Chimichuri Sauce

I'll confess, I had no idea what Chimichuri was until a beautiful Curtis Stone got on a commercial for a local grocery store chain & told me that I could make it.  Who am I to say that he is wrong?  Around the same time, WW posted this recipe (they said to put it on chicken, we put it on steaks & grilled bell peppers because that's what Curtis told me to do).  When I saw that it would use some of the fresh parsley & cilantro growing in my deck boxes, I was sold.  I have no idea how authentically South American this particular recipe is, but it was authentically tasty. 

Here's What You Need:

• 1 cup fresh parsley leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 clove garlic (I cheated & used 1 tsp jarred
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 Tbs red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt (I omitted)
• 1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Here's What You Do:

1. Put all ingredients into food processor or blender & pulse until smooth.
2. That's it.

Here's What I Have Learned That May Be Useful:

• Makes about 4 servings.  We put it on top of the steak & the peppers.
• This would be REALLY good on seafood, but also would be quite tasty on chicken or other grilled veggies.
• I *think* that it will freeze well.  I'm going to experiment with making up a bunch since I have a lot of fresh herbs right now & see if I can freeze it for use in the winter when my herbs are dead & gone.  It's worth a shot.  This is definitely going to become a go-to sauce in my house. 

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Banana Ice Cream

I saw this on an infomercial complete with a special device to "make" it.  The device amounted to a food processor with a banana sized opening in the top.  The device is a joke, but the end product isn't!  I was skeptical, but gosh darn it, it works.  It passed the me test & the three-year-old test & it's going to make an ah-may-zing banana split substitute in the not too distant future.  Prepare to be shocked.

Here's What You Need:

• a few ripe bananas
• nothing else

Here's What You Do:

1. Peel & cut bananas into 2-ish inch chunks.
2. Freeze solid.
3. Put frozen chunks in food processor & blend.
4. Scrape down bowl.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 until you have goop that is the consistancy of soft serve.

Here's What I Have Learned That May or May Not Be Useful:

• You can make as little or as much as your food processor can handle, so the servings are up to you. 
• The end product is pretty rich, so Lincoln didn't eat much, but he LOVED it (the chocolate chips that I sprinkled on top probably didn't hurt).
• This is so easy that it makes a good "fun with cooking" activity with little ones.
• When I Googled this idea, I found that leftovers put back in the freezer will come out more like traditional ice cream, while your first go-around is more like soft serve.
• This lends itself to being used as a sundae base, as a pie filling...the possibilities are endless.

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Christy's Hummus

Oh my stars!  Someone recently asked me what kind of hummus I liked & I said I usually bought Sabra, but I've been experimenting with making my own.  Whilst trolling a friend's blog I found the recipe to end the search.  I JUST made it & ran upstairs to post the recipe immediately so as not to eat the whole batch before Dave gets any for dinner tonight.

Here's What You Need:

• 2 cans chick peas, drained (reserve the liquid)
• 4 cloves garlic (I'm lazy & used 4 tsp jarred, minced garlic)
• 1/3 c roasted tahini
• 3 T olive oil
• juice from one lemon (once again, lazy...I used 3 T bottled)
• 1 t salt

Here's What You Do:

1. Pulse beans & garlic in food processor or blender to break them up a bit. 
2. Add all other ingredients & process until smooth, adding bean liquid to get to desired consistency (I probably used about 1/3 c).
3. Chill for 1 day (not strictly necessary, but I'm guessing it will be even BETTER tomorrow).
4. Sprinkle with paprika & serve with desired veggies, pitas or crackers.

Here's What I Have Learned that May or May Not be Useful:

• Makes about 4 c of hummus (or 16 1/4 c servings).
• Will reportedly last 2 weeks in the fridge.  It absolutely won't make it that long in my house.
• Nothing else to note because it is THAT easy.

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