Odeliza Jacoba Recipes

Mahalo Chicos,

Mexican Lasagna is a perfect dish for weekday meals. You can prepare this dish over the weekend and store it in the freezer. Then once you want to serve it for brunch, lunch, or even dinner, just pop it in the microwave.

I like to make a hefty amount and freeze individual packets in a zip lock back. Then when my other half is hungry and I am not, then I could serve him this dish. It goes good with my homemade three roasted pepper salsa and Mexican rice.

All these items can easily be frozen and served for a later time.

Prep Time: Less than 10 minutes

Cook Time: About on hour

Serves: About 8 average pieces

What you’ll need:

1. A shallow baking pan, I like to use my handy dandy pyrex and skillet

2. 1 container of ready made flour tortillas

3. 5 c Three Roasted Pepper Salsa

4. 1/2 c whole milk ricotta cheese

5. 1 lb. slices of whole milk mozzarella

6. 1 can already drained-rinsed pinto beans; roughly mashed

7. Butter or lightly flavored oil for coat only

What to do:

1. Preheat your oven to 250 C

2. Coat the baking pan with selected fat

3. Take the skillet and set on medium-high heat

4. Coat the skillet with selected fat and place one-at-a-time the flour tortilla. Use a small dish towel to cover the already cooked tortillas in order to prevent it from becoming stale. Once you have cooked all the tortillas start you layering process.

5. In an assembly line fashion; line all the tortillas-covered in dish towel- first, second the roasted pepper salsa, third the mashed pinto beans, fourth the slices of mozzarella cheese and mashed ricotta cheese.

6. Create layers, of the four items one at a time until you have run out of it.

7. The final layer which is the top, use the rest of the sliced mozzarella cheese.

8. Cover the top layer with foil wrap, then place the dish into the already preheated oven. Bake for about 30 minutes with the top layer covered in foil. Then after all the inners are thoroughly baked, remove the foil wrap and bake for about 10 minutes or until the top layer has melted.

9. If you are serving that day serve warm, if you want to preserve a batch, cut individual portions and place each in a zip lock bag.

Buen provecho!

Ciao,

Odeliza Jacoba

Odeliza

Mahalo Chicos,

While pumping away during an hour long spinning class, I distracted myself from the numbing pain coming from my gams by creating this new recipe. Its a vegetarian alternative to meatballs and breaded deep fried meat.

Pinto Beans Patties, with a delicious subtle flavor that can be molded with other dishes. I used creamy sweet potato, chive and dill puree, homemade checca sauce and a warm bread roll for last night dinner. It was a hit with my other half, he wanted to make sure I had the recipe for it. I told him I came up with it during spinning class, so its still rather fresh in my mind.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: Less than 3 minutes

Serves: Up to 12 oval patties

What you’ll need:

1. Food Processor and large deep frying pan or any shallow pan

2. 1 can of pinto beans: rinsed well and allowed to dry

3. 1 c roughly chopped fresh cilantro

4. 1/4 c roughly chopped chives

5. 1/4 c white rice flour

6. 3 eggs two for the pinto bean mixture and one for dipping

7. About 2 cups or so of safflower oil, rice oil or any flavorless or minimal flavored oil

8. Freshly ground sea salt and black and white peppercorns

9.1 t cumin

10.1 t paprika

11. A pinch of each: onion power and garlic powder

12. 1/2 c white flour

13. Wheat or white bread crumbs without added flavor

14. 1 c wheat flour

What to do:

1. Take the pinto beans and puree in the food processor until smooth. Add the cilantro and puree some more, then add the chives.

2. Add the onion powder and garlic powder, then a bit at a time, add the wheat flour. Then add the rice flour, mix well until the mixture starts to come together.

3. One at a time add the two eggs and mix until it starts to become more of a dough like texture.

4. Take out of food processor and place in a bowl with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, take your frying pan and all of the oil, bring to a medium heat.

