06 May 2010

No Queso "Quesadillas" and La Bodega Latina

I was sure I read somewhere that La Bodega Latina didn't serve hot food anymore. I remember being really, really sad about this. But yesterday I went there to get some yuca root and they had the usual compliment of fried chicken and empanadas and potato balls and even those amazing strips of pork belly with the super crispy skin on them [how do they cook that?].

[Image from Wikipedia.]

No Queso, "Quesadillas" With Yuca, Chard And Other Stuff In My Refrigerator
[I'm sort of mashing/mixing-up/channeling Veganomicon here, I think.]

  • 1 yuca root
  • 1 bunch of chard with the largest part of the stems removed [Isn't silverbeet a cooler name for it? Why is silverbeet not used more often?]
  • 2 – 3 cloved of garlic, roughly chopped
  • About one pepper's worth of red and yellow bell peppers, diced
  • 1 cup of frozen corn
  • 1 good handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
  • Juice from one lime
  • Whole wheat tortillas
Peel the yuca and cut it up into chunks and boil it in water until tender. While the yuca is boiling, which takes about 20 minutes, bring another pot of water to a boil for the chard. Boil or steam the chard for a few minutes until its tender and done, then drain it and squeeze the water out of it and roughly chop it. Also while the yuca is boiling away, saute the garlic and diced peppers.
Take the yuca off the heat when it's done, but before you drain it you can toss your frozen corn in there and let it sit for minute or two to thaw it. Now drain the yuca and corn, put it in a bowl and mash it up gently (meaning, without creating a giant, homogeneous starchy mess). Add the sauteed garlic and pepper, the chard, cilantro, lime juice and some salt and pepper and that's your "quesadilla" filling. I use a mixture of olive oil and Earthbalance for grilling the quesadillas.

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