I am in love…with quinoa! I officially discovered it through this project. I was suspect, like many of you, because it was everywhere, and I thought it was just a fad. But I’ve succumb and truly believe it’s the world’s supergrain! The United Nations even declared 2013 “The International Year of Quinoa.” (Guess I’m a little late.)

The grain crop originated in the Andean region of Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia and Peru thousands of years ago. Quinoa was a staple for the ancient Incas. They called it “the mother grain” and considered it to be their true gold because it increased the stamina of their warriors. More stamina is something I can definitely use!

I just love that it came from Latin America and that it has so many health benefits.  Drum roll, please!

• It’s a complete protein – containing all nine essential amino acids.
• It has almost twice as much fiber as most other grains – Relieving constipation and helping to lose weight. Fiber also helps prevent heart disease, lower cholesterol and glucose levels, therefore reducing high blood pressure and diabetes.
• Contains iron –Keeping our red blood cells healthy, carrying oxygen from one cell to another and supplying oxygen to our muscles. Iron increases brain function, aids in neurotransmitter synthesis, regulation of body temperature, enzyme activity and energy  metabolism.
• Rich in magnesium – which is good for relieving migraines. It helps relax blood vessels and may even play a role in delaying Type 2 diabetes onset by improving insulin sensitivity.
• Contains lysine – essential for tissue growth and repair.
• And it’s gluten free!

Today’s recipe is a beautiful collaboration between my mother and myself.

Seafood Quinoa Risotto with Mushrooms (Marisco Risotto Quinua con Setas)

Makes 4 servings

Preparation time: 30 minutes

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 ½ cups white onion, chopped

1 8-ounce package sliced mushrooms

3 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

1 cup Moscato wine

1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Place quinoa and 2 cups of water in a 1 ½ quart saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce heat and let simmer until water is absorbed, about 13 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in large pan over a medium-high flame. Add garlic and stir 30 seconds. Add onion, sauté for about 5 minutes, until begins to brown. Add your mushrooms and thyme, sauté for about 5 minutes, until mushrooms are tender. Add wine and shrimp. Stir and sauté for another 10 minutes.

Mix quinoa into mushroom and shrimp mixture. Cheese is optional; pass it separately.

Buen provecho!

For the past several years my family has been dealing with my maternal grandmother’s illness — Alzheimer’s disease. It’s taken a toll on the whole family, but especially my mother, who is her primary caregiver. Not surprising is a new report from the Alzheimer’s Association showing women are hit the hardest.

“Women are the epicenter of Alzheimer’s disease, representing majority of both people with the disease and Alzheimer’s caregivers,” said Angela Geiger, chief strategy officer of the Alzheimer’s Association.

 
3.2 million women in the U.S. are living with Alzheimer’s disease. Women in their 60s are twice as likely to develop the disease over the rest of their lives as they are breast cancer. Average women outlive men and therefore their likelihood of getting the disease is greater.

Of the more than 15 million Americans caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s or dementia, there are 2.5 times as many women than men providing intensive 24-hour care. Women who care for loved ones with Alzheimer’s have a higher emotional burden and are in their caregiving roles longer than the typical caregiver. Seventeen percent of women, compared to 2 percent of men, expressed feelings of isolation linked to depression.

 
These caregivers also suffer a burden at their jobs. 20 percent of women versus 3 percent of men went from working full-time to working part-time. And women were twice as likely as men to give up work entirely.

 
Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, yet it is still widely misunderstood and underreported. There is a mistaken belief that Alzheimer’s must run in one’s family for them to be at risk. Twenty-five percent of both men and women, and 33 percent of Latinos, agreed with that incorrect statement, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

 
My family has been rocked by this disease, but we have grown much stronger. I am so thankful for how much closer I have become to my grandmother and mother on this journey. I am so proud of my mother and her work. Both of these women have given me a desire to become even more of an advocate for Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers. For more information on the disease, go to http://www.alz.org/.

 
Please think about joining the Alzheimer’s Association in their launch of a national initiative this spring highlighting the power of women in the fight against this disease. To join the movement, visit http://www.alz.org/mybrain.