5. Place the white flour in a small bowl, then remaining egg in another bowl, the bread crumbs in another bowl in an assembly line fashion.

6. With super clean hands, take about 1/4 c of the bean mixture and shape it into little round balls, dip lightly into the white flour, then lightly to the egg, back to the flour mixture finally to the bread crumbs. Do this until the bean mixture is gone.

7. Then turn the heat on low. One at a time, place each patty a few inches apart, closely monitor the patties as it only take a few seconds for one side to turn golden brown. Flip and fry the other side. Remove and place on top of a plate covered with paper towels -to soak in the moisture-. Proceed with this same pattern until all patties have been deep fried.

8. Allow to cool to room temperature before storing in the fridge. Will keep for about 5 days. This dish can be served warm or at room temp.

Enjoy!

Ciao,

Odeliza Jacoba

Odeliza

Mahalo Chicos,

Perfect Vegetarian Broth can be used for just about anything. It’s always useful to have on hand some homemade broth because it adds that ’slow cooked’ flavor to any dish. You can use it for a base for soups, sauces, curries, rice the possibilities are endless. Just use your creative input and see what you can come up with.

This Vegetarian Broth was originally created during my personal chef business days. Cooking for about 50 clients not counting individual family members can be really tough. Especially if you are a one man show in a kitchen that was smaller than a broom closet. Anyways, I’ve found ways to stream line.

One of which is this Vegetarian Broth that was one of my key ingredients for Rice Dishes, Curries and Sauces. I prepared this in advance and keep it stored in my fridge and some in the freezer-before the weekly mad rush-. In order to get the ’slow cook’ effect you actually have to cook it slow. Duh. Or if you have a slow cooker device by all means, use it!

Prep Time: about ten minutes

Cook Time: about one hour

Serves: 2.5 Liters

What you’ll need:

1. Large stock pot that will hold 3 liters of liquid or use two pots
2. 3 liters of plain water
3. A 2 liter container to store the already prepared broth
4. 1 bushel of celery including the leaves, thoroughly cleaned and roughly chopped
5. 2 carrots cleaned and cut in half
6. 3 large onions, cut in half
7. 4 garlic cloves pounded
8. 1 inch or so of pealed and cut in half fresh ginger
9. 1 inch of tamarind outer shell removed if you don’t have the actual tamarind use about 1/4 c of the paste
10. A few sprigs of fresh rosemary
11. A few sprigs of fresh thyme
12. A few sprigs of fresh sage
13. Some fresh oregano
14. Freshly crushed black pepper and sea salt

What to do:

1. Take the stock pot with the 3 liters of water, turn to medium heat. Add allot of freshly ground sea salt.

2. Place all the celery first, cover and allow to soften for about 5 minutes.

3. Place the carrots, onions, garlic cloves, ginger and tamarind, add a bit more freshly ground sea salt and cover, allow to sit for another 5 minutes.

4. Ensure the fresh vegetables are covered in water and add a bit more freshly ground sea salt.

5. Then add all the fresh herbs and cover. Turn the heat to the lowest setting possible and leave it alone for 50 minutes. Checking once in awhile to ensure the water does not bubble over and stirring gently ever so often to incorporate all the flavors together.

6. After one hour of cooking turn off and set aside to cool off. Once cooled take the container of your choice – I bought a cheap plastic pitcher with a cover just for this broth- and carefully ladle the broth a bit at a time. You may have some extra that can not fit into your container, I find that its useful just to place it any container handy such as; a large glass or bowl, and use it for that day’s cooking.

Enjoy!

Ciao,

Odeliza Jacoba

Odeliza

Mahalo Chicos,

Egg in a sour dough bread bowl was an idea I came up with on the fly. After my gym time, I’d pass by this ‘confeterria’-bakery- on my way back home. So I decided to check it out and the smells of the freshly baked crispy bread and ‘bizcochos’ – cookies and the like- were so tempting that I had to eat with my eyes and by everything I could possibly carry. It has allot to do with my gym time and being ravenously hungry after.

