With our near constant sunshine and clement weather, California begs for a vegetable or herb garden, whether you have a yard, patio or even a sunny window sill. Growing your own can be incredibly satisfying, but also comes with its own challenges. I have found myself many a times on the losing side of blight, pests and critters. After the loss of way too many veggies to gophers that would yank the plants into their burrows overnight, and our Fox Terrier, Louie, not doing his intended job, we switched to raised beds.
Louie: Fox Terrier, not Gopher Terrier
Chimichurri originates from Argentina and Uruguay. The name of the sauce probably comes from Basque tximitxurri, loosely translated as “a mixture of several things in no particular order.”
Sorrel, it has a bright lemony flavor
I avoid planting vegetables that can get too buggy or that require more resources of time and energy than the payoff deserves; yes I’m talking about you carrots. Swiss chard is easy; it’s super hardy and everyone loves it. And instead of 10 tomato plants, I’ll plant three or four and space them out so we have tomatoes all summer long. Then whatever grows from the composted soil, I let grow. One year we had about 12 volunteer butternut squashes.
Today, with the help of my willing assistant, we planted assorted herbs and lettuces, tomatoes and peppers.
Chimichurri Sauce
Makes approximately 1 cup
Ingredients
1 cup firmly packed flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons fresh oregano
1 small garlic clove or 1 small shallot
2 tablespoons of acidity (lime or lemon juice or champagne vinegar)
⅓ cup olive oil
¼ teaspoon red chili flakes (optional)
Salt
Instructions
Chop the herbs and shallot or garlic and combine in a bowl.
Stir in the citrus or vinegar and olive oil
Salt to taste
Notes
This is a basic chimichurri sauce. Play around with the ingredients and try your own signature combo.
I’ve used shiso leaves, cilantro, basil, sorrel.
