Although I love planning parties and cooking, there are some days when I get overwhelmed and forget to plan a big to-do. That's sort of what's happening with me this Fourth of July, when I seriously just haven't had time to prepare anything special.
It's no big deal, though, because I know that making delicious food doesn't have to be difficult or time consuming. In fact, some of my favorite Latin recipes just couldn't be easier. Whether you're making a slow cooker rice and beans (so easy!), sofrito grilled bread for your burgers, grilled veggies with salsa verde as a side dish, a cinnamon-sugar coated grilled pineapple for the easiest dessert EVER or a watermelon keg (AMAZING!), then take a look of these recipes and make this the easiest July 4th you've ever had.
Readmore ¿Qué más? The Mamás Latinas Ultimate Latin BBQ Grilling Guide (RECIPES)
What are your tricks for making easy dishes at the last minute? How are you going to celebrate July 4th this year? Share with us in the comments below!
Watermelon Keg & Agua Fresca
Ingredients: watermelon (Also: a spigot, apple corer)
Directions:
1. To make the watermelon stand up, slice a small small small amount off the bottom. Leave as much of the white as you can, and cut so the watermelon will stand up straight. Slice a bigger chunk off the top. It doesn’t have to be this big, but a big opening makes it easier to have your kid help scoop out the flesh.
2. Now scoop out the flesh. I removed it directly to the blender. Puree the watermelon. Run the blended watermelon through a strainer to get the seed bits and chunks out.
3. Use an apple corer to create a hole for your spigot. Screw that baby into place. To make watermelon aqua fresca, mix the watermelon juice with the juice of half a lime (or more, to taste). Taste, if it needs more sweetness add a tablespoon of sugar or simple syrup at a time. Pour it into your watermelon. If no children are present, add vodka. Done!
Recipe courtesy of Prudent Baby.
Sofrito Grilled Bread
Ingredients: 1 cup chopped red bell pepper (about 1 small), 1/2 cup chopped onion (about 1 small), 1/4 cup packed fresh coriander sprigs, washed well and spun dry, 2 garlic cloves, minced, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled, 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, twelve 1/4-inch-thick slices nonfat country-style bread (12 ounces total)
Directions:
1. In a blender purée all ingredients except bread until smooth. In a small heavy saucepan simmer sofrito, stirring, 3 minutes and season with salt and pepper. Sofrito may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered. Prepare grill.
2. If desired halve bread slices. Spread some sofrito on 1 side of each bread slice (reserving any remaining sofrito for another use) and grill, sofrito side down, on an oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals until golden brown, about 2 minutes. (Alternatively, bread may be grilled in a hot well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderately high heat.) Transfer sofrito bread as grilled with tongs to a bread basket.
Recipe courtesy of Epicurious.
Slow Cooker Red Beans & Rice
Ingredients: 1/2 cup finely chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic, minced, 1/2 pound smoked Creole seasoned sausage (andouille), cut into small pieces, 2 cups dried red beans, soaked overnight and drained, 1 quart water, Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, Hot cooked rice (about 3 to 4 cups)
Directions:
In a slow cooker, combine the onion, garlic and sausage. Stir in the beans and water and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low heat until the beans are tender, about 7 1/2 hours (on high it takes between 3 1/2 to 4 hours). Remove 1/4 cup of beans from slow cooker; mash until smooth, then sir them stir back into slow cooker. Continue to cook for another 30 minutes on low or 15 minutes on high. Remove the beans from the cooker to a serving bowl. Serve over cooked rice and enjoy!
Recipe courtesy of Food Network.
Grilled Vegetables with Salsa Verde
Ingredients: 2 medium eggplants, about 1 lb total, 3 medium zucchini, about 1 1/4 lbs total, 3 medium bell peppers, 2 medium Belgian endive, about 10 ozs, 3 tablespoons extra virgin Olive oil, 1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced, 1 tablespoon capers, drained and minced, 8 medium green olives, pitted and minced (about 3 Tbsp), 1 tablespoon lemon juice, salt
__Directions:
__Cut zucchini and eggplant lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick pieces. Core, seed and quarter the peppers. Slice endives in half lengthwise. Place all vegetables in a bowl and drizzle with 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle with salt to taste and toss all to combine. Combine parsley, capers, olives, lemon juice and remaining olive oil in a small bowl and set aside in the refridgerator to allow the flavors to combine. Grill or broil vegetables, turning them once until they are lightly browned on both sides. Transfer vegetables to a serving platter, spoon the salsa verde over them and serve.
Recipe courtesy of Food.com.
Grilled Pineapple with Cinnamon Sugar
Ingredients: 1 Fresh Pineapple (firm yellow rind), 3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar, 1 Tbs Ground Cinnamon, 2 Cups Coconut Milk (prepared or from a package), BBQ Skewers as required (thicker is better), 3 Dishes (1 for dipping, 1 for coating, 1 for carrying the whole mess to the BBQ), A Barbeque
__Directions:
__1. Soak your BBQ skewers in water for at least an hour before you begin prepping.
2. With a sharp knife, remove the top and bottom of the pineapple and reserve them for presentation purposes.
3. Stand the pineapple on its end. Working from the top of the pineapple to the bottom, remove the rind in long 1.5" to 2" strips. Try to get as many of the little “eyes” as you can. You’ll never get them all on the first pass so finish removing most of the rind and come back later.
4. Lay the pineapple on its side and remove as many of the remaining “eyes” as possible by cutting small wedges out of the flesh. The end result is a slippery, yellow, roughly cylindrical shape.
5. Head out to your BBQ and fire it up. Medium heat.
6. Again, place the pineapple on its end. In 4 long slices, separate the flesh of the pineapple from the core. The core should be a well-defined circle of different texture than the rest of the flesh. Keep your cuts roughly 1/4" away from the core and you’ll avoid most of its toughness. After each cut, rotate the pineapple 90 degrees and cut again. You should end up with 1 wide piece, 2 medium pieces and a comparatively skinny piece of fruit.
7. Soak your BBQ skewers in water for at least an hour before you begin prepping.
8. Head out to your BBQ and fire it up. Medium heat.
9. Cube the pineapple. A little variation in size is fine and makes for a diversity of textures in the final dessert. 1" to 2" cubes make for about 11 skewers with 3 pieces each.
10. Set up a basic coating station. Fill 1 dish with the coconut milk and 1 dish with a mixture of the cinnamon and sugar.
11. Dip each piece of pineapple in the coconut milk, shake off the excess and then coat in cinnamon sugar. Skewer the pieces as you finish coating them. 2-3 pieces of pineapple per skewer is a good serving.
12. Place skewers on grill and monitor dilligently, there’s a lot of sugar in this recipe and it will burn quickly if left unattended. Grill and turn, exposing each side of each skewer to caramelize the sugars. This takes roughly 10-15 minutes.
13. Serve as hot as possible with vanilla ice cream.
Recipe courtesy of Chow.com.
