Cilantro Sauce

Yesterday, I told you that I would share how I made my cilantro sauce.  First of all, we planted cilantro a few years ago in the garden because it the key ingredient in my homemade salsa.  We've never had to plant it again because it comes back every year - everywhere.

Cilantro growing along my garden fence.

If we didn't love it so much it would be annoying.  But, we consider it a blessing.  The problem is that it will go to seed quickly if it's not continually harvested.  Last year I attempted to harvest it and then simply chop it in the food processor and freeze it.  The problem with that approach was that the cilantro seemed to lose it's flavor that way.

Then, I found this post and was inspired.  It reminds of the chimi churri I make with parsley, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper.  I don't have exact measurements because it's all to taste.  Plus, I don't measure my cilantro.  I just harvest what is available and add the other ingredients until it tastes right to me.  This is roughly how it's made.

 Rinse cilantro and dry.

To a full processor I would roughly add 3 cloves of garlic.  You can add more or less depending on how well you like garlic.

Add cilantro to food processor.

Then add olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper.  Once again, adjust the lime juice to your own preference.  I personally think that lime juice is an excellent compliment to cilantro, so I am pretty liberal with it.

Chop it all up and adjust flavorings to taste.

The next thing I did was to pour my sauce into ice cube trays and stuck them in the freezer until they were nice and frozen.  Then I popped them out and stored them in a gallon size freezer bag.

Preserving my cilantro this way not only keeps it from losing flavor, but it makes it super easy to use when needed.  And, let me just add here - THIS STUFF IS FANTASTIC!  I truly hope I am able to harvest enough cilantro this year to be able to put up enough to get me through the winter.  I find that I've used a bunch of it already.

I used it to make cilantro rice for my black bean freezer burritos. This rice would also be great paired with any type of Mexican dish.  I have also used two cubes with a pint of tomatoes and a bit of cornstarch used as a thickener to make pizza sauce.  I think it would be wonderful made into a variety of sauces for fish, chicken, potatoes or just about anything you can think of.

If you find yourself with a bunch of cilantro that you don't know what to do with, consider making this sauce with it.

Happy Tuesday!