Green Chile Chimichurri

Late April. The mountains still have snow on them but the lower ground is fully green and the grill runs every night and the kids are counting school days with the unselfconscious enthusiasm of people for whom summer is a total liberation rather than a logistical challenge. I find this charming. I'm the person summer is a logistical challenge for. I find it charming anyway.

Team meeting check-ins are working. Three weeks in and something has changed in the room — a different willingness to look at each other, to say something real, to tolerate silence. Football locker rooms can be incredibly performative spaces. Everyone is tough, everyone is ready, everyone is okay. The five minutes at the start of meetings are cutting through that. My linebacker's talk about his parents' separation opened a door. Two more players have walked through it since. I'm not doing therapy — I'm a football coach, not a therapist — but I'm creating conditions where the real things don't have to stay hidden in the locker room. That feels important. I'm doing it because Ruben taught me to, in a way he never knew he was teaching me.

Made a grilled flank steak this week with a green chile chimichurri that I've been developing for a few months. The chimichurri is not traditional — no chimichurri is made with green chile, by definition, since chimichurri is Argentinian — but I wanted an herb-based green sauce with the acidity of the vinegar and the specific quality of the roasted Hatch chile, and this is what emerged. Fresh herbs, roasted green chile, shallots, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt. Over the flank steak sliced thin. Over everything. Lisa calls it my green sauce. She puts it on eggs. I put it on everything else. We have a green sauce household now. This feels like progress.

So here’s the recipe for the green sauce that’s taken over our kitchen. It came together the same way the team meeting check-ins did — slowly, through small adjustments, until one day it was just part of how things work. The chimichurri is not traditional and it doesn’t pretend to be. It’s what happens when you want something bright and sharp and a little bit fire-roasted over a piece of grilled flank steak on a spring night when the mountains still have snow on them.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

4 roasted Hatch green chiles (or Anaheim), seeded and roughly chopped
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, packed
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, packed
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
2 medium shallots, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

For the Flank Steak

2 pounds flank steak
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Roast the chiles. Place whole green chiles directly over a gas flame or under a broiler, turning occasionally, until charred on all sides, about 8–10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let steam for 5 minutes. Peel, seed, and roughly chop.
Make the chimichurri. Finely chop the parsley, cilantro, and oregano by hand. Combine in a bowl with the chopped roasted chiles, minced shallots, and garlic. Add the red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir well and let sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes so the flavors come together.
Prep the steak. Pat the flank steak dry with paper towels. Rub with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before grilling.
Grill the steak. Heat a grill to high. Grill the flank steak for 4–5 minutes per side for medium-rare, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 130°F. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes.
Slice and serve. Slice the flank steak thin against the grain. Spoon the green chile chimichurri generously over the top. Serve immediately with the remaining chimichurri on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

Green Chile Chimichurri — The Green Sauce That Became a Household Institution