Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Ensalada de Brocolli (Brocolli Salad)

This is a really simple broccoli salad my grandma taught me, it is refreshing, simple and healthy. It doesn't mask the flavor of the vegetables and I love it.

I don't know if it's Cuban or Spanish or whatever but I know it's my grandmas salad, and since most of her cooking is Cuban I'll label it as Cuban.

Ingredients:
-water in a pot
-2 broccoli heads
-1/2 red or white onion cut into thin rings (I messed up and they came out to thick and not perfect)
-1 tablespoon white vinegar
-1 tablespoon extra-virgin oil
-salt to taste about 1 tsp. drizzled/ 3 big pinches


Directions:
(1)In a pot bring water to a boil
(2)Meanwhile wash the broccoli well, seperate the florets, if you don't wanna throw away the stems, peel them well with a potato peeler then cut into desired size.

(3)Throw brocolli in boiling water until bright green, drain and rinse in cold water until cooled, drain and dry well.

(4)Put in a bowl, put sliced onions on top, drizzle with olive oil first, then vinegar, then salt. Now toss and marinade in the fridge 3 hours. Toss every 1 hour.


VARIATIONS: One variation of this is using "Cauliflower", if using Cauliflower DO NOT BLANCH IT SKIP THE BOILING PART and also USE RED ONION or it will look ugly if you don't.

7 comments:

  1. Just took a quick look at your recipes...great!!! Re. the Spanish vs. Cuban question...see my comments in the Cuban food blog with the recent red bean soup post (where I just read your comments).
    How about a chilindron recipe? Carne asada (Cuban roast beef, but not boliche, which has a chorizo stuck inside, which I love, nor the Mexican marinated grilled steak, which I like too).

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  2. My Mom use to make a salad similar to this one...'ensalada de coliflor y brecol' (cauliflower and broccoli), but back in Cuba it would be 'de coliflor y calabaza criolla.'

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  3. Mamey-

    I honestly have no idea how to make Chilindron (my grandmother never made it) I went looking online for a Chilindron that sounded really good and Cuban I found this (just copy and paste)

    http://www.cubamania.com/cuba/showthread.php?t=18352

    About the carne asada is it like the thin steaks marinaded in Mojo Criollo then grilled and topped with the Cuban version of "Chimichurri" sauce.

    Or is it the roast beef that has the spanish chorizo but it is stuffed right down the middle, like with a metal thing you make a hole in the center going all the way back to the other side and stuff it with chorizo? (My grandma made something like that but called it "Boliche Asado" also.

    Luckily Im gonna go visit her today so I can ask her LOTS of questions lol.

    Well tomorrow Im gonna make some "Caldo Gallego" the version I made is a bit cubanized (since it has the sofrito and my grandma likes to give it color with Bijol or tomato sauce or even mixtures of both) and the Spanish one is usually just white no special coloring.

    I'll post it later.

    Oh and about the Salad, that sounds like an awesome combo the broccoli and cauliflower it would look so beautiful with red onions. Im gonna make it like that next time thanks for the idea.

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  4. Oh I forgot to ask, is "Chilindron" a dish from the Oriente provinces(around eastern Cuba) because I did find one recipe that sounded good but it used "allspice" and "habanero pepper" which is spicy (something extremely odd to find in Cuban cooking in fact I have never ate a spicy Cuban food)

    And I've heard people from Oriente tend to use "allspice" an which is absent in cooking from Havana and Western Cuba, that and they cook different.

    That version sounds way tastier than the one I told you about first:

    http://www.1worldrecipes.com/recipe.asp?r=515

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  5. Hi..chilindron is originally from Spain, where they often use mutton instead of goat. I use to eat the goat type a lot in Havana and it was cooked with the usual suspects (onions, garlics, aji), black pepper and red wine. In Aragon and Jaen, Spain I've had the mutton type.
    Carne asada is a chunk of beef roasted or pot roasted with vino seco, but it is not the top round which is stuffed with chorizo (boliche). The carne asada you speak of is similar to the Mexican type which is usually grilled al carbon--very good, but a different dish. Thanks...I've been on a long vacation, thus the delay.

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  6. Wow thanks for coming back Mamey,

    I got around to making a delicious "Chilindron" (well my version of what I thought it should be like after looking at many things and consulting grandma for opinions)

    Here check it out:

    http://nathanscomida.blogspot.com/search?q=Chilindron

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  7. Just reviewed a bunch of your recipes...awesome! Keep them coming!

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