Saveur Every Bite

I love to cook and have learned how to cook a lot of dishes. However, I don't know much about authentic, bold, earthy Mexican cooking. That is why my eye caught the May issue of Saveur magazine. Look:

Here is another beautiful picture featuring a dish with those delicate and delicious squash blossoms I saw in the market.

This magazine is wonderful and gives me a way to make all these pictures I took in the market come to life...

The Salad Bar

Beans, glorious beans!

Roasted garbanzos and corn

Hot stuff!!

Go grab a copy . There are scads of recipes, most of the ingredients can be found locally, too, although a trip to a mercado authentico would be more fun! For Meatless Monday, here is a fabulous bean dish from Saveur.

Frijoles de la Olla

2 cups dried pinto beans. washed and sorted
1 clove garlic, smashed
1 whole jalapeno, plus 1/2 jalapeno stemmed, seeded and minced
1/2 small yellow onion, plus 1/4 onion, minced
sea salt and fresh black pepper
For Pico de gallo:
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1 tomato, cored and seeded, finely chopped
Crumbled cotija cheese and flour or corn tortillas for serving

Bring beans, garlic, whole jalapeno. 1/2 whole onion and 8 cups of water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, season with salt and pepper and cook, covered and stirring occasionally, until beans are just tender, about 1 hour and 45 minutes.

For Pico de Gallo, stir 1/2 jalapeno (minced), 1/4 onion (minced), cilantro and tomato in a small bowl until combined.

Ladle beans into a serving bowl, top with Pico de Gallo and cotija cheese. Serve with tortillas. Serves 6-8.

Note: Cotija cheese is mild, crumbly and a little bit salty. Feel free to substitute whatever fabulous cheese you love.