Salad
“In Pati’s Mexican Table, the first cookbook from Pati Jinich, Jinich is not looking for culinary tourists but converts. Host of the public television series of the same name and official chef of the Mexican Cultural Institute based in Washington, DC, Jinich shares her passion for the Mexican home-style cooking she grew up with in Mexico City…”
To read the entire review, click here.
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The Latin Kitchen: Cookbook Shelf: Pati’s Mexican Table
EVERYDAY GREEN SALAD
Ensalada de todos los días
Serves 6INGREDIENTS
1 head butter lettuce or red leaf lettuce
1/3 cup white distilled vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup red onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar, or to taste
4 carrots, or 3/4 lb, peeled, thinly sliced
1 large cucumber, or 3/4 lb, peeled, seeded, sliced
2 ripe tomatoes, or 3/4 lb, quartered, seeded, sliced
1 large ripe Mexican avocado, halved, pitted, slicedTO PREPARE
In a plastic container that has a lid, add the vinegar, vegetable and olive oils, Dijon mustard, garlic, onion, salt, black pepper and sugar. Cover the container with a lid and shake for 10 seconds until the vinaigrette is well emulsified. Alternatively, you can also whisk with a fork in a bowl.Place the lettuce, carrots, cucumber and tomato in a large salad bowl. Pour a generous amount of the vinaigrette on top and toss. The salad should be coated with the vinaigrette but not swimming in it.
Top with avocado slices, drizzle a bit more vinaigrette on top of and serve.
By adding a few key Mexican ingredients to what you’d normally find in an all-American pantry and fridge, you get these to-die-for, lip-smacking dishes.
CHAYOTE SQUASH AND PICKLED ONION SALAD
Ensalada de chayote y cebolla morada
Serves 6INGREDIENTS
2 pounds chayote squash
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 teaspoon fresh oregano
1/2 cup red onion, thinly slicedTO PREPARE
Place unpeeled chayotes in a saucepan, cover with water, bring to a boil and cover the pan, then reduce heat to low; simmer for 25 to 30 minutes until the chayotes are cooked through. A knife will cleanly go through them, but they won’t be completely soft or mushy.Drain, and once cool, peel the chayotes. Cut them in half, then slice into sticks.
Combine the remaining ingredients, except for the onions, and whisk into a vinaigrette. Add the onions, mix well and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. It can also be made ahead a day before and left in the refrigerator.
Toss the chayote sticks with the vinaigrette and onions. Serve or cover and refrigerate for up to 12 hours.
Simple, easy, home-style cuisine that you’d find in just about any Mexican home, recreated for the American kitchen. This meal was my favorite “everyday” meal growing up in Mexico, and one I regularly make for my own family today. I am proud to share the steps so that you can enjoy it too.
A couple weeks ago, right as I was setting up for one of my classes, “A Culinary Compass of Mexico,” at the Mexican Cultural Institute, Alberto Roblest came over and asked me a great question.
“Pati, do you cook traditional Mexican recipes OR do you create your own?”
Alberto is doing a project with the support of The Office on Latino Affairs. It is called Hola Cultura and explores the contributions of Latinos to DC life and culture, from art to language to sports to cooking.
I think he meant for me to respond with an either or. He really did. Come on Pati, “traditional” OR “new,” he insisted. But I kept answering “BOTH!” As I kept trying to explain why, I realized so wholeheartedly that both traditional and new not only describe my cooking style but also one of the many wonders of Mexican cuisine.
Continue reading Apple, Radish, Watercress Salad with Pistachio and Chile de Arbol
This year I promised my boys we would plant goodies in the backyard to harvest ourselves. At the nursery, jumping up and down as in a candy shop, they dragged so many plants to the counter, I had to give an absolute NO to half of them.
We ended up with thyme, oregano, bay leaves, rosemary, mint, parsley, and cilantro. Ok, and tomatoes, cherry and roma. Fine… corn too, don’t know what I was thinking. And wait! We couldn’t leave without jalapeños, which led me to run for some tomatillos. And scallions. I stopped there. I did.
Then Sami came back with a little watermelon plant. That was the wildest idea, oh, that monster of mine. We’ve no room to grow watermelon. I told him about the big wide fields in Northern Mexico, in states like Sonora, Chihuahua, Jalisco and Sinaloa where watermelon is grown extensively. Our backyard is… not so big.
