Polenta with Fresh Cheese and Chard: Polenta con Requeson y Acelgas Karen Hursh Graber

Leafy vegetables, including beautiful raddichio, were an important part of the diet of the people from the Treviso region. In Mexico, one of the most commonly available leafy vegetables is chard, which... read more

cheese vegetables rice-and-grains

Lasagna with Poblano Chiles In Cream: Lasagna con Rajas de Chile Poblano Karen Hursh Graber

We first saw this in a restaurant in Chipilo. If you like lasagna with white sauces, this one is a delicious change from the usual. The filling is the very Pueblan rajas con crema, poblano chile str... read more

cheese vegetables pastas main-dishes Puebla

Sweet and sour tomatillo conserve: Tomates verdes encurtidos Karen Hursh Graber

Visually, these remind me of the pickled green tomatoes that are nearly always on the table in New York's kosher delis. But the sweet-and-sour vinaigrette, with the addition of green chiles, makes them... read more

vegetables vegetarian salsas Chihuahua

Russian-Mexican beef soup: Caldo ruso de res Karen Hursh Graber

This dish is obviously a holdover from the Mennonites' days as grain farmers in the Ukraine, with the distinctly Mexican additions of chile and tomato. The original recipe calls for the cut of beef cal... read more

vegetables meat main-dishes soups Chihuahua

Sweet Potato Flan: Flan de Camote Karen Hursh Graber

One of the reasons I like using sweet potatoes in dessert is that it really makes for a guilt-free experience when their nutritional properties are considered. Not many other dessert ingredients can cl... read more

eggs vegetables desserts

Sweet Potato Pudding: Budín de Camote Karen Hursh Graber

I first tasted this dish several years ago, prepared by Doña Gloria of the Hotel Bar Reforma in Cholula. It was the first time I had seen the purple-fleshed variety of sweet potatoes other than in the... read more

eggs vegetables desserts Puebla

Cheese-filled Sweet Potato Patties: Tortitas de Camote Karen Hursh Graber

In most of Mexico, these fried patties are made with white potatoes, whereas in Veracruz they are made with sweet potatoes or yucca. This cheese-filled version is more versatile than most, because it c... read more

cheese vegetables vegetarian side-dishes Veracruz

Cream of Sweet Potato Soup: Crema de Camote Karen Hursh Graber

Cremas, or cream soups, are popular all over Mexico, especially as first courses on wedding menus. The addition of sherry at the end makes this a good starter for a festive fall dinner. Ingredients: ... read more

vegetables soups side-dishes

Pickled Jalapenos: Jalapenos En Escabeche Karen Hursh Graber

This is the classic, indispensable Mexican table condiment, served with beans, rice, eggs, tacos and tortas. If you can find both red and green jalapeños, by all means use them together, since they ma... read more

vegetables vegetarian salsas side-dishes

The Comrad's Russian Salad: Ensalada Rusa de la Comadre Karen Hursh Graber

The original Russian salad was made with smetana, a thick, slightly sour cream used in Russian and Finnish cooking. Variations may include shredded beef and a variety of vegetables, but potatoes and... read more

vegetables poultry salads salad-dressings

Mango and Avocado Salad: Ensalada de Mango y Aguacate Karen Hursh Graber

The combination of mangos and avocados gets a colorful and tasty lift from the addition of red bell peppers. Fresh bell pepper ( pimiento morrón) once meant green bell pepper, and red ones were avai... read more

vegetables vegetarian salads salad-dressings

Grilled Nopales Salad: Ensalada de Nopales Asados Karen Hursh Graber

In a previous column, I gave a recipe for the standard nopales salad that the market ladies all over the country seem to sell, but when my husband overdid it on the grilled nopales (his favorite ... read more

vegetables vegetarian salads salad-dressings

Spinach and Watercress Salad: Ensalada de Espinacas y Berros Karen Hursh Graber

Two of the most common greens in central Mexico are combined here with corn, radishes and scallions for a very Mexican take on a tossed green salad. Ingredients may be prepared in advance, stored separ... read more