One of the items I had to purchase was a round sour dough which I decided to make into a bread bowl. Since its still rather warm, I thought to create an frittata instead and use the bread bowl as the crust.

I paired it with a simple Mediterranean style ensalada and some fresh cut pineapples for dessert. It turned out to be such a hit with my other half that he wanted to make certain I write the recipe down.

My initial idea was to start taking photos of my dishes, since we finally have our digital camera cable fixed. So I hope you bare with me as this is all rather new for me.

Prep time: less than 10 minutes

Cook time: about 45 to one hour

Serves: up to four people or two people with leftovers

What you’ll need:

1. One medium sour dough bread shaped like a bowl
2. 4 egg whites and 1 yolk
3. 1/2 c whole milk
4. 1/4 c diced red onions
5. 1/4 c roughly chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
6. 1/2 c diced green olives
7. 1/2 c fresh ricotta cheese
8. 1 small container of creama queso acetunas (cream cheese with olive flavor) or plain cream cheese or any cream cheese you have in your area with some flavoring that is not sweet.
9. A few cherry tomatoes cut in half
10. Dried red pepper flakes
11. Freshly ground sea salt and black and white peppercorns
12. Fresh Basil
13. Some extra virgin olive oil
14. Some balsamic vinegar
15. 1/2 c shredded parmesan cheese

What to do:

1. Cut a whole on top of the bread so that you can create a bowl shape. Scoop out the inner parts of the bread to create a deep whole. Ensure that you do not create a whole at the bottom.

2. Preheat the oven at 100 Celsius for 15 minutes. You just want to cook the bread bowl so that its a bit crispy, but not too tough. Spread some olive oil on the bread bowl and then place it in the already warmed oven.

3. While the bread bowl is in the oven prepare the egg mixture. Place the eggs in a medium bowl and beat until mixed. Then place milk a bit at a time into the eggs.

4. Once the milk and eggs are thoroughly mixed, add the ricotta and mix well. You want it to be a bit on the clumpy side, unless of course you prefer a more smooth mixture in that case you can use a food processor. Since this dish was an new idea I decided to make it a bit ‘rustico’.

5. Take the already prepped filling of cherry tomatoes, cilantro and red onions and fold into the egg mixture. Then, mix in the creama queso, add the dried chili flakes and some fresh ground sea salt and white and black peppercorns.

6. Your bread bowl should already be done by now. Remove it from the oven, and slowly ladle some of the egg mixture inside. Then top it off with some fresh parmesan cheese.

7. Now place the entire thing inside the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes. After about 15 minutes, take it out, take a fork to the middle to see if it comes out clean. If not and the egg mixture still looks soft, continue to bake. Being careful not to burn the bread as you can see I did and not over cook the eggs. Which I made sure I did not.

Allow to cool once done and cut in any shape you desire. Garnish with some extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, balsamic and some fresh basil.

Enjoy!

Ciao,

Odeliza Jacoba

Odeliza

Mahalo Chicos,

One of my favorite and oh so universal vegetable is the spinach. One can incorporate spinach in just about any dish from around the globe.

I like to buy the spinach fresh from the Tuesday Farmer’s Market and then prep it for cooking through out the week.

Luckily its one of the vegetables my other half eats. Although I am not quite sure he favors spinach over peas which are much sweeter. Digressing.

My Spinach Coconut Brown Rice is a perfect dish for all seasons. Summer you can pair it with my vegetable loaf and winter a hearty root vegetable soup.