 
My grandmother is now in a nursing home. We are blessed that she is close, receiving wonderful care. I wrote the below piece several years ago before I knew she had Alzheimer’s, but I knew something was changing. I would like to share it with you. Treasure every moment, you don’t know how long it will last.

Grandma and mom Mother’s Day 2013

Rara Ave

Abuela. Rare bird. Grandma. Daisy. She rocks in her chair in the marquesina in Guayama, Puerto Rico. She says she has visions in glasses of water and winter wonderland globes, and speaks tongues.  She says God talks to her.  She tells me to be happy. Laugh! God likes it when I laugh. God likes it when I smile. He is smiling down on me right now.

She cries.  She says she doesn’t want to lose her husband.   They have been married for 64 years.  She remembers becoming an orphan. She says she looked like Shirley Temple when she was a girl. She remembers her mother dying of tuberculosis and her father from a fall. Her brother being institutionalized.  Moving from home to home.  No house.  She and her husband have had 13 houses, four children, 12 grandchildren, eight great grandchildren and one more is on the way.  He gave her everything. He was more than a husband. He became a father.

She laughs.  She sings “ If Jesus in the family, Happy Happy Home. Happy Happy Home. Happy Happy Home.”

She laughs.  I love God she says in her room stuffed with boxes, Christmas ornaments, plastic bags with shades of black and gray stockings, dresses the colors of papaya, mangoes, and Macintosh apples.  Eighty-three years of memories.   A bed that only has a corner free for her to sleep. In that cluttered room in an over-stuffed house in a cold New York suburb, she is never alone.

###

This weekend’s frigid wind sent me running in doors, searching for safety. Luckily, after I came home from seeing Noah at the movies Saturday night, I had all the ingredients to make my robust and spicy lean turkey chili with broccoli that always receives raving reviews. (The movie in my eyes – not so good!)

Here’s a tip that I want to share with you about ground turkey. It can be leaner than ground beef, but it depends on what you purchase and where it comes from.

Read the label and buy the lean!

You trade ground turkey for ground beef in recipes to save saturated fat. But be careful. The dark meat in ground turkey can be just as bad as beef, in fact it can be worse.
A quarter pound of regular ground turkey contains 3 grams saturated fat. The same amount of sirloin has 2.5 grams.
Whereas lean ground turkey breast has just half a gram of saturated fat.
So just pay close attention to what you’re buying.
A savvy technique is to create your own product — just buy boneless, skinless turkey breast and grind it yourself in your food processor.
Lean Turkey Chili with Broccoli (Magro Chili de Pavo con Brócoli)

Makes 4 servings

Preparation time: 1 hour

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, diced

½ red pepper, diced

1 lb. lean ground turkey

3 Tablespoons chopped culantro

3 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 Tablespoon chopped oregano

1 Tablespoon chili powder

2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder

1 Tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce

½ (1 lb.13oz.) can of red or pink beans

4 broccoli florets, chopped

In a 5-quart pot, add olive oil and sautee garlic, onions, red pepper, culantro, cilantro, and oregano for 3 minutes over low flame.

Add turkey. Add chili powder, chipotle chili powder, paprika, cumin, and turmeric. Cook until evenly brown.

Add tomato sauce and beans. Cover and cook for 25 minutes.

Add broccoli. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes.

Serve over brown rice.

(Special thanks to my mom for the evening at the movies and for the ideas for the chili.)

Buen provecho!

I just discovered cauliflower is a delicious white food that’s actually good for me to eat! Today’s recipe is a great low-carb substitution to mashed potatoes. I’ve never gone wrong with this dish – everyone loves it. And cauliflower is considered one of the world’s healthiest foods!

Many of us don’t know about the power of this cruciferous vegetable that has a multitude of health benefits, including cancer prevention. It’s an antioxidant packed with nutrients like vitamin C, manganese, and a litany of others that reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.

 
Cauliflower also has the power to decrease inflammation with its vitamin k and omega-3 fatty acids. Eating this vegetable on a regular basis can help decrease the risk of inflammation-mediated diseases like arthritis and diabetes. Also, by reducing inflammation, cauliflower helps keep the blood vessels unblocked and blood continuously flowing throughout the body.

