The Joy of Discovery Recipe: Cilantro Pesto on Tomato slices

If you’ve been following me this week than you know I’ve been participating in the United Way Hunger Action Week Challenge.  Today on a whim I created this recipe for Cilantro Pesto using a few inexpensive ingredients  I purchased for the Hunger Challenge.  The end result was amazingly flavorful.  In fact I plan on making this pesto on a regular basis I love it so much. I also had a package of strawberry tomatoes I hadn’t used.  These tomatoes would be the perfect pairing for my new BFF, Cilantro Pesto.  At that point I was seriously wishing for some  Bocconcini.  But then I had this thought.. “I wonder how it would taste if I sliced the tomatoes, put a dab of softened cream cheese on top, and finished it off with Cilantro Pesto.  Would it taste weird?  Would the taste of cream cheese be overpowering in this little morsel of delight?”  Maybe in my thought process I didn’t call it a “morsel of delight” but every part of the rest of my thought process is true.  In my mind I was visualizing my creation and getting really excited to try them.  And then the moment of truth happened.  OMG, these little morsels were AMAZING and bursting with flavor!  I was so happy with the result that I made a small plate of them and had a party happening in my mouth.  The cream cheese did not have a cream cheese taste to it yet added a velvety creamy aspect to each bite.  Thoughts of using Bocconcini had faded away and I was enamored with my newest creation.  And even though I didn’t use any olive oil, I drizzled a little bit of canola oil on each bite.  The next best part of it all was the fact the pesto was so inexpensive to make, around $.25 for half a cup.  I even had my neighbor try one and she LOVED IT asking for the recipe.  My husband who doesn’t even like cilantro loved it.  This recipe is a winner.. WINNER I TELL YOU!  Can you tell I’m excited about this?  Now start your weekend off right by making some of of this Cilantro Pesto!

Cilantro Pesto on Strawberry Tomato slices Recipe

Ingredients:

Cilantro Pesto *See below

Sliced Tomatoes – cherry sized ( or any other type of tomatoes)

Cream Cheese

Oil (I used canola but any will do)

Directions:
Place sliced tomatoes on a plate, add a 1/2 tsp amount of softened cream cheese on top, and finish off with a 1/2 tsp of cilantro pesto.  Lightly drizzle each slice with oil and serve.  Enjoy!

Alice’s Cilantro Pesto Recipe (inspired by the United Way Hunger Challenge)

Yields a 1/2 cup.  Just remember the magic number “4”.  “4” ingredients, all 1/”4″ cup except for garlic which uses “4” cloves.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of cilantro, slightly packed.  (I just grab a handful from the top of bunch and call it good. )

1/4 cup canola oil (but any oil will do)

1/4 cup almonds

4 med-large sized cloves of garlic (if you like less garlic start with 2 and work your way up)

Directions:

Put everything in a food processor and pulsate until fully incorporated.  Enjoy!

* Looking for a Basil Pesto Recipe? Check out Alice’s recipe here.