Amanda Torres - Latin American Paleo Cooking: Over 80 Traditional Recipes Made Grain and Gluten Free

Creator of The Curious CoconutThank you for buying thisPage Street Publishing Co. ebook. To receive special offers, bonus content, and info on new releases and other great reads, sign up for our newsletters. Or visit us online at us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. FOR MILAGROS, MY SWEET MOTHER-IN-LAW. FOR MILAGROS, MY SWEET MOTHER-IN-LAW.

YOUR PASSION FOR COOKING DELICIOUS, HEARTY MEALS TO NOURISH LOVED ONES IS AN INSPIRATION. IT IS AN HONOR TO CONTINUE YOUR FAMILYS CULINARY TRADITIONS IN MY OWN KITCHEN.

Food is a many-faceted, glorious animal. It is social, it is emotional, it is home, it is family. Recipes are passed down like stories that construct our family trees. They become part of our heritage and our genetic fabric. What happens when those stories, those recipes, those traditions come to a halt because of food sensitivities, autoimmune disease and allergies? A void opens that is not just physical, but also emotional.

And complicated at best. Older generations are insulted and younger generations sad at the thought of being unable to take part in family traditions. Paleo eaters find the lifestyle for a variety of reasons, many seeking for optimal health and well-being. Some, however, are required to eat grain-, dairy- and sugar-free to curb inflammation caused by the standard way of eating. Eating this way is a lifesaver for many and can help restore normalcy to those who are suffering. The struggle comes when cultural food norms must be abandoned in order to adhere to more healthful choices.

Amanda Torres, of The Curious Coconut, knows all too well about sacrificing favorite foods, and about those that felt like home. Through her own struggles with obesity and health issues, Amanda knew there was no other choice than to turn away from comfort foods and embrace those that were nutrient-dense and healing. But Amanda wanted to embrace traditional foods, too, especially the beloved Puerto Rican recipes from her husbands family that she adored so much. She began using her blog, The Curious Coconut, to find creative ways to recreate these recipes, making them without such grains as wheat and corn, and without dairy as well. Then, after moving to Miami, Florida, she realized that there were endless recipes from other parts of Latin America she wanted to recreate: Cuban, Colombian, Venezuelan, Peruvian, Brazilian and Argentinean, among others. In these pages, youll find Amandas whole-hearted, whole-food approach to embracing Latin American foods, making them completely grain-, gluten-, dairy- and refined sugarfree.

Shes included everything from empanadas to Peruvian chicken to papas rellenas to chicharrnes to pupusas. Collaborating with her mother-in-law, shes placed a special emphasis on Puerto Rican dishes, using recipes passed down for generations for pasteles, alcapurrias, bacalaitos and more. She has seasonings, sauces, sides, sweets and everything in between. I know that Amanda dedicates herself entirely to make certain that when she is writing a new recipe, it is not only authentic, but soulfully connected to the original recipe she is recreating. And as a fan of Latin fare, Im equally as excited to dive into the recipes to include in my own kitchen. I got to meet Amanda in person at Joel Salatins Polyface Farm, which exemplifies ethical and sustainable farming. We connected there over a shared dedication to using high-quality and humanely produced food as medicine.

At the time, there were very few resources for those trying to navigate autoimmune disease and diet, and we got to know each other better as we grew our websites to help fill that void. Amanda has taken care not to exclude the autoimmune community with this cookbook, providing many substitutions so that those who need to avoid nightshades, nuts, eggs and seeds can still enjoy delicious Latin American food. In short, roll your sleeves up, put on some music and dig into Latin American Paleo Cooking. Youll begin to hear the stories of generations past, inhale the fragrant history of the recipes and taste the love poured into each dish.
Buen provecho!

Hola! My name is Amanda Torres, founder of the blog The Curious Coconut, a trusted source for delicious and creative grain-free, dairy-free, allergy-friendly food suitable for the Paleo diet as well as the autoimmune protocol. I am awed and extremely grateful to be presenting this cookbook to you, something I never would have thought possible until just a few years ago. I am from a relatively small town in the middle of Georgia and had very little exposure to other cultures growing up. I was raised to have a deep respect for food, especially recipes passed down for generations within the family.

Even though I was an extremely picky eater growing up, when I moved to New Orleans to earn my BS and MS degrees in neuroscience, I embraced the unique local cuisine. I was first introduced to Puerto Rican cuisine in 2005, when I met my future husband, Andy, whose parents are both from the island. Andy and I both adopted the Paleo diet in 2010 because I was obese and facing numerous health problems, including hypertension, prediabetes, depression and an autoimmune skin condition called hidradenitis suppurativa. One year later, I had lost 80 pounds and no longer needed any prescription or over-the-counter medications and had healed or put everything into remission. In 2012 we moved to Miami Beach to a neighborhood known as Little Argentina. I was eager to learn everything I could about the new dining options that had suddenly opened up to me, which included Peruvian, Cuban, Brazilian, Argentinean, Venezuelan and Colombian restaurants.

My co-workers at the University of Miami Medical School were primarily all originally from a Latin American country. Finding myself so immersed in such a diverse array of Latin American cultures, I embraced all of the new foods I was exposed to. Something that really struck me is that so much of the food was, by its very nature, very Paleo friendly. In many cases, all you had to do was ensure you were using a healthy cooking fat and the dish was perfectly compliant. And so my passion for sharing traditional Latin American food with the Paleo community was born. Ever since the inception of my blog in 2012, I have always loved to educate about the traditional ingredients (such as plantains, yuca and malanga) and share authentic recipes.

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