Ensalada de Rabanos - Radish Salad - Chilean Style

Recipe below serves 3-4.

Rabanos chilenos or Radish salad

This little root veggie is very under appreciated and I didn't discover this til I married a man from a country that champions the radish in their recipes. The taste is uniquely wonderful leaving your mouth tingling for more.

1 bunch of radishes washed and quartered

juice of one lemon/lime

salt to taste

Mix the above ingredients and allow to marinate for about 20 minutes before serving.

Pico de gallo

This is one of those must have recipes because it can be served with everything...kind of like the avocado. I put it with eggs for breakfast, chips, tacos (of course), carne asada, and salmon - YUMMY, just to mention a few. You can spice it up to the heat your mouth can handle- me - I like it HOT! HOT! HOT!

The recipe below serves 4.

Pico de gallo mexicano

2 tomatoes or 2 cups of cherry tomatoes chopped

1/2 of a medium onion chopped (we prefer white)

1 1/2 lemon or lime juiced

1 TBS chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 jalapeno or cerrano chile chopped (with or with seeds depending on how hot you like it)

Mix above ingredients and salt to taste.

Avocado Chileno

I honestly believe Avocado can make so very many things taste better. It doesn't hurt that they are super rich in vitamins and nutrients including the "good fat". I have included this recipe with our Taco meal but it can be eaten with sandwiches, chips, toast and cheese for breakfast or whatever your taste buds imagine.

The recipe below serves 2-3.

Avocado Chileno

Avocado

juice of 1 lemon or lime (we prefer the lime though both are yummy)

salt to taste

Slice avocado and place on serving dish. Squeeze lemon juice over and salt to taste. This recipe can be varied by adding very thinly sliced onion before you cover with lemon. You can also add cilantro, tomato and onion together with the avocado for a guacamole salad. Lime is superb with this as well.

Arroz Nicaraguense - Nicaraguan Rice

I am blessed to call friend one of the most wonderful cooks I have ever known . She is from Nicaragua and seriously can take anything and make it taste like heaven. She taught me how to make the rice and the beans that we eat with our tacos.

The recipe below serves 4-6.

Arroz

2 cups of white rice

1/2 medium white onion

2 TBS oil

1 lemon zested and juiced

salt

4 cups of water

Pour the oil in pan and add onions (on high) cook until onions begin to soften. Add the rice and cook/sautee rice until rice begins to become opaque and slightly brown. Add next 3 ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat and simmer until rice is light and fluffy about 20-25 minutes.

Black Beans

Black beans - Contrary to popular belief dry beans are NOT difficult to prepare. I am blessed to call friend one of the most wonderful cooks I have ever known . She is from Nicaragua and seriously can take anything and make it taste like heaven. She taught me how to make the rice and the beans that we eat with our tacos.

The recipes below serves 4.

Beans

1 Bag of dried beans (you can use black, pinto, small red or whatever your fancy)

6 cups of water

5 cloves of garlic

salt to taste (ABSOLUTELY DO NOT SALT THE BEANS TIL THEY ARE SOFT!!!)

Place the above ingredients EXCEPT SALT in a large pot and bring to a boil turn heat down to medium and simmer until the bean is soft (usually about 2 hours depends on stove). Salt to taste and cook about 10 minutes more.

Latin America style tacos

I so named these tacos because they are a hodge podge of recipes from friends and family who live south of the US border. We take tacos very seriously in our home. It is a family favorite. I am certain that my children craved beans, rice, lemon, avacado and corn tortillas from birth as they are the mainstay of my pregnant diet.

As you can see from the picture we don't pre-prepare our tacos before sitting down to eat but, our plates serve as mini buffets for preparing our tacos as we like, once we are all seated. Above is our typical "latin american taco plate".

The picture below beginning shows each dish - Clockwise (starting at the noon postion) Black beans (my husbands favorite), flour and corn tortilla, arroz nicaraguense, avocado chileno, pico de gallo mexicano, center(taco meat americano) and radishes or rabanos chilenos. (all recipes are posted here on my blog).

The recipe below all serves 4-6.

Taco meat mexicano

by Caprece Curtis

1 TBS of olive oil

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 1/2 lbs of ground beef

1 TBS of chile powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp ground red pepper (commonly called cayenne pepper)

1 can tomato sauce

Heat oil in large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook until onion is softened. Add beef and cook. Add chili powder, salt, cumin and red pepper; cook stirring one min. stir in tomato sauce and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 min.

serves 4.