Cilantro Pesto: Fresh/Potently Delicious

I dropped a few seeds in a raised garden bed some months ago, and voila! More lettuce and greens than a girl could eat. However, the crown jewel of my tiny urban farm right now is cilantro. It’s going wild, but I know that it won’t last long. A couple hotter-than-average days and it’ll all go to seed, hence losing its flavor. That’s the thing about fresh herbs—they are as fabulous as they are fleeting.

I found this receipe on the Interweb (Sunsetmagazine.com)—and literally five minutes after getting all the ingredients together had a batch of über-fragrant pesto to slather on some rice noodles or a baguette with cream cheese or whathaveyou.

The great thing about this stuff is that it’s vegan and way cheaper than regular pesto (it uses peanuts instead of pricey pine nuts and red pepper flakes add zing instead of parmesan). And taste-wise—you guys, it’s brilliant.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups cups coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

1/3 cup salted roasted peanuts

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot chili flakes

1/2 to 1 teaspoon chopped garlic

Salt and pepper

Preparation

In a food processor, whirl cilantro, peanuts, chili flakes, and garlic. (Or with a knife, mince cilantro, nuts, chili, and garlic.) Add salt and pepper to taste.