Cilantro

Americans are most familiar with cilantro in their salsa and guacamole. However, cilantro and coriander are used all over the world in countless preparations. It is used with meat, chicken, fish, sauces, marinades, chutneys, you name it. Coriander is even used in baking.

Try cilantro in your crabcakes or shrimp salad. Or chop cilantro and garlic, add a little oil and spread this mixture on your meat, fowl or fish. Skip the oil to save calories.

For a creamy low fat dressing with diverse uses, mix equal parts of buttermilk and plain yogurt with salt, pepper, and a good amount of chopped cilantro. (Remember, buttermilk is made from low fat milk).

Ground coriander is a great addition to dry rubs. It pairs particularly well with cumin, curry, paprika, garlic, and chile powder.

If you're more decadently inclined, make cilantro oil or mayonnaise. There are two ways to make the oil. In the first, add two cups of cilantro to a jar with an airtight lid. Warm up a bland oil like canola, sunflower, safflower, or a light olive oil.

Add it to the jar, seal the lid, and wait two weeks. Leave the cilantro whole if you wish to remove it or chop it and leave it in the oil. A quicker method is to blanch 2 cups of cilantro in boiling water for five seconds and then submerge in ice water.

Squeeze out the water and puree it in a blender with one cup of oil. Strain it through cheesecloth if you wish to remove the solids. You can sprinkle various dishes with the oil or use it for cooking.

For cilantro mayonnaise, simply chop some cilantro, garlic, and an optional jalapeno pepper and then mix with mayo, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

PORK CHOPS WITH POBLANO-CILANTRO SAUCE(recipe is below)

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