From eggs to water, cilantro adds flavors

If there’s one herb San Antonians know, it’s cilantro. We sprinkle liberal fistfuls of it on so many of our favorite foods here. And thanks to that collective appetite for cilantro, I’ll bet nearly every home cook in the city has experienced this at some point: finding a sad, mostly spoiled and halfempty bag of the stuff hiding in the back of the vegetable bin.

This week we’re here to help prevent that with eight tips for using all the leftover cilantro that would otherwise wind up in the trash. Consider any of the following ideas if you’ve got a bunch or two you’d rather not let rot in the fridge.

Cocktails: Cilantro will give any cocktail a unique flavor familiar to any Texan. Try it muddled into your next citrus-heavy tequila-, gin- or vodka-based drink. This also makes a particularly refreshing twist on a mint julep in which reposado tequila and cilantro stand in for bourbon and mint.

Pesto: Swap basil with cilantro in your favorite pesto sauce to give any pasta dish a taste of Texas. Feel free to use toasted pumpkin seeds or almonds in place of pine nuts, and grind in a little jalapeño or serrano chile and/or red onion as desired.

Rice: Every pot of rice can be cilantro rice. Reduce the quantity of liquid added to your dry rice by 1⁄8 cup for every half cup of finely minced cilantro and cook as you usually would. If you’re obsessive about bits of greenery in your rice, blend the cilantro with liquid before cooking.

Salads: Add oodles of

chopped cilantro to salads for a unique, herbaceous flavor. This pairs particularly well with a lime juice-based vinaigrette.

Scrambled eggs: Whisk a handful of chopped cilantro into raw eggs before scrambling. The results will be perfect on their own or even better stuffed into a breakfast taco. Add chopped tomatoes, chiles and onion as desired.

Smoothies: Cilantro will add a flavorful kick to any kind of smoothie but works particularly well in vegetable-heavy green smoothies that incorporate a bit of tropical fruit, such as mango or pineapple.

Tea: Cilantro has a surprising

number of health benefits, including anti-inflammatory properties from a phytonutrient called quercetin and a significant dose of vitamin K, which aids in blood clotting, among other things. And you don’t have to eat it to get the benefit. Just steep 2

teaspoons of chopped cilantro leaves in a cup of hot water for 5 minutes to make an extra herby cuppa.

Water: Fill a pitcher with water and toss in all your leftover cilantro and a half-dozen lime slices. Refrigerate it overnight,

and start sipping the refreshing elixir the next morning. You may never go back to boring tap water.

Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times Leftover cilantro increases the herbaceousness of a pot of rice

Portland Press Herald Try muddling cilantro into your next cocktail. This works particularly well with tequila-, gin- or vodka-based drinks.

IStockphoto Try tossing cilantro into the blender the next time you whip up a green smoothie.

Getty Images Wondering how to use all that leftover cilantro? We have several suggestions.

Portland Press Herald / Getty Images Cilantro-based pesto can give any pasta dish — or taco, for that matter — a taste of Texas.