Beats me.
We brought home Sami’s watermelon plant.
Continue reading Summertime Watermelon & Tomatillo Salad: Beat the Heat!
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Summertime Watermelon & Tomatillo Salad: Beat the Heat!
I had such a lovely tome visiting the Today Show, their food prep team is beyond amazing and the cast is so friendly and oh so much fun.
Here is a clip of the cooking segment, where we made three totally different recipes with corn: the wild and fun Crazy Corn, a chunky, hearty and fresh Chop Chop Salad, and a comforting Corn Torte that you can top with Poblano Rajas.
Click here, to get the full recipes
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
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Going Wild with Corn on the Today Show
GRILLED SHRIMP & PINEAPPLE SALAD WITH VANILLA & CHILE DE ARBOL VINAIGRETTE
Ensalada de Camarón y Piña a la Parrilla con Vinagreta de Chile de Arbol y Vainilla
Serves 8INGREDIENTS
For the Vinaigrette
1/2 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/2 vanilla bean (or about a 2″ piece), chopped
1 to 2 chiles de arbol, stemmed and chopped
1/4 cup safflower or corn oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp kosher or sea salt, or more to taste
Ground black pepper, optional
1/4 tsp sugar, or more to tasteFor the Salad
4 fresh pineapple slices(about 1/2″ thick), peeled
Safflower or corn oil to brush the pan or grill
1 lb large or extra large shrimp, fresh or thawed from frozen, rinsed, peeled, deveined
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp safflower or corn oil
kosher or sea salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
12 oz mixed spring salad(or your choice of mixed baby lettuces)
1/2 cup red onion, sliveredTO PREPARE
For the vinaigrette:
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan set over medium heat, until hot but not smoking. Add garlic clove, vanilla bean and chiles, and cook about 15 seconds, stirring constantly. Be careful not to let them burn, remove the pan from the heat and pour its contents into a mixing bowl to cool.Combine the safflower oil, red wine vinegar, salt pepper, allspice and sugar into the same bowl. Pour all the mix in the blender, puree until smooth, and reserve. The vinaigrette will be textured as the vanilla bean will not let itself be entirely pureed. But that makes it even more delicious! If you will not use the vinaigrette in the next couple of hours, cover it and refrigerate. It will keep for a week, but re-emulsify or thoroughly mix, before using.
For the grilled pineapple:
Heat a grill pan, a grill or nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot and lightly coat with safflower or corn oil. Place the pineapple slices and cook for about 4 minutes per side until they are slightly charred. Remove from heat. Once they are cool enough to handle, cut in half, remove the core and cut into strips along the grain. Reserve.For the shrimp:
Sprinkle the shrimp with salt and pepper. Heat the butter and oil in a saute pan over high heat. Once the butter sizzles, add the shrimp, you may need to do it in batches so they they don’t overlap, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes per side. They should have plumped up and changed color on both sides, but be careful not to overcook them. Remove and reserve.To assemble the salad:
Place the greens in a salad bowl. Drizzle some of the vinaigrette and toss, so that they are lightly coated but not soaked. Assemble on individual salad plates. Divide the shrimp, pineapple and red onion on top of each plate. You may drizzle a bit more of the vinaigrette on top and serve.
Vanilla only comes in a bottle, right? Oh, it’s a bean!? Where on earth do I find vanilla beans and then how do I cook with them? Do I crack them open? Wait, vanilla comes from Veracruz, Mexico–not Madagascar!? This episode will explain all of that, plus share a few amazing vanilla-infused recipes, including:
09 May 2013
Talks at Google: Pati Jinich
04 May 2013
CBS This Morning: Chef Pati Jinich’s Cinco de Mayo feast
03 May 2013
Fox News Radio: Cinco de Mayo with Pati’s Mexican Table
02 May 2013
All Things Considered: This Little Piggy Cookie Is A Sweet Mexican Find
01 May 2013
The Chew: Pati Jinich Heats Up The Kitchen
30 May 2013
The Asian Influence in Mexican Cooking
29 Sep 2013
Book Tour: Baltimore Book Festival
24 Oct 2013
Mex-Americana: The Evolution of Mexican Food in the US
05 Dec 2013
Popular Mexican Holiday Dishes
