Cilantro-Green Chile Chimichurri : IHCC

"Green, Green, Green, Is Everything I'm Wearing" is this week's theme over at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), where we are cooking from Rick Bayless's recipes. One thing I've noticed is that, Mexican food, besides using lots of chilis like poblanos and serranos, they love using coriander, not that I mind, I love corianders! And is it Mexican style of cooking or just Rick Bayless's own style, I find that he loves to roast his garlic and chilies before using them in most recipes. Which is just fine with me, as I really like the roasted aroma of both the garlic and chilies, there's an earthy smell to them when roasted, which I find really nice and delicious! 

So what do I make that is green, green, green? A fabulous Cilantro-Green Chile Chimichurri/Pesto!

A mixture of fresh coriander leaves and fresh parsley, roasted garlic and roasted serrano chili. I do not have green serrano chili, but I always have the red ones in my fridge, so I used that instead. And much as I love adding more in, I only used one chili, since my kids love pesto and they will be eating this too. The unpeeled garlic and chili are dry roasted in a skillet or heavy saucepan until they have black spots and blistered. The garlic are then peeled and the chili roughly chopped. Everything goes into the food processor, with some olive oil and seasoned with some salt. Process into a paste. I did doubled the amount of fresh coriander, I always do in almost all recipes! 

Rick Bayless suggests 2 generous teaspoons of salt! Firstly I think that is a lot of salt, so I only used 1 scant teaspoon and I find that it is already salty enough. Maybe he used Kosher Salt, but he did not mention that in his recipe, so go easy on the salt.

We had this with some toasted bread, top with Tomato and Coriander Omelete (Jamie Oliver) and a spread of the pesto on top. It was so delicious! My kids love it. The pesto is really tasty, and so healthy without any addition of cheese and no nuts at all too. At first I was curious, as most pesto have cheese and nuts, which gave great flavour to the pesto, so I wasn't sure how this is going to taste like. I was pleasantly surprised that this is just as delicious!

Yum! Definitely making this pesto again! Would be really good with chicken and seafood!

I made some crusty bread that afternoon, and  this is the dinner for both my daughter and myself! I cooked something else for the hubby and son, but my daughter and I, we had a few slices of my homemade crusty bread, sliced thinly, spread with the pesto and have it as our dinner. And I had this again the next morning for breakfast. What can I say, I totally love it! :o)

To see what other delicious greens that the others are making from Rick Bayless's recipes, do drop by I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC).

I'm sharing this too with :
Recipe Box hosted by Bizzy Bakes


Cilantro-Green Chile Chimichuri/Pesto
(source from : Frontera, Rick Bayless)
1/2 head garlic, cloves broken apart
2 to 3 serrrano chiles
1 medium bunch cilantro, thick bottom stems cut off
1 small bunch flat leaf parsley, thick bottom stems cut off
1/2 cup olive oil
salt (to taste)

Set a dry skillet over medium heat. Lay in the unpeeled garlic cloves and chiles. Roast, turning frequently, until soft and blotchy brown in spots, about 10 minutes for the chiles and 15 minutes for the garlic. Cool until handleable, then slip the skins off the garlic, pull stems off the chiles and roughly chop (no need to remove the seeds). Place in a food processor along with the cilantro (about 1 cup if packed), parsley (about 1 cup if packed), oil and 2 generous teaspoons salt, (go easy on the salt, I only used 1 scant teaspoon). Process until nearly smooth (it will be pasty). Scrape into a storage container and refrigerate until serving time.

If you plan on saving, cover the top with a thin layer of olive oil.