Cilantro

Cilantro Recipes

Availability: July-October

Storage tips: Refrigerate in a plastic bag. Cilantro should store up to a week.  Be careful not to crush the leaves as doing so will cause premature decay of your cilantro.

How to eat: Wash well to remove little stones!  Cilantro is a great fresh herb. It can be used in salads, in salsas, or as a topping to fish. It is used often in Mexican, Middle Eastern, and Indian cuisine.

How to preserve: Frozen is a great method of preserving Cilantro.  To freeze the leaves, rinse them well and dry well.  Pick off the leaves from the stems.  Mix with a little bit of olive oil to barely coat.  Put into ziplock bag and release the air and freeze.  Use in cooked dishes after being frozen.  Cilantro can be made into a pesto and frozen that way.  Or dehydrate it for later use as a dried herb, if you have the capacity!

Breakfast Migas

Okay, taking me back to my roots of growing up in Texas.  Here's a super delicious and fast breakfast option that everyone loves in our household.  It is a great way to use up stale tortillas or tortilla chips.

  • handful of onions, scallions, or chives, minced
  • eggs, beaten (whatever number you need for however many people you're serving)
  • dash of milk or cream
  • grated cheese, to taste
  • corn tortillas or corn tortilla chips
  • cooking oil
  • cilantro, chopped
  • salsa
  • sour cream, optional

Combine the onion/chives/green onions with the eggs, milk, and cheese and mix well.  If you are using regular corn tortillas, add them at this point.  If you are using chips, hold off.  Heat cooking oil in skillet on medium.  Add egg mixture and scramble until almost cooked through, at which point add chips if using.  Serve up and top with chopped cilantro, salsa, and sour cream.  Enjoy!

Carrot and Cilantro Salad

1 bunch carrots, cut into 1.5”x .25” x .25” sticks
4 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1+ tablespoon lemon juice
1+ tablespoon olive oil
Salt, paprika, cayenne powder to taste
Scallions, chopped (optional)

Drop carrots into a pot of boiling water for 10 seconds.  Remove to bowl and add the rest of the ingredients.  Combine well and serve either room temp or chilled.

Carrot and Cilantro Soup

1 onion, sliced into thin rounds
3 Tbls butter
1 bunch carrots, sliced into thin rounds
1 quart chicken stock
½ bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste

In a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the onion and carrots and sauté until tender, 8-10 min. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Simmer until vegetables are very soft, about 15 min. Add cilantro, cayenne, lime juice and seasoning. Puree, either with a hand-held immersion blender, or by allowing the soup to cool slightly before transferring to a blender or food processor. Serve with a dollop of sour cream in each bowl. Serves 2-4.

Cilantro & Spring Vegetable Chicken Salad

You could really use any combo of veggies here.  This is just one example using spring veggies.  Also try adding greens like lettuce or even the tops from the radishes!

1-2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
¼-½ cup scallions, thinly sliced at an angle
½-1 bunch radishes, sliced
handful of snap peas, snapped and chopped
½-1 bunch cilantro, washed and chopped

4 TBLS olive oil
2-3 TBLS lime juice (or lemon/vinegar)
Seasonings to taste: cayenne powder, cumin, salt, pepper

Whisk above together to make dressing.  Pour over tossed salad ingredients.

Cilantro Arugula Chimichurri

This stuff is so good that you can eat it right off the spatula.  Seriously!  Good on rice and veggie stir-fry, with grilled meats or fish, or as a spread on bread.  Yum!

  • 1 garlic scape or garlic clove
  • 1 bunch arugula
  • 1 bunch cilantro
  • 1-2 scallions
  • 1 small jalapeno or cayenne powder to taste
  • Zest and juice of 2 limes
  • 1/4-1/2 cup rice vinegar, to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • ½-3/4 cup olive oil, to taste

Chop garlic in food processor. Add rest of ingredients until combined. Let rest 1 hour. Store in fridge for 1 week. 

Cilantro Butter

Another excellent way to eat cilantro is to make an herbed butter with it:

2 TBSP cilantro minced
2 TSP fresh squeezed lime juice
1/2 TSP grated or minced ginger
1/2 cup butter, softened

Combine cilantro with fresh lime juice, and ginger.  Stir this mixture into butter, and then form the herbed butter into a 6” log on wax paper.  Roll up the wax paper, twist the ends and refrigerate (or freeze).  To serve, slice nice thick pats of the butter onto hot fish fillets or beef steaks so that the cilantro butter melts over them.

Cilantro Sauce

Cilantro is an herb that pairs excellently with tomatoes (see "Tomatoes" in our Vegetable Gallery for a salsa recipe) as well as with fish, fowl, and beef. The following recipe for cilantro sauce is good over any of the aforementioned meats, whether they are hot or cold:

1 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped (coarse stems removed)
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
1 tsp fresh lime (or lemon) juice
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Blend all ingredients until smooth and serve or refrigerate to chill.
 

Cilantro-Lime Ice Cream

6 egg yolks
2-4 tablespoons honey
juice of 2 juicy limes (1/2 cup)
1/2 bunch cilantro, finely minced (can include stems here)
3 cups cream

Beat together egg yolks and honey until smooth.  Add the rest of the ingredients and pour into ice cream maker and proceed according to the machine's directions.  Delish!!

Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

1 teaspoon lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
5 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, minced
2 tablespoons fresh chives or onion, minced
Salt to taste

Combine lime zest and juice and vinegar in a small bowl or jar.  Wisk in oil to a blended consistency.  Then, stir in cilantro and chives/onion, season with salt, and pour over prepared salad.

Pam's Cilantro Mint Pesto
  • 1 cup fresh cilantro
  • 1 ½ cups fresh mint
  • 1 green chili pepper (or more to taste)
  • 1 onion
  • handful of cashews (for texture)
  • juice of one lime (or lemon )
  • ½ tsp salt
  • little water as needed

Put everything in the food processor and blend to a paste.

This pesto is great on a fish fillet or baked/broiled meat.

You can also pack the pesto into an ice cube tray, and freeze the cubes, so you have the pesto all winter to use as needed.