Prep time: Less than 5 minutes

Cook time: About 60 minutes

Serves: Up to 4 people

What you’ll need:

1. A rice cooker
2. 1 packet of fresh cleaned spinach about 3 cups
3. 1 can or 2 cups of coconut milk
4. 4 c of brown rice
5. 6-8 c of home made vegetable broth
6. fresh ground sea salt and black pepper

What to do:

1. Thoroughly rinse the brown rice. Let soak for 10 minutes in clean water.
2. After 10 minutes, add fresh ground salt and black pepper to taste along with 6 cups of the vegetable broth.
3. Turn on the rice cooker and make the necessary settings to cook the brown rice.
4. Meanwhile, chop the freshly cleaned spinach and set aside.
5. Once the rice is almost done, add the coconut milk and let sit without mixing in.
6. Finally, when the rice is complete and on warm setting, place the spinach on top and add a bit more fresh ground sea salt and black pepper.
7. Turn off and serve warm. If you are planning on serving a bit later in the day, don’t add the spinach until ready to serve. Cover the already cooked rice with the coconut milk and place in the fridge until ready to serve.
8. Once you are ready to serve it, warm it up in the microwave then place a the spinach after a few seconds to cook a bit.

Enjoy.

Ciao,

Odeliza Jacoba

Odeliza

Mahalo Chicos,

Most legumes are a great source for both protein and carbohydrates, chic peas ranks pretty high on the list for vegan and vegetarian protein sources. Not to mention how universal and simple chic peas are to prepare.

Welcome to another addition of my series on Healthy Vegetarian Indian Cooking. My chic pea and vegetable curry can be made into many different meals for your family. More said, the longer the curry sits in the fridge the more the flavors absorb into the chic peas and vegetables.

I like to accompany this curry dish with simple home made pitas, some brown rice cooked in jeera and home made vegan broth, and some simply cut cucumbers and tomatoes. Its healthy, delicious, and can take you back to that quaint Indian dive you miss.

Prep Time: less than5 minutes

Cook time: about 60 minutes or less depending if you have rice cooked already

Serves: up to 4 people

What you’ll need:

1. a large deep dish pan or large shallow pan
2. 2 cans of chic peas drained and rinsed
3. 1 medium carrot peeled and cubed
4. 1 large yellow potato peeled and cubed
5. 1 large onion diced finely (I used my food processor)
6. 2 cloves garlic diced finely (I like to mix the onion with the garlic in my food processor)
7. 1-2 c plain no sugar yogurt
8. 2-3 T Home Made Curry
9. 1 t Hot chili powder or 1 fresh red chili diced finely
10. 3 cardamom pods
11. fresh ground sea salt
12. ghee or plain butter

What to do:

1. Bring the pan of your choice to low heat and add a little of the ghee or plain butter. Don’t let the butter burn.
2. Add the already diced onions and garlic and mix well into the butter. Add a little salt and mix well.
3. Add 1 T Home Made Curry sauce and mix well. Then add the already cubed fresh vegetables and mix well. Salt a bit more then add some more butter.
4. Tip the chic peas in the pan then mix the remaining tablespoons of Home Made Curry, cardamom pods, and chili powder or if using fresh chilies the already diced.
5. Fold in the yogurt and let simmer on very low heat for 3 minutes.
6. Turn off and cover and let sit until ready to serve to allow the flavors to soak in more. And remember the longer the curry sits the better in taste. If you are planing on serving this dish at a much later time, place it covered in the fridge since its got yogurt.

Enjoy!

Namaste,

Odeliza Jacoba

Odeliza

Mahalo Chicos,

Welcome to one of my many recipes on healthy Indian vegetarian cooking. Chic pea pancakes are quick, easy to make and so easy to store that a batch can take you a long way.

I like to bring fun and health to our little family meals for my other half and I. Often times I have themes for my meals. I like to plan it out ahead and it usually turns out rather well. It gets a bit boring eating the same old dishes over and over again, I mean food is suppose to be fuel for the body and fuel for the soul.

I pair my chic pea pancakes with fluffy spinach brown rice, home made pita bread and some artichoke hearts in olive oil.

For dessert its my home made baklava. This is the very first dish I ever made by myself at the tender age of 10 or was I 8 at the time?

So hope you enjoy and I’ll be sure to add my other dishes in this menu on other posts.

