It’s hard to think of an ingredient more polarizing than cilantro. (Maybe foie gras? But obviously for entirely different reasons…)
Those who love cilantro love it a lot and those who hate it- many very accomplished foodies among them- cannot stand the herb. Even culinary icon Julia Child publicly vocalized her distaste for the leafy green. In a 2002 Larry King interview, Child (hilariously) stated that if some cilantro showed up in one of her meals she “would pick it out… and throw it on the floor.”
Not just pick it out. Throw it on the floor. SCREW YOU, CILANTRO. TAKE THAT! (stomp stomp stomp)
Y’ouch. This is what I’m talking about- people who don’t like cilantro really, really don’t like it.
If you have one such person in your life, however, I wouldn’t bug them too much to ‘try and learn to like it’- it has recently been discovered that there is a genetic component to disliking cilantro. 80-90% of us taste something fresh and herbaceous and delicious and the rest, I understand, taste something akin to soap. Yuck, no wonder they are so loud and vehement in their dislike.
Luckily, I lack said gene. I love cilantro. I am on Team Cilantro.
I have also been trying to cut down on my meat consumption recently. I don’t eat a lot of meat, but I do struggle to go full-vegetarian. Still, for both moral and sustainability reasons, if I can go meat free most of the time, I figure every little bit helps, right?
So, cilantro and tofu. Two polarizing foods. Oh man, you guys are going to either love or hate this post. Here, let me give you some reasons to love it…
Quick, easy, cheap and healthy!
I used regular spaghetti noodles the first time I made it, soba the second and spiralized zucchini the third. Each is amazing in it’s own way, but I think I liked the soba the best. And yes, I like this dish with the noodles cold and the crispy tofu warm. Something about having slightly chilled noodles during the summer, tossed in something so vibrant and fresh tasting- I love the contrasting flavours, temperatures and textures. It’s perfect sunny day food and it will thoroughly satisfy without weighing you down.
| Chilled Noodles with Cilantro Pesto & Crispy Fried Tofu | | Print |
- Cilantro Pesto:
- 3 cups packed fresh cilantro, rinsed and dried
- 3 medium garlic cloves
- ¼ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
- ⅛ cup blanched almonds
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and de-veined
- 2 Tbsp lime juice + zest of 1 lime
- Kosher salt, to taste
- .
- Soba noodles, regular spaghetti or spiralized zucchini
- 1 brick firm tofu, sliced into strips
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Grapeseed oil
- Place all pesto ingredients in a food processor and blitz up until the mixture forms a paste, scraping down the sides as needed. Taste for seasoning and salt as needed.
- Heat a glug of grapeseed oil in a large pan. Add strips of tofu and cook for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned then flip and brown the other side. Drain on a piece of paper towel and season fried tofu with salt and pepper.
- Cook soba or spaghetti according to package instructions then rinse with cold water. This stops the noodles from cooking and also cools them down- I don't know why cilantro pesto tastes so much better on cool noodles, but it does. Yum! Toss rinsed noodles with a couple tablespoons of pesto and serve with fried tofu spinkled on top.
i cannot even begin to recall the crazy large number of combinations i have played with in the name of pesto, but… But… BUT… i have never ever done the lime thing. cilantro and pepita = yeah and i totally loved it 🙂 cilantro and pepita and jalapeno = yeah and i totally loved it 🙂 cilantro and pepita and pickled jalapeno = yeah and i totally loved it:-) throwing lime into the mix? almonds not letting the pepitas have all the fun? rock star fist bump due.
Pickled jalapeno, too?!?! OMG, must try that. I’m wild for all things pickled and all things spicy!
two things, finn…
1) i made this pesto yesterday. half of it went into a meatless lasagna-ish type of dish. the other half was used on a white pizza i fell into this afternoon. what follows is a short story that i promise is connected to this pesto… many years back, i was the proud parent of a girl pot-bellied piggy. when eating her favorite foods, she would sing. finn, she would hum-sing as she was chewing and swallowing and grabbing the next bite. it was the most precious thing. my friend, who was seeing this beautiful moment for the first time, said to me… “LOL this is funny! she is truly your daughter because that is what you do when you eat something you really love.”. i was shocked. i thought my friend was messin’ with me. i asked my ex. i asked my other friends. i called friends from university. i called friends from high school. EVERY one of them laughed and said, “yeah, you didn’t know you do that?!?”. since then i pay attention to myself a bit more. yesterday and today, i sang.
2) if you throw some of those pickled jalapenos AND their juice (or just the juice) into your tuna salad, you will totally lose your mind.
Yessss! So happy this pesto made you sing! That story was 100% adorable and put a huge smile on my face 😀 Aaaand I also have to make tuna salad immediately now, because just reading that jalapeno suggestion made me lose my mind with delicious. 5 stars, as always, FoodGeekGraze…
Hi Finn and Chelsea
I made your cilantro pesto last year when cilantro was abundant in the garden and truly loved it. This time I had plenty of cilantro but not the parm or fresh jalapeno so I tweaked the recipe a bit given what I had. I thought I might share it with you because it was really good yet a bit different
3 big bunches of cilantro
about 3/4 cup EVOO
1/3 cup red onion
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1.8 cup almonds ( okay, so I didn’t blanch them)
about 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice ( I found these small Indian limes at a market here and used them)
zest of 1 lime
5 cloves of garlic (maybe it was 6??)
1 pickled jalapeno with seeds ( sliced jalapeno in vinegar- uber yummy. Home made. I use them in my Sourdough Jalapeno and Asiago bread)
Anyway, it was a nice variation on your great recipe. Even my 16 month old granddaughter thought it was pretty good.
Love your blog and look forward to seeing more fabulous recipes.
Oh, I forgot to mention the salt in my variation. Add to taste. About 3/4 tsp