Herb of the Month: Cilantro

What can I say about cilantro? Well… It is definitely NOT my husband’s favorite. We have Thai food just about every week, and he does not like when they put cilantro in his food. I have found that many people actually do not like cilantro. Who knew? I can say that I am not one of those people. I love that distinctive flavor of cilantro. You will find cilantro in many Thai and Mexican dishes.

Health Benefits

Some of the health benefits of cilantro is to rid the body of heavy metal, lowers blood sugar, and supports heart health. Cilantro has a good amount of vitamin K and vitamin A, and is a great source of phytonutrients.

To read more about all of the health benefits, read Dr. Axe’s articles, 12 Cilantro Benefits, Nutrition, and Recipes.

Uses

I primarily use cilantro in my smoothies, but I use it as a garnish in some of my dishes. The absolute best way to have cilantro is in Frito Dip. To make Frito Dip, dice tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, banana peppers, jalapeño peppers (if desires), and cilantro all mixed together, left in the fridge to marry those flavors together, and eaten with a Frito Scoop. Oh yea!

Did you know…

You can eat the entire cilantro plant. The leaves, stems, roots and seeds (coriander). The roots are known to have more flavor and is used to make Thai curry pastes. This baffles me a bit, because I really do not like Thai curry, but I love cilantro.