Almost every Sunday, we have family dinner.
A big traditional Sunday dinner where my mom whips up a big meal, my dad opens a bottle of wine, and I make dessert. It is a perfect way to end the weekend and a restorative way to begin the new week.
And the person who loves Sunday dinner the best? My grandma, the YIA-E. She loves sitting at a big table, surrounded by her family, and tucking into an impressive spread of food. Dinners range from classic meals (like roasted chicken) to the more exotic (Thai Peanut Noodles), but we always try to make something that we know the YIA-E will love. She has traveled the world and loves interesting flavors/ingredients, so we really try to incorporate that into our Sunday dinner plans.
So when we were thinking about dinner for this past Sunday, we decided to go Argentinean and make grilled London Broil steak with a bright and flavorful Chimichurri Sauce.
What is chimichurri, you ask?
It is a sauce that has its roots in Argentina and features garlic, parsley, and vinegar. The traditional sauce is chopped small with a knife, but I was super lazy and used my food processor… and it worked out beautifully and was super quick! It is a delicious (and bright green) sauce that is perfect to top grilled meats. Or be like my grandmother and smother everything with it!
This Quick Chimichurri Sauce starts with the key ingredient – fresh parsley!
Put the leaves from one large bunch of parsley in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
**Fun Fact – did you know that parsley is a great source of vitamin K? One tablespoon of parsley delivers ~50% of your daily allowance of vitamin K!**
Back to the sauce!
Add in some minced garlic to the bowl of the food processor. I used about 8 garlic cloves here (which makes it SUPER garlicky) but if you want to cut back a bit to 6 garlic cloves, that’s completely fine!
Add some lemon zest.
Squeeze in the juice of half lemon and add in some red wine vinegar – the acidity really brightens up the sauce.
Pour in some olive oil.
And add in the final seasonings – minced red onion (okay, not a really a seasoning…), salt, black pepper, and dried oregano.
All that’s left is to put the lid on the food processor and blend until completely smooth! Taste and adjust the seasonings before serving.
Yum.
This Quick Chimichurri Sauce is great over grilled steak or chicken, but the YIA-E says that is tastes great over roasted potatoes and veggies too! Definitely a great way to add color and flavor to our Sunday dinner!
So, what’s your Sunday dinner go-to? Roast beef, grilled chicken, or nachos? Let me know!
Your parsley lovin’ friend,
Catherine
- 1 large bunch of flat leaf parsley
- 6-8 cloves garlic, minced finely
- ¾ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- Juice from half a lemon
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon minced red onion
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine all the ingredients. Blend until thoroughly combined. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Serve alongside your favorite grilled meats or with roasted potatoes!
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