Cooking Praxis II:
Latin American cuisine
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/4/8/23482392/7947743.jpg?1382486776)
It was difficult to create a dish that would capture our own interpretation of Latin American cuisine. Hoping to make something original but still authentic, we decided to put a new twist on the 'three sisters': beans, corn, and squash. Eventually we settled on a quinoa salad, fried plantains, and oven-roasted tilapia with salsa - a combination of ingredients that we felt represented both Caribbean and South American flavors.
Because our meal consisted of multiple elements, we had a lot of prep work to do. First, we cubed one half of an acorn squash, drizzled it with olive oil, and placed it in the oven to roast for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. During that time, we placed our tilapia in a simple marinade of chile oil, lime juice, chile salt, coriander, and black pepper. After the fish was stowed in the refrigerator, we set about chopping the vegetables for the salsa and salad. The final step was preparing one of our favorite ingredients: quinoa!
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/4/8/23482392/1705954.jpg?491)
Quinoa is probably one of the best foods ever - in our opinion, there is a good reason that it quickly became a 'food fad'! Originating in the Andes region of South America, quinoa is a beautiful and hugely nutritious grain. Quinoa is high in protein and comes in several different colors. We chose an organic tricolor blend that fully satisfied our eyes, taste buds, and appetites.
With the squash almost ready and the quinoa beginning to boil, we started the most labor intensive component of our meal: tostones! Tostones are fried, mashed plantains; they can certainly be baked, but we wanted to faithfully recreate the delicious experiences we'd already had with the traditional fried version. First, we peeled the plantains and cut them into 2" chunks before soaking them in a solution of water, salt, and mashed garlic for 10 minutes. We then dried them off - thoroughly - before placing them in a large pot of vegetable oil, which we maintained at 350 degrees.
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/4/8/23482392/8236751.jpg?228)
This was the hardest part of preparing our meal. We have a relatively old stove and our burners are solid cast iron; because of this, they get hot very slowly (and also take forever to cool down) - but once they're heated up, they're HOT! It was tricky to manage the temperature without being able to fine-tune the heat level of our burners. JP managed to avoid getting splattered too much, and kept a close watch on the temperature of the oil while the plantains fried for 7 minutes.
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/4/8/23482392/7562267.jpg?318)
Meanwhile, our quinoa was fully cooked and ready to to serve as the base for our salad. We added in all the ingredients we had previously prepared: roasted acorn squash, scallions, tomato, fresh jalapeno, avocado, and mango (not native to the Americas, but it provided a tropical sweetness that really brought the dish together).
We finished our salad with plenty of chopped fresh cilantro, as well as a dressing of lime juice, olive oil, cumin, and salt and pepper. We have wanted to recreate this salad ever since we tried a similar version of it in at Natural Provisions in St Johnsbury - it turned out to be just as delicious!
Next, we quickly assembled our salsa. Using cucumber as a base, we added chopped onion, mango, cilantro, black beans, and sweet corn. Again, we simply dressed the salsa with lime juice, black pepper, and chile salt. As we prepared to remove the tostones from the oil, we placed our tilapia in the oven to bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.
We finished our salad with plenty of chopped fresh cilantro, as well as a dressing of lime juice, olive oil, cumin, and salt and pepper. We have wanted to recreate this salad ever since we tried a similar version of it in at Natural Provisions in St Johnsbury - it turned out to be just as delicious!
Next, we quickly assembled our salsa. Using cucumber as a base, we added chopped onion, mango, cilantro, black beans, and sweet corn. Again, we simply dressed the salsa with lime juice, black pepper, and chile salt. As we prepared to remove the tostones from the oil, we placed our tilapia in the oven to bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/4/8/23482392/9031501.jpg?405)
While our fish baked, we finished preparing the tostones. Luckily, we happen to own the perfect tool for the task: a tostonera! This simple wooden device is traditionally used to mash the fried chunks of plantain into thin patties. Really anything can be used in place of a tostonera - hands, cardboard, plates - but it was fun to use a unique piece of cooking equipment.
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/4/8/23482392/74989.jpg?551)
After mashing all the tostones, we dunked them in the salt water again before frying them an additional 3 minutes. They came out a little darker than we wanted, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that 'burnt' tostones have a lovely coffee flavor to them! It was overall a very fortunate mistake.
The meal was delicious, filling, and (minus the tostones) relatively healthy. Sadly, we weren't joined by any guests this time around...but we definitely didn't complain about the leftovers!
______________
The meal was delicious, filling, and (minus the tostones) relatively healthy. Sadly, we weren't joined by any guests this time around...but we definitely didn't complain about the leftovers!
______________
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/4/8/23482392/5942381.jpg?415)
Ingredients for Quinoa Salad:
1 1/2 cups quinoa, cooked
avocado, cubed
mango, cubed
scallions, chopped
acorn squash, cubed
fresh jalapeno, finely chopped
tomato, chopped
fresh cilantro
lime juice
olive oil
cumin
salt & pepper
1 1/2 cups quinoa, cooked
avocado, cubed
mango, cubed
scallions, chopped
acorn squash, cubed
fresh jalapeno, finely chopped
tomato, chopped
fresh cilantro
lime juice
olive oil
cumin
salt & pepper
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/4/8/23482392/796751.jpg?1382493262)
Cucumber Salsa:
cucumber, chopped
white onion, chopped
mango, cubed
fresh jalapeno, finely chopped
7oz sweet corn kernels
8oz black beans
cilantro
lime juice
chile salt & black pepper
Simple Tilapia Marinade:
generous drizzle of chile oil
lime juice
coriander
chile salt & black pepper
cucumber, chopped
white onion, chopped
mango, cubed
fresh jalapeno, finely chopped
7oz sweet corn kernels
8oz black beans
cilantro
lime juice
chile salt & black pepper
Simple Tilapia Marinade:
generous drizzle of chile oil
lime juice
coriander
chile salt & black pepper