 
If that’s not enough, it’s excellent for digestion. A cup of boiled cauliflower contains 3.35 grams of dietary fiber, which is great for all of us trying to lose weight. And it’s a phenomenal source for proteins, potassium, and phosphorus.

 
(Important note: you should not eat more than 4 to 5 servings of cauliflower a week. The vegetable is purine-rich which can cause excess uric acid and can lead to the development of gout.)

 
The “cauli-taste” is very mild. Just give it a chance even if you think you’re not going to like it. I’ll bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

 
Check out today’s recipe!

 
Ajo Puré de Coliflor con Cilantro (Garlic Mashed Cauliflower with Cilantro)

Makes 4 servings

Preparation time: 25 minutes

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

 
2 garlic cloves, sliced

 
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

 
Place steamer into saucepan and fill with water, just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil. Add cauliflower. Cover. Steam for 10 to 15 minutes, until cauliflower is tender.

 
While cauliflower cooks, heat olive oil in another small sauce pan over medium to low heat. Cook and stir garlic until softened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

 
Once cauliflower is steamed, place half the cauliflower in food processor. Cover and blend on high. Add remaining cauliflower florets, one at a time. Blend in garlic and oil, as well as cilantro. Blend until all contents are creamy.

 
Buen provecho!

###

This morning my mother and I both celebrated how we have lost five pounds in the two weeks since I launched my LivingLatinaLite challenge. I was surprised to find out she too was trying to lose weight. A reminder of how we are never alone.

This project is forcing me to be very honest with myself. I am coming face to face with my patterns of eating recklessly – at times I’ve used food as an escape from my emotions. I’ve soothed my sadness with saccharine and celebrated with savory entrees. I’d stuff my feelings down. When I was anxious, food made me feel safe.

It was my drug of choice. I loved the high I could get. It’s the reason why I’ve ping-ponged on the scale in a 75-pound weight range for 25 years. Just like any addiction, I’ve worked really hard at hiding it. But this is my time to come out and let go. After all the more you resist it persists.

As a writer, I would stay up late and eat my way through assignments when I was stressed. Social situations where food was involved were also extremely difficult. It meant I was not going to be protected in my home – I wouldn’t be in control and therefore I might lose control. It’s an understatement to say I just thought about food a lot. I thought about it all the time. And it was usually with feelings of fear, anxiety, and sadness.

Food is good for us; it nourishes us. Because we eat every day we should feel really good about it. But when negative emotions are associated with it is where problems arise, leading to possible self-destruction.  Only recently did I truly find the courage to change.

Here’s a tip I came across to help me. I hope for those of you who may find yourself eating out of emotion, you can find some use.

HALT!  Stay out of the kitchen when you’re:

(H) – Hungry

(A) – Angry

(L) – Lonely

(T) – Tired

When you find yourself reaching for food in one of these states, set a timer for ten minutes, grab a glass of water, and wait. More often than not you will be grateful for the opportunity to sit with your feelings a bit longer, and find another way to channel them by the end of those ten minutes. And many times we think we’re hungry but we’re actually thirsty.

I no longer feel shame in my shortcomings. I face them, surrender to a power greater than myself for help, and move forward. I truly believe we were all put on this earth to be our best selves.

“It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels worthy of himself and claims kindred to the greater God who made him.”

Abraham Lincoln

Check out today’s recipe!

Un Bonito Bok Choy Fricase de Pollo (Beautiful Bok Choy Chicken Fricassée)

A light, savory dish that’s quick to prepare and won’t make your feel stuffed.

Makes 4 servings

Preparation time: 30 minutes

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

4 shallots, sliced

3 medium mushrooms, sliced

4 chicken thighs, skinless and remove all fat

¼ cup tomato sauce

2 Tablespoons alcaparrado or mixture of olives, pimientos & capers

1 Tablespoon chopped oregano

1 culantro leaf, sliced

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

½ medium eggplant, thinly sliced

4 bok choy stems

Start by adding olive oil to pan over a medium-low flame. Add garlic and shallots. Simmer for several minutes.

