This week I went tart crazy! I had an opportunity to cook for a friend who had surgery recently and who also happens to have a gluten intolerance. I cooked a full meal of stuffed bell peppers and rice, and for dessert I made these fruity tarts. The crust is gluten-free and made with almonds, [...]
Plátanos: Plantains
Plantains, bananas, and banana leaves are deeply ingrained in Latin American cuisine. Plantains are more dense than bananas and mostly used in cooking whereas bananas are eaten as fruit. Bananas and plantains have an interesting origin and are perhaps one of those fusion ingredients brought by the explorers to the new world from Asia in [...]
My Mom’s Sopa de Res: Salvadorian Beef and Vegetable Soup
On days when I'm feeling under the weather, there is nothing more comforting than my mom's sopa de res. The ingredients are simple, but highly nutritious. It's made with vegetables that are just "roughly chopped" and beef shanks with bone and all. Bone broth seems to be all the rage nowadays, but using the bones [...]
Zarzuela Catalana & María Luisa Cake
May is the month of birthdays in my family, including my own. Her birthday is on May 1st and this year is the year of multiple events for us: graduation parties, baby showers, etc. So, we decided that for all the May birthdays we would keep it simple, at least for us adults. Well, simple doesn’t mean [...]
Torrejas de Semana Santa
Spring is here and one thing I look forward to is our rose garden. My daughter was so excited to set the table for Easter and the roses looked gorgeous. She's such a little party planner. Our roses have survived many droughts, but this year we saw some hints of El Niño and a little [...]
Gallo en Chicha
It is so refreshing to finally write a new blog post. Life has been a little crazy lately but for a good reason. We are currently expecting our third baby and this time, it’s a high-risk pregnancy. The baby and I are doing well at 31 weeks, however, I won’t be able to resume my [...]
Pollo Guisado: Salvadorian Chicken Stew
There's chicken soup for the soul, but this chicken stew deserves a high rating on the comfort scale. Chicken stew is one of those homey dishes that everyone loves. It's so rustic and warming and most cultures I know have their own versions. From curries to Ethiopian doro wat, and let's not forget chicken and dumplings, [...]