Coriander and cilantro are the same plant! In the US the leaves are called cilantro, which is the Spanish name for the planet. In most of the world, both leaves and seeds are called coriander in English.

Cilantro can often be bought fresh in a grocery store, in the vegetable area. It looks very much like a dark green parsley - it has long stalks and then an open fan shape of leaves. It's better to get the fresh cilantro vs the dried version.

I have always been fond of the flavor of cilantro, but I really got interested in it when I had my mercury (silver) dental filling replaced by a non-mercury (white) filling. Cilantro has been found by studies to help with extracting heavy metals like mercury from the body. So once I had that mercury removed, I made sure to eat ample cilantro each week to make sure any stray bits of mercury set loose during the drilling were swept out of me. I'm happy to report that I feel much healthier now that I'm mercury free!

Cilantro is also wonderfully full of antioxidants, and is shown to help diabetics with insulin regulation. It's been enjoyed at least as far back as the Greek cultures.

There's many reasons to include cilantro in your weekly meal plan!

Cilantro is a staple of salsa and guacamole recipes, as well as many Indian dishes.

Here are a few of my recipes which feature cilantro. Enjoy!

Simple Guacamole Recipe
Garlic Salsa Recipe
Easy Salsa Recipe

Let me know if there's a specific type of cilantro recipe you'd like me to write up for you, and I'm more than happy to work on that. We used to do a lot of Indian cooking, so it would be fun to work on some Indian recipes that involve cilantro, to round out the mix!

Cilantro can also be sprinkled on top of any salad to add flavor and health benefits to the salad.

Have fun experimenting, and post your results in our forums!


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