Chimichurri sauce without oil or salt

I grew up in France with many sauces: vinaigrettes, lemon dressings, aioli, béchamel, the list goes on. It is only when I moved to the US that I discovered some new flavors, particularly those from South America. Layla my wife has these amazing sauces and dishes, and whichever I make will be a shortcut from the way that it should be done in the traditional sense. My experiments take nutritional ideas, adapt traditions, because I like the idea that a culture can try new things sometime. For example: oil-free dressings.

This chimichurri sauce without oil or salt takes the wholesome ingredients from the traditional latin recipe and makes a tasty dressing for appetizers.

I replaced salt with nothing, and replaced oil with water. The traditional chimichurri recipes each have their own variations, so take the following ingredients with a grain of salt. Pun intended, naturally.

The main challenge that I found in making this oil-free chimichurri sauce, is the balancing of quantities of liquid and fresh herbs. Basically, plan for using more fresh herbs that you might think. It is a good idea to have some extra parsley, green onions, basil in your fridge. You may not need them, or maybe you will. So if after blending your sauce is more on the liquid side, add more herbs and mix again, until you get the consistency you like.

In spite of being a no oil and no salt sauce, all the ingredients remain wholesome . We added zero artificial substitute and kept the list to what mother Nature gave us. I can’t wait to put this oil-free chimichurri sauce on salads, pasta, rice, sweet potatoes, and other vegetables such as eggplant, as we did this evening.

And if you’re looking for the traditional chimichurri sauces, check Layla’s recipe for the original, the quick version, and her balsamic vinegar variation.

Bon appétit!