A Healthy Peruvian Menu

Peru is the cradle of many of the world’s most powerful superfoods, and not only has the civilzation learned to showcase unique and luscious ingredients, but they’ve also perfected the ways of using them in the kitchen. Coca tea, made with coca leaves, may sound dangerous and taboo to a foreigner, but it has been giving Peruvians energy and calcium since ancestral times. Quinoa is now the “it” superfood around the world, but Peruvians been munching on it for many generations. Maca, marketed as the “natural Viagra of the Incas”, can be found fresh and wild in the fertile soil of our country.

Adding all these powerhouses to our daily meals is a great way of making our diets healthy and nutritiously robust; and so is the way we are used to cooking and eating on a daily basis. In Peru, we practice what Manuel Villacorta, author of Eating Free, calls “elegant eating”. This means we cook from scratch, with fresh ingredients, and take the time to enjoy the whole process of feeding ourselves, from the cooking, to the eating, to the social component of sharing a meal with our loved ones.

Here we share with you five of our favorite healthy Peruvian dishes, that will help you achieve this:

Colifor Arrebozada, a veggie in disguise, perfect for any mother trying to sneak in vegetables at dinnertime. A low carb, low fat Tiradito, or ceviche, made with fresh fish and seasoned with salt and pepper and a squeeze of bright lime juice. Two dishes to help keep you warm this winter: Menestron and Chicken Aguadito. Loaded with fresh produce and hearty protein, a healthy dinner has never looked so good. Finally, Crèma de Zappallo, a delicate dish with an intense and dazzling orange color, this sweet and smooth vegetable soup will make you forget about diets.

Cauliflower Fritters (Coliflor Arrebozada)

• 1 cauliflower
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1-2 tablespoons flour
• salt and pepper, to taste
• oil, for frying

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Tiradito

• 1 pound white fish fillets
• 1 teaspoon aji amarillo paste, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon diced chili pepper
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 sweet potato, cooked, peeled, and sliced
• salt and pepper, to taste
• juice of 6 limes
• micro mix, for garnish

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Menestron 

• 4 cups vegetable broth, or water
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onion or leek
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 cup chopped carrot
• 1 cup chopped turnip
• 1 cup green beans
• 1 cup baby lima beans
• 1 cup peeled and chopped potato
• 1 cup peeled and chopped yucca

Get the full recipe and ingredient list.

Aguadito de Pollo

• 4 chicken legs
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, mashed
• 2 cups cilantro leaves
• 2 fresh aji amarillo, chopped or 3 tablespoons paste
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup black beer
• 1 cup corn kernels
• salt and pepper, to taste

Get the full recipe and ingredient list.

Squash Soup (Crèma de Zappallo)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 sweet potato or yam, peeled and cubed
• 1 teaspoon dry or 2 sprigs each of fresh rosemary and thyme
• 2 liters water or vegetable stock
• salt and pepper, to taste
• croutons and grated or shaved parmesan cheese, for garnish

Get the full recipe.