Cilantro Spread

Cilantro is easily one of my favorite herbs and is a must have ingredient anytime I am making dishes from the Mexican genre (especially guac)!  Cilantro comes from the leaves of the Coriander plant (although Coriander, coming from the seeds of the plant, has a much different flavor).  Cilantro has a lemony / sagey / earthy taste and I find it to be very refreshing.  I did read recently that cilantro is an appetite stimulant... I guess that explains why I could eat an entire bowl of my homemade guacamole without coming up for air!

I really feel for the people that absolutely dislike the herb, apparently even Julia Child was on the cilantro hating band wagon.  They are in the minority, but they have a strong voice regarding their distaste of this faithful ingredient of mine...Check Out the Hatred.  Some people find it to be soapy in flavor or correlate it with bed bugs.  This is terribly difficult for me to imagine; however, this is an interesting read from the NY Times about why this is the case for many people.

Regardless of your opinion of cilantro, I suggest you try this little recipe I made up last night for a Cilantro spread.  This recipe can come in handy when you purchase cilantro for a recipe that only requires the herb for a garnish, leaving you with almost a whole bunch of cilantro that will just sit in the fridge and go bad.
 The basic recipe I based this off of was a recipe for cilantro pesto that included only cilantro, olive oil, salt and pepper, and I found that combination to be slightly bland, so I started with those ingredients for a base and created a spread that could be used on sandwiches, on omelets, mixed into tabbouleh salads, combined with chicken and pork, or whatever else you can imagine!

Cilantro Spread

• One bunch cilantro (*Note: you can save some to have handy in the fridge if you plan on making another dish requiring cilantro in the near future)
• 1 - 2 T Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• A squirt of lime juice (my guess is I used about 1 tsp.)
• 1/2 Shallot, minced
• Garlic Powder to taste

1. Wash and de-stem the bunch of cilantro.  The stems are edible, but I got rid of the really large stems and kept the smaller stems; either way will work.
2. Using a food processor, chop the cilantro into very fine pieces.  If using a smaller food processor, I recommend doing this a little at a time rather than doing the entire bunch in one whirl of the processor.  Once chopped, add the olive oil to the food processor and give the cilantro and oil another whirl or two.
3. Transfer to a bowl, add remaining ingredients and mix well.  Use spread in whatever dishes you prefer and enjoy!

To give you an idea, I made a grilled chicken, cucumber, tomato, and garbanzo bean salad and added the cilantro for a little extra flavor (pictured).  I also used it as a spread in a grilled chicken wrap and Lucas used it as a topping on a Mexican inspired omelet.  The options are endless so be creative with it!! 

Bon Appetit!