May 5, 2013

salsalicious

i had the urge to post this salsa recipe for you to enjoy on cinco de mayo.

or if you are like me, you can enjoy this easy-to-make, lime-bursting salsa every week. yes, i make it pretty much on a weekly basis. it’s so delicious and healthy. it must be my love for tomatoes and cilantro. this salsa has layer after layer of flavors and it is salsalicious.

chop everything separately in a food processor or blender, or by hand. mix ingredients in a bowl. season with lime and sea salt. and you are on your way to a mind blowing, yet simple mexican salsa.

i LOVE lime. i grew up in south america, and lime is actually our lemon. so i overuse it in this recipe. but, there’s no such thing. try it and you’ll see that this salsa has the most balanced lime ratio than most of them out there. at least i like justifying my love for lime and how good it tastes in this salsa :)

you can check out my guacamole recipe here. my husband asked me to tell you that he highly recommends it ;)

here’s the how-to and recipe. enjoy!

finely chop onions and jalapeño.

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proceed to chop tomatoes in a food processor or with a knife.

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add the tomatoes to onions and jalapeño.

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salsa is nothing without the lime. it definitely enhances all the layers in this appetizer.

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i barely chop the cilantro as you can see :)

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serve with chips or with mexican dishes!

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salsalicious {salsa}

ingredients:

3 ripe plum tomatoes, or any other kind
1/2 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped {more or less, depending how spicy you like it}
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1/2 bush cilantro, roughly chopped
2 limes, juiced {more if needed}
sea salt to taste {i add about 1/2 teaspoon}

serves 8 people.

directions:

  1. cube tomatoes and add to food processor. pulse several times until you get small chunks but also some liquid from the tomatoes.
  2. if you like your salsa pico de gallo style, pulse about 3 to 5 times. You can also chop the tomatoes with a knife in small cubes.
  3. in a medium bowl, add chopped tomatoes, cilantro, onions, jalapeño, lime and sea salt. stir all ingredients. taste and add more lime or salt if needed.
  4. serve with chips, pita chips, Mexican dishes and more.
  5. refrigerate in an airtight container for up to three days.

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avocados • gucamole • lime • salsa • sauces • tomatoes • veggies • 4 Comments
April 11, 2013

chimichurri

let me introduce you to chimichurri. originally from argentina, chimichurri is used on grilled meat {chicken, steak, burgers, you name it}, but it’s now common to dress your vegetables with this flavorful sauce, too. chimichurri seriously enhances the flavor of any grilled food you eat. no matter what, i guarantee you, it will, oh, it will, taste better. try it ;)

i remember the first time making chimichurri in the U.S. was for my husband back in college. we were dating and being from venezuela, i wanted to show him different flavors from south america. i remember it being summer, which was perfect for grilling steaks on the “front porch.” that’s a funny story. matt’s college house, which he rented with his high school friend, Joe, was hilarious. their bathroom was the size of an airplane bathroom, with the inside of the door “autographed” by every person to put a foot in the house. they didn’t start it, the previous tenants did. the door had so much sharpie on it that you couldn’t see the standard white paint doors have. that bathroom screamed college loudly. haha.

the other thing about the house is that they converted the “front porch” into a 4 x 6 bedroom or maybe it was 5 x 7. hahaha so tiny… {that’s what she said}. haha sorry, i had to.

okay, the funniest part of the bedroom was that the landlord did not lay a foundation and used only 4 concrete blocks to support the entire bedroom instead. so we would roll a pen from one side of the bedroom to the other and it would roll like it would down a hill. it was pretty cramped in there but they managed to put in a mini walk-in closet. i would just call it a closet but it’s all about the “perks” when you are trying to rent a house to college students. matt and joe changed bedrooms every 6 months so they could both have “the rights” to the nice bedroom, which was ginormous and even had hardwood floors.

so back to the “front porch” where the grill was. because the small bedroom was originally the front porch, the landlord moved the front door to the side of the house. the front door was accessible by two very small steps. the grill laid next to the steps against the house on the gravel. yeah, they didn’t have a driveway, hahaha it’s just funny because the house is just one block away from campus and it sounds like it’s in the middle of nowhere. oh college.

every summer, we would grill pretty much everything on joe’s grill {thank you joe!}. one afternoon i told matthew we were eating steaks with chimichurri. he’s never heard of it before. of course he said, “nice, i like chimichangas,” and i said, “wrong food, wrong country, it’s chi-mi-chu-rri.” so i went over the ingredients and he was down. alright i thought. i love my boyfriend!

chimichurri is pretty simple to prepare. very to the point, which is very convenient for a week day dinner or for a fast and flavorful lunch. i seriously love everything about it, and maybe you should too!

here i show you the how-to and recipe. enjoy!

add garlic and red onion to food processor.

