Cilantro

Shameless self-promotion . . .

One of our photos from Italy has been entered in a photo contest. We are currently 19 out of 311 photos. You can vote by clicking here.

Remember a 10 is good!

*smile*

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Last night we had a wonderful dinner at Elise's house. Another friend of Paul's, Agatta, who I had not met was there. The food, company, and drinks were all amazing!

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Recently I have become more aware of 'food blog events'. These are collections of theme posts which are designed to share thoughts and ideas about the selected theme. Some wags might suggest that they are also designed to increase traffic to one's blog, but they should probably just have another merlot and pipe down. Anyway, I digress.

This is my second post for the Weekend Herb Blogging event started by Kalyayn of Kaylayn Kitchens.  Each week someone takes on the immense task of 'hosting' the event. This involves gathering up all of the information and putting it all into a enormous post! This week's host is Katerina from Daily Unadventures in Cooking.

This week's entrant is all about cilantro (aka coriander). In the interest of full disclosure let me be upfront and inform you that we LOVE cilantro. It is a rare week when we don't have a bunch of the stuff in the fridge. In fact, this week I think that we went through not one but two bunches!

Others are not so blessed. In fact, some folk even claim to hate cilantro. I have heard folk describe its taste as akin to soap or bug spray (why they are eating soap or bug spray I do not know but clearly they have issues)! There is even a website: I Hate Cilantro which has been set up to share stories and strategies for eradicating this 'weed' from the world.

Personally, I hope that they fail! Cilantro is a key ingredient in numerous ethnic cuisines which we enjoy - particularly Thai and Mexican. I've tried Thai food without cilantro and folks, it just isn't worth it at all!

Recent studies have discovered that cilantro is rich in calcium, iron, carotenes, and vitamin C. The herb has also been found to be one of the few substances that can actually remove toxic heavy metals, such as mercury, lead, and aluminum, from the central nervous system. That is great news for those with neurological disorders worsened by toxic overload to say nothing for the rest of use who are exposed to these elements on a daily basis from environmental pollution.

You can find out lots of information about cilantro here.

I mentioned that last week we enjoyed numerous recipes which used cilantro: A Thai curried chicken, beef carnitas tacos, a black bean and corn salad, and today we made salsa. Life just wouldn't have been the same without this unique and flavourful herb.

Thai Beau

We make many recipes from a series of low fat cookbooks written and self-published by two Canadians Janet and Greta Podleski. The three books are all best sellers (even if they are a little too 'cute' for my tastes, as in the recipe title above . . .) and Janet and Greta are even getting a cooking show on the food network. This recipe is from the third in the series: Eat, Shrink, and Be Merry.

I like the recipes because they are quick, easy, and involve ingredients that you would likely have on hand. We made this recipe a few days ago but I never got around to posting it. The prep is minimal, clean up an snap, and you end up with a hearty meal in just over 30 minutes. This isn't gourmet by any stretch of the imagination but man can not live on ramps, morels, tenderloin, and fine wine alone . . .

This colourful, Thai coconut curry chicken packs a kick. It also contains our herb of the day  . . . cilantro!

1 1/4 cups light coconut milk
1 tbsp grated ginger root
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar (we used palm sugar which is more authentic)
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp corn starch
the juice of one lime
1 tsp minced garlic pinch of red pepper flakes (adjust your heat level here, you can also add 1 or 2 tsp of green curry paste)
2 tsp peanut oil
1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
4 green onions, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup green peas (definitely NOT authentic here!)
1/2 cup torn Thai basil leaves (we had this growing in our garden)
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 ripe mango, peeled and sliced

To make the sauce, whisk together the first nine ingredients. Set aside until ready to use.

Heat the oil in a large. non-stick wok over high heat. Add the chicken pieces. Cook and stir until the chicken is browned, about 4 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Reduce the heat until medium. Add the red pepper and onions to the wok. Stir and cook for 3 minutes. Return the chicken to the wok. Add the sauce, peas, basil, and cilantro. Continue cooking and stirring until the sauce has thickened. Reduce the heat to medium low. Simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the mango and cook for 1 more minute.

Serve over cooked Jasmine rice.

Comments

[sandi @ the whistlestop cafe]

I love cilantro too. I can pick out the flavor in salsa or soup. it makes such a difference.
I need to jump on that Foodie Blogroll... in my spare time.

[Jerry]

Sandi - Paul even puts it into salads - YUM

I know that taste is a bizarre thing but I just can't figure out how this herb has caused such a stir.

The foodie blog roll is quite easy to join - thank heavens.

[Kalyn]

Sounds very good. I don't even mind that there are peas, as long as I can have cilantro. (And the Thai basil would be great here too!)

[Jerry]

Actully the peaas were ok. When we took a thai cooking class we learned about these tiny squash which are the shape and size of peas - these are more authentic. In a pinch - go with the peas.

The thai basil is wonderful in everything - I wish I had more of it!