Cilantro

This stuff is so good that you can eat it right off the spatula.  Seriously!  Good on rice and veggie stir-fry, with grilled meats or fish, or as a spread on bread.  Yum!

• 1 cup fresh cilantro
• 1 ½ cups fresh mint
• 1 green chili pepper (or more to taste)
• 1 onion
• handful of cashews (for texture)
• juice of one lime (or lemon )
• ½ tsp salt
• little water as needed

Put everything in the food processor and blend to a paste.

This pesto is great on a fish fillet or baked/broiled meat.

You can also pack the pesto into an ice cube tray, and freeze the cubes, so you have the pesto all winter to use as needed.

Okay, taking me back to my roots of growing up in Texas.  Here's a super delicious and fast breakfast option that everyone loves in our household.  It is a great way to use up stale tortillas or tortilla chips.

You could really use any combo of veggies here.  This is just one example using spring veggies.  Also try adding greens like lettuce or even the tops from the radishes!

1-2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
¼-½ cup scallions, thinly sliced at an angle
½-1 bunch radishes, sliced
handful of snap peas, snapped and chopped
½-1 bunch cilantro, washed and chopped

4 TBLS olive oil
2-3 TBLS lime juice (or lemon/vinegar)
Seasonings to taste: cayenne powder, cumin, salt, pepper

1 bunch carrots, cut into 1.5”x .25” x .25” sticks
4 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1+ tablespoon lemon juice
1+ tablespoon olive oil
Salt, paprika, cayenne powder to taste
Scallions, chopped (optional)

Drop carrots into a pot of boiling water for 10 seconds.  Remove to bowl and add the rest of the ingredients.  Combine well and serve either room temp or chilled.

6 egg yolks
2-4 tablespoons honey
juice of 2 juicy limes (1/2 cup)
1/2 bunch cilantro, finely minced (can include stems here)
3 cups cream

Beat together egg yolks and honey until smooth.  Add the rest of the ingredients and pour into ice cream maker and proceed according to the machine's directions.  Delish!!

1 teaspoon lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
5 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, minced
2 tablespoons fresh chives or onion, minced
Salt to taste

Combine lime zest and juice and vinegar in a small bowl or jar.  Wisk in oil to a blended consistency.  Then, stir in cilantro and chives/onion, season with salt, and pour over prepared salad.

1 onion, sliced into thin rounds
3 Tbls butter
1 bunch carrots, sliced into thin rounds
1 quart chicken stock
½ bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste

Another excellent way to eat cilantro is to make an herbed butter with it:

2 TBSP cilantro minced
2 TSP fresh squeezed lime juice
1/2 TSP grated or minced ginger
1/2 cup butter, softened

Combine cilantro with fresh lime juice, and ginger.  Stir this mixture into butter, and then form the herbed butter into a 6” log on wax paper.  Roll up the wax paper, twist the ends and refrigerate (or freeze).  To serve, slice nice thick pats of the butter onto hot fish fillets or beef steaks so that the cilantro butter melts over them.

Cilantro is an herb that pairs excellently with tomatoes (see "Tomatoes" in our Vegetable Gallery for a salsa recipe) as well as with fish, fowl, and beef. The following recipe for cilantro sauce is good over any of the aforementioned meats, whether they are hot or cold:

1 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped (coarse stems removed)
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
1 tsp fresh lime (or lemon) juice
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Blend all ingredients until smooth and serve or refrigerate to chill.