What is Coriander?
Coriander is a diverse plant that is a member of the Apiaceae family, commonly used for its leaves and also its seeds.
When you’re consuming the coriander leaves as a herb, it is also commonly known as Chinese parsley (as they are related) or cilantro, which is the Spanish translation.
If you’re using coriander seeds, which you can get as whole seeds or in a ground form, it is a spice and is called coriander seeds. It would seem cilantro refers only to the fresh herb.
Coriander has a long history and is believed to date back as far as Persia almost 3000 years ago, adorned in the hanging gardens of Babylon to provide the surroundings with it’s lovely fragrance.
What Does Coriander Taste Like?
Flavour: Coriander has a fresh and lemony flavour. Well, that is for those who like them.
Some people have a natural aversion to coriander and believe that it tastes like soap due to an issue with genetics. So strong their dislike for this herb that you can find Facebook groups dedicated to how much they hate it!
Texture: Coriander leaves are tender and delicate while it’s stalks are chewy and stringy with a bit of crunch.
What Goes Well with Coriander?
Fruit and Vegetables
Avocado, broccoli, cauliflower, coconut, corn, dragon fruit, fig, honeydew, Jerusalem artichoke, jicama, kohlrabi, mango, orange, papaya, pineapple, rockmelon, strawberry, sweet potato, turnip, zucchini.
Herbs, Nuts and Dairy
Basil, cumin, chervil, curry, sesame, saffron, pepper, thyme.
Protein and Other
Beef, buffalo mozzarella, chicken, fish, pork, veal.
How to Use Coriander in Salads?
We use coriander leaves in salads as they are. We tend to roughly chop them and add it to the other ingredients or we carefully pick whole leaves for garnish.
We also like adding coriander leaves in our salad dressing where we give them a good blitzing to create herbaceous recipes.
Salad Recipes with Coriander
Vegan Couscous Salad with Blistered Tomatoes
It’s incredible how everyday ingredients such as tomato and basil can make for such a flavoursome salad recipe. Complement this vegan couscous salad with balsamic blistered tomatoes for an easy side dish any time of the week.
Grilled Courgette and Broad Bean Salad
This Broad Bean Salad with creamy avocado dressing is the ultimate green salad. Rich in nutrients and packed with healthy vegetables, you can have it as a bowl for lunch or as a side salad.
Wombok, Red Cabbage and Apple Slaw
Super fresh Asian inspired salad packed with crunch and spicy tang. Our Wombok, Red Cabbage and Apple Slaw is a crowd pleaser especially when dialled up with a sharp coriander and lime dressing.
More Ingredient Pairings
Here are more ingredient pairing ideas for your next salad creation!
- What Goes Well with Cauliflower
- What Goes Well with Grapefruit
- What Goes Well with Rocket
- What Goes Well with Jerusalem Artichoke
- What Goes Well with Apple
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