One of my daily tasks at my first restaurant job was to make a "green sauce" to accompany our bison or quail dish. I never had a specific recipe to work from, just a general formula. Since our restaurant was a "farm-to-table" concept, I made my green sauce with whatever seasonal herbs our farmers brought to us. There's no single definition of a green sauce; pretty much any uncooked sauce featuring fresh green chopped herbs qualifies, and most of the world's cuisines have their own version.
Before refrigeration, our forebears used herbs and spices to help preserve foods and mask funky flavors. Herbs are the fresh and dried leaves of generally temperate plants and spices are the flowers, fruit, seeds, bark and roots of mostly tropical plants. Green sauces are typically made with herbs but are often seasoned with spices.
Perhaps the best known green sauce is Argentina's chimichurri, made predominately with parsley, garlic and often oregano. The Yemenis have a cilantro-heavy version called zhoug. In Morocco, they have chermoula, made with parsley, cilantro and mint. The Italians have salsa verde (literally "green sauce"), made with parsley, garlic, capers and anchovies. Mexican cuisine also has a salsa verde, but it gets it green from tomatillos, cilantro and green chiles.
When I'm cooking indoors, I have my stovetop pretty much dialed-in so that I can multitask and sear a steak while finishing a béarnaise sauce. However, when I'm outside grilling over wood or charcoal, I'm cooking over a variable heat source, and I don't want to be distracted by anything on the side that's attention-demanding or complicated. That's why I love green herb sauces. Just spoon some atop something hot off the grill: a steak, chicken thighs, a piece of fish, a platter of vegetables. A good green sauce adds complexity and is especially effective at cutting through any fatty richness. So delicious, yet so easy! Green sauces can be made ahead and are a good way to use those half bunches of cilantro and parsley and all the plastic herb packs that are wilting away in your refrigerator.
Traditionally, green sauces would have been prepared by hand: herbs chopped fine and sometimes broken down further in a mortar and pestle. Modern food processors make a quick job of this task, but purists swear that made-by-hand versions are superior.
Argentinian Chimichurri
Makes a generous cup
You may be tempted to throw the ingredients into a food processor, but I really feel that hand chopping is worth the extra effort. Dissolving the salt in boiling water helps to evenly distribute the seasoning.
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 large head of garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
1 packed cup flat-leaf (Italian) parsley leaves
½ packed cup fresh oregano leaves (or substitute cilantro, mint or more parsley)
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup red wine vinegar
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Preparation:
Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the salt and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Finely mince the garlic. Finely mince the herbs and combine with the garlic, along with the red pepper flakes. Whisk in the vinegar, followed by the olive oil, followed by the salted water.
Let stand for an hour before serving. Can be made ahead and chilled for up to 5 days.
Yemeni Zhoug
Makes a generous cup
Use this to brighten up grilled meat, fish or vegetables. Or spoon some atop hummus.
Ingredients:
1 packed cup chopped cilantro – leaves and tender stems
½ packed cup chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley leaves
2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
3 small serrano chile peppers
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup distilled white vinegar
¼ cup water
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
2 teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon finely grated orange zest
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Preparation:
Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse into a smooth puree.
Let stand for an hour before serving. Can be made ahead and chilled for up to 5 days.
Moroccan Chermoula
This is traditionally used as a marinade for fish but works for pretty much any grilled protein. I love it on barbequed leg of lamb.
Makes a generous cup
Ingredients:
¾ teaspoon coriander seeds
¾ teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ packed cup chopped cilantro- leaves and tender stems
½ packed cup chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley leaves
½ packed cup chopped mint leaves
Preparation:
Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a small dry skillet until fragrant. Allow to cool and crush in a mortar and pestle or pound with a heavy skillet.
Pulse the toasted seeds, garlic, oil, lemon zest and juice, paprika, salt and red pepper flakes in a blender or food processor until smooth. Add the fresh herbs and pulse until a rough paste forms.
Let stand for an hour before serving. Can be made ahead and chilled for up to 5 days.
Italian Salsa Verde
Makes a generous cup
Alice Waters of Chez Panisse likes to serve this over whole roasted cauliflower. The addition of a hard-boiled egg helps thicken this sauce.
Ingredients:
1 packed cup flat-leaf (Italian) parsley leaves
1 tablespoon salted capers, soaked in water and rinsed
2 salt-packed anchovies, soaked and rinsed (or 4 oil-packed anchovy fillets)
1 medium garlic clove, peeled
1 hard-boiled egg
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preparation:
In a blender or food processor, purée the parsley, capers, anchovies, garlic, hard-boiled egg and lemon juice until smooth.
Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while pulsing to emulsify. Season with the salt and pepper.
Let stand for an hour before serving. Can be made ahead and chilled for up to 5 days.
