Arroz Blanco Con Vegetales (White Rice w/ Vegetables)

Every time I go to gatherings, birthdays or parties where food is involved and where the majority of people are Mexican or Salvadoran I always see this mixed white rice and vegetable dish as a side. I've never really made it, nor does my mother but we love it, just never really knew how it was prepared.

It seems everyone makes it slightly different and there are variations, but the common elements is all of use chicken bouillon or powder as flavoring and onion. The rest can sort of vary.

This is the version that I am very satisfied with, the rice is slightly toasted in butter with onions giving it a toasty buttery slightly sweet taste I love it :D

Ingredients:
-2 cups long-grain white rice
-1/2 cup butter
-1/2 onion minced
-4 cups water
-2 heaping teaspoons chicken bouillon
-1 cup mixed small mixed frozen vegetables (carrots, peas, corn, and green beans)

Directions:
(1) Heat a pot or deep-pan on medium high heat, add the butter, when butter melts, add your rice and minced onion. Stir constantly or you'll get burned pieces of rice keep stirring until rice is slightly golden and onions are transparent.
(2) At this point, add your water, raise heat to real high, stir in chicken bouillon, taste for salt the chicken powder or bouillon is pretty salty.

(3) When it comes to a rolling boil add vegetables, wait for it to boil again, give it a quick stir, cover then lower heat to low. Do not uncover for 25 minutes, uncover, check your rice it should be done now.
(4) Serve as a side to any meal, any meat stew, pan-fried or grilled meats, fried fish, beans, salad or sauteed vegetables anything it goes pretty well :)

P.S.
I know it's a lot of butter, you can reduce the amount if you'd like, but it makes it taste sooo good, oil can be used in place of the butter as well but it won't be the same :) just be sure you have enough oil or butter to be able to toast and coat the rice well.

Guiso de Chayote (Sauteed Chayote)

This is a very simple and delicious way to prepare chayote, I learned this recipe from my long time friend Steve's mother (Marta). Now Marta isn't much of a cook nor does she enjoy cooking, I remember very well growing up she'd get a lot of delicious food catered (yummm Salvadorian treats like Pupusas and such) or just fast food or ordered pizza, and sometimes on rare occasions she may cook. Of course being a latin woman she knows some basic stuff like cooking "Arroz Con Leche", red rice, beans, a couple meat dishes and quick simple sautee's here and there but hardly made them.

But Steve told me that recently she started cooking a bit more and being more experimental in the kitchen, truth be told on a Tuesday afternoon last week I was around and she made a very simple "Guiso de Chayote" to which she told me you could add meat to if desired. I'm assuming if done with meat it can take the place of vegetable and meat side dishes in a meal and stand alone if eatin with rice or tortillas and maybe some beans.

Couple day's later I made it with some browned cubed pork and mmmm.... it was delicious and simple :D I am glad I learned this dish because we usually at home didn't know what to do with Chayote besides soups and steaming it with mojo at home.

Ingredients:
-4 medium chayotes, peeled and cut into tiny cubed
-1 medium onion chopped
-4 cloves garlic minced
-2 ripe tomatoes chopped
-salt to taste
-oil to cook (she used olive oil)
-meat of choice cut into small pieces (optional)
-ground black pepper to taste (if adding meat, optional)

Directions:
(1) Brown meat in oil on medium high heat with salt and pepper. If not using meat skip this step.

(2) Now add onion to sautee in oil until translucent and slightly browned, add garlic until fragrant then tomato and give a few stirs, throw in chayote, season with salt and cover to simmer about 10-15 minutes.
(3) Enjoy!
P.S.

I'm labeling at Salvadorian for navigation purposes and because Marta is Salvadorian.

Cocido Salvadoreño (Salvadorian Beef and Vegetable Stew)

This stew is a very healthy, nutritious and nourishing, it is a stew with beef bone and meat, with a large variety of different colored hardy veggies and for some body some starchy plantain, cassava root, and potatoes. Sure to revive anyone and make you feel stronger. As they say in spanish, "Levanta muertos" (raises the dead). Ha ha.

This recipe is from a Salvadorian family friend, we call her "Tita" and she cooks amazing delicious food, she is elderly and kind, when I learn from her it's like learning from a grandmother. Her cooking though she cooks Salvadorian many of her dishes are unique to her because they are clearly strongly Spanish influenced because her grandparents from both sides of the family are Spaniard born, both her parents where born in El Salvador from Spaniard immigrants, it is even evident in her speech which I find interesting because she uses typical Salvadorian word usage and slang but her accent is Castillion so I have fun listining to her :)

I also have a 1/2 sister (media hermana) from my father's side whom is 1/2 Salvadorian and 1/2 Cuban Spanish, she also makes this Cocido but she does it differently (she probably won't read this so I feel safe to say that I find Titas version to be tastier than my sisters ha ha, my sister's is more straight forward and excludes some stuff that I feel give it more "oomph") also she doesn't do much cooking anyways, and heck she doesn't read my blog shame on her ha ha she would probably learn a thing or two about our culinary heritage (atleast our Cuban and Spanish side) you know I believe you can know a culture very well and preserve it through their/ your food :)

