When I go to the grocery store with the seven year old, five year old, and one year old wiggling her way out of the cart strap, I am aware of what I am contending with: “Can I have this?”, or “I want that!”, which I hear every two to four minutes of said trip.
Fellow shoppers look at me with disdain and pity; most of the time there is an older woman, probably a Grandma who smiles at me and my kids reverently, and I know she is remembering her days of retail torture.

But I’m prepared – I’ve got my cilantro, and with the fresh, almost citrus and definitely tropical scent, I have conjured up at least four recipes in the produce section alone – fish tacos, tortilla soup, roasted salmon with cilantro vinaigrette, and couscous with shaved fennel, cilantro, and toasted pine nuts.

The kids throw in their token Mentos or Princess Snacks, but the fresh basil in the cart stands alone and bright with the promise of pesto, or a fresh tomato and mozzarella salad – no doubt a shrimp and pasta dish with excessive lemon to accompany the basil chiffonade.

I’m on a menu-planning roll here as we check out, the kids are whiny, the baby has broken free of her cart-strap prison, but when the checker asks me “How are you today, Ma’am?”, I reply, no longer desperate, “Fabulous, just fabulous – and hungry. You?”

When we return home, the baby in highchair eating fruit snacks, kids on the couch eating the treats I bought in exchange for their silence, I grab my Santoku knife and begin to chop, slice, chiffonade, and sauté. I am in my element, on my culinary throne (is that haughty?), and I am creating something masterful to satisfy this nurturing instinct and keep my family well-fed. I’m a little intoxicated from the powerful aroma the cilantro released as I opened it up on my cutting board. But that’s entirely okay…when Mommy is happy, everyone is happy. And they love what the kitchen matron yields, usually garnished or topped with the best Mother Nature and the produce section have to offer.

When I finally travel to the places where basil, cilantro or fennel grow wild, where these recipes have been prepared for centuries – someone will need to hold me back. I dream of food, it’s ingrained in me, like my maternal instinct.

The two combined make a yummy coping mechanism.

CILANTRO VINAIGRETTE
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
juice from two lemons or two limes
1 bunch cilantro, chopped (leaves only)
coarse ground salt
pepper to taste
1 tsp. honey
1 tsp. Dijon mustard

Place all ingredients in food processor. Pour through strainer, pushing through with the back of a spoon if necessary into a separate bowl. Set aside until ready to serve.
 

This article was written by Samantha Gianulis for Family Food Network.
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