Chimichurri Sauce

There are a lot of recipes out in the blogosphere for Chimichurri Sauce. It’s traditionally a parsley based Argentinian sauce used to accent their grass fed grilled beef. I like mine with cilantro too so after scouring a number of recipes, I came up with my own. You can experiment with the acids, some recipes call for red wine vinegar, some for white. I used white and some lime juice. Nearly all recipes call for red pepper flakes, I used those along with a jalapeño pepper (without the seeds). Some recipes call for shallots, but I had just used mine up so I used red onion. Serve as a sauce for grilled beef or shrimp, use it as a marinade, top deviled eggs with a little…possibilities abound!

Chimichurri Sauce

• 1/2 Cup Parsley, chopped
• 1/2 Cup Cilantro, chopped (if you don’t like cilantro, double the parsley)
• 3-4 Garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbls. Oregano leaves, chopped
• 1 tsp. Kosher Salt
• 1/2 tsp. crushed Red Pepper Flakes (or more if you like the heat)
• 1 Jalapeño or Fresno chili, seeded and chopped
• 1 Shallot or 1/4 Cup Red Onion, chopped
• 1/3 Cup Vinegar (can use red, white or add some lime juice too)
• 1/2 Cup Olive Oil

You can either finely chop everything and mix or put everything into a food processor and pulse until chopped finely. (Take the time to chop onion, jalapeño and garlic before adding to processor.)

Taste and adjust seasoning with salt or pepper if needed. Put into a glass jar and refrigerate if not using right away, it’s best if you make it ahead of time to let the flavors meld. I save a little of the olive oil to put over the top after putting into my mason/ball jar.

Tips:

• Experiment and make this your own. Add Cumin if you like it, try lemon or lime juice
• Marinate your steak, chicken or shrimp with a little and use more over the cooked meats
• Add a little to your salad dressing or use as prima-verde pasta sauce
• Mix with Sweet Corn, Onion and Red Bell Pepper for a side salad
• Mix with cooked egg yolks and a little mayonnaise for Deviled Eggs
• Serve Marinated Shrimp on Butter Lettuce with julienned Jicama, Carrots and Red Bell Pepper in Seasoned Rice Vinegar for an appetizer