Be sure to let the sweet potatoes roast for the full 30 minutes: as they cook, they will first get quite soft, then they will slowly crisp as their sides puff up and the edges brown.
Roasting tomatoes, onions, and garlic is a common technique in the Mexican kitchen. The slight charring intensifies flavor and heightens the sweetness of the vegetables, yielding a soup with a deep, rich taste. Pureed chickpeas give the broth body, and chipotle chiles warm it up. Pass tortilla crisps for diners to add as they like; softened in the broth, the crisps seem almost like noodles. Substitute packaged tortilla chips if you prefer. For a wine pairing, try a California Albariño or rosé. — Janet Fletcher
To achieve maximum charring without drying out the corn, we grilled husked corn directly on the grates over a very hot fire. Coating the corn with oil and chili powder gave it spice and prevented it from sticking to the grill. A mixture of sour cream and mayonnaise proved a good substitute for hard-to-find crema in the sauce used to coat the cooked corn in this authentic-tasting grilled corn recipe.
Huevos Rancheros are perfect for entertaining since you can prep everything ahead of time and multiply the recipe almost infinitely. You can also make it more or less complicated: If you don't want to cook beans, make the variation. If you want to go all out, serve them with sliced or crumbled chorizo or other sausage, Radish Salsa, avocado slices, chopped fresh chiles, shredded lettuce, and limes. Some crema on the side is also nice.
You don't have to use lard here, but it's traditional and really delicious. (It's also not even bad for you, but I won't tackle that argument here.) What's not traditional—but is good—is butter. If you're going to cook these in advance and reheat them, do so with a little more fat.
Other beans you can use: any red or pink beans.
Just about every fast‐food joint now sells breakfast burritos, but few will be as good as yours. Fill them as you would tacos, with ingredients like chopped fresh tomatoes, cilantro, black olives, or scallions; minced fresh chiles; avocado slices or chunks; or small cubes of Crisp Panfried Potatoes (Home Fries). If you're really addicted to a hot and hearty meal on the run, double or triple the recipe, wrap the burritos well in plastic or foil, and tuck them away in your freezer.
Also known as elote, Mexican-style corn on the cob can be boiled first or grilled over hot coals until the kernels are charred and toasty. It’s a dish that began as street food and is now served in good restaurants. The white cheese cotija is at many specialty markets, but you can substitute a dry, crumbly cheese such as feta. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper for a kick of spice, guajillo for smoky notes, or paprika for sweet earthiness. Finish with a spritz of lime to make it pop.
Cajeta is a goat's-milk caramel popular in Mexico where it's made into candies or drizzled over ice cream and other desserts. The word cajeta is Spanish for "small box," named for the containers the caramel was traditionally packed in.
Making your own cajeta is worth the extra bit of work, but you can also buy it or substitute its South American cousin, dulce de leche.
Cajeta is a goat's-milk caramel popular in Mexico where it's made into candies or drizzled over ice cream and other desserts. The word cajeta is Spanish for "small box," named for the containers the caramel was traditionally packed in.
Making your own cajeta is worth the extra bit of work, but you can also buy it or substitute its South American cousin, dulce de leche.
This delicious quinoa salad recipe has a mexican flavor, with black beans, lime, cilantro and jalapeno. Quinoa black bean salad can be served warm or chilled, and keeps well. This recipe is similar to Tabouleh, but quinoa is both heartier and sturdier than couscous. Quinoa black bean salad is a great one dish meal, and also goes well with crusty artisan bread or tortillas chips with salsa, quacamole etc.