The following dishes come from my own kitchen! Ingredients were sourced mostly from the market (veggies and queso) and the tortilleria across the street. These days I’m cooking typical Mexican fare with a vegetarian twist, learning new recipes and techniques from my roommate and top chef Guillermo.
Day 20. Chiles rellenos de zanahorias y queso con salsa roja. Peppers stuffed with carrots and cheese, smothered in roasted tomato salsa. San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. This is arguably the most famous vegetarian option in Mexican cuisine, with various fillings, lightly battered and fried. Not exactly easy nor time-saving, there are about 15 steps from start to finish, each one playing a part in the sabrissimo flavors in the final dish. For example, you have to fire-roast the tomatoes, onions and garlic for the salsa, and there’s the little trick of cautiously spearing the filled pepper with a toothpick to hold it together while frying. Some people may not like to spend their entire evening preparing a dinner for two, but I find it totally exciting, worth the reward of an outrageously priced cabernet sauvignon, which slowly corked by the heat of the fire.
Day 21. Sopa de calabaza. Squash soup. San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. It was so good, I almost forget to take a photo! Here’s one of my half-eaten bowl:
Day 22. Platanos a la miel. Plantains carmelized in honey. San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. Muy ricos!
Day 23. Tacos Fritos con papas. Fried tacos filled with mashed potatoes. Another step-by-step process that’s totally worth it, these were TO DIE FOR.
Day 24. Sopa negra y croutons de mais rellenos de queso fundido. Black bean soup with homemade corn croutons stuffed with melted cheese. Another dish that was a step-by-step process, but vale la pena, or in other words, worth the effort!
Day 25. Sopes con frijolitos, soyrizo y guacamole. Fries corn tortillas in the form of little bowls, filled with refried beans, soyrizo and guacamole. Found some soyrizo in a natural health food store in San Cris, and started a mission to recreate my favorite burrito from Papalote in SF. Imagine the best taquerias in SF – Papalote, Little Chihuahua, Orale Orale and Pancho Villa – compiled all their chefs together to make one ultimate dish, this would be it:
Day 26. Chayotes fritos con sopa de sobras y salsa picante. Fried chayotes with soup created from leftovers and hot salsa. Guillermo expertly crafted the most delicious soup made from leftovers, to accompany some vegetables tempura and tortillas. I created my own salsa, using 3 types of dried chiles from the market that I fire-roasted and blended into a hot-but-not-too-hot salsa. What I love about this salsa is that it’s red without using tomatoes, which I don’t like to use during the winter when they’re out of season. Here in Mexico they’re always in season, but if I’m in Northern California or Ohio, for example, now I know how to make homemade salsa in the winter.
Earth Eats 