An ultra-refreshing, healthful cocktail that will make you feel like you’re on vacation at the beach. Enjoy it as a main course on a hot day or (in smaller portions) as the first course of a very special meal.
Appetizers
No-Bake Pineapple Coconut Balls (“Snowballs” or “Bunny Tails”)
Robin: These two-bite balls of goodness call for only 3 or 4 ingredients and are super easy to make, but they are full of tropical-flavored deliciousness. They are cute enough to offer guests on a special occasion (call them “snowballs” if it´s winter, “bunny tails” in springtime, etc.), yet simple enough to make for a…
Stuffed Jalapeño Peppers
Robin: Jalapeño peppers may be famous mostly for their piquancy, but, like other peppers mild and hot, they also have great flavor. It’s sad that many people only think about fresh jalapeños when making, say, pico de gallo, because these chiles have so much more to give. Jalapeños are delicious stuffed, much like their larger…
Victoria’s Tuna and Potato Salad
Ed: To me, a comfort food is like a hug from my mom in any season of the year. Eating this dish feels like getting a big embrace from her. Mom´s middle name was Victoria, and she would serve this salad as a first course. It’s one of my favorite foods, and I am excited…
Deep Fried Jalapeño Slices
Robin: I recently came across huge cans (about 6.5 pounds each) of nacho-sliced jalapeño peppers being sold for only a dollar. I didn’t buy one right away, but a seed was planted; after mentally debating myself on the issue for a couple of days, I decided that I could not pass up this deal, so…
Sonoran Cheese and Potato Soup (Caldo de queso y papa)
Robin: This lovely dish from northern Mexico is delightfully different from most other soups with similar ingredients. It contains potatoes, but is not thick; it calls for milk, but is not a cream soup, there is cheese in it, but the cheese does not melt. In fact, a fresh, white queso panela or queso fresco…
Joy’s Dill Dip
Robin: My mother, Joy, absolutely loved “relish trays”—that is, platters of raw vegetables, pickles, olives, crackers, and cheese served as an appetizer or light lunch. There would be one of these trays of good things in a prominent place anytime she was entertaining, and this delicious dill dip was almost always on it. Who knows…
Lentil Soup
Robin: I learned to make this in Mexico, but very similar lentil dishes can be found all over Latin America, since it was the Spanish and Portuguese who brought this valuable, nutritious legume to our part of the world. In Mexico, lentil soup would probably be served in small portions as the first course to…
Cheese Cracklings (Chicharrón de queso)
Robin: You know that little bit of cheese that oozes out of a grilled cheese sandwich and drips down onto the surface of the pan, where it gets crispy and almost-but-not-quite burns before you scrape it off and pop it into your mouth? It’s sooooo delicious, the very best bite of the whole meal, to…
Tuna-Stuffed Avocado
Ed: Back when I had a gluten sensitivity and had to select my food very carefully, avocados were the one of the top ingredients on my list. I no longer have that excuse for eating them, but they are still one of my favorite foods. Stuffed avocados are a popular appetizer in Latin America, where…