Mushrooms with leeks and peas, Mama Ía blog

January 28, 2021

Mushrooms with leeks and peas—healthy habits and a 2021 wish

Natacha Sanz Caballero Vegetables champiñones, cocina española, healthy habits. Marrakech, setas, Spanish cuisine, travel, vegetarian, verduras

We are starting out the year right, with lots of vegetables and lighter meals. Today’s recipe, mushrooms with leeks and peas, is so satisfying it will not leave you craving any animal protein.

Tiger nuts fields in Alboraya, Mama ía blog

Valencia, the city of orange trees

I don’t consider we over ate during the holiday season. Sure, I’ll admit we indulged in more sweets and Christmas treats. However, the extra sweets we had, when combined with (more…)

January 14, 2021

Fabada Asturiana, comfort food for a rocky start of 2021

Natacha Sanz Caballero Soups and Stews Art This Way, Asturias, bean soup, Christmas 2020, downtown Fort Wayne, hearty soups, main dish, stews

Come this time of year and all I want to have is a stew, a hearty soup, something to warm me up inside. Fabada asturiana is the answer –one of them at least, and a scrumptious one at that.

The events of the last few days, as we started out a new year filled with hope, also makes me crave for this dish. The attack on the Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, as we celebrated the (more…)

December 22, 2020

Gingerbread layer cake, for a holiday season like no other

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets celebration, Christmas 2020, Christmas sweets, Navidad 2020, postres de Navidad, tarta

This gingerbread layer cake was my birthday cake, but it turned out so festive and beautiful (and delicious!) that I think it will make for a wonderful end of your Christmas Eve dinner or Christmas day brunch or lunch.

The molasses in the gingerbread layer cake give it a very characteristic flavor, and you could substitute the molasses with dark corn syrup for a smoother flavor. The addition of the Guinness beer is surprising, and perfect. And then, the nutmeg in (more…)

November 24, 2020

Butternut Squash Soup —straight from the pumpkin farm

Natacha Sanz Caballero Soups and Stews calabaza, fall soup, pumpkin farm, sopas, sopas de otoño, vegetarian

At our house, butternut squash soup is to winter what gazpacho is to summer: it’s always available. That’s why I still can’t believe this recipe wasn’t on Mama Ía blog yet. There are so many recipes still waiting to be posted!

Walking through pumpkins at Hilger Family Farm

We are deep into the season of fall, and with that, butternut squash soup can be found on my stove, in my fridge and in my freezer (yes, it freezes wonderfully!). There’s nothing like (more…)

November 12, 2020

Pisto —and building a vegetable garden (Part 3): THE FENCE

Natacha Sanz Caballero Vegetables, Sauces, Tapas huerto, pisto manchego, side dish, Spanish cuisine, vegan, vegetable garden, vegetarian

I used so many of my garden vegetables for pisto that its recipe could only be posted alongside more on the progress of the vegetable garden, or Part 3.

Planting the seedlings on a very hot summer day

Tomatoes, peppers and zucchini have been growing with abandon, to the point where, mid November, I still (more…)

Cod with roasted red peppers, Mama Ía blog

October 30, 2020

Cod with Roasted Red Peppers —and a Fall weekend in Miami

Natacha Sanz Caballero Fish, Events & Travel cod, fish, main dish, mediterranean diet, Miami, red peppers, Spanish cuisine

Cod with roasted red peppers seemed like an appropriate recipe to share on today’s post: Miami makes me think of fish, if for no other reason that it’s a coastal city and delicious fresh fish is widely available.

The very sunny Fendi store

Cod, as you know, is one of my favorite varieties, and the ways to (more…)

September 28, 2020

Turrón ice cream —and Summer 2020 in Santa Barbara

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets, Events & Travel Christmas treat, dessert, helado, Jijona, Mediterranean cuisine, Santa Barbara, Spanish cuisine, summer, summer 2020

It happens every year: Summer dwindles away and I hold onto it for dear life. It’s easy to think that way, when I look through my window and the sun is shining, and I go outside and sit on the patio and I don’t even need a light jacket. I scroll down through Instagram and all the beautiful, talented people I follow are praising the coming of fall and embracing it with open arms.

I, in the other hand, hope for the Indian summer, the “veranillo de San Miguel”, as we call it in Spain. And for (more…)

September 2, 2020

Zucchini Layer Cake –and building a Vegetable Garden (Part 2)

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets celebrations, dessert, huerto, orchard, postres, tarta de calabacín, tartas, vegetable garden

Print RecipeIf you like carrot cake, you’re going to love zucchini layer cake. The first time I made zucchini loaf bread I couldn’t even imagine you could put zucchini into a dessert. Yet, the result was outstanding. Less known than its cousin the banana nut loaf bread, zucchini bread is one to discover.

For Spaniards, carrot cake is a late discovery, and zucchini loaf bread is a complete unknown. So needless to say, this cake is not a Spanish recipe. You know Mama Ía blog is the place for Spanish cooking in America. But as I say in (more…)

August 21, 2020

Cucumber Gazpacho —and a trip to Assisi

Natacha Sanz Caballero Soups and Stews, Vegetables, Events & Travel Asís, Assisi, cocina española, cold soup, gazpacho de pepino, green vegetables, sopa fría, Spanish cuisine, summer recipe, vegan, vegetarian

We’re starting to see the fruits of our efforts, and with a bounty of vegetables from our garden, I‘ll be posting more recipes that use them. This post brings you a wonderful gazpacho that could be rightly called green gazpacho, a cucumber gazpacho that includes not only cucumber but also avocado and some other fruits of our garden: green pepper, jalapeño, basil and parsley. You see? A green gazpacho!

(more…)

July 15, 2020

Chicken with Cumin and Pimentón Dressing —and planning a vegetable garden (PART 1)

Natacha Sanz Caballero Salads, Meat and Poultry dinner, garden beds, main dish, mediterranean diet, one pan dish, pollo, spices, summer dish, vegetable garden

The recipe I’m sharing today, chicken with cumin and pimentón dressing and tomato arugula salad holds flavors that remind me of summers in Spain —grilled meats, pimentón and fresh vegetables in one single dish. The grilled chicken has the right amount of heat to please every palate at the table, and the tomato arugula salad, with a dressing that incorporates the flavors of the marinade, blend beautifully in this very summery dish.

This is the summer of what could have been and will not be. Of plans that came undone and yet thankfulness for our health. Of “what if‘s” that have affected us all.

As I write this, I should have been in Spain for three weeks now, expecting the rest of my family to arrive today. We would have been heading to the beach on Sunday for a week of family time and fun, relaxation and tapas bars hopping, beach games (more…)