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Avocado Chimichurri Bruschetta

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Avocado Chimichurri
A few weeks ago, I had lunch at Border Grill. All of the food was fantastic, but one of the most memorable dishes was an avocado chimichurri that was served with tomatoes on top of crostini. It was the California version of bruschetta and it was delicious.

I got the recipe after lunch and tried it out a few times at home. It’s easy to make and tastes just as good as I remembered it, although it did have a few more ingredients than I expected it to. Don’t be intimidated by the number of ingredients, because they all come together really well into a flavorful mixture where no one flavor is dominant. The mint and cilantro make the chimichurri taste very fresh, while the parsley gives it some body and the chives and garlic give it a little heat and make it very addictive.

The recipe they shared with us at the restaurant called for a “bunch” of this and a “bunch” of that. While herbs are generally sold in bunches at the market, a bunch is not a standard measurement. It’s not easy to standardize a bunch, but fortunately most markets will bunch their products in similar proportions. The recipe is flexible and you can adjust the amounts of parsley, mint, cilantro and chives slightly to suit your tastes, but as long as you get roughly the same ratios, your chimichurri will turn out to be delicious.

You could serve the sauce by itself on steak, chicken, pork or fish and omit the tomatoes that I used to make my bruschetta. You could also omit the tomatoes and add a little extra avocado to your mix and serve it as-is. Or, you could eat it with a spoon, which is what I do when I run out of bread to serve it on. The mix is excellent just after it is made, but it keeps well when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days and the flavors will only meld more with time.

Avocado Chimichurri Bruschetta
from Border Grill restaurant
1 bunch mint, finely chopped
1/2 bunch Italian parsley, finely chopped
1/2 bunch chives, finely chopped
1/4 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup lime juice (from 2 limes)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
salt, to taste
3 ripe Hass avocados
2-3 large, ripe tomatoes
one large, thinly sliced, toasted baguette

In a large bowl, combine mint, parsley, chives, cilantro, olive oil, red wine vinegar, lime juice, garlic, paprika and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine, then add salt to taste.
Halve the avocados, remove the pits and scoop out the flesh using a large spoon. Coarsely dice the avocado and add to the herb and oil mixture. Dice the tomatoes and add them to the herb and oil mixture. Add additional salt to taste, if necessary.
Serve on top of well-toasted slices of baguette.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

Makes enough to serve a crowd

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