All posts filed under: Fresh Produce

Nachos + Pomegranate Salsa and Chunky Guacamole

Published by Joanne

Falling into fall is so wonderful. All the deep colors. All the versatility of the ingredients in the season: squash, artichokes, cauliflower, pomegranate, sweet potato… Sweet, savory, sour, salty, bitter… You can achieve so many layers of flavor with these ingredients it just makes my mouth water with excitement. I just love going to the market and seeing how as the year progresses the colors at each section change. although in Barcelona autumn is pretty much an indian summer, it’s delightful. I’m constantly looking at different sources of inspiration, and I love sharing them with everyone else. One of my favorite blogs is The Delicious Life, it’s so beautiful and real. Just straightforward food without all of the nonsense of unnecessary adjectives to describe beautiful and delicious food. There, I found a tasty pomegranate salsa recipe, which I’ve decided to make and adjust to my likes and haves. Also, I took advantage on the fact that it’s National Nachos Day, I just needed an excuse to make nachos and salsa!     This is what you’ll …

Apple Pie Pastelitos

Published by Joanne

My mom hosted the gnarliest girls night at home when I was a kid. To a five-year-old me, they were wild and insane. But now, in hindsight it was probably the only relaxation time she had with our family and her friends. It consisted in all of my aunts and their friends coming to the apartment and playing bingo. Also, some light gambling. I remember playing under the table while they gossiped about things I can’t remember or were beyond me. It was awesome. I remember feeling like a grown up (at 5!) just by being surrounded by the amazing women in my life. Also, my grandma was the fucking boss. Often when they couldn’t play at home, they’d go to an underground bingo at the 181st subway station in Manhattan. My mom would take me with her when she couldn’t get one of my cousins or brothers to look after me. She doesn’t believe in baby sitters. So I would go there and hang out. But sitting down on a table wasn’t my thing. I would fidget …

What the pho is that?

Published by Joanne

These past few days there has been only one type of weather in Barcelona: cloudy. Gloomy and grey. For that reason, it has made me want to eat soup all of the time. I blame my heritage. My parents are Dominican and they sure love their soups and stews on rainy days, even if the weather is perpetually hot in the island. As soon as there’s a cloud in the sky it’s time to whip out the sancocho. Sancocho is a type of stew with meats and starchy vegetables. It is very hearty and it goes accompanied by rice, avocado and a sour element that can be bitter orange vinegar or limes. Oh, and hot sauce. Because I’m so used to eating this on rainy days, every time it’s cloudy I need some kind of soup! I wanted ramen to begin with, but only had udon noodles at hand. Then I thought… udon soup! But didn’t have the base for it. I consider myself a very resourceful person in the sense that I can make tasty food …

Get Cosy with This Bowl of Chilli con Carne

Published by Joanne

It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring! ♫♫♫ I think there’s a monsoon outside. I feel like I’m in Vietnam and not in Barcelona, it’s raining so much today and for some reason that nursery rhyme can’t get out of my head. I feel like a child trapped inside my home although I’m keeping it cosy listening to Otis Redding while I write this. I blame the rain. It makes me nostalgic and kind of soulful too. Something that never fails to make me feel better when I’m gloomy and nostalgic is definitely comfort food. Oh yeah. For me, there are only but a few things better than getting cosy with a tasty bowl of food that just makes you feel amazing. Ramen soup is definitely number one on my list. When I was a kid it was probably one of the first foods I learned to ‘modify’. By “modifying” I mean adding soy sauce and scallions, by the way. Little by little as I grew up I learned how to make different versions (or …

Was That Really a Sabbatical? Baked Green Tomatoes and Why I Haven’t Been Blogging.

Published by Joanne

Well, now I am. I’ve been ‘off the blog grid’ for over a year now and I’ve finally come back, writing in English this time. Don’t know, I feel I express myself better in my native language. So… Yeah, I’ve been absent. Busy. On a sabbatical. On a hiatus. Whatever you want to call it. But overall I’ve missed blogging, mostly because of my lack of time, but to be honest I really hate that saying; “Oh I don’t have time for that”, I think it’s because I’m a firm thinker that there is no such thing as “not having enough time” for something, to me that’s just an excuse to not do things… If you want to do something, make time for it… So, well, here I am making time. And I brought tomatoes.

Sant Josep de la Boqueria

Published by Joanne

El encanto que tienen los mercados y las fruterías es algo que nunca he podido describir, tanto un Farmers Market en la ciudad de Nueva York como el mercado de la Boqueria en el centro de la ciudad de Barcelona, el cual por mucho, es uno de mis favoritos, aunque es un poco caro para mi presupuesto de estudiante. Me fascina caminar por el mercado, mirando los colores, como todo está estratégicamente posicionado para que te llame la atención, también buscar fruta que usualmente no encuentras en la frutería de tu barrio, como es para mí la chinola (aquí la conocen como la maracuyá o fruta de pasión) y el coco.   Otra cosa que adoro del mercado de la Boqueria, son los jugos. Tienen jugos de infinitos sabores, todos a 1euro. No solo jugos de cierto tipo pero también muchas mezclas como menta-coco, coco-frambuesa, lima-piña, piña menta, entre muchísimimos más. Hasta la carne y los quesos son absolutamente hipnotizantes. Y la cantidad de productos frescos que puedes encontrar son casi innumerables, aquí tan solo …

Mi primer Tartar de atún.

Published by Joanne

Me emocionan muchas cosas, demasiadas para serles honesta. Conocer a una persona interesante, visitar un nuevo lugar, probar un nuevo coctel, inventar con una nueva receta…algo que hice hoy y que sorprendentemente me quedó bastante bien, ¡por fin hice un tartar de atún! Esta es una receta que siempre me ha gustado, cada vez que voy a un restaurante japonés lo pido pero nunca he intentado hacerlo por miedo a comer pescado crudo en casa, y bueno, ya era tiempo de vencer esos miedos tontos y lograr lo que quiero. Esta mañana fui al Mercat Sant Idelfons en búsqueda del atún más fresco y también aprovechar para hacer la compra semanal.   ¡Tanto de donde elegir!     ¡AMO los mercados como este! Y ya que tengo mis ingredientes… ¡manos a la obra! Aquí lo que vas a necesitar: 1kg de el atún más fresco que puedas conseguir, esto es MUY importante, es imperativo que esté BIEN fresco. 2 Aguacates 1 Cebolla roja mediana 2 Dientes de ajo 1 1/2 limones 1 Manojo de cilantro picado …