It’s a wonder that recipes get shared between cooks on either side of the Atlantic. Butter beans are lima beans in the USA, while heavy cream is called double cream in the UK. If you’re growing food in the garden, there’s even more complication… eggplants for aubergine, zucchini for courgettes and arugula for rocket, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to different names for the same plants.
So, depending on where you garden or cook, these are either coriander or cilantro seedlings popping up all over my vegetable patch. I did read that in the US the whole plant is called coriander, and just the leaves are cilantro – if that’s the case, then maybe they are coriander seedlings wherever you garden and the difference in name only starts when the leaves are picked and taken to the kitchen. The mild winter here has meant that we’ve had coriander leaves / cilantro to use right through since last summer. Not huge amounts of leaves, but enough to keep us in salsa. Now that there are young plants growing again, the harvest will soon start to overtake demand and I’ll either need to get creative with recipes using coriander, or start weeding.
On the creative recipes front, here’s an idea for a full-flavoured dip or dressing. I was tasting flavoured olive oils from Casa de l’Oli at the Good Food Show in Harrogate on Friday… the basil oil is especially good. This got me to thinking of using our locally grown oil with some herby flavours. At the moment, there are large stretches of Yorkshire fields full of the blazing yellow flowers of oilseed rape. The oil extracted from the small black seeds of oilseed rape is gaining quite a following among chefs and home cooks because of its health benefits and versatility.
And after the meeting of Yorkshire and France in the last post, here’s a Yorkshire – Mexico fusion. Lots of flavours inspired by Mexican food – coriander (… cilantro), chillies, lime and tomato, all brought together in a Yorkshire-grown oil. Use the oil as a dip, sprinkled with some sea salt flakes and served with chunks of bread. Or spoon it over avocado on toast (one of the finest dishes known to man). It’s also good for adding a touch of heat and herby flavour to corn on the cob, and is messy but magical on a sandwich with Wensleydale cheese.
While this isn’t a traditional, authentic Mexican recipe, it certainly draws inspiration from that part of the world, so I’d like to link it to this month’s Spice Trail over at Bangers & Mash.
Mexican oil dip
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped and crushed
red chilli to taste, chopped
2 spring onions (scallions?), chopped
small handful of coriander leaves and stalks, roughly chopped
1 small tomato, diced
1 tbsp lime juice
50ml cold pressed rapeseed oil
fine sea salt
Bash the garlic, chilli, spring onions, coriander and tomato together using a pestle and mortar until you have a mushy, fragrant mixture without too many large lumpy bits. Add the lime juice and oil, stir, then season to taste with salt and more chilli if necessary. Leave the oil to sit for an hour or so before serving – the flavour will get better.
The Garden Deli 
It’s so true, the different names for the same thing depending where you are. I planted cilantro this year. I hope it doesn’t die. Your dip looks amazing.
Good luck with the cilantro… keep it well watered when the weather gets warm and dry to try to keep leaf production going – unless you’re growing it for seed of course.
do you mean grapeseed oil? In any case I’ll have to look this exotic item up. It all sounds lovely.
No, I think grapeseed oil is different, although I’ve never used grapeseed oil so it may be very similar. Oilseed rape is a brassica with bright yellow flowers… not at all exotic really! It has much less of a strong flavour than olive oil, so it’s good for salad dressings and mayonnaise.
Oilseed rape is called Canola in America 🙂
So that’s what canola is… thanks Emma!
Lots of Thai recipes use the root of coriander, have you ever used it? I always let some flower so I have more seeds to use and grow. Coriander isn’t used in Italian recipes even though it grows just as well as basil.
I haven’t used the root, but was planning to try it this year. The flowers attract lots of hoverflies here, do you get them in Italy?
I haven’t noticed that the hover flies like the coriander more than anything else. We have many different hover flies and bees, I am always amazed at how many.
So that’s what a lima bean is! I love the recipe, this is exactly my kind of thing, coriander is my favourite herb by a mile. And the idea of having it with avocado or Wensleydale – delicious, my idea of heaven. Lucky you having lots of seedling popping up. I must sow some now. I’m off to write it on my to-do list.
Must admit that I didn’t know what lima beans were until I did a search for this post! Seeing avocado and Wensleydale in the same sentence has me thinking that they would make a great combination for a sandwich…
I struggle with coriander. Outside it either gets battered to death by the wind or rapidly goes to seed in my sandy soil. So I grow it in big pots which commute to the kitchen or if there is room in the polytunnel beds. It is such a wonderful herb that it is worth the effort but I never quite have enough.
We use Scottish rapeseed oil and although you have to choose your source carefully it is a delightful alternative to olive oil for salad dressings.
It can be tricky to grow. Spring is the best time for leaves here, after that I let the plants flower and seed – the green seeds have a great flavour. I haven’t tried many different rapeseed oils – there’s a local grower who sells through farmers markets in York and so far it’s always been good.
Thanks for the lovely recipe, I will try it. But I am a little prejudiced against oil seed rape, it fills our fields and the air we breathe with such revolting- smelling allergy- inducing, acrid yellow flowers. And it brings pollen beetles into the garden.
I didn’t know that Lima beans were butter beans. It just shows how important Latin is as a universal botanical language.
I know what you mean about the oilseed rape – huge expanses of bright yellow flowers take some getting used to. One of the things that changed my mind about it, apart from the fact that it’s a local product, was some research showing that the populations of solitary bees is high in fields of oilseed rape… it flowers at the right time for when they’re active. So maybe it’s not all bad… maybe!
You are right, I used to keep bees and most of my honey came from the rape. But it does smell disgusting.
I think coriander/cilantro is one of those ‘marmite’ ingredients which you either love or loathe. I love it! I’m not so sure about rapeseed oil though. I have tried it because of its nutritional qualities and the fact that it is local, but found it had an unpleasant smell when heated.
You’re right about the marmite effect – and it’s genetic with coriander. I’m going to have to try heating up some rapeseed oil to see (or smell) what happens… I’ve been using it cold so far.
Sounds very tasty – especially with the Wensleydale! That’s reminded me to sow some more Coriander. I love the flowers, which also go very well with bread and cheese. 😉
Coriander flowers with bread and cheese? … I’ll definitely be trying that later in the year!
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What a beautiful entry for this month’s Spice Trail challenge. I always love your photography, Sarah. The oil looks and sounds so good – I might just have to try my hand this year at growing my own coriander too, as we get through so much of it here. Thanks again for sharing.
Thanks Vanesther! The oil was pretty good… we added some to tinned tomatoes last night to make a spicy sauce for with a pie. Good luck with the coriander growing – it’s definitely cheaper to grow your own if you use a lot in the kitchen.
Hi Sarah – did you spot your Mexican oil won the runner-up prize in the Mexican challenge over at The Spice Trail?
http://bangers-and-mash.com/2014/05/07/mexican-round-up-spice-trail/
I have no luck at all growing cilantro. It usually bolts so quickly, even in my garden in Maine where I thought it would do well because it is not so hot. I could eat bowls of your Mexican oil dip.
Hi Karen. Isn’t it frustrating when plants bolt, especially when what you really want is lots of leafy growth. Is your soil quite dry? It might be that rather than heat causing it to bolt… maybe.
I appreciate your thoughts about the moisture. In Maine, I grew it in my raised box bed that was in full sun. I’ve tilled my New Hampshire garden this year and I’m going to plant cilantro in my raised box bed that gets shade in the early afternoon. It shouldn’t dry out as easily or get too hot if our weather is normal. Perhaps I’ll have better luck. 🙂
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