Archive | January, 2011

BBQ Roasted Potatoes

27 Jan

Who says you need to have BBQ only in the summertime???

Where I live it is summer weather year-round so I really do not discriminate when I should or shouldn’t eat something slathered with BBQ sauce.

When I get a craving to eat BBQ sauce, like I used to when I used to eat ribs at Tony Roma’s…  I go to this recipe.

 

BBQ ROASTED POTATOES

2 large red-skinned potatoes, cut up roughly into 1” pieces
2 veggie hot dogs or tofu dogs, sliced on a bias
1 medium yellow onion, cut up into wedges
3 tbs of your favorite BBQ sauce, organic preferable
A drizzle of Olive Oil
Garlic Salt to taste

 

 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400F
  2. In a medium bowl toss together all the ingredients.  Make sure all the potatoes, onions and pieces of hot dog are coated with the BBQ and seasonings.  Transfer to a baking sheet and line everything up in one layer.
  3. Roast in oven for about 40-45 minutes.  I move things around about halfway thru cooking to make sure everything gets golden brown on all sides.

 

Serve alongside some garlic toasts…  or next to a refreshing crispy salad to cool off the heat from the BBQ sauce.

Tags: , ,

Poblano Pepper Rajas

20 Jan

When I went last year to Guadalajara, I fell in love with a taco filling they call RAJAS… Rajas are translated directly as STRIPS of something. I had the pleasure of having RAJAS made from Jalapeños, Nopales and Poblanos.

The Rajas de Jalapeños were delicious made in a creamy sauce with corn and little pieces of some other crumbly cheese. They served me three corn tortillas with the filling and you top them with your favorite veggies – lettuce, tomato, crema, etc. Something that surprised me about all the Pepper Rajas I had while in Mexico is that I always expected the dishes to be so spicy that I would not able to handle them. This was not the case… All dishes were mild, even to my wimpy palette.

I saw this recipe from Marcela Valadolid on making Poblano Rajas and I had to try it… I am almost certain I used some other chile other than a POBLANO, because after seeding and deveining, it was WAY SPICIER than what I remembered in Mexico. Maybe one of my peppers started to ripen and I’ve been told this adds to the spicy level of a pepper.

Who knows what happened… but the results were delicious. You should try this too…

POBLANO PEPPER RAJAS

6 fresh poblano chiles
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium white onion, thinly sliced
1 medium clove of garlic, minced
2 fresh ears of corn, kernels removed
1/4 cup heavy cream
½ cup plain yogurt – or Mexican crema…
¼ cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup, shredded Mozzarella cheese
¼ cup mild feta cheese, crumbled into small pieces
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
For Accompaniment:
Fresh baby spinach
Fresh tomatoes
1 cup of strained plain yogurt – or Greek yogurt
Slices of lime
Corn Tortillas

 

  1. Char the poblano chiles under the broiler of your oven until blackened on all sides. I did mine in a toaster oven. Enclose in a plastic bag and let steam for about 10 minutes.
  2. When the chiles have cooled a bit, peel and seed them. Cut the chiles into 1/2-inch strips (rajas) and set aside.
  4. Add the oil to a heavy large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and garlic and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the corn kernels and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
  5. Add the strips of chile to the onion and corn mixture and sauté until the corn is tender, about 5 more minutes.
  7. Add the heavy cream, vegetable broth and yogurt. With the back of a knife, scrape all the liquid that resides in the corn hull left behind. Cook until bubbling, about for 8 minutes more. Add the cheeses and stir until melted and smooth. Season the rajas with salt and pepper, to taste.
  8. Transfer to a serving dish and serve as part of a Taquiza.
  9. Warm the corn tortillas in a dry skillet and place inside a clean cloth surrounded by aluminum foil to maintain warm and pliable as long as possible.

What’s a Taquiza??? When you set out all the fixings for making TACOS buffet-style… just like they do in Guadalajara. Buen Provecho!!!

Tags: , , ,

Vegetarian Festival – Centro Yoga Devanand

17 Jan

Last Sunday we organized a Vegetarian Festival at the Yoga Center. It is the first Vegetarian festival of 2011 and the first one celebrated on a Sunday.

My friend Tania had a dream… she dreamt we did this kind of Festival on a Sunday, more people would come and try more of all the foods we offer. We usually celebrate these Festivals on Saturday nights, but people sometimes are not too fond of eating so much food at 9PM at night.

We have been doing these Festivals for a long, long time. It’s a way for the Yoga Center to demonstrate:

  • how varied and delicious Vegetarian food can be
  • the cooking talents of our Yoga Cooking Team

Usually people just bring in any dish they want to share along with the whole crowd. It’s our own vegetarian version of a pot luck dinner. It’s just a HUGE pot luck dinner featuring usually 15+ dishes, plus salads, natural juices and desserts.

