Mexican – Peaceful Reader

Weekly Recipes 4

While I visited with Barb and her family I made dinner several nights just to share recipes. Her kitchen is an excellent place to cook and I like that. She, like me, is an ex-vegetarian who now eats good, local meat. It was fun to cook for her family. They like unique dishes just like me.

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Quinoa Tabbouleh with chickpeas-It was delicious; light and refreshing, a perfect summer dish. Simple ingredients all tossed together:

1 cup cooked quinoa
1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
½ pound Persian cucumbers or 2 hothouse cucumbers (if using hothouse, seed the cucumbers first), sliced
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup finely chopped green onion, white and green parts
1 cup chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 cup chopped mint leaves
⅓ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 2 large lemons)
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

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And I made these black bean burritos with sweet potato added in. They were so yummy; I could have eaten 3 or 4 but I kept it to one. It’s all about eating good food in small quantities.

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Once we returned home I made this kid-friendly dish (crock pot enchiladas) on a very busy day so dinner would be ready when the family walked through the door. I was gone-off to hear music at the Gentleman of the Road tour-and it was fantastic! even though it was a little strange to be away from the family, off doing my own thing at our sacred dinner hour. Every once in while you need to surprise them with a twist. I made them dinner so they would still love me while I was gone.

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Another day I made this berry tart which also turned out great. Barb sent me home with a few pie shells so I didn’t have to make the dough, which made it simple.

What did you create this week?

Guacamole; A cooking poem by Jorge Argueta and Margarita Sada

One day over at Jama Ratigan’s fabulous blog, Alphabet Soup, I entered one of her drawings and I won!
I almost missed my opportunity to win this book because I missed her email message to me and she nicely emailed me a second time. Thank you Jama!

Groovy Girl and I were both home when the post person brought the package from House of Anansi Press with this very green poetry food book inside the yellow bubble wrapper. We actually sat down in the grass and read it right away.

The first thing you notice are the gorgeous illustrations that show the young children interacting playfully with the food. The second point is that the story is told bilingually with Spanish and English. It begins:

“Today I’m going to make you guacamole,”
I say to my mother and father
and my little brother and sister.
They stare at me with their big eyes
that remind me of the green avocados
in the basket on the red kitchen table. (1)

and it continues with vivid colors and words used to describe the process of making a delicious bowl of guacamole! I adore how this young chef sings and dances around the kitchen with her apron on. She continues with:

I wash them in the fountain of the sink
and then, dancing and singing,
I put them on the red kitchen table. (6)

This is a treasure of a book for the kitchen or the library. It is a celebration of food and fun and this young girl celebrates the simple process of making a family tradition. I think I’m going to add it to my school library collection but I’m not ready to part with it at home yet. I am waiting for some beautiful avocados to slide my way so I can give this recipe a try. Thanks again to Jama for offering such a great poetry giveaway!