Prep time: less than 20 minutes

Cooke time: less than 40 minutes

Serves: Up to 16 patties

What you’ll need:

1. a stir fry skillet or any skillet pan
2. baking sheet
3. food processor or medium bowl with potato masher
4. cooking spray (oil not butter)
5. olive oil
6. 1/2 c home made vegetarian broth
7. 2 cans of chic peas drained and rinsed
8. 2 celery sticks chopped into small pieces
9. 1 c mushrooms of any kind roughly chopped
10. 1 small yellow onion
11. 1/2 c sunflower seeds
12. 2 T garlic powder
13. 2 T Home Made Curry Powder
14. 1 T paprika powder
15. 1 T  cumin powder
16. 1 t chili powder
17. 1 c to 1 1/2 c bread crumbs
18. 3 egg whites

What to do:

1. preheat over to 200 c
2. bring the pan to low heat addthe olive oil and saute the onions, mushrooms, sunflower seeds, and chic peas for about 3 minutes.
3. add the herbs in the pan with a little vegetarian broth and ensure the herbs are thoroughly mixed in. Turn off heat and let sit for 2 minutes.
4. take the sauteed ingredients and process until lightly blended together (clumpy not creamy).
5. tip processed ingredients in a bowl and mix already chopped celery sticks.
6. add the bread crumbs and mix.
7. add the egg whites and mix ensuring the mixture holds well. If not add a little bit of whole wheat flour.
8. cover with film and place in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes or until mixture sets a bit.
9. spray baking pan with cooking oil.
10. form mixture into 16 small balls and flatten on an already pre-oiled baking pan.
11. bake for about (ensuring that you flip sides) 15-20 minutes or until golden on both sides.

Enjoy!

Ciao,

Odeliza Jacoba

Odeliza

Hola Chicos,

Welcome to my first part of a series on Vegetarian Indian Cooking. Let’s start off with the basic-home made curry powder. This powder is used basically with most of my healthy and delicious Indian meals.

I adore Indian food. When we lived in North America I befriended the owners of a popular authentic Indian restaurant.

Unfortunately, Montevideo, Uruguay is not yet offering authentic Indian food. Happy to say, I can make my own dishes just by using key ingredients-coriander seeds, cumin seeds, turmeric and chili powder.

Most or even all of these key ingredients can be purchased in a country in South America. Especially Montevideo, Uruguay there are a few herb shops in the Centro District that I have listed on my sister site http://www.odeliza.com under Super mercados.

Prep time: Less than 5 minutes

Cook time: Less than 5 minutes

Serves: Up to 8 dishes

What you’ll need:

1. Mortar and Pestle, spice grinder or coffee bean grinder
2. Pan or non stick pan
3. Fresh ground sea salt
4. 1 T turmeric powder
5. 1/2 c fresh coriander seeds
6. 3 T cumin seeds
7. 2 T fennel seeds
8. 2 T fenugreek seeds (omit if not available)
9. 5 C dried red chili flakes
10. 1 c crushed sea salt

What to do:

1. grind all the seeds and mix the already ground ingredients inside your selected grinder tool.
2. Store in an air tight container for up to a month.
3. Stay tuned as I will take you on an amazing journey to India’s finest flavors and street fetes.

Namaste,

Odeliza Jacoba

Odeliza

Mahalo Chicos,

I love noodles as you can see I’ve already posted one on this site. Noodles are considered to be long life fortunes for most South Asian and Asian countries so imagine how many times I’ve eaten.

Spicy, savory and sweet would best describe my Asian Spicy Noodles dish. It is Vegetarian but can easily accommodate the meat eater in your family. I often make my own Tofu, but this time I did not for this dish, so the protein source that I use is egg whites.

I like my noodles cold in the summer and warm in the winter. This dish tastes great either temperature.

