Whether spooned onto breakfast tacos, devoured with chips or served with grilled red snapper, salsa’s addictive heat elevates everything on the plate. This month’s reader recipes serve up a delicious mix of charred, smoky and fiery flavors. To get a salsa fix without cooking, try the following from Gonzalo Guzmán, chef at Nopalito in San Francisco (and author of the eponymous cookbook, with Stacy Adimando). “Unlike a cooked tomatillo salsa, this version retains all the bracing freshness and acidity of its raw ingredients,” he says. He suggests serving Salsa Cruda with meaty appetizers or entrées, like carnitas, or robust vegetables, like grilled portobello mushrooms.

1–2 jalapeño peppers, coarsely chopped
7 medium tomatillos, husked and rinsed
1 large clove garlic
Leaves from 1/4 bunch cilantro
Salt

1. In a food processor, combine the jalapeños, tomatillos, garlic, cilantro and a generous pinch of salt. Pulse until ingredients are well-blended but the salsa is slightly chunky.

2. Taste and adjust the amount of chiles and salt as desired.

Makes 2 cups.

Reprinted from Nopalito: A Mexican Kitchen (Ten Speed Press, 2017)