Add tomato sauce, alcaparrado, oregano, and culantro. Stir. Add chicken broth and muchrooms.

Place chicken in pan and increase to medium-flame. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Then decrease to low flame, add sliced eggplant and mushroom and cook for another 5 minutes. Add bok choy and cook for another 5 minutes.

Serve over brown rice. See my March 24^th blog entry – The Perfect Couple – Arroz Con Habichuelas Guizadas — for my brown rice recipe.

Buen provecho!

Grandma Candita and Dad

I found out something very surprising over the weekend – my late paternal grandmother was a certified cook for a children’s daycare center and at Calvary Hospital. Everyone always said I was very much like her, but this confirms it. As I sit here writing this piece, I feel closer to her as I touch her wedding ring hanging on my necklace.

Candita was her name and her arroz con pollo was the best in the South Bronx. I always knew her as an amazing home cook, and to find out she cooked professionally was quite remarkable – especially because it was in a forum that focused on children and the sick.

Sundays began with church and ended at her apartment with a sabroso family feast, which included my Aunt Lucy, Uncle Chuck, and cousins Vicky and Chris. When we walked in, she would greet us with our little bottles of Malta and then rush back to the kitchen to continue her preparation. We knew something wonderful was ahead. Pastelillos de carne, maduros, arroz con gandules, pollo asado, pasteles, arroz con dulce de coco, where she even used real coconut. Traditional Puerto Rican dishes she brought over from our Isla de Encanto. She made everything from scratch. Her seasoning was exceptional.

Grandma Candita (center), my father (right), my Aunt Lucy (left)

In my teens, we grew close when I was the one who would hang back and escort her because she needed a shoulder to lean on. She was in her seventies by then. We never spoke much, but I always knew she was so grateful.

Grandma had three heart attacks. Two in her fifties and one in her sixties. She suffered from arthritis and diabetes. She weighed close to 200 pounds and had stomach ulcers due to stress.

Candita started her career later in life, when she was in her fifties, after my grandfather died. He was 53 when his heart attack struck. Victor Manuel came over from Ponce, Puerto Rico and had a barber shop in Harlem on 116^th Street and Madison Avenue.

In his profession, he stood on his feet the whole day, which lead to his peripheral vascular disease. But the way he and my grandmother ate didn’t help. They’re diet consisted of cooking with lard and everything was fried. It was high in carbohydrates and fats.

Victor Manuel died of a pulmonary embolism on a December night in 1972. After climbing a mountain of stairs from the street to his building, he went to bed and never woke up. He was her heart and she lost it.

It’s amazing how far we’ve come in society.   Although my grandmother worked in a hospital, she never equated what she put in her own mouth to her own health. Even though she had a certification in cooking, cultural tradition dominated.

Grandpa Victor Manuel (right), his brother Americo (left)

If we look at the roots of the Puerto Rican diet, cooking with lard came from our Spanish ancestors, and it is what killed so many of our relatives. Olive oil became too expensive to import to the Caribbean, so lard became its replacement, which could be produced locally. Plus, because of all the sugar production on the island, our grandparents grew up eating way too much sugar.

When I walk through the streets of New York and see the amount of Latinos who have amputated feet and legs due to type 2 diabetes, my heart breaks at how the structural influences of colonialism continue to affect our dietary patterns. This is what drives me to find healthy alternatives to our traditional Latino cooking.

But we do have traditions to be proud of – like rice and beans. A Taíno and African cultural contribution, it’s the perfect couple, like my grandparents. Once we remove the lard, it’s a great dietary source for vegetable protein. In the right proportion, of beans to rice, this meal has the potential to decrease the risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. Beans are categorized as a low-glycemic-index food that makes a person feel full, so they eat less.

But it’s the proportion that we need to focus on, less rice and more beans. Beans are a superfood!They’re full of fiber, potassium, folate, iron, manganese and magnesium, and they are cholesterol- and fat-free. They’re good for your heart, which brings us to today’s recipe.

