Amazing Stories!

So today we were honored here at Adornos Boricua by one of our followers on Facebook! Ms. Lisandra made her own brown rice with gandules with Adornos Boricua! I tell you, it not only is healthy but as you can see for yourself it looks DELICIOUS!

Ms. Lisandra's Own Adornos Boricua Brown Rice with Gandules!

I cannot wait for you to try new and exciting dishes with Adornos Boricua!!!

Buen Provecho!

A Giant Chiquita Banana?

I think almost everyone I meet that have not grown up with Latinos confuse bananas and plantains. Which is a normal response, considering that when plantains are ripe they do resemble a Giant Banana. But you should not confuse the two. Let me help you clarify.

         

     There is nothing more calming to me than "tostones" or even a nice sweet "pionono" when I want a quick Spanish Love fix. However, it was not until I wrote this blog that I decided to do more research on what exactly is the starchy vegetable that brings me (and many other's I'm sure) such joy.



 Well to start, it turns out that plantains are not a vegetable at all, but a FRUIT! Plantains are mostly associated with South America as well as the tropics. Places such as Puerto Rico, Bolivia, Peru and Columbia. What was a surprise to me is that plantains are also present in exotic places such as Egypt, Nigeria and even the Philippines.

Green Plantains

It's exciting to find out all of the recipes all over the world that uses plantains as the Star of the Dish! From "Mangu" from the Dominican Republic to "Dodo" from West Africa, "Chiffles" from Peru to having the food in flour form to concoct a drink in India.

 In all of the research it was hard to pin-point the nutritional value of the Plantains or even their caloric content. The good news is that they are actually not as bad as many would think.

 Plantains are a great source of vitamin C, B6, a great source of potassium and magnesium. A cup of mashed Plantains equates to approximately 232 calories. If combined with a healthy protein you will be able to enjoy the delicious "tostones" or even "mofongo" without the guilt!

Ripe Plantains are super sweet!

In all, Plantains are not only delicious and surprisingly a healthy choice!

Buen Provecho!

Home-Made Herb Butter!

Have you ever wondered how to spruce up the good old butter? Or wanted to pep up the garlic bread? Well with Adornos Boricua you can give your butter a make-over that your family and friends will love! It's super simple and can be used with so many recipes. Trust me a guaranteed life saver when you want to impress a crowd.



Adornos Boricua Organic Sofrito

 You start with 2 TBS of butter or margerine (at room temperture) and 1/2 tbs of Adornos Boricua. In a blender combine both ingredients. Make sure to dispose of all of the extra liquid in the sofrito. You don't want your butter to be runny.

Make sure to refigerate the Adornos Boricua Butter for about 30 minutes. This will help set the butter.

Enjoy! Add to some "Pan Sobao", English Muffin or even your favorite flavored bagel. It's delcious!

Oatmeal Toast with Adornos Boricua Butter!

Arroz con Gandules: The Healthy Way?

I believe there’s nothing better than coming home to a plate of Arroz con Gandules, a good Chuleta and a succulent piece of Aguacate. There’s no question that this spell heaven to many of us. I think is partly because of the smell of the crispy chuleta, the anticipation of the buttery goodness of the aguacate and of course there’s the simple pleasure of savoring the gandules with the perfectly seasoned arroz.

Unfortunately as we get older, we realized that loosing or maintaining a healthy weight is something vital in our lives. No longer can we indulge in the simple delicious pleasures that we did before.

Growing up Latina, we always had a full meal waiting for us at dinner. There were no questions regarding grease, carbohydrates or even sugars. You had to eat everything on the plate. And trust me, there were no arguments there when it came to having mami’s food. The problem began in my mid twenties, when I could no long indulge in a plate of arroz con what ever goodness was available because my thighs and back fat were out of control.

So I went on these crazy diets, that mentioned NOTHING about the traditional foods I was used to. Guess what happened next…yup bye bye diet. Then I adopted the eat what you want just in moderation. This one still works till this day. And with that notion in mind I thought about how to make a traditional Latino dish a little bit more healthy and potentially give you the ability to eat more than one little spoonful. Hence, Arroz con Gandules: The Brown Rice Edition.

I know, you’ve had brown rice before and you didn’t like it. Perhaps it was too nutty or even didn’t have taste at all. But I ask that you give Brown Rice a break. Here are some facts regarding brown rice versus white rice;

Plain white rice has far less Vitamin E, Vitamin B6, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron and over dozen other nutrients.  If this is not shocking enough, the dietary fiber contained in white rice is approximately 75% less than of brown rice.

Below is a simple table giving you a at a glance comparision;

	Brown Rice (one cup)	White Rice (one cup)
Calories	232	223
Protein	4.88 g	4.10 g
Carbohydrate	49.7 g	49.6 g
Fat	1.17 g	0.205 g
Dietary Fiber	3.32 g	0.74 g
Thiamin (B1)	0.176 g	0.223 g
Riboflavin (B2)	0.039 mg	0.021 mg
Niacin (B3)	2.730 mg	2.050 mg
Vitamin B6	0.294 mg	0.103 mg
Folacin	10 mcg	4.1 mcg
Vitamin E	1.4 mg	0.462 mg
Magnesium	72.2 mg	22.6 mg
Phosphorus	142 mg	57.4 mg
Potassium	137 mg	57.4 mg
Selenium	26 mg	19 mg
Zinc	1.05 mg	0.841 mg

Table from: www.drlam.com

The question now is not whether brown rice is good for me, but how to prepare it so that I would actually stand to eat it!

Thanks to Adornos Boricua I was able to do so. The Brown Arroz con Gandules made with Adornos Boricua is one that will quickly become a favorite at your home.

Ingredients;

2 cups of Brown Rice

2 Tbsp of Adornos Boricua Organic Sofrito

1 Can of Gandules (pigeon peas)

1 tsp of Olive Oil

1 envelope of Achiote mix

1 cup of Organic Chicken Broth

1 1/3 cup of water

4 oz of Tomato sauce

Sea salt to taste

Additional ingredients (optional)

1 Tbsp of Alcaparrados (a mixture of olives, pimientos strips and capers)

2 Bay Leaves

In a pot combine the Adornos Boricua Organic Sofrito, tomato sauce, achiote mix, alcaparrados and have it simmer for about 2 minutes on medium heat. Once the flavors have melded, and then add the gandules, and olive oil. Wait approximately 2 minutes, before adding the rest of the ingredients. Stir once to make sure all of the flavors and ingredients are well combined. Put a lid on the pot and have it cooked, undisturbed, for approximately 30 minutes on medium heat.

Your rice should be near perfection! Combine with your favorite steamed vegetables and protein and you have a healthy alternative to a Latino Classic!

Buen Provecho!