Ever buy a bunch of herbs for a recipe, only to use a tablespoon and find an icky bag of dried-out leaves two weeks later? This has been a long-standing problem in my house, and I've been determined to find a fix for it.
This week, the herb of immediate concern is cilantro. As a major cilantro lover, it's a staple in my kitchen, so much that I always keep it around. I use it as a go-to for my frequent Southwest-themed meals, but there's a lot one can do with the flowery, lime-like herb; it's a fixture in Indian, Persian, and Chinese cuisines, among others. If you've got cilantro odds and ends, here's what I'd recommend.
- Surprise your taste buds with a cilantro martini.
- If you're a cilantro lover, make it the star of a creamy soup.
For five more suggestions, keep reading.
- Got garlic, oil, and lemon? Then you can make cilantro pesto to go on pasta or just about anything.
- Take a tip from the Canary Islands and create a mojo sauce for marinating meat, as with this orange, cumin, and cilantro sauce over pork loin.
- Skip the burrito bar in favor of your own cilantro-lime rice.
- Pair a South Asian-themed meal with a cooling cucumber-cilantro raita.
- Sub in cilantro in place of parsley in a tabbouleh.
What do you do when you wind up with too much cilantro and not enough time?
Source: Flickr user Joi
