Originally published on June 23, 2014
Herbs are one of my favourite ingredients in the kitchen, especially this time of year when gardens and kitchens seem to be overflowing with them. But they’re good for more than just sprinkling into a dish here or using as a garnish there. You can use them as a main part of your recipe, or as a recipe all on their own. Pulse them in a food processor with garlic and some hot pepper of any variety and you get a chimichurri sauce. Or blend them with nuts, garlic and lemon juice and you’ll have a beautiful pesto.
Or you can do this. Leave out the nuts, use zest instead of juice, and keep the garlic and herbs, and you’ll have an Italian gremolata – one of those fancy cooking terms you may have heard on Hell’s Kitchen or MasterChef, but maybe never really knew what it was. If you want to keep it really authentic, the herb to be used is parsley and the zest, lemon. But seeing as how when I made gremolata all I had were limes and cilantro in my kitchen, those were the two that I used, and that’s how my gremolata got a new twist on its name.
Ingredients:
1 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
Zest of 1 lime
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Directions:
1.) Place the cilantro and garlic into a food processor and pulse until the entire mixture is a fine dice. Add the zest of the lime, a pinch of salt and pepper, and as much olive oil as you’d like (it can help tone down the taste of raw garlic.) Mix thoroughly.
2.) Serve on fish, chicken, grilled meats, or use as a condiment, and enjoy!