Oswald Rivera

Author, Warrior, and Teacher

Tag: yummy

BÓCOLI CON CURRY (Curried Broccoli)

November 6, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Recently I had some vegetarian friends over for dinner. Being a meat eater, I asked myself, “What the hell do I do now?” Luckily, I had some broccoli on hand and then I thought, how about how about doing a curry sauce with it? Thus, was born Brócoli con Curry, or Curried Broccoli. Think of it as a new take on Nuyorican cuisine. Let me add that the perfect accompaniment to this dish is rice; but you can substitute couscous, quinoa or pasta, either tubular like penne or string like spaghetti or linguini. The choice is endless. I think you’re gonna like this one.

BRÓCOLI CON CURRY
(Curried Broccoli)

Ingredients:

1 medium to large head of broccoli, about 2 pounds (can use frozen if can’t find fresh)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1½ cups broth or water
1 teaspoon curry powder (or more to taste)

Instructions:

  1. Rinse broccoli under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Cut into florets.
  2. Heat oil in large skillet or frypan over medium -high heat
  3.  Add onion and garlic and stir-fry until onion is soft and translucent.
  4.  Mix water with curry powder and add to broccoli. Stir to mix, cover, lower heat and cook until broccoli is tender, about 7 minutes.
    Yield: 4-6 servings.

MEAT WITH PEAS (Keema Matar)

November 3, 2025 / / 0 Comments

 

This is an Indian dish I discovered years ago, and it still strikes my fancy. Though Nuyorican cuisine is a what I’ve always known; I am also partial to Indian cooking. The host of spices and condiments in the cuisine intrigue me. When I first discovered it, it was nothing like what we prepared back in Spanish Harlem. It has its own pedigreed and style. As you will see in this dish. Simple enough, at its basic it’s just ground meat combined with peas. The meat can be anything you favor or have on hand. Traditionally, it’s ground beef. But you can use ground pork, as we did this time, or it could be ground lamb. Simple, economical and delicious. And it goes great with rice, couscous, quinoa or even pasta. This entrée covers all basis. So, be adventurous and amaze and delight friends and family with this one.

MEAT WITH PEAS
(Keema Matar)

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 pound ground pork (can substitute beef or lamb)
½ teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
¾ teaspoon chili powder or more to taste
Salt to taste
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
8 oz, (1½) cups frozen green peas

  1. Heat the oil over medium-high in a large skillet or frypan. Add onions and garlic and stir-fry until onion is soft and translucent.
  2. Add meat and continue to fry until meat is brown, stirring frequently.
  3.  Stir in spices and salt.
  4.  Add tomato sauce and peas. Cove, lower heat and cook until meat is tender, about 10 minutes. Note that, if for some reason, the sauce starts to dry out, you can always add a little water to the sauce.
    Yield: 4 servings.

 

SALMON AL VAPOR (Steamed Salmon)

October 29, 2025 / / 0 Comments

 

Steaming is a great a deficient way to cook food. Following that vein, today we give you Steamed Salmon. And it’s not as difficult as it seems.  If you have a regulate streamer, then it’s a cinch. Same if you have a bamboo steamer, again no problem. This also works well with a wok. But what if you don’t have a steamer or a wok? Then we improvise. Simple, take a big pan or kettle, place an 8-ounce can of tomato sauce in the bottom of it, fill it up with water until it reaches the height of the can, place the salmon fillets on a dish atop the tomato can, bring to boil, cover and cook until the salmon fillets are done.  Salmon fillets usually take 7-10 minutes to cook depending upon the size and thickness the fillets.  Check for doneness. If it flakes easily, then the fillet is done. This dish goes great with boiled rice, couscous, quinoa or your favorite pasta product, such as orzo or penner. We felt adventurous so we paired it with French fries. Again, it’s your show, so use whatever works.

That’s it. Try something new today: Steam rather than frying your fish. It’s a healthier choice I’m told, and just as delicious. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

4 salmon fish fillets, about 6-ounce each
¾ teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons white wine (dry or sweet, your choice)
4 tablespoons butter

Instructions:

  1. Rinse fillets under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels.
  2. Season thoroughly on both sides with garlic powder, salt, pepper and oregano.
  3. Arrange on a plate, drizzle wine over fillets. Place fillets in steamer. Fill steamer with water, bring to a boil, cover and stream 7-10 minutes until fillets are done (they should flake easily with a fork).
    Yield: 4 servings.

LENTEJAS CON SALCHICHA

October 20, 2025 / / 0 Comments

This recipe combines two Nuyorican favorites: lentils and sausage. Now, the lentils can be brown, green or red lentils. In terms of the sausage, it can be beef, turkey, smoked or Italian sausage. Even the Vienna sausage out of the can cane be used. We don’t stand on formality here. Some folks prefer Spanish chorizo sausage common to our cuisine. And normally that would be our preference. Except that we had a package of chicken sausage links on hand, and we went with that. Also, for this recipe we used brown lentils which, depending on how old they are, will take 30 to 40 minutes to cook. Red lentils cook fast, maybe simmering 10 minutes or so in water. Green lentils take about 15-20 to cook at a slow simmer. Just use the taste test. That is, they should be tender with a slight crunchiness but not mushy.

When cooking with sausage note that some variety of sausage comes with a casing that has to be removed before cooking. To do this, make a cut along the sausage with a knife, peel off the casing and then slice the meat.

Normally with this dish, we would serve it with boiled rice.  This time around we paired it with wild rice which is not a true rice. It is a native North American grain. You can also pair it with couscous, quinoa or a small pasta such as orzo or radiatori. Even on its own, Lentejas con Salchicha makes for a great dinner.

LENTEJAS CON SALCHICHA
(Lentils with Sausage)

Ingredients:

1½ cups dried brown lentils (can use green or red lentils, see above)
4 cups water or broth
1 bay leaf
1 (12 -16 ounce) package sausage, cut diagonally into ¼-inch slices
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 (8-oz) can tomato sauce
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
¾ teaspoon dried oregano

Instructions:

  1. Rince lentils in a fine-mesh strainer under cold, running water.
  2. Place lentils to a medium-sized saucepan. Add water or broth plus bay leaf. Bring the liquid to a rolling boil over high heat. Immediately reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer and cover. Cook until tender (30-40 minutes). If using red or green lentils, see above.
  3.  While lentils are cooking, heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a fry pan or skillet. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onion is soft and translucent.
  4. Add sausage and cook over medium heat until browned on all sides.
  5.  Add tomato sauce, stir to combine, cover and simmer on low heat for 10 minutes.
  6. Drain any excess liquid from the lentils. Stir in the sausage with the tomato sauce. Serve over rice, pasta or favorite grain.
    Yield: 4-6 servings.

 

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