Arroz Integral con Habichuelas Guizadas  (Brown Rice and Beans)

Makes 4 servings

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Habichuelas (Beans)

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 Tablespoon sofrito

1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro

1 Tablespoon tomato sauce

1 (15.5 oz) can red kidney beans

1 cup water

1 pound calabaza, cut into inch-long squares

Begin with putting oil into a 2 to 3-quart pot. Add sofrito and tomato sauce. Mix and simmer in a low flame. Add beans, water, and calabaza. Mix again. Increase flame to moderate-high flame and cover pot. When it comes to a boil, add cilantro, mix and reduce the flame to medium-low and simmer. Pot should remain covered. Let it cook for another 15 minutes, until calabaza is cooked tenderly.

Arroz Integral (Brown Rice)

This was my Grandma Candita’s caldero (pot)

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 cups brown rice

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

3 cups water

In 5-quart pot, heat up olive oil in a medium-low flame. Add rice and mix, coating rice evenly with oil. Let simmer for a minute. Add broth and water, and mix. Increase to medium-high flame. Once it starts to boil, lower to medium-flame and cover. Cook for 30 minutes until all the water is absorbed. Reduce flame to low flame. Let it cook for another 10 minutes. Mix rice and cook for another 5 minutes.

Buen provecho!

Special thanks to my mother and Aunt Lucy for their contribution to this piece.

 ###

First, let me let you know that I have lost one pound since I last posted. So it’s four pounds in total. I ran for about 20 minutes on the treadmill four days this week. I drank about 80 ounces of water each day. I also joined a Facebook group comprised of other women on a similar journey. Everyday the organizers of the group give us a fitness challenge like “how many jumping jacks can you do in four minutes?” Admittedly this was tough for me. Made me feel old. I had to stop throughout, and I was gasping for air. But I did 400! I have to accept who I am on this journey…accept my shortcomings…accept my strengths. The power of community helps me push on!

So many of you have been so supportive. My heart swells with gratitude. For this reason, I want to share a piece which has inspired me for years. I first read it when I was in my early thirties and began to really question the purpose of my life. When we really think about it, what is our deepest fear?

Our Deepest Fear

by Marianne Williamson

from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

###

My relationship with my mother has not always been what it is today. My mother worked very hard at her job as the head nurse for one of New York’s first dialysis clinics, all while trying to raise my brother and I. She would leave at 4:30 in the morning and get home at 8 at night, only to do it again the next day. Our distance could have been attributed to many things – her exhaustion and frustration, my teenage angst, the natural evolution of a mother-daughter relationship.

In late January, she turned 67 and retired from her job that same week. This was one of the toughest weeks of my life. I realized how much time had been wasted on misunderstanding. Life had sped up. I would not have her forever and I had to enjoy all of her now. So I gave up my grudge-holding, and I committed myself to absolute forgiveness. No more bringing up the past. And I wanted to become more involved in her life.

The beginning of her retirement was hard for her.  Just like any life change, you don’t exactly know where to begin. I struggled watching her adjust because she also reacted physically to it, which made me nervous. But everything for a reason. I had just gone through a major milestone that she helped me through, so I considered this my opportunity to give back to her.

I let her enjoy the unknown space that she was in without judgment. It was cool if she slept late. I helped her vacuum her house and cleaned some corners which had been overlooked for a while. I stayed up late with her watching her shows, even though they weren’t exactly my flavor. It was now my chance to cheer her on.

The woman I’ve been able to get to know is such a generous person. Beautiful. Peaceful. Compassionate. Strong. Creative.  And her amazing love has been with me all my life.

We are now on each other’s journeys together.  She is a big part of this blog. She has been cooking without salt or Sazon almost my whole life because of my father’s heart disease. And although I did not always appreciate her health advice, she has a wealth of expertise from her years as a nurse and her own commitment to wellness.

This past Sunday my mother and I took a class at the Institute for Culinary Education. We made yummy dishes like mofongo (mashed fried green plantains), carne guizada (beef stew), and tres leches cake. I took the class in order to inspire this blog and invited her. She was a star in the class. The instructor eventually ended up asking her how to do things. It was great to see her shine. She had found her place.

