A quickie out of guilt...

No, friends, I have not abandoned you. But this week saw the start of the second summer school session, so I had to get ready for that. And then (way too) early this morning, I left for West Springfield, MA (well, technically, I am writing you from the glamorous Motel 6 in Enfield, CT, but close enough) to compete in some dog shows over the weekend. So it will no doubt be next week before I can do a proper post, but here's a quick tide-over snack, if you will. This hardly even counts as a recipe, but we have become OBSESSED with it at my house, and have been coating an amazing array of foods with it from chicken to baked potatoes to pizza and pasta. We have threatened to flavor ice cream with it next! Tee hee. This remarkable condiment is called persillade, and despite the fancy French name, it can be whipped up in seconds, and has but three main ingredients. Persillade is a parsley and garlic sauce, not unlike a salsa verde, green sauce, chimichurri, or pesto. And man, is it DELICIOUS! All you do is run out to your herb garden and hack off a fistful of either flat-leaf or curly parsley (or both!), rinse it off, and toss it into the food processor (you want about three tablespoons of chopped parsley in total). Also throw in three cloves of good garlic (I like hot, reddish-purple varieties myself) and process until finely chopped. Then stream in two tablespoons of a good-quality extra-virgin olive oil until you have a pesto-like consistency (not completely smooth...with bits still visible in the emulsion). Season with salt and pepper to taste, and that's it! Then keep it in the fridge and use it on anything that would benefit from a hit of herbal freshness and big garlicky kick. It is just scrumptious on everything--meat or fish, potatoes or pasta, and all kinds of veggies. It has become the definitive summer condiment here at Lindsey's Luscious. Next time I make it, I might also squeeze a little fresh lemon juice into the mix, but it's yummy enough without. Punch up your summer cuisine with persillade! You'll thank me for it.