Cilantro. Either you are a lover and would like to use in it in the majority of all your dishes. Or you are a hater and thinks it tastes like washing detergent. (really, that is what a lot of people describe it)
A while back I have planted some ciantro seeds and at the moment the bush is flourishing like there is no tomorrow. So apart from giving away some stacks to my friends, I am also trying to make the most of summer dishes with this rascal. The combination with lime has always been a winner up until now.
Just look at how juicy these leaves are...And they recover every day. Here are some receipes I take some inspiration from but make it my own!
In this original receipe the beef is made with bulled beef which would not really have my priority. I would take like a steak kind of meat, give it some heat on both sides and cut small slices on it.
Together with some homemade guacemole (avocado, tomato, onion, lime juice and cilatro) and some spinach leaves and some additional cilantro leaves this would be for me a really awesome summer meal.
Again the base is taking this original receipe and adding and changing the ingredients to something else. That is how cooking should be to me.
So in this base they are using shrimps but I would prefer to use fresh salmon from the local fishdude on the market. These guys bring in fish every day as fresh as possible and you will always find this back in the taste of it.
Does your fish smell fishy? Not so fresh anymore!
So but uhhh springrolls. Yes! With mango, cucumber, carrot, glassnoodles, salmon and diced mint and cilantro.
And then the most important thing. The dip sauce. The dipsauce I make from soja sauce, a bit of sesame oil, lime juice, diced chili, mint and cilantro ofcourse. For some extra spice some wasabi sesame seeds and a tic of wasabi in there as well.
Ahhh the good ol'curry. Everyone loves them! The good thing about curry, you can always toss in whatever left over veggie you still have hanging there. And yes you can make a curry with spices of your own. Or you can take a basic curry (which I normally do) and just add on some spices to pimp it up.
So I like yellow currys for the spice. Add a bit of ginger, lemongrass and cilantro on top of it. Also with mixing it with coconutmilk you can take half coconutmilk and half water to reduce some calories and just let it thicken in a bit longer.
Use meat, fish or just plantbased with nuts in there. Actually adding some nuts is always nice for a bit of a crunchy bite in it.
For veggies I mostly take spinach leaves, red bell pepper, sometimes some mushrooms, and maybe some baby bok choi. Make sure you only toss in these veggies shortly so you don't cook them to mush. (unless you like mush, I don't)
When placing on a plate, toss over some shredded cilantro for an extra tic. Eat with white rice or with naan bread.
And so you see, plenty of options for using cilantro in your dishes. But indeed you are right, these dishes are not very European any more hahah.
I am very open to new ideas for using up my cilantro stock. Share to the world!
