Chimichurri

Posted by fairybekk on September 15, 2010 · 2 Comments

There I was, standing at the door of my open fridge, staring at a bunch of ingredients, willing an answer to come.

I imagine that this is how Sherlock Holmes feels when staring down some evidence: the jalapenos are in the plastic bag on the middle shelf, and then Jam just brought home those delicious looking steaks. And the parsley and cilantro are going to go to waste if they aren’t put to use, and there’s some lovely apple cider vinegar from a local apple farm… at which point, I’m sure, Holmes would have retreated to his study to smoke his pipe and mull over the evidence. But not me. Nope. I sat down on the floor, well aware that, were I in the presence of any environmentalists, I’d be committing a massive faux-pas by leaving the fridge open for so long.

I used to do this when I was young, you know. Sit on the floor in front of an open fridge. In fact, I can distinctly remember the very first time I felt apathy. I must have been very small, because my vantage point was from about a foot and a half up. But I sat in front of the open freezer, looking at all of these things, and just feeling ‘eh’. That feeling of ‘eh’ still happens sometimes. On those “I don’t know what to wear today because my favourite outfit is in the wash” days. Or on the “I’ve had tomatoes on toast every day for the past month but I don’t quite know what I want to become obsessed with next” days. But this story has a happy ending, because my lovely husband suggested chimichurri which, for the record, killed two birds with one stone as, 1. It used up all the ingredients that needed used, and 2. It kicked me out of the protein-ehs I’ve been feeling lately. I lay awake last night for a whole ten minutes thinking of all the different sauces that can be whipped up to liven up a boring old chicken breast.

Even better news is that chimichurri is one of the easiest things to make, and it keeps in the fridge for a week or so. Last night we had it over steak. Tomorrow it’ll be over grilled chicken, and I think we’ll manage some shrimp too before we run out.

Chimichurri sauce

If you have an immersion blender that has its own mini food processor, use that. I love it for things like this. If not, then use either a blender, or a food processor, or, if equipment-less, then just chop everything really finely and give it a good shake in a closed jar.

1 cup olive oil

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1 bunch parsley (just the leafy parts)

1 bunch cilantro (just the leafy parts)

4 jalapenos

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

6 cloves garlic

Throw everything in the blender/ food processor and pulse until it’s a thick saucy consistency. Serve over meat.

Told you it was easy :).