Homemade Chimichurri Marinade & Dressing

As I've mentioned before, I'm all about growing my own herbs, fruits, and veggies (even though I still have a lot to learn ;)  Every time I make a recipe that calls for fresh herbs, I end up spending too much on a big batch from the market, and then half of it goes to waste. 

Plus, having the girls help plant, water, and pick the herbs is a lot of fun and actually encourages them to eat them too...

...this pot has my favorite herb, cilantro, in it...along with parsley, basil, oregano, and those are actually two pea stalks growing from the right side (I was doing an experiment, tee hee ;)

So, I'm going to share with you my version of a Chimichurri recipe that originated from Pampered Chef as a steak salad marinade, but I've tweaked it and made it even more yummy in your tummy!

Pick your parsley & cilantro...

...about 3/4 cup of each (oh yeah, there is a glimpse of my new Lisa Leonard stamped ring, that my man got me for Mum's Day!  It has all 3 of my girls names stamped on it and I LOVE it so much).

Now, rinse them and get out the food chopper (or your knife, but I am way to clumsy to finely chop herbs ;) 

Seriously, I have been thinking of taking out insurance on my hands! In the last couple of weeks, I have gotten two hot glue gun blisters, a bad scissor cut, several minor scratches, and jabbed an embroidery needle straight through my finger!  I mean...do you know how big an embroidery needle is!?!  Ouch, is all I can say!  It took all I had to hold my breath and pull it out before my daughter could freak out anymore.  The funny part is...I had a thimble on, but on the finger NEXT to the one that got stabbed, hahahah!

Anyway, back to the recipe ;) 

Chop the parsley & cilantro to your liking, then combine them with:

about 1/2 cup of olive oil (I use extra virgin)

3 tbsp of red wine vinegar

2 or 3 freshly minced garlic cloves (the more the better :)

1/2 tsp salt

and about 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper

...mix it up, and voila'...

I use this to marinate steaks with, but also as a salad dressing ...deeee-lish! 

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do...please do let me know if you try it.

Jamie :)

Comments

[Lori]

That sounds so YUMMY! But the embroidery needle THROUGH YOUR FINGER, Jamie??!!! You are one brave Mom! WOW! Lori

[Elizabeth a.k.a. Type A Mommy]

Oh my goodness, a fellow crafter! I'm an infant when it comes to crafting, I've only been sewing since the beginning of this year, but I'm already turning into a fabric-a-holic! I'm so visiting your Etsy store next!

Thanks for stopping by to share my SITS day today, I really appreciate it!

[Blond Duck]

Totally drooling!

[dena miller]

MMMmmmm...sounds so good Jamie!

[cinnamon robin]

That looks yummy! I wish I had more patience to cook.
PS- What does your ring say?

[Theresa]

Thanks for the recipe! You are like me and simply cannot be trusted with knives! LOL I love having fresh herbs from the garden, especially basil. :) I love pesto! We just had our first salad of the season using lettuce and arugula from the garden. Yum! Enjoy your day! Theresa

[Kim @ Everything Etsy]

Sounds great! Be careful next week! :)

~Kim

[Ruth]

I want to grow my own herbs, too. The same thing happens here-buy them and half gets thrown out.

Ruth