When we were leaving, she stopped me on the busy, frigid midtown avenue and kissed me. “Thank you for helping me accomplish my dream,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to take a Puerto Rican cooking class.” I was only returning what she had selflessly given to me.  We walked the rest of the way hand in hand.

I would like to acknowledge my mother as my inspiration for my blog and dedicate it to her. She is a true example of LivingLatinaLite.

My mother and I with ICE Chef Instructor Dan Stone.

WEEKLY UPDATE

I’ve lost 3 pounds in total. Not bad for my first week. Very proud of myself. One of the ways I’ve done this is through replacing my milk in my coffee with almond milk. The super-food is a top plant source for protein and vitamin E. The type of fat found in almonds — monounsaturated fat — is the very best kind for your health.

If your lactose intolerant it’s a great alternative. Plus, it may help lower your blood cholesterol, maintaining your heart health. It also benefits those with diabetes, heart disease, celiac disease and obesity.

I froth almond milk for my café con leche, as well as use it in my oatmeal. Again, I don’t use sweetner. It doesn’t need it.

Let me know what you use almond milk for and I’ll share it!

###

This weekend I lost one pound – I’ve lost 3 pounds in total since I started my LivingLatinaLite challenge last Wednesday. Throughout my adulthood, I’ve done many programs such as Jennie Craig, Nutrisystem, and Herbalife. I loved them, considering at one point in my life I was close to 200 pounds. But they were expensive and hard to maintain. Plus, I wasn’t going through my weight loss naturally.

My goal in LivingLatinaLite is to take off my weight by eating “real food” in healthy portions. I believe it’s making a difference. This time I’ve given up all my diet substitutes like Splenda, Snackwells, and Diet Coke. These products trick the body into thinking it’s getting calories. And when the body doesn’t get the calories after the sweetness, this leads to overeating.

Another example of eating “real food” is using brown rice to make my favorite meals. Many of us are familiar with the benefits of brown rice. The unprocessed version of white rice, still has its hull and bran, making it easier to digest and lighter in the stomach.

Check out the litany of the wholegrain’s benefits:

• Powerful antioxidant
• Reduces arthritis
• Reduces risk of heart disease and high cholesterol
• High in fiber — reducing colon cancer
• Stabilizes blood sugar levels — excellent for those suffering from diabetes and reduces the risk of getting the disease
• Great for weight loss – makes you feel full, so you eat less

Try this slamming healthy, “real food” version of one of my favorite childhood dishes!

Arroz Integral Con Salchichas  (Brown Rice made with Vienna Sausages)

Preparation time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Makes 4 servings

3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 Tablespoons homemade sofrito (check out my recipe from March 14)

¼ cup tomato sauce

1 Tablespoon alcaparrado or mixture of olives, pimientos & capers (comes jarred, but you can make it if you can’t find it)

1 Tablespoon chopped oregano

2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

2 cups brown rice

2 cups chicken broth (look for a product that is low in sodium)

2 cups water

1 (9-ounce) can chicken Vienna sausage in chicken broth

1 bay leaf

• In a caldero (cast iron pot), mix your olive oil, sofrito, tomato sauce, and alcaparrado, over medium flame. Add oregano and cilantro. Stir in your rice and mix well with ingredients.  Add chicken broth, water, salchichas and bay leaf.
•  Cover caldero and increase flame to high, so as to bring to a boil. After 10 minutes lower flame to a moderate-high flame.
•  Let it continue to cook while remaining covered and over a medium high flame for about 20 minutes. Uncover caldero, only to check for evaporation. You want the broth to meet the level of rice without stirring, then lower to medium flame.
• Cover once again and cook for another 8 to 10 minutes. Then stir, bringing the rice from the bottom of the caldero to the top, so it can cook equally. Stir carefully with this intention. You are not stirring a cake batter.
• Cover once again and cook for about another 10 minutes, until liquid is absorbed. Turn off flame and let the rice sit covered on the stove for about 10 to 15 minutes. This will allow the rice to continue to cook, while also building up a savory moisture.

