch and stir into blended salsa. Add salt to taste. Serve immediately. Makes approximately 4 cups.

In Texas a basket of warm chips and a slap-your-face fresh salsa are the hallmarks of a good Mexican restaurant. I know they may not be served that way deep in the home country, but they are here, and that's that. When I dip a chip into the bowl only to find some pink, foamy salsa, stuff that has been blended senseless, my heart sinks. A salsa should either have enough texture to perch on a chip or be so thick and smooth that it readily coats a chip. A salsa with the right amount of heat renders the taste buds more sensitive to other flavors. It dances on your tongue.

At Tacos Santa Cecilia, one of the best salsas I've eaten anywhere is whipped up fresh every day. The ingredients are basic: ripe red tomatoes, white onion, scallions, cilantro, fiery chiles, and—here's the restaurant's twist—avocado. The addition of chunks of avocado is not so unusual in Mexican border towns, but I have never before seen it blended into the sauce. This salsa is great on pork, beef, or chicken tacos. And if you add several spoonfuls to some mashed avocado, you'll have one of the best guacamoles you'll ever eat.
Patricia Sharpe

Produce
cilantro
scallions
onion
tomatoes
serranos or jalopeños
avacado