vegetables vegetarian salads salad-dressings

Xalapa-style green mole: Mole verde de Xalapa Karen Hursh Graber

Puebla and Oaxaca both have their own distinctive versions of green mole, but none is as laden with fresh vegetables as Xalapa's mole verde. Although I have prepared several meatless pipians and ... read more

vegetables poultry main-dishes mole-and-pipian Xalapa, Veracruz

Oyster mushroom chileatole: Chileatole de setas Karen Hursh Graber

Mushrooms proliferate in the mist-covered hills of north central Veracruz, the only place I have ever seen chileatole made with them, in this case with setas or oyster mushrooms. It would probabl... read more

vegetables poultry soups Veracruz

Avocado Mousse: Mousse De Aguacate Karen Hursh Graber

Ingredients: 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin 1 ½ cups chicken or shrimp broth 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice 1/3 cup finely chopped green onion or scallion 1 fre... read more

vegetables side-dishes salads

Penne pasta with mushrooms: Plumas con champiñones Karen Hursh Graber

A chunky sauce like this is best served with a shorter pasta shape, such as penne, shells, or rigatoni, which will "hold" the sauce, rather than spaghetti, from which the ingredients will slide to the ... read more

vegetables pastas main-dishes vegetarian

Squash Blossom Crepes: Crepas de Flor de Calabaza Karen Hursh Graber

In the following recipe, crepes are rolled around a squash blossom filling, bathed in a poblano chile cream sauce, and baked. All three elements - crepes, sauce and filling - can be made ahead and asse... read more

cheese vegetables main-dishes

The Jewels Of Mexico: Public Markets by Vicki Cowal Karen Hursh Graber

Introduction Many years ago, before I began traveling around Mexico working with regional chefs and cooking teachers, I was a newly arrived greenhorn, both fascinated and confused by the country's mar... read more

vegetables seafood masa main-dishes

Setas con Epazote Karen Hursh Graber

Setas is the general name for several kinds of wild mushrooms found in Mexico, which have different regional names, according to their colors and sizes. ( Yemas, duraznitos, morillas, and ... read more

vegetables vegetarian side-dishes Tlaxcala

Yucatecan Style Chicken: Pollo Ticul Karen Hursh Graber

This tip was taught to me by a restaurant owner on a trip to the Mayan ruins of Uxmal, near where the town of Ticul is located. She explained that the inner, smooth side of the banana leaf always faces... read more

vegetables fruit poultry main-dishes Yucatán Peninsula

Codillo Aquiahuac Karen Hursh Graber

Codillo, sometimes called chamorro, is the lower part of the pork leg, here cut crosswise into rounds, including the central bone. Nopales (paddle cactus) and verdolagas (purslane) are two of the most ... read more

vegetables pork main-dishes Tlaxcala

Yam and pineapple dessert: Dulce de camote con piña Karen Hursh Graber

This delicious dessert is a perfect example of the Afro-Cuban influence on Gulf coast cooking, combining pineapple, a plantation crop, with yams or sweet potatoes, a West African staple. Ingredients: ... read more

vegetables fruit desserts Veracruz

Nopal Salad: Ensalada de Nopalitos Karen Hursh Graber

The market ladies in Puebla sell this salad ready-made, ladling it into plastic bags to "take-out." The basic recipe consists of nopales, green onions and cilantro; other ingredients, such as tomatoes,... read more

vegetables vegetarian salads salad-dressings

Chicken and Huitlacoche Stuffed Chiles: Chiles Rellenos con Pollo y Huitlacoche Karen Hursh Graber

This dish teams huitlacoche with poblano chiles, which fill the markets during the summer months and gradually go from dark green to red as the season progresses. By September, the majority have turned... read more

cheese vegetables poultry main-dishes