Chimol!

Sometimes you stumble upon something so good you just have to share it. I found chimol while looking for radish recipes for a post I have in the works, but I wasn’t planning on telling you about it for a while. Then I made a batch tonight and it’s so very yummy, so wonderfully summery, so perfect for a sunny afternoon or warm evening—both of which we had today in Seattle—that I can’t help but share it. To hold out on something this good just wouldn’t be right.

Chimol is a Salvadoran dish. I first noticed the recipe on the Mariquita Farm website, in their section of radish recipes. If you haven’t checked out their site, or the Ladybug Letter blog that farm couple Andy Griffin and Julia Wiley keep, you should definitely take a look. Mariquita stopped selling their wares at the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market earlier this year; I miss seeing them each week—and buying their wonderful produce.

Chimol is a chopped salsa that incorporates radishes, along with tomatoes, cilantro, onion, and lemon juice. On the website they mention that it is traditionally served with carne asada. It sounded intriguing, so I added it to my list of radish recipes to try.

Then today, while driving back from a late afternoon spent at the beach with my two little niece-lets (certainly the best hooky-playing I’ve done in years), I got the craving for flank steak. I know, I know, for a former vegetarian, I really have strayed. I don’t cook red meat at home often, but flank steak is something I do make every once in a while, usually with chimichurri sauce. I love chimichurri sauce.

Not today I don't. Today it was all about chimol.



I tweaked the recipe a bit, deciding I wanted equal parts radish and tomato. I added half that amount in cilantro and chopped red onion. A squeeze or two of lemon and a few pinches of salt finished it up—a crunchy, slightly assertive sort of a salsa that cut the richness of the meat. This is a salsa that won't get soggy, even if you leave it out all day in the sun. On top of strips of flank steak wrapped in corn tortillas, it was simply heaven.



So here is the recipe for you to enjoy, no waiting. ‘Cause I’m thinking you might be in the summer cookout mood this weekend. If you are, chimol would be a happy addition to your menu.

As the good folks at Mariquita say, chimol is great on chicken or fish—even grilled slabs of tofu. Use it as you would a salsa, with scrambled eggs, chips, tacos. The radish will keep it crunchy throughout a long warm afternoon—hopefully at the beach.

As for me, my cheeks are rosy, I have a bit of sand in my hair, and I smell like sunscreen. It feels like the first summer I've had in many years. Right now my neighborhood in San Francisco is buried so deep under layers of fog that you can barely find it, and any trip to the beach requires jackets and mittens. Hardly cookout weather down there.

Seattle, I am loving you right now—with a serving of chimol on the side.

CHIMOL
Makes enough for two generous servings, multiply as needed
1/2 cup radish, chopped in medium fine dice
1/2 cup tomato, chopped in medium fine dice
1/4 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped (cilantro haters could substitute flat leaf parsley)
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice, or to taste
3 pinches salt, or to taste

FOR FLANK STEAK
1 1/2 lb. flank steak, washed and patted dry
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp black pepper

Mix the salt, pepper and spices in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture on both sides of the beef. To broil: set the pan about six inches from the burner and cook four minutes per side. Let sit at least five minutes before slicing. To grill: let's just say that if you have your own barbeque, you likely know what to do with it more than I do.

Yum.