Chimichurri Sauce...My Recipe For Great Make Ahead Meals
Chimichurri is a Central and South American uncooked sauce, often used as a marinade for grilled foods. There are two kinds of chimichurri, a green sauce and a red sauce. Chimichurri recipes vary depending on country of origin, and my recipe has its own variation.
Chimichurri is very flavorful, and works great on meats, poultry, and seafoods. I always make the green sauce and my family cannot get enough of it. When I first started making and grilling with chimichurri, I usually used chicken or steak. The one day, while in Trader Joe's I saw some chimichurri salmon. Needless to say my daughter and I were in love with this dish, but unfortunately they stopped selling it. I was on my own.
The process of making chimichurri is very simple and fast if you have a food processor. If you do not have a food process just finely chop all ingredients for a more rustic style sauce. It will taste the same either way.
Chimichurri Recipe
Ingredients:
1 cup finely chopped Cilantro
1/4 c finely chopped Parsley
4 Garlic Cloves
1/2 c Olive Oil
1 Lemon, Squeezed for Juice
1 tsp Himalayan Sea Salt
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
Directions:
Add all ingredients to food processor and blend for about 1 minute. The sauce should be liquified, with some thickness. Taste sauce and add additional salt and red pepper flakes to suit your taste. Immediately use sauce to marinate, or place in lidded mason jar and refrigerate up to one week.
Make Ahead Prep
This recipe makes about 1 1/2 cup of sauce, and little goes a long way with this flavorful marinade. I most often use this sauce for steak, chicken, and salmon. For meal planning purposes, toss some chicken breasts (4), salmon fillets (4), or cubed pieces of steak(1 lb.) into freezer bags.
Add about a 1/2 cup of sauce into each bag, making sure meat is completely coated in sauce, and seal tight. Be sure to label bag with what's inside and date it as well. Use within three months of freezing.
That's it! A super easy, versatile sauce, that makes meal planning easy. I hope you enjoy!
