Tag: side dish
Spinach and Peanut Salad
Spinach and Peanut Salad
Spinach and peanut salad is a popular cold appetizer served in China. It is a combination of 2 other cold appetizers, vinegar peanuts and Chinese style spinach salad; both using the same gingery vinegar dressing.When cooking the spinach, bring a pot of water to boil. Blanch the spinach for 2 minutes. Put the spinach in an ice bath to stop them from cooking. Shocking the spinach in ice water also preserves the green color of the spinach. Once the spinach is cool, squeeze out all of the water. You may have wondered why I used a lb of spinach for and appetizer for 2. 1lb of spinach yields an amount smaller than a baseball once squeezed. It cooks down that much, but the flavor is highly concentrated.To cook the peanuts, heat them up in cold oil over medium heat. If you were to toss the peanuts in hot oil, they would burn quickly. The good thing is that the peanuts don’t absorb any of the oil starting out in cold. Letting them cool afterwards will crisp them up. After that, mix the peanuts with the spinach and pour the dressing over. Garnish with sesame seeds.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 1 lb baby spinach
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup raw peanuts
- 2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp ginger minced
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp sugar
Garnish
- 1 tsp white sesame seeds
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Toss in the spinach. Blanch for 2 minutes.
- Strain the spinach in a colander. Place in an ice bath to stop the spinach from cooking.
- Squeeze out all of the excess water from the spinach. Roughly chop and place in a bowl.
- Heat up the raw peanuts in a small skillet in cold oil over medium heat. Constantly stir for 5 minutes until the peanuts are browned. Remove from the pan and let cool.
- Mix together the black vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, ginger, and salt in a bowl.
- Mix together the peanuts and spinach. Pour the dressing over. Garnish with sesame seeds.
Sofrito Pasta
Sofrito Pasta
Have a bunch of extra sofrito and don’t know what to do with it? It is great as a light sauce tossed with pasta. I recommend using pasta that isn’t spaghetti noodle shaped. Something that has some type of ridge to catch the sauce like penne rigatta, gemelli, bowtie, etc. You can also add chicken, shrimp, or pork to the pasta and eat it as a main course.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups sofrito
- 1 lb dry pasta cooked according to directions
- 2-3 tsp creole seasoning
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese grated
Garnish
- parsley chopped
Instructions
- Heat up olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add in the sofrito. Cook for 5 minutes to get the raw flavor out.
- Add in the cooked pasta and toss in the sofrito. Season with the creole seasoning. Cook for 5 more minutes.
Sofrito
Sofrito is used as a base for soups, stews, beans, and rice in many Spanish speaking countries such as Cuba and Puerto Rico. It is typically made out of a lot of green ingredients such as green bell pepper, cilantro, green onions, and culantro; similar to green seasoning used in African/Caribbean cuisine. Sofrito adds aromatics to whatever you add it to.Sofrito can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a month. I like to freeze it in ice cube trays and store in gallon sized freezer bags. You can then keep your sofrito for up to a year.
Equipment
- Food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 2 small green bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1 1/2 cup culantro
- 1 head garlic
- 1 medium white onion
- 4 green onions chopped
- 2 roma tomatoes
- 2 tbsp oregano
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender or food processor.
- Purée until smooth. Store in the refrigerator for up to a month or in the freezer for put to a year.
Habichuelas Guisadas (Puerto Rican Beans)
Habichuelas Guisadas (Puerto Rican Beans)
Beans with potatoes and pork in them! Don’t mind if I do! Puerto Rican beans contain either salt pork or ham that is cubed. You could use slab bacon or even pork belly if you wanted to. Once the pork is cooked, sofrito is added to the pot. Sofrito is a Spanish style mire poiux that gives the beans it’s flavor. Pink beans are used instead of a pinto or a kidney. There is also potatoes and caper stuffed olives. The beans will need to simmer for about 25 minutes. These beans are usually served with rice.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 8 oz salt pork or ham cubed
- 1/2 cup sofrito
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 packet Sazon with Achiote no annatto
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 2 cans pink beans drained
- 2 medium potatoes peeled and cut into small cubes
- 1/3 cup Spanish olives stuffed with capers
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a pot over medium high heat. Sauté the ham for 5 minutes.
- Add in the sofrito, cumin, and sazon. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in the beans, potatoes, stuffed olives, chicken stock, and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper. Continue simmer for 10 more minutes until the beans have thickened.
Sofrito
Sofrito is used as a base for soups, stews, beans, and rice in many Spanish speaking countries such as Cuba and Puerto Rico. It is typically made out of a lot of green ingredients such as green bell pepper, cilantro, green onions, and culantro; similar to green seasoning used in African/Caribbean cuisine. Sofrito adds aromatics to whatever you add it to.Sofrito can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a month. I like to freeze it in ice cube trays and store in gallon sized freezer bags. You can then keep your sofrito for up to a year.
Equipment
- Food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 2 small green bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1 1/2 cup culantro
- 1 head garlic
- 1 medium white onion
- 4 green onions chopped
- 2 roma tomatoes
- 2 tbsp oregano
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender or food processor.
- Purée until smooth. Store in the refrigerator for up to a month or in the freezer for put to a year.
