Cilantro-Yogurt Dip
Cilantro is famously controversial. Lots of people like or dislike certain foods, but people who hate cilantro HATE cilantro. Like cilantro killed their grandmother or something.
Fortunately for me, cilantro did not kill my grandmother – or any of my ancestors for that matter – so I can like the herb without the tiniest twinge of guilt. I like it on Mexican food and in curries and… uh..
What else do you do with cilantro? This is a question I did not have an answer for when my CSA (more on this soon) started last week and included a bunch of cilantro the size of Texas. Fortunately, that’s why Al Gore invented the InterWebs.
Some searching for “cilantro” on google and epicurious.com led me to a lot of recipes that included a little bit of cilantro and a lot of a lot of other things. I needed something that would use up all this cilantro in one go and not require me to spend $30 on other ingredients along the way.
So I tried searching for, I kid you not, “help I have too much cilantro,” and I’ll be damned if Al Gore didn’t come running to the rescue. He took me to this post on chowhound that had a dozen good ideas. I chose this dip because I like dip and already had plans for a main course.
Cashews may seem like an odd addition but they help the consistency of the dip without adding too much of a cashewy taste. I’ve recommended a whole jalapeno as the recipe did, but be forewarned that it does make the dip a bit on the spicy side. If you’re not a spice-lover, you should maybe cut it back a bit. If you are a spice-lover, double it.
Cilantro-Yogurt Dip
One or two large bunches of cilantro
About a cup of yogurt
About a cup of cashews
One jalapeno pepper
Salt to taste
- Trim off the roots and/or very ends of the stems of the cilantro and discard. Roughly chop the rest.
- Cut the stem off the jalapeno, slice it open, and remove the seeds.
- Combine everything in a blender or food processor.
- Blend, adjusting consistency by adding more yogurt as needed.
- Serve, ignoring any sass you may receive from cilantro haters.
Sounds perfect. I feel like such a loser…I’m must be the one person on the planet who is ambivalent about the stuff. I don’t feel all that strongly one way or the other about it! But I do adore cilantro chutney for some reason. Madhur Jaffrey has some nice recipes for it in her various books if you end up with another bumper crop.
I LOVE cilantro (or coriander). If I get a massive bunch I’ll just sit there and eat it on its own! It also works really well with most Thai/south Asian dishes.