This salad makes a great side for burgers, tacos, or with any summer cookout that needs an extra tangy, flavorful punch.

Ensalada Criolla

Ingredients

• 2 medium avocados, cubed
• 1 pint tomatoes (we used sunburst), halved
• 1 medium red onion, julienned
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Allow to marinate for at least 10 minutes before serving.

I don’t know a lot about the foreign relations between Peru and Russia, but after seeing this salad on almost every menu in Peru I am not sure if it has something to do with the country of “Rusa” or if beets are synonymous with that nation everywhere in the world. Either way, all of these fresh veggies and a light mustard dressing make this salad is a winner.

Ensalada Rusa

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound of asparagus, chopped and steamed
• 3 beets, roasted, peeled, and cubed
• 2 medium carrots, sliced
• 1 cup of English peas

Dressing

• 1/2 teaspoon mustard, ground
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• pinch of salt
• ground black pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Combine prepared vegetables and set aside.
2. Thoroughly mix the dressing ingredients until the oil and lime juice are incorporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Dress the salad and serve.

Saltado is a dish that typifies Peru’s multicultural cuisine. It is essentially a stir-fry that combines eastern and Latin flavors with fried potatoes.  It is fairly easy to find vegetarian saltados in Peruvian restaurants, but the most popular version by far is beef loin, or lomo, saltado.  This recipe uses wheat roast instead of beef, but portobello mushrooms, seitan, and tofu all make great saltados as well.

Vegetarian Saltado

Ingredients

• 1 pound yellow potatoes, sliced into 1/4-inch thick strips
• 1 pound wheat roast, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices.
• 1 large red onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
• 1 tablespoon ají amarillo paste or 1 minced hot pepper
• 2 tomatoes, seeded and cut into eighths
• 1/2 pound sweet peppers, such as bell, sliced into strips
• 2 medium carrots, julienned
• 1/4 pound snow peas or snap peas
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Pisco (optional)
• olive oil cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 key limes

Preparation

1. Liberally coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Arrange potato slices in a single layer and spray with oil and season with a pinch of salt. Cook potato slices in the oven, preheated to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Allow to bake for 20-30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic, and ginger and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add wheat roast and saute for another minute.
3. Add ají, tomatoes, snow peas, peppers, parsley, spices, vinegar, Pisco, and soy sauce. Cook until tomatoes are softened and the peas and peppers are tender.
4. Add prepared potatoes, and quickly toss together. Remove from heat when all ingredients are at a consistent temperature.
5. Sprinkle with lime juice before serving.  Serve with an ají of your choice.

Fresh fruit juices are an inexpensive and popular breakfast staple around Peru. Most such juices are made in ordinary blenders which makes the process and clean-up extremely easy while creating a delicious, frothy beverage.

Fresh Pineapple Juice

Ingredients

• 1 whole fresh pineapple, peeled, cored, and sliced
• 1 1/2 cups cold water
• sugar to taste (optional)
• ground cinnamon or nutmeg

Preparation

1. Combine the fruit and water in a blender and process until smooth.
2. Add sugar to taste, if desired.  Blend to mix in the sugar.
3. Serve over ice, and top with a sprinkle of ground nutmeg or cinnamon.

This Peruvian-inspired hot pepper sauce, or ají, is a great way to add some tangy heat to your meals.  Ajíes are commonly used as a tabletop condiment, but they also make a nice spicy base for sautes and stir fries.  As a commenter below pointed out, aji is actually the word for a species of chili pepper, but we found the term to be used pretty interchangeably for any pepper-based spicy table condiment in Peru and Ecuador.

We made this ají with seasonal peppers, including serranos, hinkelhatz, and sweet Ringos, from Johnson’s Backyard Garden in Austin, TX.  We seeded about half of the hot peppers, but feel free to seed more if you don’t like a lot of heat, or less if you like more!

