Tag Archives: cilantro

Ode to Cilantro

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There are many people out there who DO NOT like cilantro, there are even websites dedicated to those who HATE cilantro.  Well, I’m not one of those people, in fact I’m PRO cilantro.  I’m glad cilantro only grows in the spring and the fall, otherwise my kids would join the other cilantro camp because it would be a part of every meal!  I want to share today my favorite way to enjoy cilantro: Cilantro Pesto!

All you need to make this delicious concoction is some cilantro, a food processor, salt, garlic, and olive oil.  You might be asking yourself, self, is this like making basil pesto?  And your self will answer back, YES!  If you go online, there are many recipes to choose from, and I say pick one.  If it has too many ingredients, skip it, because the flavor of the pesto will be covered up.  Here is how we make it:

Cilantro Pesto

1 large bunch of cilantro

salt to taste

1 cup olive oil

4 garlic cloves

Directions:

Place all ingredients in food processor, blend until incorporated.  Taste it to see if it meets your needs.  More salt?  More garlic?  And oui, là!

Toss this pesto with some freshly prepared pasta, or rice.  We put it on everything!  A dollop on some salad, a smear on a burrito, even on pizza!

Cilantro lovers unite!  Try this tasty alternative to basil pesto, and this yummy way to enjoy the love of my life which is, cilantro!

Is there such a thing as too much cilantro?

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Around here, we just pulled out what was left of our winter cilantro crop from the smaller hoop house.  I had a grocery sack full of it in the fridge, and i stood gazing at it yesterday just before dinner.  I want to ask you dear reader, what would you have done with it?  The old me, say a few months ago, that me, would have thrown it away.  At that time, I only ate it fresh in soups, salads, and other foods like salsa and burritos etc.  The new and transformed me, made cilantro pesto with it.  Have you ever heard of that?  Have you ever tried it?  OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!  I’m going out on a limb here and saying that I like it more than basil pesto.  Yup, it’s that good, and so easy to make.  If you have a food processor, get to it!

Cilantro Pesto

1 bunch cilantro, fresh (or more if you’re hooked)

5 cloves garlic minced

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup walnuts

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

salt to taste

Put it all in your food processor and whiz it up.  Taste it.  If it doesn’t taste how you want it to, add more salt, or more walnuts, or more cheese, or even more oil.  It’s something you have to work with and design how you like it.  Cook up some of your favorite kind of pasta and add the pesto to the pasta and stir it up.  Serve and enjoy.  It’s totally yum, it would even turn a cilantro hater, like my son into a cilantro lover.

It felt good

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Synergy, in general, may be defined as two or more agents working together to produce a result not obtainable by any of the agents independently.

We had an unbelievable day today.  Well, I cannot speak for Beth and Franchy, but to me it felt good.  We finished what we started yesterday.  We were widening a row by a few feet.  That’s how Franchy had his accident : )  We pitch-forked the Bremuda grass up and then shook the soil from the roots.  This morning we finished that chore.  Franchy continued to work up the grass the next row over and finished it.  Bet raked the first row to even it and we started planting more cilantro seed.  It felt great getting dirt jammed under my fingernails.  As Beth and I were scratching dirt over the holes we drilled with our fingers, Beth said “Scratching Mother Nature’s back”.  How apt.  It felt really good to have my hands massaging the warm soil.  You should try it sometime.  Then we watered in all the seeds.  Good work team!  We broke about 1:00pm for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a salad.  Never had a meal tasted so good.  I felt so exhausted and dehydrated.  I had to sit still for a while because I had too much sun.  I don’t know about the weather in your neck of the woods, but in my yard it’s in the high 80’s/low 90’s…it’s brutal out there come 12:30 pm.  We took the rest of the day off.  Still ore to do, but tomorrow is another day.