Living in Argentina was quite the experience. I attended a four month long accelerated Spanish program at the Universidad Adventista del Plata, in Libertador San Martin, designed for foreign students matriculating into the university. I was fortunate to spend some time in Buenos Aires and soak in the Europeanesque architecture and culture. Beef (lomito) is a staple in the Argentinian cuisine and was also a part of my diet during that time. Argentines do not have a lot of spicy condiments or spicy seasonings as many of their dishes are reminiscent of Italian and Spanish dishes. I remember this delicious herb sauce called chimichurri. It looked like traditional pesto but had its own unique flavors and was always paired with the lomito. A traditional chimichurri verde sauce is made from finely chopped parsley and oregano, but for my take on this traditional Argentine sauce, I used mint instead of oregano. I hope you enjoy this fresh spring recipe as I created it especially for my husband’s 30th birthday party and it was a hit!
English Peas and Fingerling Potatoes with a Mint Chimichurri sauce.
Serves 8
English Peas and Fingerling Potatoes:
Fingerling potatoes, 1 lb (454 g)
English Peas, 10 oz (284 g)
Mint Chimichurri Sauce:
2 garlic cloves
1 cup parsley
1/4 cup mint
1/3 cup olive oil
Juice from one lemon
Salt to taste
Garnish:
chives, chopped
lemon zest, from one lemon
Directions:
Blanch the fingerling potatoes or teeny tiny potatoes for about 20 minutes in salted water (you can use about 1 Tbsp of salt). Use enough water to cover the potatoes by one to two inches.
Meanwhile, make the chimichurri sauce. Blend all the ingredients in a food processor, set aside.
Blanch the fresh English Peas blanch in boiling salted water for 90 seconds. Drain hot water and run cold water over the peas.
Mix the peas and potatoes in a medium-sized bowl with the chimichurri sauce. Garnish with lemon curls or zest and chopped chives. It can be served warm or cold and makes an excellent spring side dish and a potluck favorite.
Note: I used Trader Joe’s for the main ingredients; therefore you won’t need to measure out the potatoes or peas when using Trader Joe’s products. The English peas are found in the refrigerated section. I wouldn’t recommend the frozen kind, as you want the peas to be al dente.
As a kid I never liked the taste nor the texture of mushrooms. But in college, I transformed my taste buds when I started eating a plant-based diet. Believe it or not, mushrooms and onions transferred from my “yuck” list to my “yum-yum” list and I include these plant-based superfoods regularly into my diet.
Mushrooms with high anti-aromatase activity: cremini, Portobello, reishi, maitake, turkey tail, white mushrooms, and white stuffing. Mushrooms with mild anti-aromatase activity: shiitake, chanterelle, and baby button. Mushrooms with little to no anti-aromatase activity: oyster and wood ear.
This week American families are preparing for their Thanksgiving dinner with much ado about the turkey, gravy, pies, etc. The vegetable side dishes are usually a mere afterthought, but they don’t have to be! Take the humble green bean casserole for example, a popular American Thanksgiving side dish and potluck favorite. Love it or hate it, the Campbell Soup Company created this comfort food dish in 1955 using pantry items most Americans had on hand-canned green beans and Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup. While there is still some valuable nutrition in canned green beans, many of the protective phytochemicals and B vitamins are deactivated in the canning process. That is why I found a fantastic recipe by Bon Appétit featuring fresh green beans. Of course I took out the animal products and made it entirely plant-based!
This recipe hack is totally vegan and almost all gluten-free except for the French’s fried onions. French’s fried onions are not wheat-free but you can add sautéed or fried shallots, onions, slivered almonds, or hash brown crisps instead. Be prepared for a thicker sauce with this version.
History
Sweet potatoes are often called yams in America because of grocery store labels, but technically speaking most yams produced and sold in American are sweet potatoes. The yam and sweet potato also have similarities in size, shape, and color, however a genuine yam, is a different botanical species altogether. Sweet potatoes are native to Central and South America and were most likely tasted by members of Christopher Columbus’s 1942 expedition. Yams are native to Africa and Asia and mostly produced outside of North America, while most of the orange tubers grown in America (namely, North Carolina) are sweet potatoes. Genuine yams can still be purchased in America at health food stores or ethnic food stores
