Cilantro rice

Whipped up the other night specifically to use some fresh cilantro. Quite tasty. (Well overdue edit — like so many of the recipes I make, this isn’t one I created myself, think it came with the biweekly CSA mailout I get. Whoever first shared this around, thanks!)

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· 3 1/2 cups packed cilantro leaves (about 3 ounces)
· 3 medium garlic cloves
· 1 medium serrano chile, halved lengthwise and seeded
· 3 1/3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
· 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
· 1/2 cup minced yellow onion
· 2 cups long-grain white rice
· 1 tablespoon kosher salt

Directions

Combine cilantro, garlic, chile, and 2 cups broth in a blender and process until smooth; set aside.

Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When it shimmers, add onion and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add rice and salt stir to coat in oil and cook until rice becomes opaque, about 2 minutes. Carefully pour the cilantro mixture and the remaining 1 1/3 cups broth into the rice and stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil then reduce heat to low so rice is at a simmer. Cover and cook until rice is tender, about 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let rice rest covered for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve.

Sweet potatoes with onion and tomatoes

From Claudia Roden’s book Arabesque — checked it out from the library the other day, and tonight I found myself at a loss to what to do with a remaining sweet potato from my last basket. Happily I had both onions and tomatoes around and I was off and running. Cook up some onion in olive oil, add crushed garlic after the onion’s soft. Tomatoes and crushed ginger after that, then cubed sweet potatoes and cilantro after that. Add water, let simmer down and evaporate, eat it up!

Acorn squash salad w/cilantro, ginger and maple syrup dressing

VERY intriguing, this one. So the squash is halved and cooked for half an hour (375 F.), then cooled completely, scooped out and chopped up and set aside. Mix small amounts of olive oil, tangerine juice, cilantro, minced candied ginger, maple syrup, salt and cayenne pepper in a blender or something similar. Toss with the acorn squash, chill for an hour, serve over lightly dressed greens. Nice and very adjustable as desired.