Click here and read how a can of store-bought black beans reminds me of the beans I was served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the highlands of Western Honduras. Just open, heat, and serve these beans with your favorite Central American recipe!
Tina’s Indian fruit salad showcases an array of unique flavors as an assortment of berries, mango, and apple is seasoned with Himalayan pink salt, toasted cumin, mandarin juice, basil, and black pepper. Try it and see how this recipe brings out the best of fruit! (more).
My Thai Chicken with Basil has a distinctive, unami like flavor, as it sautés onion, garlic, basil, jalapeños, and chicken in a savory fish, soy, and coconut sauce. Naturally low in carbs and packed with protein, this recipe is chock-full of flavor and will satisfy (more).
There is nothing like a cup of coffee to jumpstart your day. Needless to say, I’ve had plenty of time to hone this recipe, and as luck had it, I stumbled across two secrets: turbinado sugar and a 3:1 ratio of oat milk to creamer. (more).
This hearty black bean stew was inspired by Feijoada, a stew made of bean, beef, and pork, the national dish of Brazil. But here I’ve added my own touch, like sautéing veggies in bacon drippings and seasoning beans with adobo, saffron, and red pepper flakes. (more).
My puchero is a fall casserole that I’ve adapted from my Mexican host mom’s signature recipe. My version calls for butternut squash, plantain bananas, carrots, yellow crookneck squash, and Yukon potatoes. It takes its name from squishing the veggies between your fingers, puch, puch, puchero. (more).
These savory dates, also known as Devils on Horseback, are far from frightening. In fact, they’re the opposite, ushering in a taste of heaven. Stuffed with honey goat cheese, dried apricots, glazed pecans, and drizzled with honey butter, they’ll be the hit of any party! (more).
With my Citrus, Bacon & Pecan Salad, each bite is a burst of flavors, varying between the crisp crunch of honey-glazed pecans and hickory-smoked bacon, with the creamy accent of goat cheese, all topped off with tangy orange segments and a sweet maple vinaigrette, which (more).
These Honey-Glazed, Toasted Pecans are a prize topping for a salad or a treat in of themselves. With only three ingredients and 8 minutes to make, it will become a staple in your household as they are mine! Try them on my Citrus, Bacon & (more).
These Creamy and Dreamy Refried Beans are enhanced by the flavorful drippings of hickory-smoked bacon and key spices like red pepper flakes and earthy cumin. Serve with my Naturally Sweet Banana Smoothies and my Honduran Baleadas or Bean Tacos for an authentic Central American dish! (more).
After years of making mediocre scrambled eggs, by a stroke of luck, I stumbled across this recipe for the Fluffiest Scrambled Eggs Ever. One fortuitous day, by sheer accident, I discovered the golden method revealed in my post and whipped up the airiest scrambled eggs! (more).
With my Freshest Ever Greek Salad, every bite is a burst of flavors—with either a crisp crunch of cucumbers, mixed with a nutty note of black olives and an earthy hint of oregano, or a salty touch of feta cheese, coupled by juicy, sweet tomatoes. (more).
This Heavenly Caprese with Pesto Panini is so blissful that it transports you out of this world. Truly, nothing can beat the perfect flavor equation of Genovese pesto, heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, and sourdough bread. With only 4 ingredients and 10 minutes to make, (more).
My Genovese Pesto with Bowtie Pasta is the perfect marriage of homemade pesto, made with a mortar and pestle, served with bowtie (farfalle) pasta, pine nuts, olive oil, and topped off with a sprinkle of Pecorino Romano cheese. It’s truly a match made in heaven! (more).
My Roasted Corn and Pepper Salad features twice-cooked corn, once boiled, and once roasted, which gives this dish its rich, buttery flavor. This mouthwatering corn is then given a little kick with the complement of ground black pepper, my secret ingredient. And to round it (more).
This Gourmet Caesar Salad Dressing stands apart from all others, with its unique base of sour cream, buttermilk, cream cheese, and mayonnaise, a creamy foundation that’s enriched by hints of nutty Parmesan cheese, tangy Worcestershire sauce, and savory anchovy paste. Give it a try and (more).
This unconventional Bolognese ranks in my top ten favorite recipes with its infusion of hickory-smoked bacon that permeates the garlic, onion, tomatoes, and freshly shredded Parmesan cheese. Another key to this recipe rests in the sun-dried tomatoes, which are rehydrated, but not preserved in oil. (more).
This stellar cornbread is a combination of all things comfort—from ricotta to white and orange cheddar cheeses to cornmeal, jalapeños, and buttermilk. Serve with my Beef Chili Like None Other or as a treat unto itself. Any way you serve it, you can’t go wrong! (more).
Instead of settling for bland supermarket tortillas, now you can enjoy the best homemade corn tortillas. Here I recount my tips of decades of experience, which I learned from my own trial and error and from Honduran women I met in the Peace Corps.
These apricot crumble bars are out-of-this-world, with a phenomenal pairing of sweet n’ sour apricots, a nutty almond crust, and a pecan topping that will have you pleading for more. This dessert is one of the reasons that I look forward to summer every year! (more).
This showstopper of a salad is a gorgeous dish to serve with alternating warm and cool tones of orange-speckled apricots and green-dappled celery and chives. Given a chance, it will bring out the artist in each of us! I find this salad as tasty as (more).