Name: Salad with Pickled Tomatillos, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and Goat Cheese
Total time: PLACEHOLDER
Ingredients: ½ cup cider vinegar; ¼ cup sugar; 2¼ teaspoons table salt, divided; 12 ounces tomatillos, husks and stems removed, rinsed well and dried, and cut into eighths; ⅓ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, patted dry and sliced thin, plus 2 tablespoons packing oil, divided; ¼ cup chopped fresh basil; 1 garlic clove, minced; ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes; 1 head red or green leaf lettuce (8 ounces), torn into bite-size pieces; 2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (½ cup); ¼ cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Why This Recipe Works

To show tomatillos off in a new light, we built a salad with an unexpected flavor profile around the focal point of pickled tomatillos. Tomatillos' crunchy skin holds up well to the pickling process and their tart flavor is enhanced by a balanced sweet and vinegary brine. We boiled the tomatillo wedges in a simple brine of cider vinegar, sugar, water, and salt for just 1 minute to infuse flavor before transferring the mixture to a bowl to cool to room temperature. While the tomatillo pickles were cooling, we built our salad. Oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes were an unexpected flavor complement, their assertively bright flavor pairing perfectly with the pickled tomatillos. Refreshing leaf lettuce made a sturdy base for our salad. For a zippy, punchy dressing, we used the sun-dried tomato packing oil and the tomatillo pickle brine. To finish the salad, creamy goat cheese balanced the acidity of the tomatillos and dressing, and toasted walnuts added a crunchy final touch.

Instructions

Bring vinegar, sugar, 2 tablespoons water, and 2 teaspoons salt to boil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add tomatillos and boil for 1 minute. Transfer mixture to bowl and let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Drain tomatillos, reserving 2 tablespoons brine.

Whisk reserved brine, sun-dried tomato oil, basil, garlic, pepper flakes, and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt together in large serving bowl. Add pickled tomatillos, red leaf lettuce, and sun-dried tomatoes and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with goat cheese and walnuts. Serve.