Sunday, March 29, 2009

Terry Testers!

Testing for Terry's latin cookbook has been loads of fun so far!  Everything is so much in line with what I like to eat anyway - whole foods, simple but interesting preparation, loads of lime and cilantro, and all the recipes mix and match very well, so every meal is a new surprise. 

Yellow Rice with Garlic ~ Columbian Style Red Beans

I had this for lunch today and it's probably my favourite thing so far!  They both take the exact same amount of time to cook, the prep is maybe 10 minutes, and ohhhhhhhhh it's good.  There's annatto and plantain in it and it manages to taste light and warm and sweet and earthy all at once.

Pickled Red Onions

These take possibly no time at all to make and they are delicious on sammies!  And burritos, tacos, the end of your fork, eaten right out of the jar, draped across the side of a heavier bean-y or fried dish... ultimately, they are good, and a welcome addition to the pickle collection my fridge has got going.  They are without doubt the prettiest member at the moment, too.

Mango Jicama Chopped Salad

I'm pretty sure that jicama is my new favourite vegetable, and this salad may be my favourite way to eat it... loads of lime, sweet mango, fresh herbage... mmmmm yes.  

So Good, So Green Dipping Sauce

See, I told you jicama was my new favourite vegetable!  I broke out my mandolin to do it up right.  I'll spill that there's lettuce in this sauce (among a myriad of other wonderful things), so it's kind of funny to think that this lettuce is dressed with itself but it works.  Oh, it works.  This sauce is pretty magical: zesty, creamy, spicy, cooling, and obviously an incredible shade of emerald.

Cilantro Lime Rice ~ Tofu Chicharrones ~ So Good, So Green Dipping Sauce

Ultra-fried smoky chewy chunks of porky tofu?  YES.  YES IT IS.  And you waaaaaant it.  Also, that rice has addictive properties.  All the rices so far have been hard to stop eating, actually.

Simple Sofrito

The basis for a few other dishes, it's super slow-cooked sweet browned onions + other things, and I am so glad I know the secret of this sofrito thing now.  It made a quick after-school meal taste like it had been cooked by experts all afternoon, just by me scooping some of this out of the container in the fridge and adding it to the pot.  Instant awesome!  Neat trick.

Next up I'll be trying some Pumpkin Soup and maybe the Mashed Potato Pancakes with Peanut Sauce (!)

18 comments:

Myriostoma said...

Oh my gosh. All of that stuff looks so amazingly tasty. Do you happen to know when Terry is coming out with her cookbook and what it might be called so I can be on the look out? My mouth is already watering from your gorgeous pictures.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

HOLY MOLE YYYYYYYYUMMMMMMMY!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, that all looks so great!

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

I have a Terry tester cooking up as I type!

nora said...

dayummmmm, that is all absolutely mouthwatering! especially the beans with plantains and mangoes! idk what annatto though is, or sofrito! i need to go look those up!

Carla said...

Both of the ones you've mentioned to possibly test are great! (well we thought so here) so go for it! I'm really enjoying testing for this book too - its making me cook stuff I never would consider otherwise.

Cyn said...

Everything looks so tasty! I can't wait until this book comes out.

Anonymous said...

I want all of that - it looks so fresh and clean and tasty! I can't wait for this book to come out.

Amy said...

Mmmm YUM! You should have called this post Terry Teasers!!!

VeganCowGirl said...

That Jicima Salad looks amazing! Lucky teaster YOU!

Mihl said...

"Everything is so much in line with what I like to eat anyway - whole foods, simple but interesting preparation, loads of lime and cilantro, and all the recipes mix and match very well, so every meal is a new surprise."

Exactly! I feel the same way about her recipes! Liz, you've been a super-tester!

Anonymous said...

Yellow rice? Porky tofu???
Hot damn, this is going to be one of the best books yet!
Oh - like your new picture!

Carrie said...

Liz you are so lucky!!! I am intrigued by that green dipping sauce.

Heikki said...

They look all really yummy! I just realized how I really miss good latin food.

Jes said...

All these Terry testers make me hungry! Your photo results are droolable, trust me!

Robin said...

So long as I can get the cookbook in New York when it comes out. Otherwise you're just makin jealous.

aTxVegn said...

You are the perfect tester for this book, and I can't wait to buy it. Cilantro, mmmmmm.

Anonymous said...

wow! I can't wait to try all that stuff, it looks like just my style :) Your pics are great!