the friday feed: chimichurri

Before we left for Europe, I cleaned out every bit of perishable food in the refrigerator. After an 18 day holiday, we arrived home and the next day I headed to the farmer's market. My market basket overflowed with beautiful fresh veggies to last through the coming week and then some. A few days later my son in Cleveland called to tell us that they're taking the grandkids to Boo at the Zoo this Saturday and do we want to come along. Of course! 

Ohmygosh...the two veggie bins are full. Need to think of ways to empty them pronto. A big pot of vegetable soup takes care of the bulk but as of yesterday, there a head of cauliflower, half a red pepper, a whole yellow pepper, half a zucchini, a couple carrots, a little bit of onion still needed to be used. A tray of roasted vegetables to the rescue. While in London, we attended a couple happy hours at the hotel, and roasted zucchini and eggplant with an herby, green sauce was served. It was a very tasty relish. Parsley and oregano are going strong in my herb garden and what do you know? They're used in chimichurri. 

The chimichurri was very easy to make and took 10 minutes to come together. That included hand chopping the herbs.

Herbs, oil, vinegar -

Bright sauce for roasted veggies,

a vibrant, green kiss.

Chimichurri

1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 cup parsley finely chopped

2-4 cloves garlic finely chopped or minced (start with 1 or 2

2 red chilies small, or 1 red chili, deseeded and finely chopped (about 1 tablespoon finely chopped chili)

3/4 teaspoon dried oregano (2 1/2 t. fresh)

1 teaspoon coarse salt level

1/2 teaspoon pepper to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon)

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes to release all of the flavors into the oil before using. Ideally, let it sit for more than 2 hours, if time allows.