Soba Noodle Stir-Fry
Quick and simple asian soba noodle stir fry. A great vegetarian option for the weekday!
Author: Joanne
White Bean Crostini with Mint-Cilantro Vinaigrette
Simple and fast crostini tapas recipe, perfect for appetizers!
Nachos + Pomegranate Salsa and Chunky Guacamole
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 …
Catalan traditions: Panellets
Being in a relationship with someone from a completely different culture than I am surely is enlightening. Each time we enter a new weather season there’s a new tradition to be immersed in. This has made me begin a series within my blog where every time I try a different tradition, I’ll share it on here. Call it “Joanne and a series of catalan traditions” if you will. Fall brings ‘Panellets’. Panellets are probably the most traditional sweet pastries in all Catalunya. They’re made of almond flour, sugar and pine nuts. Think: marzipan with less sugar. Don’t tell Marc’s mom I compared them to marzipan. In Catalunya you know fall is officially here when pastry shops and grocery stores start getting ready for “La Castañada” (the chestnut party). It’s the holiday where everyone take the streets to eat roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes. I like to think of it as a street food festival. Everyone is drinking moscatell and eating chestnuts and sweet potatoes. On the following morning, to cure your moscatell hangover you eat panellets (I made …
Apple Pie Pastelitos
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?
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
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 …