Eat this flavorful dip on toasted bread, in a sandwich, or as part of a veggie platter.
These savoury fritters, rich in plant-based protein and packed with veggies, were born out of a burning desire to get more legumes into our kids’ diets. Coat with breadcrumbs to get them across the line and you will be making these for years to come! Serve them hot or cold, solo, dunked in a dip or tucked into a wrap. They remind us of yummy cafe corn fritters and are a hit with the whole family every time.
“Jerk” refers to both the seasoning, and the style of cooking over pimento wood. Pimento is unique to the region, and Jamaica remains the largest producer, which is why it has become so deeply tied to the island’s culinary identity. The global popularity of jerk cooking has led to the excessive harvesting of pimento wood, significantly reducing its availability.
Sofrito: This aromatic mixture is the heart of many traditional Puerto Rican dishes. Use as a base for rice, beans, stews, or marinades to add authentic Puerto Rican flavor.
Green seasoning is one of the most important building blocks in Caribbean cooking. Almost every island has its own version, and it is the first layer of flavor in countless dishes. At its heart, it is a blend of fresh herbs, garlic, onions, peppers, and citrus, pounded or blended into a paste. Some cooks lean heavily on culantro (chadon beni), while others use more parsley or thyme, and the balance of heat depends on what peppers are at hand. Green seasoning is more than just a marinade—it’s memory and instinct in a bottle. You season your chicken with it before it ever touches a pot, rub it into fish before frying, stir it into stews, or even fold a spoonful into rice for depth. Every cook has a jar tucked into the fridge, and every family swears by their version. To understand Caribbean food culture is to understand that seasoning begins here.
This dish was on Suerte’s opening “Vitamina T” menu, and it counts as the only recipe from the restaurant to be immortalized in this cookbook because: (1) it’s just that special, and (2) we couldn’t stand waiting for the official Suerte cookbook any longer, Fermín. Here, boiled beets are tossed in a smoky-sweet-savory peanut-based salsa macha and rounded out with pickled red onions for an explosive finish.
We grow exceptional carrots. Our spring carrots are super sweet, thanks to a combination of the Nantes variety, our rich soil, and the cool Capay Valley spring nights. During harvest, some carrots inevitably break or are cosmetically imperfect. These are perfect for transforming into this delightful spring soup. Jenna
Growing up in a Greek community on Long Island, I did not eat meatloaf as a kid because that was always thought to be very much an American dish. But as an adult, it’s one that I have really adopted as my own, and I love it as an easy, high-protein main dish for weeknights. I also think it’s a perfect vessel for Greek flavors like Kalamata olives, feta, and oregano, with tzatziki served on the side. As a nod to the classic, I give you the option of an American-style, ketchup-based glaze, which I am partial to, but it’s easy to leave out, based on your preferences.
Quick dinners as a kid were often baked beans on toast, smothered in cheddar and stuck under a hot grill until all melty. I could never be patient enough to wait either, and would burn my tongue on hot cheese lava and tomato sauce (worth it). It’s not uncommon to find some kind of white bean at a Middle Eastern breakfast table, stewed in a tomato-based sauce. This recipe is a happy amalgamation of the two. You can scoop it right out of the pan with warm pitas, or spoon it onto sourdough or baked potatoes and serve it for breakfast, lunch or even dinner.
Tanto was the nickname we gave one of my close childhood friends. He is a priest today, and I sometimes wonder if anyone who knows him as Father Francis realizes that once upon a time, his irreverent friends affectionately renamed him after the elephants (tantors) in the land of Tarzan, whose comic books we consumed voraciously. When we were young, a bunch of us went camping together a lot. Each of us was responsible for a meal, and for whatever reason, Tanto always made a tomato-potato curry. Truth be told, this is nothing at all like his original dish, but I still think of him every time I make it. Some memories are funny that way. This curry is hearty and delicious; it’s not very saucy, so don’t be surprised by that (for more on what a curry is and is not, see page 19).
If you want a shrimp taco recipe up your sleeve, this is the one you need. The recipe for these tacos comes from Mazatlán, Sinaloa. The story goes that the owner of Los Arcos restaurant, Francisco Labastida, came up with this idea to impress the governor, who was visiting. That is why he called them governor tacos!