Here is a round-up of all the dishes featured in this latest version of our Vegetarian Festival:

Onion Rice made by my Mom

 

Baked Rice with Spinach, Mushrooms, Pecans and Cheese aka Arroz Kristina made by me

 

Rice Pasta Lasagna with Spinach and Dairy-free Cheeses by Rosani

Chipa Guazú made by our friend from Paraguay, Ester

Vegetable Lo-Mein made by Manolo and Jesús

 

Roasted Potatoes with Spices by Mili

 

Sun-dried tomatoes Stuffed Mushrooms made by me

 

 

Breaded Eggplants made by Tania

 

BacalaFREEtos – made with some leftover batter from the fried eggplants inside the Lo-Mein

 

Pizza Pastelillitos made by Yazmín

Soy Albóndigas with a zesty Tomato Sauce made by Angie

 

We featured 2 different soups…

Roasted Plantain Soup made by Tania

Rice and Bean Soup with Smoked Veggie “Ham” made by Carmen G.

 

We had a green salad served with 2 different dressings and a natural Juice made with passion fruit, kiwi and other citric fruits.

 

And 3 desserts…

Candied Coconut (Dulce de Coco) made by Cony

Carrot Dessert with Raisins made by María Rosa

Walnut Cake with Candied Walnuts on top made by Rosani, our resident Master Baker…

Well… the Sunday plan was a complete hit. Dreams actually DO COME TRUE, right Tania?? We had 50+ people visit our center, some of them for the first time. It’s so gratifying to cook for a crowd and to see how the food would fly away and the trays be completely empty is a real joy.

The Staff - Medelicia, Carmen G, Angie, Katy and Tania, the mastermind of this Festival on Sunday.

I include some links to several recipes I have already shared with you. Click on them so you can enjoy them right away. And over the next few weeks I will be sharing some new the recipes I have learned from the star chefs in this Vegetarian Festival.

If you live in Puerto Rico, or close to our Yoga Centers in NYC/Queens or Miami Beach, I hope this display of photos make you hunger and come over to our next Vegetarian Festival. OK?? Just stay tuned to the Centro Cultural Yoga Devanand FaceBook Page were we usually post all our activities… It’s in Spanish, but you’ll enjoy it all the same. 

Hari Om.

Tags: , ,

Caprese Salad

13 Jan

I don’t know what it is about tomatoes in Florida… but every time I visit my sister, we can’t contain the urge to buy lots and lots of tomatoes. They’re just so plump and red and sweet and delicious… And I learned never to put them in the fridge. Just leave them on the counter and eat from there. They’ll not spoil and you’ll always have the best tomato experience.

We would go to The Boys Farmers Market or to another smaller more traditional type of farmers market near my sister’s home and would always return home with a batch of delicious tomatoes.  I would make batches and batches of my Tomato Basil Brushetta mix and this Caprese Salad for my sister… her favorite.

 I always like to add a bed of crispy lettuce underneath to bump the nutritional value and heft of the salad. Even though its tradition to have only tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, I need lettuce to make it feel more of a real salad to me. All the components are readily available fresh from The Boys – mozzarella, basil leaves and mixed greens…

CAPRESE SALAD

6-8 romaine lettuce leaves, thinly shredded or baby spinach leaves would work well also
2 large tomatoes, sliced
½ ball of fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
10-12 basil leaves, washed and trimmed
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Coarse Sea Salt
Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
  1. Just place cut lettuce or other greens  as a bed on a serving platter. Arrange tomato and mozzarella slices alternately on top of lettuce bed.
  2. Place a basil leaf in between each slice of tomato and cheese.
  3. Drizzle with Olive Oil and Balsamic. Sprinkle liberally with Salt and Pepper.

Don’t the tomatoes look scrumptious???

Tags: , , , , ,

The Boys Farmer’s Market – Delray Beach, FL

10 Jan

Close to where my sister lives in South Florida there’s a farmer’s market called The Boys. I always fund the name funny… particularly because it’s located next to The Girls Strawberry Patch store. We always drove past it, but never paid really much attention to it.

Recently, we’ve spent a lot of time at my sister’s and my brother-in-law always insisted The Boys had the best prices on produce. Even better than Publix or Winn Dixie. Being the market lovers we are, particularly when we travel (check out my market experiences in NYC, Paris and Guadalajara…) we had to go at least once.

We were certainly in for a surprise… The Boys, is indeed closer to a specialty food store than a mere farmers market. The concentrate in fresh produce, but have a great bakery, cheese/dairy shop, freshly squeezed juices, specialty items like gluten-free goodies, nuts and dried fruits section, cooked foods area, butcher and fish monger. I’ve never ventured into those latter areas; we tend to concentrate on the fresh produce, dairy/cheese case and the $1 table at the entrance, where they have bags filled with stuff and everything in the bag is just $1. Awesome…

My favorite things to always look for at The Boys are: $1 bags of apples, potatoes, limes, plum tomatoes, fresh ears of corn, sweet potatoes, etc. The fresh mozzarella, goat cheese, smoked cheddar, strawberries, blueberries, cut/peeled pineapples, mushrooms, poblano peppers, fresh leaf spinach, basil stalks, tri-color bell peppers, watercress, mesclun lettuce mix and red skinned potatoes.

I wish I had a specialized market near my home, so accessible and cost-effective, as The Boys. There used to be a time where we would visit The Boys daily to get the ingredients of what we would make that day for dinner. Just like in the ol’ times. I’ll be sharing some of the recipes I was inspired to make based on the awesome fresh produce from The Boys…

This makes me want to visit farmers markets every weekend now… let’s see if I can do that now in the New Year. Am I adding another resolution to my list??? Hope not…

Tags: , ,

← Older Entries