Last night while I was whipping up another batch of black bean guacamole and a boatload of hummus, I noticed that the beautiful bunch of cilantro I had bought last week was getting wilty and spotted; yuck! But I only use a small bunch in the guacamole and I wasn't in the mood for anything cilantro-centric for supper so what was I supposed to do?! The answer was right there in front of me. The food processor, of course. I could make a non-traditional pesto! So I racked my brain and came up with a spicy cilantro almond pesto and it turned out to be amazing. And amazingly simple.
spicy cilantro almond pesto
ingredients
1 c cilantro, rinsed and pulled from stems
1/4 c almonds, peeled
1/8 c red onion, diced
1/8 c plus 1 tbsp avocado oil
2 tsp favorite hot sauce
pinch course Kosher salt
dash ground pepper (chipotle & black)
directions
Blend together in a food processor until the desired consistency is reached. Top with a tablespoon of oil and store in an airtight container in the fridge up to one week.
Holy cannoli, it was delicious. Though I wasn't very hungry, I couldn't help but rattle off a list of all the ways I could use it - as a sandwich spread, for dipping grilled chicken or steak, to top fish tacos, stirred into gazpacho, the possibilities are endless. But like I said, i wasn't very hungry, so I just topped it off with a splash of oil and threw it in the fridge. However, after a sweltering day wandering around Gettysburg with a gaggle of seventh grade boys, my sunburnt self wanted something quick and delicious for supper. I had some leftover egg whites in the fridge after making ice cream so I decided to do a little breakfast for dinner. I love breakfast for dinner! Some kale sauteed with salt and pepper, slices of warm polenta, scrambled egg whites, topped with a spoonful of pesto and a dash of hot sauce. It was so perfect that I'll be enjoying it again tomorrow night.
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| so much green! |
So, Martha, what do you think of that? I came up with something tasty and delicious using almost old cilantro and I didn't even need your help. Now that I'm stuffed with healthy, tasty homemade goodness, I'll go on to read that post. Maybe I'll even update my darling readers about what it told me!
Update: Ok ok ok, so pesto wasn't the main focus of the Everyday Food blog from Martha Stewart's team. It really was a collection of suggestions for how to use leftover herbs that are at risk of getting icky. There are actually some great ideas including herbed cornbread and green goddess dressing. The pesto suggested and used as the cover picture was made with cilantro, just like mine, but uses peanuts instead of almonds. Honey hates peanuts so that recipe would not be used in my house and, to tell you the truth, I like what I came up with better. But head over to Martha for a few great tips and recipes for nearly gnarly herbs!
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