Miso soup with shiitake mushrooms

Shiitake mushrooms and appropriate algae give a great taste to miso soup!
Yummy!

I love miso soup I just can't avoid salivating whenever I think of it.

And it is one of the easiest dishes on earth!

All you need is (4 servings):

2 spoons miso paste

1 cup shiitake mushrooms

1 cup algae in stripes

1 bar tofu in 1 inch squares

Put miso in boiling water and mix well (miso paste can be a little difficult to dilute). When miso paste is completely diluted, place the rest of the ingredients, and boil for 15 minutes (the more you boil, the best).

Mmmmm, delicious! And I must add: good for the body and soul.

Sopa de espinacas y papa

Vamos a intentar una nueva receta hoy (nueva por lo menos para nosotros). La más fácil de las fáciles.

4 personas

2 papas cocidas
1 manojo grande de espinacas

Hervir las espinacas en agua durante 3 minutos (se cuecen rapídisimo, mucho ojo). Moler las espinacas con las papas en la licuadora. Sazonar al gusto.

Arroz con apio y espinacas, portobello con pimiento rojo

Para el apio con espinacas, ver receta anterior.

Portobello con pimiento
2 personas

1 pimiento cocido en el horno, cortado en rajas
3 champiñones portobello, en rajas
1 cucharada grande aceite

Cocinar el pimiento 45 minutos en el horno a 200 grados centigrados con aceite.

30 minutos después, cocinar los champiñones durante 15 minutos en una sartén con aceite.

Dejar que se enfríe el pimiento y quitarle las semillas. Cortar en rajas.

Cuando los champiñones hayan disminuido considerablemente de tamaño, agregarle las rajas de pimiento.

Excelente acompañamiento para el pescado.

celery with spinach.jpg

2 people

1 tablespoon minced onion
6 peeled celery stalks (cut in small squares)
1 handful of chopped spinach
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of cumin

Cook the onion with the oil for 5 minutes or until it starts getting brown. Then cook the celery for another 5 minutes. Add the salt and cumin. Add the spinach and cook for 3 minutes.

This dish can be added to rice, spaghetti or it can also be eaten by itself.

deshidratando tofu

Estamos preparando comida para la semana. Una forma de adelantarnos a una rutina que puede estar severa.

Debajo del diccionario y de la tabla hay un pedazo de tofu. Antes de cocinarlo, siempre es mejor deshidratarlo primero. Voy a dejarlo así una hora.

Sopa de cilantro y papa

4 personas

2 papas en cubitos
1 manojo de cilantro
1/4 cebolla en cuadritos

Cocinar cebolla con un poco de aceite hasta que esté transparente.
Agregar papas y cocinar durante 10 minutos.
Agregar agua y hervir hasta que las papas estén cocidas.
Blanquear el manojo de cilantro en agua hirviendo con sal (3 segundos).
Moler todo en la licuadora.
Agregar agua al gusto.
Sazonar al gusto.

(Receta de Lulú)

Happy New Year! Feliz año nuevo!

The "curse" I had was broken: I could finally visit Chichen Itza.

I highly recommend visiting the site on December 31: there were less tourists than at other times, and it is less hot. Adrian, our guide, said the worst time is the day of the spring equinox, which attracts thousands of tourists trying to see the shadow of the descending snake on the stairs of Kukulcan pyramid.

We were surprised at the amount of vendors who sell souvenirs in the site. In all other sites in Mexico, these vendors are OUTSIDE, not beside the pyramids, IN the site. They were funny, though. Most of them are Mayans, they are always smiling, and some say silly things like: "Come here, I will steal less from you", "Come buy my Mayan souvenirs made in China", and the sort.

Our guide did not agree with our Coba guide. According to Adrian, Chichen Itza was by far more influential than Coba. We need to ask this question to a qualified historian.

All I can say for sure is that both sites are very different. The forest in Coba is thicker, and trees are taller. There is more walking in Coba between the different buildings, their style is more "Mayan" (as far as I know, which is not much), and they look older (maybe because Chichen Itza has been restaured more thoroughly).

There is a lot to be said about Chichen Itza.

For now let's just say: ¡Próspero año nuevo! Happy new year!