Costa Rica is residence to one of many world’s Blue Zones, the place individuals reside longer and more healthy lives than common. I am from a small city within the area of Cartago, referred to as Llano Grande, which is thought for its wealthy agriculture.
As a cookbook writer and cooking trainer who was born and raised right here, I’ve at all times felt that our weight loss program and “pura vida” way of life is our secret to longevity.
To Costa Ricans, what we eat is simply as essential because the expertise within the kitchen and across the desk. We deeply worth the group that comes with cooking. Rising up, I at all times helped my household put together our meals, and even harvested a number of the components.
Lunches and dinners at all times lasted for not less than an hour, and it was our time to speak about our day. This type of aware, collective strategy to meals is one thing I like to share with the scholars who take my cooking lessons. It’s not simply concerning the meals we eat, however the connections that occur round it.
What Costa Ricans eat to reside longer and happier lives
The easiest way to explain Costa Rican delicacies is straightforward and recent. Our weight loss program depends extremely on staples like recent greens, fruits, grains, and beans.
Listed below are a number of the meals that I prepare dinner and eat daily to really feel more healthy and happier in the long term.
1. Beans
Beans are a fantastic supply of protein, fiber, advanced carbohydrates, prebiotics, nutritional vitamins and minerals. They’ve been linked to lowered danger of power ailments like coronary heart illness and diabetes.
Black and pink beans are the most well-liked, normally served as a part of a casado (our conventional dish of rice, beans, veggies and protein) or as a soup consisting of beans and greens.
Chickpeas and lentils are common right here and can be utilized as an alternative choice to the standard black beans.
2. Recent fruit and greens
Fruit and greens in Costa Rica are usually eaten recent, not out of a can or a freezer. We usually get our fruits and veggies from native markets referred to as verdulerias.
A number of the commonest ones in our weight loss program are papaya, mango, banana, watermelon, pineapple and keenness fruit, and they’re both eaten on their very own or made into drinks and juices.
We use quite a lot of greens in Costa Rican cooking, together with potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, avocado, onion, beets, yucca and zucchini. Veggies are both eaten uncooked, in easy salads dressed with lime, or ready as picadillo, chopped and boiled, sometimes with some animal protein blended in for taste.
Picadillo de chayote might be my favourite. Chayote is a kind of squash that’s native to Central and South America, and never quite common in the US. It’s inexperienced and crisp, and it tastes much like a jicama.
3. Rice and corn
Grains like rice and corn are current in our weight loss program, however primarily as a complement to the beans and greens that we eat.
As an example, the tortillas are used to eat the picadillo in what we name “gallos.” Arroz con pollo is a standard Costa Rican dish consisting of rice, plenty of chopped greens and totally different items of hen.
This meal is a very fashionable at celebrations like birthdays, however it is usually very generally loved daily.
4. Espresso
Costa Rican espresso is thought for being excessive in antioxidants, which will help cut back irritation. Sugary drinks are usually not a giant a part of the coffee-drinking tradition.
Espresso right here is loved black or with a little bit of milk. And as a lot as some other meal, a cup is finest loved slowly — we do take our time to drink.
My favourite Costa Rican longevity recipe
We eat rice and beans, both black or pink, two to 3 instances a day. For lunch this meal is named casado. For breakfast, it’s referred to as gallo pinto and consists of rice and beans blended with onions, peppers, and cilantro, accompanied with corn tortillas and low.
Due to its mixture of complete grains, protein, amino acids and antioxidants, longevity researcher and Blue Zones founder Dan Buettner considers gallo pinto to be the healthiest breakfast on this planet. It’s superb how such a easy dish may be filled with so many well being advantages.
Right here is my recipe for Gallo Pinto, so you may make it at residence.
Right here is an instance of my favourite Costa Rican breakfast, Gallo Pinto.
Photograph: Melissa Guzman
Elements:
2/3 cup of cooked black beans1 1/4 cup of cooked rice2 tablespoons chopped onion2 tablespoons chopped pepper2 tablespoons minced cilantro1/2 teaspoon salsa lizano (non-obligatory)1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 teaspoon cumin1/4 teaspoon pepper
Steps:
Warmth up a pan over medium-high warmth, add olive oil, and let it get hotAdd onions, peppers, cilantro, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepperCook for 3 to 5 minutes till the onion is translucent Combine within the beans, stir, and cut back warmth to mediumAdd the lizano sauce, stir, and prepare dinner for 5 extra minutesAdd the rice, stir, and prepare dinner for just a few extra minutes, to include all of the flavors within the rice
To my thoughts, the recipe for why we reside longer, more healthy, and happier lives in Costa Rica is a straightforward one: Recent components which can be ready with care and meals which can be deliberately loved and shared with family members.
Melissa Guzman is a Costa Rican cookbook writer and cooking trainer from Llano Grande, Costa Rica. She is the writer of “Dwelling Longer, More healthy, and Happier: Recipes from Costa Rica.” Observe Melissa on Instagram @recipesfromcostarica.
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