Tag Archives: tomato

Chickpea Cocido

1 Apr

I’ve been meaning to eat more beans… because to me beans are an acquired taste.

Rice and beans is a staple in most Puerto Rican meals, except in mine.  My mom eats them but never cooked them at home. My grandma would make rice and beans almost every day… and for the first 17 years of my life I got offered rice and beans everyday to eat and every day I would say no, thanks.  I would only eat the rice and the sauce of the beans. The actual beans… never.

I truly do not know what happened about 10 years ago, but I saw this nice plate of garbanzos and I not only had the sauce, I actually put some garbanzos in my plate.  I liked them.  I still do not crave them, but I can enjoy them up to a point. 

Because my mom never made beans at home, I never learned to make them from her.  And when my grandma was making beans each day, I was not interested in learning how to make them.  So this recipe is my way to learning how to make beans in a way I would enjoy eating them the most.  This recipe had several incarnations… but by far this is the best one so far.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

 

 chickpea-cocido

 

CHICKPEA COCIDO

1 tsp olive oil
½ vegetable bouillon cube
2 tbs sofrito
1 small onion, chopped
½ green bell pepper, chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and sliced thin
½ can stewed tomatoes
½ chopped tomato
1 small can garbanzo beans
1 roasted red pepper
5 manzanilla olives, chopped
2 tbs tomato sauce
1 bay leaf
½ tsp Herbamare
Salt and freshly cracked pepper

 

  1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the olive oil, ½ bouillon cube, sofrito, onion and pepper. Sautee everything for about 5-6 minutes until onions start to get translucent.
  2. Add the carrots, the tomatoes and the garbanzo beans.  Now add the red peppers, olives, tomato sauce, bay leaf and season with salt, pepper and Herbamare seasoning.  If you would like more sauce… add about ¼ cup of water.
  3. Simmer over medium/low heat for about 20 minutes.  Turn the stove off and let it continue cooking for about 10-15 minutes.

 

Serve over whole grain rice or over steamed potatoes.

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Vegetable Tian

9 Mar

I think we have established already I love anything French…  so every time we have a get-together with my French-speaking friends, we try to create French recipes to keep the theme intact.

I first made this recipe for the Yoga Center – back when I was more consistent cooking at least once a month.  It was a way to introduce cooked vegetables in a different way than how they make them week in week out. 

Most recently, I shared the recipe with my friend Annie Mariel and she was the one who actually made the version photographed here.  It is cheesy yet tastes very light.   She created it as an example of Parisian cooking…  bon appétit.

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VEGETABLE TIAN

2 large onions, sliced in half
2 garlic cloves, minced
5-6 potatoes – I used russet potatoes, but Ina Garten says that Yukon Golds are a particularly good choice
2 medium zucchini
4 medium sized tomatoes – I used plum tomatoes
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 tbs thyme leaves or 1 tsp Italian Seasonings blend
2 ounces gruyere cheese, grated
Olive oil

 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 375 F
  2. Brush a rectangular baking dish with olive oil.
  3. In a medium sauté pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook for about 8 minutes until they’ve beginning to soften.  Add the garlic and cook for a few additional minutes.  Spread this onion mixture on the bottom of the baking dish you oiled.
  4. Wash well and dry the potatoes.  Slice them in thin slices, about ¼” thick.  Slice the zucchini, tomatoes too the same thickness.  Layer them alternatively on top of the onions.  I placed them slightly at an angle one on top the other like shingles. Place a potato, zucchini, tomato, potato, zucchini, tomato, and so on…
  5. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme leaves or Italian Seasonings and drizzle a bit more of olive oil.
  6. Cover the dish with a parchment paper and then aluminum foil.  Place in oven and bake for 30-40 minutes until the potatoes are tender and cooked. 
  7. Remove the covering, add the grated cheese and bake for another 30 minutes until the vegetables are browned nicely on top.

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Veggie Cuban Sandwich

5 Mar

I grew up eating Cuban Sandwiches… being the daughter of a Cuban, it was something I ate at least a few times a month.  My dad would take us to La España or La Ceiba – two bakeries here in Puerto Rico where the best Cuban sandwiches were made back then… now the same can be said for Kasalta too. 

Cuban sandwiches are now becoming very popular among US chefs – Bobby Flay, Tyler Florence, among others have all sung the praises of the Cuban sandwiches.  Traditionally they’re made with roasted pork, sliced cooked ham, crusty white criollo bread, mustard, pickles and Swiss cheese.  There is a smaller version called Media Noche – same ingredients as the Cuban, but in a smaller sweet bread.  This is the kind my sister and I had when we were growing up… and when the Media Noche is too small for your more adult appetite, you graduate to the Cuban.

Now that I am vegetarian, traditional Cuban sandwiches are not an option… so I have come up with my veggie version.  I order these at any panadería in PR or Miami.  And even though I prefer whole wheat, whole grain breads in my sandwiches, Cubans traditional or veggie versions taste better in regular white criollo bread.  The crunch it has compared to a whole wheat version can’t be beat.

 veggie-cuban-sandwich

VEGGIE CUBAN SANDWICH

Criollo Bread
Swiss Cheese
Lettuce and Tomato
Pickles
Mustard
  1.  When you go out an order, say you want a grilled cheese on criollo bread with lettuce, tomato, pickles and mustard.

If you want to prepare it yourself…

  1. Slice a 1/3 pound of criollo bread “baguette”.  Slather the insides with yellow mustard.  Place Swiss cheese on one side, lettuce, tomatoes and pickles on the other.
  2. Place in a pannini press or a George Foreman grill and press the sandwich so the bread toasts and the sandwich flattens a bit. 
  3. You could press without the lettuce sand tomato and add them afterwards, but sometimes the cheese melts so much that it’s difficult to reopen to add the salad.

