Healthy Havana Nights: Bring Cuba to Your Kitchen

How does a mixed-martial arts fighter, salsa dancer, and former US Marine become a classically-trained executive chef? By coming full circle. 

Chef Ronaldo Linares grew up working in his family’s restaurant in New Jersey before venturing off to forge his own trail. However, it seems years of strength training and fighting only made him better equipped to return to the kitchen with a new purpose: to educate the Latin community about healthy eating habits.

Earlier this summer Linares released his first cookbook, Chef Ronaldo’s Sabores de Cuba in collaboration with the American Diabetes Association. This 224-page bilingual gem is proof of Linares’ fight to “change the traditional thinking of Latin food” by recreating decadent Latin staples into modern, healthy dishes that honor his culture. Chef Linares isn’t a moment too soon; rates of diabetes in the stateside Latin community are almost double those of non-Latino whites, with Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and Cubans being the subgroups most affected by this disease. In Sabores de Cuba, Linares incorporates bright flavors like guava and peppers, and channels them into a hearty, diabetes-friendly, and approchable diet that can help millions of at-risk Latinos thrive. 

We loved Chef Ronaldo’s cookbook so much that we featured it in Latina magazine’s October issue! Be sure to pick up a copy and click through to access 3 of Chef Ronaldo’s savory and healthy recipes!

Click through for recipes!… 

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Green Vegetable Tortilla

• 2 stalks green onion, finely sliced

Get the full recipe.

Roasted Plantains and Poblano Pepper Guava

• 2 ripe plantains, whole
• 1 teaspoon avocado oil
• 1 poblano pepper
• 1 teaspoon avocado oil
• ¾ cup unsalted chicken stock


Get the full recipe. 

Seared Scallops with Roasted Grape Tomatoes

• 4 sea scallops, muscles removed
• 2 teaspoon avocado oil, divided
• ½ cup Spanish onion, diced into ¼ -inch pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

Get the full recipe.