Prickly Eats

We just returned from a glorious week in Cabo, Mexico.  We filled our days with sun, sand, fresh fruits and good food.  My parents, who had been there several weeks before our arrival, found a local taco spot, La Taquiza, with tasty tacos al pastor. A spit with marinated pork topped with a pineapple slowly rotated past a flame that caramelized the meat.  When an order was placed, the head honcho would slice thin slices of the meat off the spit and a chunk of the pineapple.  That was served on a hot corn tortilla with onions and cilantro.  There was a variety of salsas and toppings you could add but I enjoyed eating them as they were.  The icing on the cake was that we stumble upon their 2 for 1 night and paid pennies for our feast.     

We enjoyed several meals in town but also made use of the kitchen in our rental house.  One of my favorite things to do in other countries is to attempt cooking with local ingredients that I would not get the chance to at home.  The supermarkets were quite familiar with similar item to ours at home, one standout item was nopales, which was cactus.  My mother had mentioned them before my arrival and used them to make a stew.  At the grocery store there was a mountain of nopales being freshly trimmed by a man awkwardly set up in the produce section.  Since mom had made a stew I decide to go the other route I had found online and barbecue them for a salad.  My brief internet research showed that nopales are a good source of fibre and several vitamins and minerals.  After being barbequed the nopales were softer and had a slight bitter taste which I countered with a sweet dressing.  A recipe from the kitch was used for this dish.

BBQ Nopales Salad

6-7 Nopales, trimmed for spines

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

2 ripe avocado

1 can corn (if corn on the cob is available, bbq 1-2 cobs and move kernels)

1 cup shredded lettuce

4-5 tbsp cilantro, chopped

¼ cup red onion finely sliced

1 cup queso fresco (young Mexican cheese) crumbled

Juice of two small limes

3 tbsp olive oil

½ tsp sugar

Start by heating the bbq so it good and hot.  This will help char the nopales. 

Cut each noplaes into ½ inch strips stopping a good inch from the bottom of the nopale so that all strips are still attached.  Coat in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place on the hot grill and cook for approximately 5 minutes on each side.  Remove from heat and allow to cool and cut into bite size pieces.   

In a large bowl combine avocado, corn, lettuce, cilantro, onion and queso fresco and nopales. 

  

In a separate small separate bowl whisk together olive oil, lime juice sugar and salt and pepper to taste.  Drizzle over salad and toss to combine and serve. Yum!

Soupy Sunday

This weekend, my 87y ear-old grandmother came from The Netherlands for a visit.  She is on her way to meet my parents (and later myself) in Mexico.  My grandma loves soup and since she was a little girl she has always ate soup on Saturdays.  It was a tradition she carried on from her mother and even today if we go out to eat on a Saturday, she’ll order soup.  She landed on a rainy Sunday which I figured was close enough and decided to make her my favourite spicy tomato soup for dinner.

This recipe is from 101 cookbooks and it’s my go-to for soup because it’s versatile and so easy.  This recipe is for the base soup but you can add anything to change it up.  Colin and I often will add a scoop of brown rice and a soft poached egg to our bowl.  For my grandma, we kept it plain and served it with toasted crusty bread for dunking.      

Tomato Soup

4 tbsp unsalted butter (or olive oil if you’d like to make it vegan)

2 medium onions, sliced thin

1 tsp salt

3 tsp curry powder

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp chili flakes

2 cans fire roasted tomatoes (28 ounces each)

6 cups water

1 can coconut milk

Start by melting butter in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the onions and salt.  Cook the onions until soft but not caramelized.

Add the dry spices and stir into onions until fragrant, about a minute.

Add tomatoes and water and bring soup to a boil.  Simmer soup approximately 15 minutes. 

Remove from heat and purée the soup with a standard or immersion blender.  

Stir in coconut milk and serve with whatever tickles your fancy.  Leftovers freeze well.

my grandma and sister

Gado Gado

Since starting shift work a few months ago I have found I am very food driven.  I often get through the last few hours of my shift by planning what I will eat when I get home.   At the end of my last night shift I got a terrible craving for gado gado, an Indonesian salad with a spicy peanut dressing.  While travelling in Indonesia this was a staple in our diet and each spot made it a bit different.  Many recipes blanch the vegetables beforehand but I prefer the crunch of leaving them raw.  I adapted this recipe from indochine kitchen to suite my taste and liking.  The recipe uses some Indonesian ingredients that you should be able to find at home but can be substituted if needed.

Gado Gado (serves 4)

Salad:

4 cups thinly sliced cabbage

3-5 lettuce leaves cut into small pieces

1 medium cucumber peeled, quartered and sliced

2 cups bean sprouts

2-3 green onions sliced

20 Krupuk (dried shrimp crackers-optional)

125 g tofu cut into thirds

Dressing:

1 clove of garlic

1-2 tsp of sambal (chili paste or use any hot sauce)

¼ tsp salt

4 tsp (20g) palm sugar (or brown sugar)

3 heaping tbsp natural crunchy peanut butter

½ tsp Ketjup Manis (or regular soy sauce)

Juice of ½ a lime

½- 1 cup of water

Start by combining the cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, sprout and onion in a bowl and set a side.

Heat oil in a wok and add tofu, fry till brown on both side.  Remove from oil and let cool of paper towel before slicing into cubes.  Add cubes to salad mixture.

Bring the oil back up to temperature and fry the shrimp crackers 5 at a time, this will only take seconds, remove crackers before they begin brown and cool on paper towel to absorb any excess oil.  Set aside.

In a mortar and pestle or food processor add the garlic, chili paste, salt and palm sugar.  Pound or process until well combined.  Add the peanut butter and mix till combined.  Stir in the Ketjup and lime juice.  Slowly stir in the water a little bit at a time until the dressing is thin enough to pour. 

Portion salad and rice crackers into 4 bowls and pass around the dressing.  If you are not planning to eat it all in one sitting, I would recommend keeping the salad and dressing separate until you are ready to eat again.