 

To me, the best way to wash down your Veggie Cuban sandwich is with a malta or a batido de mamey.  No other drink makes it justice…

One final note… be wary of Cuban breads out there (Pan Cubano – as they are called in Miami) you need to order Puerto Rican bread.  Why??? Cuban bread usually is made with lard.  You run no such risk in PR as “pan de agua” or “pan criollo” is made with vegetable shortening.  Something to watch out…

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Pita Pizzas with Arugula Salad

3 Mar

I just came back from a skiing holiday in Vermont with my little “nieces” Mariana and Natalia – they’re the daughters of my 2 best friends.

We stay at a slope-side apartment with a fully equipment kitchen.  We love to buy stuff for breakfasts, dinners, and the much needed après ski break.  Mariana and Natalia specially requested this time around for me to make them pizzas.  And my kind of pizzas is Pita Pizzas – especially because I was not going to “bake” any crust in an unknown kitchen.

This is what we came up with to satisfy the kids and adult tastes alike…

 pita-pizza-w-arugula-salad

PITA PIZZAS with ARUGULA SALAD

Serves 4

 

4 whole-grain pita breads – about 6″ in diameter
1 cup of your favorite jarred tomato sauce – you may not need as much but I did not measure the sauce after I already placed it on the pizzas.  You can also make your own… mixing crushed tomatoes and seasoning them with some garlic salt, pepper and Italian seasonings.
Shredded cheese – I like the Italian Blend type, but you can certainly go as fancy as you want … using fresh mozzarella, Fontina, gruyere, etc.
1 tomato, sliced thin
1 small onion, sliced thin
About 1 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated or shredded
Arugula Salad – click for recipe here

 

 

  1. Pre-heat oven or toaster oven to 400 F
  2. Take the pita bread and smear some tomato sauce leaving a ¼” border.  Not too much so they do not turn soggy.  
  3. Top each with pita a few slices of fresh tomatoes and onions.  Sprinkle some parmesan cheese and top with the Italian-blend shredded cheese mix.
  4. Place in oven for about 10 minutes until the cheese melts and turns a nice bubbly golden brown in sections.
  5. Top each pizza with a handful of arugula salad for a nice contrast of freshness and tang.
  6. Sprinkle with additional shaved parmesan cheese on top of salad.

 

Have to admit, the girls ate the pizzas on their own and left the salad to the side, but the adults loved it.

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Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart

27 Feb

I’m sorry for leaving you a bit in the dark for a few weeks…

I was just away on back-to-back trips – one for business to Houston and one for a skiing vacation in Vermont.  During both trips and also the time in between I was so busy I just was not inspired to write…  but I was inspired to eat and cook.  So I collected and photographed a bunch of recipes I made or ate during that period and here you’ll have them all.

This is something I made for lunch a few weeks back.  You know when you learn about a new recipe, something that just entices you in such a way that your mouth salivates… and then you realize that you have ALL the ingredients available at home.  It was a beautiful moment…    This is based on Ina Garten’s recipe for Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts.  I saw it on Food Network and the next day I had it for lunch.

But I have to be completely honest; this recipe has a little bit of not-so-good karma attached to it…  It’s made with refrigerated puff pastry, something I do not use often, but I do from time-to-time and I have never been able to find it in a whole-grain or whole-wheat version.  So, this is a sporadic treat… if any of you is able to find whole wheat puff pastry – let me know where I can get it…

 

tomato-and-goat-cheese-tart

TOMATO AND GOAT CHEESE TARTS

1 sheet of puff pastry, defrosted
1 onion, sliced
A drizzle of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
A squirt of apple cider vinegar
The leaves of 2 small sprigs of thyme
3 tbs of Parmesan Cheese, grated
2 ounces of garlic and herb soft goat cheese, crumbled into small pieces
2 slices of the best tomato you can find, the larger the tomato the better
8-10 slivers of Pecorino Romano cheese
Salt and Freshly Cracked Black Pepper to taste
 
  1. Pre-heat oven to 425 F.  I use my toaster oven for this…
  2. Heat a small drizzle of olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic.  Cook for about 10-12 minutes until the onions are soft and cooked, but not browned.  Add salt, pepper the apple cider vinegar, thyme and cook for a few minutes longer until the onions have absorbed the vinegar.
  3. While the onions are cooking, prepare the puff pastry.  You need to leave it defrosting in your fridge overnight to be able to handle it now.  Unfold one of the two sheets that come in the package – do this carefully as the pastry can tear easily.  Unfold it onto a lightly floured surface.  With a rolling pin, roll the pastry so yo can fit 2 saucer plates inside it. Using the saucer plate, cut out 2 rounds of pastry, and set onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  I can fit these two in the baking tray of my toaster oven.
  4. Using a small paring knife, score the puff pastry rounds with a 1/4″ border.  Prick the inside of the circle border with a fork.  Sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese within the scored circle. 
  5. preparing-tomato-tart
  6. You will now divide all the remaining ingredients and place within the scored circle of each tart shell…  Place the cooked onions on top of the Parmesan cheese, add the crumbled goat cheese on top of the onions and then place the tomato slice on top of the goat cheese.  Now drizzle a bit of olive oil on top of the tomato and sprinkle with salt, pepper and a few extra thyme leaves.  Using a vegetable peeler, slice a few thin slices of Pecorino Romano cheese and place on top of the tomato slice.
  7. preparing-tomato-tart-2
  8. Bake in the oven for about 18 minutes.  When you see the puff pastry has a nice, golden color just turn off the oven and leave it inside there for a few minutes.

 

Serve this with a nice green salad for a spectacular, very Provençal  lunch.  This would work great for a gathering with friends because it’s so simple and quick to make. And not to mention DELICIOUS!!!

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