Amy's Cilantro Cream Sauce

bluemoon downunder's Note:

I just love the sound of the blend of garlic, cumin and lime with the cilantro in this Cilantro Cream Sauce recipe. When I came across it on the Allrecipes website and read some of the hundred or so rave reviews that had been written, I checked the Zaar recipes, which all sounded quite different again from this one and, I thought, well there are probably some other Zaar members who would also like to try this recipe. Being timid around spicy flavours, I’ll be leaving those out – whereas some chefs will I know be increasing their heat – but the rest of the flavour combinations sound really tempting. I was also struck by the versatility offered by this recipe, something that is also true of the other Zaar recipes for Cilantro Sauce, some of which I’ve saved and will also be trying. I particularly liked the sound of Merlot’s Hazelnut & Cilantro Pasta Sauce #31361. Amy’s Cilantro Cream Sauce can be used as a dip, as a sauce for grilled fish, chicken or steamed vegetables, as a salad dressing, folded through mashed potatoes or as a pasta sauce. Since I haven’t yet made this, I’ve posted it exactly as I found it on the Allrecipes website. Thank you, Amy. Some reviewers had made it with low fat cheese and cream with excellent results, some added chopped green onions and some used fresh garlic instead of garlic powder. I’ll be looking for an alternative to the tomatillo salsa. Any suggestions are most welcome. I’ve estimated the preparation time to be 5-10 minutes.

• Total Time: 5 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4

Yield: 2.0 cups

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• 1 (7 ounce) can tomatillo salsa
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Directions:

1. Combine cream cheese, sour cream, salsa, pepper, celery salt, cumin, garlic powder, cilantro and lime juice in a blender or food processor.
2. Blend until smooth and creamy.
3. Place in a serving bowl.

Reviews

[Twiggyann]

This was great. I used it as a dipping sauce for southwest egg rolls. I did make a rather sizeable substitution of using a 4 oz. can of green chiles instead of tomatilla salsa. Otherwise I followed the recipe. Delicious!

[iluvlucy]

Made this to serve with grilled salmon and halibut and it was awesome. Tomatillo salsa added a tiny kick that we liked. We used low fat cream cheese and sour cream and added extra lime. Didn't have celery salt so I used regular salt but otherwise added all the stuff. This is very versatile and I want to try it on salmon patties and chicken and maybe just eat it from the bowl!!

[Chef #1242540]

I made this exactly as the recipe shows but tripled th elime juice which perked it up and thinned it a little. Excellent! If you are afraid of the spiciness of the tomatillo salsa, I would sub a can of ortega green chiles.