Go Green! With Chimichurri

Last week I asked Mrs. CB what she would like for dinner on Saturday.  Her reply, “something with Chimichurri”.

She didn’t say steak or chicken or pork chops.  She said, “Chimichurri.”  That’s how much she loves this wonderful sauce/marinade that I introduced her to several years back.  This magic elixir which I make 2 or 3 times a year is one of our absolute favorites.

The first thing you have to do is get past the notion that you’re putting a bright green, viscous sauce on your meat.  We’re used to marinades and sauces that are some shade of brown or red or reddish-brown.

Kermit the Frog used to sing “It isn’t easy being green.”  Once you make and taste Chimichurri you’ll “go green” just like we do.

If you’re not familiar with Chimichurri, it’s arguably the Argentinean national dish.  Chimichurri is an incredible flavorful sauce and marinade.  You can use it on beef, pork, chicken but it’s most often associated with beef.  We like it so much we use it for a chip dip.

I first learned about Chimichurri from a guy I used to sell cars with right next to the Mexican border in Chula Vista, CA.  Jorge (J.C.) Carranza is Argentinean and a terrific car sales guy and we’d talk about our mutual love of good food during the frequent down time.  Did I say “talk”?  J.C. is like me and loves to debate and argue so some of our conversations would get pretty spirited.

Various recipes call for using parsley or cilantro but I prefer to use both about half and half.  To me that’s the perfect combination.  But do whatever you prefer.  Satisfy your tastebuds.  This is cooking and it’s supposed to be creative.

Now, my next post is going to be all about Chimichurri Marinated Santa Rosa Tri-Tip.  But, right now my mouth is watering just thinking about chimichurri, so here’s the recipe:

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Recipe: Cheap Bastid’s Chimichurri

Summary: Here’s a terrific sauce and marinade for beef, pork and poultry–Chimichurri. Easy and inexpensive you’ll love the flavor.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 5 minute(s)

My rating 5 stars:  ★★★★★ 1 review(s)

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We really love Chimichurri. What a fantastic marriage of flavors from the cilantro and parsley to the tang of onion and musk of garlic.  And then there’s the hit of acid from vinegar and the tweak of heat from jalapenos.  Combine all that together—let it sit for a few hours blending flavors and you’ve got something pretty special.

I must have had a potent jalapeno because I didn’t have to add any additional heat to the Chimichurri—I removed the seeds but left the “veins” in the jalapeno.  But this batch had some heat which we really liked because we like spicy.

The Cheap Bastid Test: This is really inexpensive.  A bunch of cilantro was $.25 and the parsley was $.33 and I only used about half of each.  The jalapeno was about a dime and I used about a dime’s worth of onion.  Plus I used about $.75 worth oil and red wine vinegar  and 2 limes cost about $.20 right now.  The total:  $1.73.  That’s cheap!

That’s the Cheap Bastid Way:  Eat Good. Eat Cheap. Be Grateful!