{"id":606,"date":"2008-10-28T18:52:52","date_gmt":"2008-10-29T01:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/?p=606"},"modified":"2008-10-28T18:52:52","modified_gmt":"2008-10-29T01:52:52","slug":"chimichurri-sauce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/2008\/10\/28\/chimichurri-sauce\/","title":{"rendered":"Chimichurri Sauce with Black Bean Cucumber Tomato Salad and Lentil Salad"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chimichurri is a popular sauce from Argentina made with fresh green herbs (usually parsley, cilantro, and\/or mint), garlic, acid (red wine vinegar, lemon, etc), and olive oil.\u00a0 Some recipes have other ingredients.\u00a0 It’s usually served on meat but I love it on fish, tofu, beans, salad, and all sorts of things.\u00a0 Since I’m not a garlic fan, I leave it out.\u00a0 It’s still amazing.\u00a0 My acid of choice is fresh squeezed lime juice.\u00a0 Not only is the flavor just right, but limes generally have no seeds, so it’s not too hard to make.<\/p>\n

Chimichurri Sauce Recipe<\/h2>\n

2 bunches fresh herbs (any combo of parsley, cilantro, or mint)
\nJuice of 3 limes
\nSalt
\nSeasonings as desired (hot pepper, garlic, etc)
\n1\/4 cup extra virgin olive oil<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Take any parsley or cilantro bunches you’re using, twist off the bottom half of the stems and discard into the compost.\u00a0 Then wash the remainder very well (cilantro in particular tends to hold dirt) by swishing and lifting out of a bowl of clean water, three times.\u00a0 Pull mint leaves off and discard stems.<\/p>\n

Shake or spin dry the herbs and put most of them (maybe 3\/4) into the food processor.<\/p>\n

Add the lime juice and some salt.\u00a0 Note that the amounts given here are approximations.\u00a0 Bunches vary in size and so do limes.\u00a0 Each of them vary by water vs flavor.\u00a0 There is just no way to know exactly how much lime juice or seasoning you’ll need.\u00a0 So start with 3 limes and add 1 or 2 more if needed after you taste.\u00a0 Start your salt amounts on the low side too.<\/p>\n

I like a teaspoon or so of cumin (the seeds are best but powder is good too) and some mild heat.\u00a0 Sometimes I use chipotle powder, other times I use chili flakes.\u00a0 All depends what I’m in the mood for and what’s on hand.\u00a0 If you want garlic, use fresh peeled cloves.\u00a0 Rough chopping will help your processor out but is optional if you have a good one.\u00a0 I’d use 2-6 cloves in this recipe, depending on how much you like garlic.<\/p>\n

Process until smooth and taste.\u00a0 Adjust lime juice, salt, and seasonings.\u00a0 Repeat until it’s perfect.<\/p>\n

Now, drizzle in the olive oil and process lightly.\u00a0 Use more or less if you wish.<\/p>\n

Finally, add the leftover herbs and pulse the processor so they are well chopped but still have texture.\u00a0 If you’re using a processor that can’t do this well, or you are using a blender, then do the chopping by hand and add the minced herbs at the end.<\/p>\n

\"Squeezing

Squeezing limes for chimichurri sauce<\/p><\/div>\n

This sauce lasts several days in the fridge and you can use it to punch up just about anything.\u00a0 It’s great with mashed avocados, browned extra firm tofu slices, firm white fish, or on crackers.\u00a0 But one of my favorite ways to use it is in a bean salad.\u00a0 Here are two different recipes.<\/p>\n

Black Bean & Lentil Salad with Chimichurri Sauce<\/h2>\n

I used black beans and lentils in this dish, but you can substitute any legumes you wish.\u00a0 Be sure to cook them so they are done but still firm. If they are mushy, you’ll end up with bean dip, not bean salad.<\/p>\n

2 cups dry black beans, soaked overnight and drained
\n2 cups french green lentils, rinsed in water
\n4-5 small bell peppers<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I cooked the beans and lentils separately (though in the same pot) so I wouldn’t risk having to overcook one. Feel free to cook them together if you’re better with timing than I am. Cook until done but firm, drain well (liquid is great for soup stock (freeze it) or put on plants outside).<\/p>\n

Cut peppers in half, remove cap and seeds and slice into thin strips (cut in half if more than 3″ or so). Put on baking dish with a touch of olive oil and bake until soft. I did 25 mins at 350*F in a convention oven. If you use a regular oven, stir them every 5-10 mins.<\/p>\n

Add peppers to beans, stir lightly, and add the chimichurri sauce.<\/p>\n

In a blender, put the following (these are approximate amounts):<\/p>\n

Mix in sauce. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.<\/p>\n

Variation: for a bit of spice, make some of the peppers medium heat ones and cut fine (leave some peppers large and mild) or add hot pepper to the sauce.<\/p>\n

Black Bean, Cucumber, & Tomato Salad with Chimichurri Sauce<\/h2>\n

Black beans (measure as 2 cups dried or 3-4 cups cooked, drain before using)
\n1 medium cucumber
\n2 large tomatoes, preferably heirloom<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dice the cucumbers and tomatoes and add to the beans.\u00a0 Add the chimichurri sauce.\u00a0 Mix and serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.<\/p>\n

\"Black

Black bean salad with chimichurri sauce<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chimichurri is a popular sauce from Argentina made with fresh green herbs (usually parsley, cilantro, and\/or mint), garlic, acid (red wine vinegar, lemon, etc), and olive oil.\u00a0 Some recipes have other ingredients.\u00a0 It’s usually served on meat but I love it on fish, tofu, beans, salad, and all sorts of things.\u00a0 Since I’m not a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[21,26,16,3],"tags":[7,6,8,81,11,77,34,5,12],"class_list":["post-606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dressings-sauces","category-food","category-main-dishes","category-recipes","tag-dairy-free","tag-egg-free","tag-gluten-free","tag-latin-food","tag-lowcarb","tag-photos-food","tag-raw","tag-vegan","tag-vegetarian"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":610,"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606\/revisions\/610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/norwitz.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}