Cilantro Stem Marinade

Herbs are a necessary evil. So delicious, but oh so difficult to use up. In a fit of allaying my yuppie guilt, I fixated on using up a somewhat sad bunch of cilantro. After consulting my trusty Hot Sour Salty Sweet cookbook, I had a plan. 2X cilantro.

The book taught me this: cilantro stems are not for the trash. Apparently, you can use cilantro stems for flavor! In my handy mortar, I pestled 5 garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons of black peppercorns, 3 tablespoons of coarsely chopped cilantro stems (who knew?!) and a pinch of salt. Once I had a paste, I marinated some chicken thighs in it, and soon enough, the sous chef was marching out to the grill.

The result was this ultra yummy grilled chicken noodle bowl - note the second use of cilantro. So next time you have some dying herbs, think about using the stems. Bunched together, awesome for stock/soup flavoring. Made into a paste, perfect for marinade pastes.

And when in doubt, make a dipping sauce!

Seared sesame crusted tuna with orange ginger soy sauce

Seared sesame crusted tuna with orange ginger soy sauce (Adapted from Martha Stewart)
Serves 2-3

Orange ginger soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 2 teaspoons white miso
• 3 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
• ¼ teaspoon sesame oil

1. Combine all of the ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Whisk until the miso dissolves. Serve with seared tuna.

Seared sesame crusted tuna

• ¾ to 1 lb sushi grade yellowfin tuna
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons black sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon canola oil

1. Cut the tuna into 2-3 rectangular pieces.
2. Mix the sesame seeds together on a plate.
3. Press the tuna into the sesame seeds on all sides.
4. Heat canola oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat.
5. Sear the tuna for 20 seconds on each side, then transfer to a paper towel to drain. Let rest a couple of minutes.
6. Slice  into ¼-thick pieces and serve with orange ginger dipping sauce.