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parsley and cilantro are next!

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lime juice and red pepper flakes gives it an amazing flavor :)

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olive oil going in.

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doesn’t the chimichurri look amazing?

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chimichurri

ingredients:
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, medium size, rinsed and partially stemmed*
1/2 bunch cilantro, medium size, rinsed and partially stemmed*
2 cloves garlic
1/4 medium red onion
1/3 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, less if you don’t like it spicy
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp lime juice {lemon juice works, too}
1/2 tsp sea salt, more or less to taste
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

yields 1-1/2 to 2 cups approximately.

directions:

put all ingredients in a food processor, pulse a few times and blend until well combined. consistency should be somewhat thick and liquidity. you don’t want a paste, so if it’s too thick, add more olive oil. if you don’t have a food processor, chop everything by hand and mix in olive oil.

refrigerate up to 5 days in an airtight container. serve at room temperature so the consistency is somewhat liquidity.

serve with meats or veggies.

*cut the stems just right where the fresh herbs start and use.

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dips • exotic flavors • lemon • lime • sauces • veggies • 4 Comments
January 22, 2013

green lentil soup

winter is in full blast and it seems like it’s going to stay for a little while. to compensate the cold weather, i work out a lot, drink hot chocolate with delicious vanilla marshmallows on top {wedding gift}, bake and make healthy soups in the crock pot.

growing up, i had to eat a lot of beans, and beans soups. lentils {red and green}, black beans, dark kidney beans, etc. black beans are actually part of our typical dish “pabellon” … plaintains, rice, shredded beef and black beans.

even though it was always warm, we ate soups. weird, right?

the lentil soup i made this past week is easy and nutritious.

the pictures don’t look appealing at all, but i promise it tastes really, really good.

here’s the how-to and final result. enjoy!

after cooking vegetables for a while, put them in a food processor or blender.

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scoop out 1 cup of lentils and add to food processor.

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puree until smooth.

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add mixture back in the crock pot and mix well.

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garnish with cubed avocados, cilantro and cayenne pepper.

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green lentil soup

ingredients:

1 lb bag green lentils {i use la preferida}
6 cups lukewarm water
1/2 medium onion, cut in big chunks
3 whole cloves garlic, peeled
1 green onion, barely chopped
1/2 orange or red bell pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt, more or less if needed
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, more or less {it depends how much of a kick you like in your food}
avocados, cilantro and cayenne pepper to garnish {optional}

serves 6 people.

directions:

rinse lentils in a large strainer in the kitchen sink for a minute or so until clean. i rinse them in batches because it’s a bit easier to handle.

put lentils in a slow cooker with the water. add curry powder, paprika, pepper, onions, garlic and green onion. cook in the slow setting for 6 hours. or about 4 hours over high. if you don’t have a crock pot, you can use the oven at 350F for 3 hours or so.

once the lentils are done, turn the crock pot off.

next, dig for all the vegetable chunks {pepper, onions, garlic and green onion}. take out as many as you can and set aside in a bowl or plate. trust me, it’s worth the time digging for it!

set a food processor or blender up. add vegetable chunks to food processor. also scoop out 1 cup of the lentils from the crock pot and add to processor or blender.

make sure to get some liquid when you scoop out the lentils. if you didn’t, go back to crock pot and scoop out about 1/4 cup of liquid in addition to the 1 cup of lentils you already have.

blend until consistency is smooth. it will look like baby food, but it’s good! add mixture to lentils in crock pot and mix well.

serve with avocados, fresh cilantro and a dash of cayenne pepper.

avocados • beans • exotic flavors • soups • 3 Comments