Cilantro chicken?

Oh, honey, just because cilantro is on sale is no reason to BUY any!

I like cilantro.

I googled it too, eth. I'm taking what I thought I would like from what I found. This is probably my downfall as a cook.

Oddly, my Italian grandmother would often say 'chicken' when she meant 'kitchen,' which led to some odd moments.

i do that, too, rb. Do you have any tomatoes or tomatillos? i'm just thinking of what would go with that fresh taste in something simple like cilantro chicken.

It's going. Large skillet with chicken chunks, onion, cilantro and tomato, in a little chicken broth. Some pepper and some vinegar and some lime juice. I just now need to decide if I let that cook down and become what it is, or soup it up.

I started with sesame oil instead of olive oil, because I didn't know where this was going, which may be a minor mistake, but as of now, definately edible.

I LOVE cilantro. I learned how to cook Thai just so I could use cilantro.

But, in Bunnyfire's defense, there are apparently some people in the world to whom cilantro tastes like soap. My dad and my good friend/mentor Les are two of them. Neither of them are picky about food -- they just don't taste cilantro correctly.

I used to not like cilantro (the soap thing), now I do.

The cooking adventure ended up sort of a chicken tortilla soupish thing. Will eat. Win.

Tip: save some cilantro out to the end. It doesn't hold up well to cooking. It's really volatile, and the heat causes the flavors to disappear into sauces/broths and become a faint hint of their former selves.

So what you can do is set a bunch aside to the end, chop it, and then stir it in just before serving, or just sprinkle on top. That way you get all the fresh green brightness that makes cilantro delicious! Delicious, I say!

if you have a spare bunch of cilantro, you can make a cilantro pesto with some pumpkin seeds (or peanuts or almonds; your choice), a clove of garlic and some lime juice and salt. Just throw all of it into a blender and blend, adding enough olive oil to make a smooth paste.

It's a handy marinade, a great sandwich spread, and in a pinch can be thinned out a little and used as a salad dressing (esp. with rice noodles and good toothsome greens; maybe some grilled eggplant/zucchini.)

In your particular case, I'd've made a chicken soup and then added the pesto right at the end, similar to a Jamie Oliver recipe I saw for spring vegetable soup which was fresh veggies barely simmered and then punched up with pesto just before serving.

I had cilantro, lemons and lentils around, so I made this and it turned out excellent, with a salad on the side.