As we prepare for more time hunkered down and spent indoors, I find myself contemplating the following:
As a chef/feeder who is left with empty tables and no retreats, where do I place this energy and intention?
How do we cultivate the changing of the seasons onto our plate and into our bodies?
How do we mark time when the day to day feels so repetitive and redundant?
What can bring joy and brightness indoors where light may not be reaching?
I am a feeder through and through and so I turn to the cutting board, to my knives, to my mortar and pestle, to the flavors that make me feel grounded. Despite being able to feed others, I rarely turn the lens to myself and ask: what do I need to feed myself? But alas, COVID-19 has other plans for me and so I am on this new path of investing in myself, in returning to cooking just for me and my family, to not rushing through a meal to get onto the next one. To cooking with ghee that reminds me of my father, of using fresh Spring veggies and alliums that mark the seasons’ fragility, and breaking out of Winter hibernation, of bringing bright fresh herbs to the plate to honor the Earth’s healing power stored in small bundles.
With these musings on time, I bring you the sauce I make almost weekly for my family in Spring time. I put this sauce on everything — eggs, steak, fish tacos, leftover grains, as a salad dressing, over roasted root veggies — be creative and go wild! Think outside the box as we are stuck inside one.
Flavor-Bomb Green Sauce
2 bunches Cilantro
1/2 Jalapeño with seeds (can use less or more depending on your spice/heat preference)
1/4-1/2 Cup Olive Oil
Juice from one lemon (about 2 Tbsp)
1 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
1 tsp Raw Sugar (or sweetener of your choice) – optional
Water to thin out if needed
- Rinse cilantro and remove any bad stems or leaves.
- Place whole bunches of cilantro into food processor (leaves and stems).
- Add jalapeño, mustard, salt, lemon juice, sugar, rice wine vinegar and 1/4 c olive oil into food processor.
- Blend together — if too thick, continue to add the rest for the olive oil or water to desired thinness.
- Taste for flavor:
– does it need more salt ?
– does it need more spice (more Jalapeño)?
– how does the acid level taste? More lemon juice or more rice wine vinegar?