JBG Ají

Ingredients

• 6 ounces mixed hot peppers, topped and (optionally) seeded
• 1 large Ringo pepper, chopped (or half of a yellow bell pepper) and seeded
• 2 medium cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup key lime juice
• Salt to taste

Preparation

1. Combine peppers, garlic, and lime juice in a food processor or blender and process until thoroughly chopped.
2. Season to taste, but be careful because those tastes will be hot!

Store in a glass container for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator (though you’ll probably use it up before then).

South American tamales are mostly masa served with delicious sauces, whereas Central American tamales rely on stewed meats and veggies to add flavor. This recipe is more in a South American style but uses Kabocha, a Japanese winter squash, to add substance and sweetness. Any winter squash, like butternut or acorn, will make a good substitute.

Steaming Kabocha Squash and Quinoa Tamales (Photo by Gabriel Hasser)

Ingredients

• 3 pounds Kabocha squash, steamed and pureed
• 2 cups quinoa, cooked
• 2 cups masa harina 
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

Preparation

1. Combine ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Prepare the tamales.
3. Steam the tamales until the masa is firm, about 20-30 minutes.
4. Serve with your favorite Aji.

Roasted Tomato Aji (Photo by Gabriel Hasser)

Ingredients

• 1 pound of ripe red tomatoes, wedged
• 1 white onion, halved
• 2 fresh jalapenos, seeded and halved
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt to taste

Preparation

1. Place tomato wedges, onion halves, and jalapenos on a greased baking sheet. Broil in the oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes or until tomatoes are slightly blackened.
2. Place broiled vegetables, olive oil, and salt to taste in a blender and liquefy.
3. Serve with favorite entrees or appetizers to add heat and flavor.

This is a recipe is the love child between tomatillo salsa and Peruvian Aji Verde. You can serve it like a Peruvian Aji to add heat and flavor to any dish but it is also mild enough to consume in larger quantities with chips like a typical Tex-Mex salsa.

Green Tomato Ají

Ingredients

• 5 medium green tomatoes
• 1 large jalapeno, seeded
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/4 sweet yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• Salt to taste

Preparation

1. Combine ingredients in a high-speed blender until thoroughly processed.
2. Serve immediately

A street vendor's cooler of marcianos in Huanchaco, Peru, where it is always summer.

Here it is! April 26th and the thermostat in Austin, Texas crossed the 90 degree mark all afternoon. I know that people with a calendar in front of them or those who pay attention to the tilt of the Earth might disagree, but I am ready to officially declare summer. May the rainfall be average and the season end before October.

One of my strategies for enjoying summer is to make sure that I have plenty of cool hydrating food and drinks on hand. In Peru unchurned ice creams and frozen fruit juices are very popular year round. These treats, known as marcianos, are usually produced in homes and sold directly out the front door or in coolers around town. Pretty much any fruit can be used to make marcianos, but the most popular appeared to be coconut, maracuya (passion fruit), and strawberry.

To celebrate the beginning of summer we made our own Maracuy y Fresa Marcianos using passion fruit yogurt and fresh strawberries. They are a delicious and healthy way to break in a new popsicle mold and cool off, if only for a little while.

Passion fruit (maracuya) is tart and delicious and pairs fantastically with ripe sweet strawberries (fresas). Chobani makes a Passion Fruit Greek yogurt that we used for this recipe, but plain Greek yogurt and two tablespoons of fresh passion fruit will also produce excellent results.

Maracuya y Fresa Marciano Ingredients

Ingredients

• 1 cup Passion Fruit Greek Yogurt
• 1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and minced
• Pinch of cinnamon
• 1/2 cup milk or preferred milk substitute
• 1 1/2 tablespoon or more of turbinado sugar to taste

Preparation

1. Combine yogurt, strawberries, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Using a fork lightly mash the strawberries until softened.
2. Add the milk and sugar to taste. Stir until the sugar is thoroughly dissolved.
3. Portion the mixture evenly in Popsicle molds. Freeze for at least two hours, loosen under running water for a few seconds, and enjoy!

Remember our words: Summer is coming.