Too much cilantro! The grocery store never gives me an option with cilantro, all or nothing. So I always end up with a huge bunch, more than I need for sprinkling on soup or adding to my guacamole. Have you ever run into this problem with produce?

It wilts and withers away in my fridge. I feel guilty, but my recipe vocabulary hasn’t grown large enough to whip something up quickly. That’s when the internet comes in quite handy. Typing in “cilantro recipes” the first thing that appears is cilantro pesto! I love pesto, so why not try a new twist by substituting the basil for cilantro.

Here’s the recipe that popped up: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/fabulous-cilantro-pesto/detail.aspx

I substituted lemon for the vinegar, black pepper for paprika, used walnuts not pecans and skipped on the cheese.

I enjoy it most on brown rice pasta.

FYI: Cilantro is know as Chinese parsley and its Latin name is Coriandrum sativum. Energetically it’s bitter, cooling and pungent. This is a food that can be used as an antidote for hot spicy foods, or a great herb to used in the dead of summer. Historically used for indigestion, the burning of reflux, UTI’s, sore throats, rashes and allergies. 

“Leave your drugs in the chemist’s pot if you can cure the patient with food” -Hippocrates 420 BC