Every chef I’ve ever worked with use sauces on every dish they make. A good sauce turns a good dish to an exceptional dish with very little effort. Sauces can be made in bulk and then used for several meals. When you go out to eat you sill see the same sauces across many menus. Some popular sauces are chimichurri, romesco, beurre blanc, pesto, and aioli just to name a few.
Chimichurri is a sauce everyone needs to have in their cooking repertoire because it is so easy and delicious. It originates from Argentina, and is extremely good on beef. I use it for any protein and as a salad dressing also. It is typically made with finely chopped parsley, garlic, olive oil, and red wine vinegar but here I substituted carrot tops because I bought carrots with beautiful green tops and I didn’t want to throw them away. Here is the recipe for the sauce.
Ingredients
1/4 cup lemon
1/2 cup evoo
1/4 cup carrot top
3-4 garlic cloves
Lemon zest
2 tbs white wine vinegar
2 tbs capers (this is not traditional but I think it is delicious)
Salt to taste
Finely chop carrot tops and garlic and combine with remaining ingredients in a pint mason jar, close the lid, and shake to combine.
I simply pan roasted the carrots and kohlrabi in a cast iron pan until they were soft but still had a bit of crunch. I like to cook them on medium heat and only turn them a few times because I want the sugars to caramelize and get nice color. If you stir them too much, you won’t get any color and color is flavor. I usually add a touch of white wine vinegar to the pan at first, which will add a touch of sweetness once the acid burns off.
I learned from Chef Brian Malarky from Herb and Wood in San Diego, CA that making a sauce with herbs with capers and lemon is an amazing combination. He makes a chicken dish that has a lemon herb sauce that was the best chicken I’ve ever tasted. Here is a video of him making it.
