Cilantro Pesto

Have you ever made something so good that you wanted to preserve it for as long as you could? Being part of the Recipe ReDux group of registered dietitian bloggers who share a love of food, this month’s theme was Green with Herb Envy, I wanted to make something I have been wanting to make for awhile.

One of my favorite things about summer is fresh pesto made with basil. But I had always wondered about making pesto with cilantro. What would that taste like since my one of my favorite foods is traditional pesto in anything? But I decided to take on the challenge. It turned out so good that I wanted to preserve it’s yummy-ness.

But how to preserve such a tasty creation? Ice cube trays. Your ice cube tray can hold more than water. And it is a timesaver, money-saver and meal enhancer. How many times have I made a recipe that called for 2 tablespoons of fresh cilantro only to pull the cilantro bunch out a week later all slimy and unusable. That is why this cilantro pesto is brilliant. It saves me money, it saves me time and it has so much flavor that can be added to so many meals.

Cilantro Pesto

Makes 1 cup.

Ingredients
2 cups cilantro leaves or 1 bunch, just chop off a good portion of the stems
1 ounce or about 1/3 cup of walnuts
1 small red onion, halved
1/2 jalepeno pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil

1. Add cilantro, walnuts, onion, pepper and salt to food processor. Pulse until finely chopped with a multi-purpose blade. Scrape down the sides. Pulse again while drizzling in olive oil. Voila, you are done!

What can you use this for? Let me count the ways:
Paninis, chicken enchilada soup, Mexican bruschetta, a taco salad ingredient, a pizza sauce, pasta, burritos, fish tacos, eggs, the ideas are endless.

Just buy a couple of extra ice cube trays because some flavors are retained in the plastic. Think cilantro pesto flavored ice cubes, not so yum. And as soon as your food freezes, remove the cubes from the trays and put all the cubes in a freezer container, label and date. You can also do this with tomato paste.

Be sure to check out what other non-traditional uses for herbs have my fellow ReDuxers “green with envy”!

6 Comments

  1. dixya@food, pleasure, and health on March 21, 2013 at 10:28 am

    I had been thinking about cilantro pesto too – I am so glad I know that it works now 🙂 🙂 will be trying it soon. Thank you so much.

    • Jen Haugen on March 22, 2013 at 6:42 am

      Thank you, it does work and tastes really good!

  2. Elizabeth on March 21, 2013 at 3:08 pm

    always looking for a vegan pesto. THanks for sharing

  3. Deanna Segrave-Daly (@tspbasil) on March 24, 2013 at 8:37 pm

    So clever to add onion and hot pepper to pesto! Can’t wait to try it with cilantro (and freeze the extra as ice cubes) I do this with tomato paste but never thought to do with pesto.

    • Jen Haugen on March 24, 2013 at 9:47 pm

      Thanks Deanna! I will am using this for all kinds of recipes for a zip of flavor!

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