Salsa Verde, I Heart You.

I've been spending alot of time in the kitchen lately - trying out new recipes. The kitchen is one of my happy places. I needed to put together a quick sauce to drizzle over skirt steak and had all of the ingredients needed for salsa verde.

Salsa verde is not the Mexican green salsa you may be thinking of, this one is a classic green sauce from Italy. It's versatile and easily adaptable to what you have in your pantry. I referred to Alice Water's book, The Art of Simple Food, for some direction. The result is a simple sauce - fresh, mouthwatering, a little briny, flavored with parsley, lemon zest, garlic, capers and olive oil.  Add a little bit of chopped anchovy for an extra kick.  I drizzled it over some skirt steak, but it would be delicious over grilled chicken, fish, lamb or over scrambled eggs. It won't last long, that's for sure.

Salsa Verde (by Alice Waters)

1/3 c. coarsely chopped parsley

grated zest of one lemon

1 small garlic clove, finely chopped or minced

1 tbs. capers, drained and rinsed, chopped

1/2 tsp. salt

freshly ground pepper to taste

1/2 c. olive oil

1 anchovy, finely chopped (optional)

Mix well and taste for salt.  Let the sauce sit for a while to develop the flavors.

Chimichurri Anonymous

Hello, my name is Teryll (this is the part where you reply, "Hi Teryll") and I'm a chimichurri-holic. So a girlfriend and I were introduced to Argentina's "pride and joy", chimichurri, a few months ago at an Argentinian restaurant in Valencia. While other friends enjoyed this fresh and savory sauce, the two of us went "gaga" for it. It's safe to say it has become our "drug of choice", and a healthy alternative, at that. Served over roasted chicken, grilled steak or fish, roasted potatoes, and a variety of other veggies, this sauce is easy to make and extremely versatile. Chimichurri is made with parsley, oregano, red chile pepper flakes, garlic, salt and olive oil.

Last week my brother, Benjamin came over for dinner and I introduced him to chimichurri for the very first time. I drizzled (okay, I'll confess I doused) my roasted chicken and roasted potatoes with it. In fact, the sauteed swiss chard didn't seem to complain swimming in a mini pool of the chimichurri goodness.

Traditional Chimichurri (Adapted from Michelle Bernstein's Recipe at Food & Wine)

1/4 c. roughly chopped flat leaf parsley

3 tbs. red wine vinegar

2 large garlic cloves, minced (Michelle's version calls for 4, and I think it was over the top, start with 2 and if you feel the need for more garlic, add more)

2 tbs. oregano leaves

2 tsp. red chile pepper flakes

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil

In a food processor, combine and process the parsley, vinegar, garlic, oregano, chili pepper flakes until finely chopped or smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to a bowl and pour olive oil over it, stir to combine. Let sit for 20 minutes before serving. You can make the chimichurri ahead and keep in the fridge, just bring it to room temperature before serving.

Now I know its urealistic to think I want to get off of chimichurri, hardly the case. This sauce is not only easy to make and delicious, it's also a healthy alternative to those pesky, hip-hugging cream sauces (of course they have their place in this world too). In the meantime, don't be surprised to find my soon-to-be bestselling book, "1001 Ways to Use Chimichurri", I'm working on it as we speak.