Lila makes Jack drool with this recipe in INTO THE FIRE, so imagine my husband’s horror when I said, “Stop! I’m going to measure everything, so I can put your (very untraditional) chimichurri recipe on my blog.” His chagrin doubled when I insisted on washing the gritty cilantro. Good times…good times.
If you love meat or love cilantro you should try this. It’s good on eggs, sandwiches, pizza, chicken, beef, pork, bread – you get the picture. It takes a lot of self-control to stop myself from slurping up big spoonfuls of this stuff. I’m trying to think of a way to turn it into a soup or a salsa or something with less fat, so I CAN slurp it up in the quantities I desire. Until then I will use this recipe and ration myself…
4 cups loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves, some stems are okay (I say wash it in the lettuce spinner. My husband says ignore the sand.)
1/2 cup canola oil (or a canola olive oil blend)
1 clove chopped garlic
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
up to 1 Tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce
4 grinds of fresh pepper
a serious 1/2 teaspoon salt
Blend in a food processor. It will become a loose, oily sauce, slightly thinner than a pesto. Sounds weird, tastes glorious. And it gets even better if you let it mature for an hour or so. Store it in the fridge and try not to drink it when no one is looking!
*Chimichurri is especially good on roasted potatoes. I pick out the bite-sized ones at the grocery store. Then I coat them with a little canola oil and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. I roast them at 425 until they are soft and cooked all the way through to the middle – about 45 minutes. Then I either toss them or dip them in chimichurri. Yum!
Amanda Usen 