Cilantro Pesto + A Giveaway!

“Know how to garnish food so that it is more appealing to the eye and even more flavorful than before.” -Marilyn Vos Savant

Cilantro Pesto

I’m so excited that I have been selected as part of the OXO Blogger Outreach Program to help spread the word about OXO Healthy Eating Tools. I’ve always loved OXO kitchen products. Some of my favorites include their soap squirting dish brush, silicone sink strainer, good grips can opener and now this salad spinner!

Cilantro Pesto

Cilantro is something we always have in our refrigerator. I garnish all my Indian dishes with it, add it in my eggs, yogurt, and even in a sandwich here and there. The only downfall about keeping so much of it at home is that if I don’t use it for a few days it starts to soften and turn to mush. I’ve tried so many different things to try and prevent this from happening, washing it and letting it air dry before refrigerating, wrapping it in paper towels, storing it in different areas of the fridge, etc.

Cilantro Pesto

When OXO emailed me about their Salad Spinner, I knew exactly what I’d be testing it on… cilantro! I had heard of using salad spinners to dry fresh herbs and wanted to see if it really made a difference. After my usual routine of trimming the hard stems and washing it,  I handed the cilantro over to HD to give our new OXO kitchen tool a quick “spin” ;)!  I was surprised to see the amount of water that was released just after a few whirls. A few days later the cilantro was just as fresh as the day I bought it! Wahooo, no more mush!

Cilantro Pesto

Since I had so much cilantro on hand I decided to make pesto with almonds and cilantro. This is a wonderful alternative to basil pesto and it stores great too. You can toss it with pastas, top it on warm toasty bread, use it as pizza sauce, the combinations are endless!

Cilantro Pesto

Ingredients:
2 cups packed fresh cilantro leaves
1 cup almonds
4 large garlic cloves
1 serrano chili
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Method:
Combine the cilantro, garlic, serrano chili, and almonds in a blender/food processor and puree until smooth. Add the Parmesan, oil and salt and puree until desired consistency.

Cilantro Pesto

Giveaway Prize:

OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner

Entry Requirements*:

How to Enter: Leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite tool is in your kitchen.

Deadline: May 10th, 2012 at 11:59pm Eastern Time

Extra Entries:

Facebook Fans: Like Love Laugh Mirch on Facebook! You can gain an extra entry by becoming a fan on Facebook!  Leave separate comment on this blog post saying that you’re now a fan or a current Facebook fan.

Pinterest Fans: Follow Love Laugh Mirch on Pinterest! You can gain an extra entry by becoming a fan on Pinterest!  Leave separate comment on this blog post saying that you’re now following me on Pinterest.

*No purchase necessary to enter. Prizes will only be shipped within the US. Winner will be selected at random by Love Laugh Mirch usingRandom.org. All entries received after the giveaway closing day and time will not be considered. Entries that do not follow the entry requirements will not be considered. Winners will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to confirm receipt of the email. If the winners do not reply within 48 hours, another winner(s) will be selected. Giveaways will be mailed to the winners’ address.  This giveaway was sponsored by OXO, while I did not receive compensation to promote this product, I did receive a salad spinner to use and enjoy. All opinions are my own.

Enjoy & Good luck!

20 thoughts on “Cilantro Pesto + A Giveaway!

  1. Thanks for the cilantro saving tip! I always end up with mushy cilantro after a couple of days. And I’ll definitely be trying your cilantro pesto recipe, my kids love pesto.

  2. I actually have a wooden spatula that one of my friends made for me from cherry wood. It’s not only beautiful but it works so well on everything. I wish I could show you a picture!
    Beth

  3. My favorite has to be my knives. (That sounds bad! haha) I feel that with some great knives you can do so much more.

    Thank you so much for the chance! I actually don’t have one of these!

    lisagoneaussie (at) gmail.com

  4. It’s hard to choose a favorite tool from my kitchen. I think I especially love my mortar and pestle, my lefse making kit, my wok and my old timey grapefruit spoons with the serrated tips. Am I allowed to give more than one answer like that?

  5. Pingback: Puffed Rice Poha |
  6. Wow, this is a tough one but, I guess I would have to say my big stand mixer. I use it all the time!

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