Latin American – The Kitchen Tourist

Puerto Rican Rice

We’re serving a big Puerto Rican feast again this weekend and working on meal planning. I came here to grab our standard Arroz con Gandules recipe and realized I somehow had never posted it. Most people I know who’ve tried this dish absolutely love it. I’ve had so many people ask for the recipe, some more…

Sweet Potato Chocolate Torte with Walnut Custard Filling

An unusual cake that uses mashed sweet potatoes and ground walnuts with eggs for the batter. Filled with a walnut custard and topped with a chocolate glaze, it’s rich and tender but not overpowering. And now it sounds like a skeezy romance novel hero.

Yuca Shrimp Empanadas

These delicious turnovers have buttery, tender crusts with yuca mashed into it and a rich filling that balances the flavors of garlic and shrimp, coconut and chillies, lime and cilantro so none of them overpower the rest.

Festive Christmas Salads

These two salads are delicious anytime of the year, but since they’re red and green they’re especially great for the holidays when you want something healthy and festive to balance all the sweets. I love how simple and flavorful both of these salads are – they both have a mixture of great textures, too. Both…

Slow-Cooker Coconut Chai Oatmeal

A three-ingredient recipe that goes in the crock-pot and can be made overnight or ahead to have enough for a week of breakfasts (for me anyway). Plus it recreates a dish I’ve been craving for a while.

Fish Tacos & Strawberry-Mango Margaritas

I’m on vacation in California, making fish tacos with homeade roasted tomatillo salsa and mango-strawberry margaritas. Yum!

Delicious Summer Salads

I love salads that are packed with colorful fresh fruit or vegetables, but easy to make ahead and keep in the fridge. They’re handy for events or just when you want to make them to eat for several days. These salads, Tropical Fruit with Honey-Mint Dressing and Black Bean Corn Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing,…

Mexican Chocolate Chiffon Ice Cream

If I’m going to make homemade ice cream, I don’t want to make something that I can buy in a store, especially if store-bought would generally taste better. But I still prefer to keep it affordable and fairly simple. Great chocolate ice cream should be rich and creamy, obviously – but making it better than…

Puerto Rican – Pastelón Plantain Casserole

A wonderful family recipe from my friend Iris – the “structure” is similar to lasagna or moussaka and many other layered casseroles from around the world, but the flavor is completely unique, the faint sweetness of the plantains contrasting with the richly seasoned meat filling.

Christmas Feast #2: Tropical Salad

If I saw this recipe in a fru-fru cookbook or trendy cooking magazine I probably would not have tried it. I sometimes suspect recipes like these of being designed by a food editor to photograph well without much thought for the flavor combinations. But I’ve tried several unusual salads from this cookbook before and always found…

Christmas Feast #1: Ecuadorian Quinoa Soup

This year I planned our Christmas dinner around Ecuadorian food from a cookbook I received the Christmas before. Our soup course was Quinoa Soup with Pork, which bubbled away happily in the background as we put together the other courses. And it made plenty for leftovers another day, always a good thing in this house.