Gushing about Gremolata

One of the things I love about being married to Baird is that he appreciates a strong, bold flavor at mealtime.  Whether it's a balsamic vinegar-based marinade for grilled steak-and-potato shish kabob or traditional cucumber salad spiked with serrano peppers, I know I'll get a hearty "Wow! That was fantastic!" instead of just "Thanks for dinner" when I crank up the seasonings.

Gremolata is one of those garnishes that lends some outright pizzaz to a dish.  Traditional gremolata was born in Italy and sprinkled over osso buco (veal shank and veggies served with risoto).  The basic ingredients are minced parlsey, lemon and garlic. I don't serve veal at home, but I've found that gremolata goes really well with chicken.

I love gremolata for its simplicity.  With just a few common ingredients, I can seriously up the ante in the flavor of my dish.

The other thing I love about gremolata is that I can use just about any fresh herb in my garden and it works.  Thyme gremolata is amazing.  So is rosemarry.  This evening I adapted a recipe from Cooking Light and made mint gremolata with pine nuts.  Yes.  I am aware that by adding pine nuts to my gremolata, I'm on a slippery slope toward pesto.  I don't care.  I absolutely love pine nuts, especially when they're toasted, chopped up, and thrown in with fresh herbs from my garden, who are also hanging out with lemon and garlic.
 

Here's the recipe:

3/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted (divided)

2 tsp. grated lemon rind

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp. kosher salt, or to taste

Toast pine nuts until fragrant and slightly browned.  Measure out 2 Tbs. of pine nuts; cool and set aside for use in gremolata.  Snack on the rest of the nuts.

Place mint, parsley, 2 Tbs. pine nuts, lemon rind and garlic in food processor; process just until combined.  Add olive oil and salt; process to combine.  Cover and set aside at room temperature until chicken is ready for garnish.  Sparingly spoon over chicken.  Remember:  this is a garnish, and a little goes a long way.

I served my gremolata over grilled citrus chicken.  For the chicken, I mixed fresh lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and then lightly coated the meat.  I made jasmine rice to go with it, and honestly, the gremolata complemented the slightly sweet flavor of the rice quite well.  Slapping some fresh spinach and watermellon on the table kept the meal from looking washed out.
Yum.  I'm so glad there's leftovers for lunch tomorrow!