It’s too hot to cook inside. Period. We’ve been grilling lots of things this summer and we’ve been eating fashionably late to be able to enjoy the outdoors when the daytime sun is gone. This month’s recipes are great for cooking once or twice and eating several times. The herb garden chimichurri uses whatever leafy herbs you having on hand. Parsley and cilantro are in many chimichurri recipes but use what you have on hand.
This sauce is a classic to serve over grilled steaks. I like to get at least a couple of uses out of one sauce. Toss this herby, oily sauce over warm roasted potatoes as a second use. Smear on crusty bread as a third. The cilantro lime rice goes well almost everything! SO make a double batch and use it for two or three meals. This Instantpot version won’t heat your kitchen like stovetop rice.
An idea for leftovers: grill steaks, slice them and serve with a drizzle of chimichurri over them. The next day use the leftover steak with fresh cilantro lime rice for street tacos.
Herb Garden Chimichurri
Two cups of any leafy savory herbs. Try to use as much as one cup of parsley then add others
like cilantro, oregano, thyme.
one quarter of a red onion
2 or so garlic cloves
1/2-1 cup olive oil
juice from 1-2 limes
salt
pepper
Chili pepper for a touch of heat if you’d like
Add onion and garlic to the food processor. Pulse several times until finely chopped. Add the 2 cups of herbs to the food processor and pulse to chop finely. Drizzle in the olive oil and lime juice, add salt and pepper to taste. The sauce should be smooth but still have chunks of herby and garlic goodness throughout.
Cilantro Lime Rice for the Instant Pot
1 cup water
1 cup basmati rice
zest from one lime
sesame or olive oil
1 tsp salt
juice from one lime
1/2-1 cup chopped cilantro
Set your instant to the sauté setting. When ready add two swirls of sesame oil to the pot. Add the rice and sauté for about 4 minutes stirring to keep it from burning. Add the water, salt and lime zest and set the Instant to MANUAL setting, LOW pressure and cook for 8 minutes. When the Instapot is done cooking the rice and the pressure has been released remove the rice to a serving bowl and add the lime juice and chopped cilantro. Stir in a spoonful of chimichurri to add more great herby flavor if you’d like.
