Recetas

Hello All!
So the Chileans love food. For the most part, it is similar to the food in the US- veggies, meats, beans, etc... But it is prepaired very differently than what I have experienced. It is usually pretty simple to prepair, but very sabroso (usually with salt, cilantro, and lemon). Here are some recipies for anyone who wants to eat like a Chilean for a day ( or a meal...).

Ensalada de Cebollas (onion salad)
Sounds a little strange, but I had it for lunch today and it is very rico y refrescante!
Slice raw onions (for however many people are beiong served)
mix with salt, cilantro, and lemon juice
Eat! That´s it! I had it today with my usual "salad" of celery and avacadoes with lemon juice.
Variations: Add cooked lima or pinto beans, and chop the onions instead. Also, add a little bit of oil along with the three main seasonings; cilantro, salt and lemon juice.

Tortilla (kind of like quiche without the crust- and faster, too!)
This can have many variations, but my favorite is with Couliflower and onions...

• Sautee onions until you like them
• Steam cauliflower and add to the onions at the last minute so they share some flavor
• In a seperate bowl add enough eggs to cover the couliflower ( I feel like I am not spelling that right...) and a little bit of flower to thicken the mixture

-this is where I would vary from what my host mom does-
Add some seasoning! A little salt to start, then... whatever flavor you want! You can either make it spicy, sweeter, or herb-ier, whatever you want!

• Then mix everything together (the egg/flour mix and the veggies) in the bowl
• THEN, over a medium-heated, oiled pan- pour (or set) the mixture and let cook for about 5 minutes on each side, or until it is cooked through and hot.
• It should come out flat (like a tortilla) but thick- about 1 inch or so, and however big of a diameter as you want. Then, cut and serve it with salsa, or just plain!
• Can be eaten for breakfast, lunch AND dinner.

-Variations could include spinnach, mushrooms, broccli or any meats- try not to make it too mushy, though. It should be firm in texture (that´s where the flour comes in...), so harder veggies are suggested.

I am sure there are many more recipies I could add, but for now, that should be good. Happy eating!

As far as everything else goes, I am still in the midst of figuring out travel plans for this summer, as well as how to Afford those travel plans... I have gotten accepted to work on a farm in Colombia, so we will see how the Financial gods smile on me in the coming months... Also, the weather here has just been lovely! Lots of sun and beach :) very happy. And I am planning a trip to Buenos Aires in November (So cheap!) so I´m pretty excited about that. As far as school goes... WHY did I decide to take Microeconomics and Bio!?!?!?!? SOOOOO hard! ugh. anyway, es la vida.... Until next time!

Chau!