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Monday, June 16, 2008

An Abundance of Cilantro

Growing up in the midwest, I didn't even know what cilantro is. Now it is one of my favorite herbs. Cilantro is a cool season herb, best grown from seed. This is our spring patch of the herb growing in the garden.

I have and abundance of ciantro in my garden right now. This is one of my favorite ways to use a lot of it. This is a recipe from Bobby Flay's Bold American Food cookbook for Cilantro Viniagrette. I love it as a fresh tasting salad dressing. It's fabulous on sliced garden tomatoes with fresh mozzarella. It is also wonderful with grilled fish or chicken.

Cilantro Vinaigrette
2 cups (tightly packed) cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Combine everything except the olive oil in a blender and puree. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil until emulsified. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pour into a squeeze bottle. May be prepared up to a day ahead and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature to serve.

Try some yourself and let me know what you think!

4 comments:

marjo said...

Hi!
you have a nice blog :)
in Portugal we use this herb a lot.
the delicious "arroz de marisco" (rice of seafood) is not the same without it.

Cheryl Patterson said...

Hi Marjo,
Thank you! Arroz de marisco sounds delicious. In the U.S. cilantro is very often used in Southwestern and Latin influenced cooking. I love it.
Cheryl

Le-Chat said...

This herb is really easy to grow and it looks nice in pots and plant boxes too. A coworker gave me some leftover seeds three years ago, I collected the seeds from the new plants and I'm still growing from it.

Anonymous said...

Cilantro was a new taste for me when I moved to Texas - seems like all of the local dishes used it. Unfortunately, I'm not a fan and was constantly picking it out and leaving a wilted pile of green leaves on my dinner plate. The locals must have thought I was crazy. lol

Nice blog you have here and will have to look around some more!