Prep time: about 5 minutes

Cook time: about 10 minutes

Serves: 4 people

What you’ll need:

1. a wok or large frying pan
2. a large pot to boil the noodles
3. 6 egg whites
4. 1 c frozen green peas
5. 1/2 yellow onion diced
6. a hand full of of green beans stems removed and cut in half
7. 1/2 large or 1 medium red bell pepper
8. 1/2 c baby corn cut in bite size pieces
9. 1 medium tomato cubed
10. 1 250 g tagliatelle pasta
11. 1 T dark sesame oil
12. 1/2 c low sodium soy sauce or normal soy sauce if you so choose
13. 1 T lemon grass paste
14. 1 T honey
15. 1 t dried chili flakes more if you so desire
16. salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

1. Bring the large pot to high and as soon as it starts to bubble add some salt to flavor the pasta. Shortly after, add the pasta and cook for less than 5 minutes. If the pasta is not el dente its okay, but do not over cook it as you will be cooking it for another time. Set aside and let cool without the water.
2. Cook the egg whites on low heat with the onion and sesame oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside on a separate bowl.
3. Cook the remaining vegetables on low to medium heat and add the soy sauce, lemon grass paste chili flakes and honey. Add a tiny bit of water if necessary. Turn on low and add the already cooked egg whites and already cooked pasta. Toss for a minute or less. Serve warm of room temp.

Enjoy!

Ciao,

Odeliza Jacoba

Odeliza

Swadika Chicos,

As a female would greet someone in Thailand. Shesh, I miss the place so much, I have to go back soon. We’ll see… With the gas prices so high now, a first class or even business class ticket is way way over the budget. For that matter, economy is way way over too!

So instead, I thought I’d recreate some of my favorite Thai staples that my Thai brother used to prepare for me in his restaurant. Surprisingly, I never ate Thai fried rice in Thailand, I ate just simple steamed jasmine rice. But still oh so yummy. In memory of my romantic Thai get way with my other half I wore my black south sea pear earrings on the Playa today. Along with a hand painted batik I purchased from a really sweet Thai lady that wrote my name out in Thai.

I hope you enjoy my Thai fried rice. It’s vegetarian but oh so hearty that even a meat eater would appreciate it.

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: About 30 minutes

Serves: Up to 4 people (1/2 to 3/4 c)

What you’ll need:

1. A large frying pan such as a wok
2. sesame oil or olive oil for frying
3. 6 c of day old brown or white long grain rice
4. 4 egg white omelette’s
5. 1/2 bag of frozen peas
6. 1 bushel of cilantro
7. 1 bushel of scallion cut into 1/2 inches
8. 1 large purple or yellow onion cubed
9. 2 cloves of garlic minced
10. 1 large tomato cubed
11. 1 medium cucumber skin and seeds removed and cut into circles
12. 1 c chili powder or more if you so desire
13. 1/2 T fish sauce (omit if you don’t like the flavor)
14. 1 c soy sauce
15. 1/2 c of fresh mung beans
16. 2 limes
17. 1 c lemon juice
18. salt and pepper to taste

What to do:

1. Warm the work to low heat
2. add a little oil
3. lightly saute the onions, garlic, tomato and frozen peas for about two minutes ensuring that the garlic does not brown. Remove and place in a bowl or container for later.
4. add a little more oil and keep on medium heat while you fry the egg whites. Remove and place in the same bowl as the vegetables.
5. add a little more oil and add the rice in the wok, pan fry for about 1 minute. Add the fish sauce if you are using, chili powder, lemon juice, chili powder, 1/2 c soy sauce (reserving the other half for later). Fold all ingredients ensuring the flavors coat the rice.
6. after about 2 minutes turn off heat. Add already sauteed ingredients in the wok and fold into the rice.
7. I like to use a pretty serving dish, you can use what ever you like. Plate the rice, decorate with scallions, mung beans, cilantro, cucumbers and wedged lime. Add salt and pepper and remaining soy sauce to taste.

Kar poon kai

Ciao,

Odeliza Jacoba

Odeliza