Things I Do With Herbs

Sometimes, I have so many herbs and so little to do with them. Sure, I can lay them out and dry them and boom, I've got dried herbs to use for the next six months, but it's not quite as yummy as using the herb fresh in my honest opinion.

My absolute favorite herb is Cilantro. Nothing beats Cilantro and I love it with anything and everything. Two of my favorite things to do with Cilantro is either make a Cilantro mayo or a marinade. Some people have referred to my recipe as a sofrito, but I don't think it's quite that. Kind of close I guess. But anyway, I usually make these with Cilantro, but Parsley, even Dill would work well in these recipes. Just experiment with what you've got. Why not? If you don't like mayo, you can make your own herb aioli if you'd like, but in my eyes, aioli isn't all too different to mayonnaise.

When it comes to my Cilantro mayo, I make mine incredibly simple: equal parts of chopped Cilantro and mayo. If that's too much flavor for you, you can do a 2 to 1 or even 4 to 1 for a lightly flavored mayo. I personally LOVE Cilantro. I could eat it as is! So to me, the more the better. I usually chop my Cilantro into tiny bits so I get a nice bite every time. Yum!

As a marinade, it's easier to use a blender or food processor for this. I put in a bunch or so of Cilantro, 1 large onion or 2 small onions (you can add more if you want a heavy onion flavor), 5 cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, and run the machine. I drizzle in about a quarter cup of olive oil and make sure everything is a soupy mess. This is an awesome marinade for anything and if you love Cilantro enough, you can use this, as is, as a sauce. Cooked and tossed with a bit of pasta? It's like a lighter version of a Cilantro pesto. Yum.

This is a great way to use up leftover fresh herbs. And if it doesn't work out? Hey, just go with the original idea and dry them to use later. :)

Enjoy!