By La Cocina week two: sofrito and seasoning. The foundation of the foundation. I made the sofrito at the front of the room and the class watched. The peppers, the cilantro, the recao, the garlic, the onion, the tomato, the food processor. The same proportions Luz María used. The same proportions Abuela Consuelo used before her. Twenty-six students taking notes.
Diana — student twenty-six from the first week — had brought her own bag of ingredients. She wanted to follow along in real time. I let her. I had her stand next to me and chop. She was sixty-two, a Black woman from Hartford whose mother had been Cuban and whose Spanish was rusty. She said, "Mrs. Carmen, my mother died before I learned this. I am here because I am out of time." I said, "Diana, you are not out of time. You are here." She was a careful chopper. Her sofrito at the end of class was correct. She tasted it and said, "Oh." That one syllable. The recognition. I have heard it in my own kitchen from people for forty years. It still gets me every time.
I taught adobo, too. The dry rub. Salt, garlic powder, oregano, black pepper, turmeric for color, a small amount of cumin if you like (I do; some Puerto Ricans say no). I taught the class about how the sazón packets are training wheels — fine for an emergency, not how my mother cooked. Mr. Patterson said, "Mrs. Carmen, my whole life I have used Goya sazón." I said, "Mr. Patterson, your whole life I have used Goya sazón when I was tired. Today I will teach you the not-tired version."
The class made a chicken with sofrito and adobo and we slow-cooked it for forty minutes while we made tostones — fried green plantains, the easiest hard thing — and an avocado salad that is not strictly Puerto Rican but is what I serve when guests come over and the avocados are good.
At the end Diana asked if she could come to my house and watch me cook on a Saturday. I said, "Diana, I am not the petting zoo." She laughed. She said, "Mrs. Carmen, I am sorry. I am out of line." I said, "Diana, you are not out of line. I am joking. You may come on a Saturday when I am making pasteles in December. The pasteles are a class of their own. December has rules. We will discuss it." She thanked me.
Mami had a hard week. Three nights of poor sleep. Carmen the aide changed her schedule to cover overnight Wednesday and Thursday. Sofía came Thursday and stayed three hours. Mami knew Sofía. She did not know me Friday morning. She knew me Friday afternoon. The on-and-off is the worst part. Wepa.
That week I mentioned the avocado salad almost in passing — the one I serve when guests come and the avocados behave — and afterward three students asked me for it separately, which tells me I should stop treating it like a footnote. The truth is, some weeks the avocados are not good, and this is the salad I make instead: strawberry and spinach with a raspberry dressing, nothing Puerto Rican about it, but it is what I put on the table when I want people to feel welcome and I do not want to think too hard. Diana asked me about it on her way out. I told her December is for pasteles. This salad is for now.
Strawberry Spinach Salad with Raspberry Dressing
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 15 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 6 cups fresh baby spinach, washed and dried
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
- 1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- Raspberry Dressing:
- 1/3 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/3 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Make the dressing. Combine raspberries, red wine vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper in a blender or small food processor. Blend until smooth. With the blender running on low, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until emulsified. Taste and adjust seasoning. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Toast the almonds. In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the sliced almonds for 2—3 minutes, stirring frequently, until lightly golden and fragrant. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Prepare the salad base. Place the baby spinach in a large salad bowl. Arrange the sliced strawberries and red onion over the spinach.
- Add toppings. Scatter the toasted almonds and crumbled feta evenly over the salad.
- Dress and serve. Drizzle the raspberry dressing over the salad just before serving. Toss gently to coat. Serve immediately — this salad does not hold well once dressed.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 210 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 15g | Carbs: 14g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 210mg