Ingredients:
-3 limes and salt (to clean meat)
-2 1/2 lbs. of beef shank cut into large chunks fat left on
-3 lbs. of beef bone with meat
-1 bay leaf
-1 teaspoon cumin
-1 teaspoon ground black pepper
-1 teaspoon chicken or beef bouillon (about 1 cube?)
-salt to taste
-3 celery stalks cut into large chunks
-4 large tomatoes chopped into 4 large pieces
-1 large green bell pepper cut into 4 large pieces or just halved
-1 large onion cut in half
-7 cloves of garlic, peeled and left whole
-4 carrots peeled and cut into 3 sections (leave in big chunks)
-2 medium chayotes, cut into 4 large pieces each
-1 small bag of frozen cassava root (yucca) or 2 fresh yucca
-4 small potatoes, peeled and left whole (or 2 large ones halved)
-2 fresh peeled corn cobs (each cut into 3 sections)
-3 yellow plantains well washed with soap cut into 4 sections PEEL LEFT ON! Or else it will disintegrate into the soup)
-2 cups of green beans. stems removed (optional, I didn't have any on hand)
-3 Italian Squashes/ zucchini (cut into 3 sections)
-1/2 head of cabbage (cut into 4 large sections)
-1 bunch of spinach cut in 1/2 (well cleaned and rinsed several times)
-1 large bunch of cilantro well washed and coarsely chopped
-more salt to taste if needed
Extra Ingredients:
-additional fresh cut limes to squeeze over soup when serving

Directions:
(1)In a large bowl wash meat and bones and drain several times, squeeze in lime juice, and add a lot of salt, rub the meat and slowly add more water wash meat with limes and water, then drain and rinse again. (you will do this about 7 times) rinse meat well until you wash away the lime and salt.

(2)In a really large pot (I mean really big) bring to a boil enough water to submerge meat about 6-7 inches in water. When water comes to boil add meat, let boil for a bit maybe 5-10 minutes, when the scum from the meat comes up, remove it, scoop it out.

(3)Once most scum rises up (very little will because we washed meat so well), now add chicken/beef bouillon, salt to taste, bay leaves, black pepper, ground cumin, celery, onion, tomato, garlic, and green bell pepper. Cover and boil on medium low for about 1 hour and 30 minutes.


(4)Check meat for tenderness keeping in mind it will cook for another 30 minutes with the stuff added later. You should have a golden rich stock. Now add carrot, chayote, yuca, corn, potatoes, green beans (if using optional) and plantain. Let it boil 15-20 minutes

(5)Now after 15- 20 minutes add cabbage, squash/ zucchini, cilantro, and spinach cook add salt to taste if neseccary and cover let boil for about 10 minutes.


(6)Turn off heat your done, serve in large bowls, with some freshly squeezed lime and if desired a hot sauce on the side to add in on your own serving plate.


PLEASE NOTE:
-Everything for this stew should be cut in really large chunks, it's a hardy soup, the chunks are large you should only need 1 piece of each thing and broth to fill your bowl. It is purposely like this.
-The plantains after cooked are usually taken out and peeled, people add it to their stews from the plate.
-If you over cook some veggies may disintegrate, nevertheless don't get upset it's still delicious :)

VERY IMPORTANT
-Chances are if you do this late for dinner you'll be to tired to put away the stew or it might be to big and you don't want to take up space, here is a helpful tip I learned from my mother I don't know the scientific explanation, but if you don't want it to spoil but still leave it out for the night do this.
(1)Bring it to a strong boil (it has to boil evenly), after it comes to a strong boil let it boil atleast 5 minutes.
(2)Turn of heat DO NOT TOUCH AND DO NOT STIR IT LEAVE IT ALONE, DON'T MOVE IT, for some reason the next day it will not be spoiled the next day, but if you touch it and stir it will spoil, pretty cool isn't it.
(3)This trick works with any type of bean stew and other stews, when you ready to eat again, bring to boil and consume :)
-This is a large recipe, we like this soup so we have it for like 2 days, if you wish cut the recipe in 1/2 more and use your judgment.

Tita's Salad

We have a family friend we call "Tita" she is originally from El Salvador and she makes this salad very often, I don't know if it's a Salvadoran recipe or not but since she is Salvadoran and she showed us Im gonna label it as Salvadoran.

Though her salad is very basic and similar to many cultures salads. In this recipe the way you cut everything is very important (atleast to me)

Ingredients:

-1 romain lettuce

-Equal amounts of raw spinach to romain lettuce

-1 large or 2 small cucumbers

-1 or 2 large fresh tomatoes

-1 cup of radishes (optional)

-2-4 tablespoons of Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

-Juice of 2 limes

-salt to taste (about 1-2 teaspoons)

Directions:

(1)Seperate each leaf from the romain lettuce, wash well, pat-dry, cutin half long wise, pile and roll up then cut into 1/2 inch slices kinda like "chiffounade" (I think I mispelled that)

(2)Wash spinach well, by drowning it in water in the sink, swishing and getting rid of all bad stuff, drain it well and pat-dry. Cut just like lettuce or try to cut it similar by chopping 1/2 inch slices or pieces

(3)Wash and cut large tomatoes in 4, then slice on a angle thinly

(4)Cut ends of cucumbers and then cut cucumber in half then slice in half and thinly slice to make 1/2 moon shapes

(5)Cut radishes ugly parts, slice in half and then slice those halves into 1/2 moon shapes,

(6)Toss all vegetables together

(7)Drizzle olive oil, squeeze juice of 2 limes, and then sprinkle with salt and toss with a tool or clean hands.