Buen provecho!

Check out my blog on Wednesday! My mother and I had a blast this weekend when we took a Puerto Rican cooking class at the Institute for Culinary Education. It blew us away! More to come!

###

I run up the stairs trying to avoid the unrelenting cold that has overstayed its welcome and ring the doorbell. As my brother’s friend answers the door, I inhale memories of my childhood and of all the kitchens belonging to the women I loved most in my life – my grandmothers, aunts, but most of all my mother. My brother yells “Bienvenidos!” I walk through a narrow hallway to the back of his new apartment to join him in the kitchen. He’s busy stirring the caldero, a traditional aluminum pot used to make Spanish rice. He’s wearing a red Adidas t-shirt, navy blue sweatpants, flip flops, and a huge smile. He greets me with a hug you can only get from a sibling. I notice the beads of moisture on his forehead and nose as he works.

I ask him what we’re eating. “Arroz con salchichas,” he says. This is a traditional Puerto Rican dish of rice with Vienna sausages. I’m excited.

I recall my brother’s tears of anticlimactic disappointment. As a self-centered teenager, I would stand at the stove and eat all the salchichas out of the pot before my mother was ever able to serve the meal to the rest of the family. “Dinner will be served in a minute,” he says as he hands me an ice cold Corona Extra, which I can tell just came out of the freezer by the shimmery frost still on the neck. He accents it with a wedge of bright green, plump lime on the rim.

The kitchen table is already set and we prepare to sit. His friend talks about his real estate investment in Florida. As usual, without intention, he takes over the conversation. My brother and I just politely listen.

My brother remains at the stove and begins plating like a painter on a canvas. The rice is perfectly moist, and has the fluffiness and familiar hue of orange, only my mother could get. I can taste the careful composition of Sazón, sofrito, and adobo seasonings, as well as the tomato sauce. Steam still streams out of the heavenly cloud which takes up the whole plate. The salchichas are like little Valentines buried inside the rice. Pink and plump. There are so many of them. In his adaption, there’s no holding back on the inch-long delights.

As my brother joins us, I realize we’re eating on the plates I gave him when I got married. Not fancy at all. I remember I bought them at Target as a single woman trying to save money. They still look good.

I go for a second round. It’s warm and safe. It reminds me of the good old times, when life was ahead, rather than behind. “How was it?” my brother asks. “Not as good as Mom’s,” he continues.

“How many times did you make this meal?’ I ask. He says it’s his first. “This is just as good as Mom’s,” I say. And it was.

His friend leaves early. My brother and I remain at his kitchen table and finish our Coronas as he gives me his counsel on love and marriage. He offers me a Mallomar and the conversation moves to whether the graham cracker cookie, crowned with a marshmallow, encased in a sweet hard chocolate shell, is the best cookie ever.

WEEKLY UPDATE

This was how I spent my night this past Sunday, but since I started this blog on Wednesday, I went from 173.5 to 171.5 pounds. This weekend I plan to experiment with a healthier version of arroz con salchichas. I will share this with you on Monday. But you will need to use sofrito. Check out my mother’s recipe below for a very healthy, homemade version of the seasoning.

Homemade Sofrito

Sofrito is used as a base in Latino, Spanish, and Portuguese cooking. Preparations vary. This is a Puerto Rican version, a puree. You can find most ingredients at your typical grocery store.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Makes about 12 oz.

1 whole garlic
1 Spanish onion
1 bunch of cilantro
10 leaves of culantro
1 green pepper, seeds removed
10-12 ajicitos dulces (sweet peppers), seeds removed
¼ cup water (if necessary)

Peel garlic and chop ingredients, place them in the food processor or blender to create your puree. Add cilantro and culantro at the end after all other ingredients are pulverized. If you find it necessary to add liquid, you may add ¼ cup water.

You can store the sofrito in a glass jar in the refrigerator or a plastic container in the freezer. One great idea my mother shared with me is to use an ice tray in the freezer for easy usage. One to two cubes will suffice for seasoning.

Buen provecho!

###