3 Latin Salsas For Your Grill
Spice up grilled dishes with 3 authentic salsas: chimichurri sauce, guasacaca and mojo de cilantro.
My grandmother used to say that a great sauce could fix anything. She was right.
Turkey without gravy isn’t turkey, and grilled meat tastes much better with chimichurri (made from parsley, garlic and oil), guasacaca (a yummy version of guacamole) or mojo de cilantro (an intense green sauce with lots of garlic – perfect for marinades).
Now that spring is here and summer is right around the corner, barbecuing is made even better with the Latin flavor these sauce and marinade recipes provide. All three are easy to make, and none have to be cooked beforehand. They are amazing for enhancing the flavor of any dish you plan to grill, whether it’s meat, chicken, pork or fish.
Note: All recipes make 1 cup of sauce.
Chimichurri sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup parsley, washed and dried
- 6 cloves chopped garlic
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
- ½ cup white vinegar
- ½ cup olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse several times until a thick puree is formed
- To serve, spoon onto freshly grilled meat (steak and chicken are particularly tasty), or marinate meat beforehand for at least 3 hours
- If desired, store in an airtight container in the freezer for later
Tip: Clean up as you go and avoid the dreaded end-of-night dish duty. A few drops of our plant-based Home Made Simple Lemon-Scented Dish Soap will make short work of washing the food processor. The bright and zesty lemon scent is a perfect complement to the aroma of Latin spices.
Guasacaca
Ingredients
- 1 cup ripe avocado mashed with a fork
- 3 tablespoons onion chopped as finely as possible
- 2 tablespoons red pepper, deveined, seeded, skinned, chopped as finely as possible
- 2½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Rock sea salt
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients in a large bowl
- Add salt to taste
- Serve with freshly grilled meat, or eat with chips!
Mojo de cilantro
Ingredients for 1 cup
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 2 cloves chopped garlic
- 1 cup cilantro leaves bunched together, washed and dried
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 pinch allspice
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- Red chili flakes to taste
Instructions
- Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth
- Marinate meat beforehand for at least 3 hours, or drizzle over freshly grilled meat
Tip: These sauces are simple to make – which means cleaning up is even simpler. After dinner is over, spray Home Made Simple Multi-Purpose Spray on countertops and the stovetop, and wipe away grease, grime and the remnants of your delicioso meal. It’s made with plant-based cleaning ingredients to keep things simple, but it still gets the job done.