Some of you have never heard of chimichurri. Or maybe you have. If you’ve ever gone to an Argentinean restaurant, you’ve had this stuff served to you with bread as you review the menu. I had always wanted to make it at home because it’s refreshing, delicious, and incredibly versatile. I use it as a marinade for skirt steak, as a bread dip, as a salad dressing, as a sandwich spread for a milanesa de pollo sandwich. I even use a few tablespoons and toss it with some boiled and quartered new potatoes for an herby potato salad. My point here: you can use this sauce on almost anything and it’s effing delicious.

For years I tried various recipes to the letter, but none of them ever came out right. After years of testing and a eureka moment, I finally got the perfect chimichurri.

A few tips:

Be sure to wash the herbs with a mild vegetable wash or a vinegar wash, rinse them well, and pat them dry while the leaves are on the stems.

While you can pulse the herbs in a food processor to chop them up, I prefer finely chopping them by hand. It’s a little extra work, but it helps me feel connected to the food. The process of using my hands is what makes cooking fun anyway.

Make sure the herbs are really fresh! None of that wilty shit that’s been sitting in your fridge for days.

Your herbs will stay fresh longer if you wash them, dry them, wrap them up in a paper towel and store in a ziplock bag in the fridge.

I also recommend an ikea salad spinner. Those things are cheap and really help to dry out your salads and herbs after washing!

So enough yammering. Let’s teach you how to make this delicious goodness.

Trish’s Chimichurri Sauce

makes about 3 cups

• 3 c. fresh italian flat leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
• 2 c. fresh cilantro (stems and leaves but mostly leaves), finely chopped
• 3/4 c. fresh oregano leaves, finely chopped
• 4 fresh garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp red chili pepper flakes
• 1 & 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 & 1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Place all of the ingredients in a bowl large enough to toss them together with a spatula. Combine your fresh herbs with all of the other ingredients until evenly distributed. Allow the mixture to sit for at least 15 minutes to let all of the flavors meld.

Use as a marinade, dip, dressing, sandwich spread. Whatever you want. If using as a marinade, I use about a cup for 2-3 steaks. Just make sure it’s enough to generously coat the meat.

Now, excuse me while I go dip all the bread in this sauce…