By Week 429. Summer 2024. I am 41 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like grilled food and garden herbs and this is my life. This is the life I built.
I went for a run this morning — the Saturday routine, the greenbelt, the river, the particular meditation of feet on a path and lungs filling and the body doing what it was told it couldn't do. The running group meets rain or shine.
Mason is 13 and navigating middle school with the quiet competence that has always been his way — focused, kind, certain of who he is in a way that took me thirty years to achieve.
Lily is 11 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.
I made grilled steak with chimichurri this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.
Chimichurri was always going to be the thing I made — it’s garden herbs and olive oil and your own two hands, which is to say it’s everything I needed this particular Saturday to feel like myself. This herb-infused oil is the version I reach for when I want that same bright, grassy punch without measuring every last pinch; it comes together quickly, it smells like the backyard in July, and it turns a weeknight steak into something that belongs under string lights. That’s all I was looking for.
Herb-Infused Oil
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes | Total Time: 15 minutes | Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, lightly smashed
- 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, loosely packed
- 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- Zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
- Warm the oil. Pour the olive oil into a small saucepan over low heat. Add the smashed garlic cloves and warm gently for 4—5 minutes, until fragrant and just beginning to sizzle at the edges. Do not let the garlic brown. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
- Chop the herbs. While the oil cools, finely chop the parsley, oregano, and cilantro together on a cutting board until the mixture is uniform and fragrant.
- Combine. Remove the garlic cloves from the oil (discard or reserve for another use). Stir in the chopped herbs, red pepper flakes, salt, black pepper, red wine vinegar, and lemon zest.
- Rest and infuse. Allow the oil to sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before serving so the flavors meld. For a deeper infusion, cover and let sit up to 2 hours.
- Serve. Spoon generously over grilled steak, grilled vegetables, crusty bread, or roasted potatoes. Store any leftovers in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 5 days; bring to room temperature before using.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 245 | Protein: 0g | Fat: 27g | Carbs: 1g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 75mg