I recall my first taste of cilantro. I was in Boston and I went to an unforgettable taqueria, the kind where they build everything in front of you out of amazingly fresh ingredients. I asked to try it before they put it on my burrito. I loved it. When I got home I created making a cilantro pesto and I was hooked.
The cilantro plant often reaches heights of up to three feet and has become very popular lately in Tex-Mex cooking. If you take a quick look at cilantro you might think that it is parsley, but its sweet and musky flavor will confirm it’s certainly unlike any parsley I know of. It may shock you to know that cilantro (the foliage which has wonderful pink blossoms) and coriander (the plant that comes from the seeds) are from the same plant.
You can start your cilantro plant from seeds or get it from the local nursery, greenhouse or home improvement store. Because it is an annual, you will be starting fresh with new plants each year. I start mine in pots indoors on my kitchen windowsill when there’s still frost on the ground, and it usually takes about 7 to 10 days for the seeds to develop.
Cilantro herbs enjoy moist, rich sod, so it is better to cultivate them in a raised bed after the weather gets sunny. If you live in a hot climate, be sure to provide some shade for your cilantro. Don’t forget that if your cilantro gets too much sun or too much heat it will go bitter.
About nine weeks or so after you plant your cilantro, you can have plants with pretty lavender, white or pale pink blooms. You can certainly wait until the weather gets warmer and then plant your cilantro directly in the earth. After you plant your seeds the clear skies and warm weather along with a little rain can turn your seeds into sprouts in about 2 weeks.
For the strongest tastes, use your fresh cilantro in your summer dinners. Just cut off a few leaves and add the whole thing to your meal or dice it up and add to your tacos or Mexican chicken.
Don’t forget to dry some cilantro for the fall, winter and spring meals. The best way to ensure that the leaves can have a heavy concentration of oils is to snip them off right before the herb blooms. Use a drying rack for great results. When you dry the plant the flavor is not as strong, so remember to use more dried cilantro than you would fresh.
You can harvest the coriander seed by drying them first—hanging them upside down in a paper bag works the best. Roll the seeds between your hands to discharge the seed from its pod. Next freeze the seeds for at least 48 hours before storing it in a cool, dark location.
As coriander is a curry spice, so the seeds can be crushed into a powder and used in baked meals, soups, stews and casseroles.
Good luck with your herb gardening. Be sure to let me know how your herb garden grows.
Here is more information on Herb Garden Plants. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Herb Gardens.
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