It's Flu and Cold Season...

...And I've got just the thing!

After an entire year of being in a hospital around all sorts of illnesses thinking I might get through it without getting sick, ... I got sick. :P It was like a domino effect. One day one of my classmates had it, the next day two did, and so on until I got it. It's all over Miami! This morning I went to CVS and found myself in the cold & flu aisle along with four other people (it's 8 am on a Saturday morning). We all looked at each other like "yep, I feel ya". Whatever this flu/cold/sinus thing is, I've decided I'm going to nip it in the bud today. Which leads me to today's recipe: a shmishmorshen of caribbean veggies made into a delicious and hearty soup.

I give you ajiaco [ah-hee-ah-ko]. It's the kind of food mom used to make when you were young that somehow magically cured all and made you feel better instantly! Traditionally, ajiaco is made with tasajo (cured, dry beef) and pork. For today, I decided to ix-nay both. I made it with yuca (cassava), malanga, boniato, corn on the cob, platanos (plantains), calabaza (West Indian squash), potatoes, and carrots. You can find all of these vegetables at a latin grocery store or in the latin produce section of your supermarket.

*I used a pressure cooker to make the ajiaco. If you have one, great! If not, just use a large pot, it'll just take longer to cook.

Ajiaco (vegetarian)

Ingredients:

• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 10 garlic cloves, diced
• 1 small green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• Sazón Completa seasoning
• 2 corn cobs, cut into smaller pieces
• 1 malanga, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 small yuca, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 yellowish-green platanos, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 boniato, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1-2 cups of calabaza, peeled and cubed
• 3 carrots, chopped
• salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Fill the pressure cooker half way up with water and add the corn cobs, green pepper, onion, garlic, 2 bay leaves, and a few dashes of Sazón Completa . Bring the heat to medium-high, secure the lid on the pressure cooker, and cook for 10-15 minutes. This will give the corn the extra time it needs to cook.

2. Let the pressure out of the pressure cooker and open the top. Add the rest of the vegetables to the broth and add a little more water if the water level is too low. (*Do NOT fill the pressure cooker past the maximum level line) You may also want to add a few more dashes of Sazón Completa to maintain the seasoning level for the added water.

3. Secure the lid back on and cook for another 5 mins. on medium-high heat. Let the pressure out once more, open the top, and check to see that all the veggies have cooked through. Adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve. Squeeze some lime on top and you'll be feeling great in no time!

Enjoy! :)

Tostones (Twice-Fried Plantain Fritters)

Here's a Cuban favorite of mine that's great to serve as an appetizer or with a meal. It's not a low-fat recipe (as implied by the "twice-fried"!) but it's definitely delicious and the Mojo Criollo dipping sauce that goes with it is the perfect compliment to these crunchy treats!

Tostones

Ingredients:

• 3-4 green plantains (yellow plantains are sweet and we don't want that for this recipe)
  
• canola oil (or vegetable oil)
• salt
• Tostonera (plantain press)

Instructions:

1. Take one plantain and with a sharp knife, cut the ends off. Then make a shallow slit lengthwise from the top of the plantain peel to the bottom, being careful not to cut into the plantain itself. Then take your fingers and separate the peel from the plantain. Remove the peel and discard. Do this for each plantain.

2. Cut the plantains into small slices, about 2 to 3 fingers thick.

3. In a large frying pan, pour enough canola oil to almost cover the slices of plantain (about 2 or 3 cups depending on the size of your pan). Heat the oil on Medium heat. Once the oil is heated, gently place the plantain slices in the pan and allow them to cook on each side until each side is golden (maybe a little brown, very little though!). *Cooking over Medium heat is very important because if you put the heat too high, the outside will cook too quickly while the inside won't cook through enough.

4. For this next step, you'll want to create a little assembly line to make the process more fluid. Grab a bowl filled with water and pour salt in it liberally. Make sure the salt is mixed into the water well. Place a thick layer of paper towels on your prep counter. Next to it place the Tostonera, next to that place the bowl of salt water, and next to that place another paper towel. Got that? ;) *If you don't have a Tostonera, you can use the flat bottom of a bowl.

5. One by one, remove the plantain slices from the oil and quickly place it on the thick layer of paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Then place the slice in the Tostonera and flatten. Dip the flattened plantain (tostones) in the salt water and then set it aside on the last paper towel. Do this for each slice.

6. Turn the heat up on the oil to Medium/High. Place the tostones back in the oil and fry until crispy and lightly browned.

7. Put a paper towel on the serving dish. Remove the tostones from the oil, place on the serving dish, and sprinkle salt on top. Serve with Mojo dipping sauce.

Mojo Criollo (Creole Garlic Sauce)

Ingredients:

• 6-8 cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 small yellow onion, very thinly sliced (almost translucent)
• 1/2 cup GOYA sour orange juice OR 1/4 cup sweet orange juice
• juice of 1/2 a lime and 1/2 a lemon
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Use a mortar & pestle or a food processor to crush the garlic with the salt to make a thick paste.

2. In a bowl, combine the garlic paste, onion, and citric juices and let it sit at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes.

3. Right before serving, heat the olive oil over Medium/High heat in a saucepan until it's really hot. Add the garlic mixture (careful it might splatter), stir, and serve immediately. (Any extra sauce can be refrigerated and used later.)

ENJOY!!!!