Puerto Rican note!

   I cannot even express how much I love Puerto Rican dishes made by Justin's Grandma. All grandmas' cooking is so special, they cook with only a few ingredients, toss everything together and what you get is just amazing. So simple, so flavorful, so authentic... and you cannot get the same dishes anywhere else but their kitchen! Forget fancy restaurants and famous chefs, there is absolutely nothing better than grandma's dinner. Here is another one of Abuela's Puerto Rican dishes, cracked and decoded by my sister-in-law, Rachel. It's fancy called Habichuelas con Arroz Blanco (at least I think so), but it's simply rice and beans... well, amazing rice and beans I should say! Recipe makes 4-6 servings:

Ingredients:
*  1 29oz. can of kidney beans
*  1 8oz. can tomato sauce
*  1 packet of sazon
*  2 Tbsp sofrito
*  7-10 green olives
*  1-2 tsp capers
*  2 potatoes, cubed
*  2 tbsp olive oil

*  3-4 cups of cooked rice

Directions:
1. In a deep pot, heat the olive oil, add sofrito and cook for 1-2 minutes.
2. Add the tomato sauce, sazon, olives, and capers. Cook for 2 minutes.
3. Add the beans along with all their juices, potatoes, 1/2 water and stir everything together.
4. Once boiling, cover, turn the heat down and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
5. Serve over rice.

   Man, I love Puerto Rican cooking!!! Such different flavors than the ones I grew up with. Lots of beans, capers and olives, that's my kind of food. It's salty and tangy from the capers and olives, the big chunks of potatoes give it some "hardiness", and the sauce-covered rice is just a perfect combination.

Enjoy,
Magda.