Healthy South American Recipes

This seafood stew from Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, dates back hundreds of years and reflects the region's diverse population and history. It merges the African ingredients of dendê (red palm oil) and coconut milk with indigenous traditions of preparing seafood in clay pots over coals. Dendê is traditionally used for its rich flavor and beautiful red color, but you can use canola oil instead, as the tomato paste will still lend the dish a vibrant hue.

A riff on chimichurri sauce, this healthy herb sauce recipe brings together mint, basil and ground coriander. Use as a healthy sauce for topping chicken, fish or pasta.

This recipe was inspired by the popular Chilean sandwich, called a churrasco, that features a thin sandwich steak, mashed avocado and a type of salsa called Pebre. We have substituted tender strip steak for sandwich steaks to make a satisfying steak dinner. If you have leftovers, layer the components in a mayonnaise-coated crusty roll and enjoy a churrasco sandwich the following day. Searing a steak on the stovetop and then finishing it in a moderate oven allows for good browning, and the gentle heat helps ensure a tender result.

This bright orange hot sauce recipe is perfect for spicing up eggs, soups and seafood. To cut the heat, use a little more carrot or fewer habanero peppers. Scotch bonnet peppers can be substituted.

Traditionally, locros are thick, vegetable-based soups, served mostly during the cold months of the year in Ecuador. They are meant to be hearty and filling enough to stand as a whole meal. Be sure to seek out achiote paste, as there is no good substitute.

These savory pastries were created by Mariana Velasquez, a Test Kitchen intern who grew up in Bogotá, Colombia. “Whenever we took a trip into the country we would stop at a roadside stand for empanadas. We would wrap the empanada with a napkin, take a bite and pour a spoonful of aji sauce inside the stuffing. This empanada is called pipian because it uses toasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas). In Colombia, empanadas are deep-fried, but you bake these without sacrificing a crispy crust. They are fun to make with children.”

Chimichurri sauce is a tangy herbal accompaniment that can liven up any meat or poultry dish.

A lime-juice marinade "cooks" the raw shrimp in this classic ceviche. For a refreshing update, this one is served with a salsa made from creamy avocado, juicy tomato and tangy cilantro.

This Puerto Rican one-dish chicken and rice stew is rich in flavor.

In this easy quinoa recipe, tomatillos work double-duty: some are pureed to flavor the cooking liquid, others are chopped and stirred in raw for color and texture. Serve with grilled chicken, steak or fish, and a dollop of sour cream.

Make this spicy poblano, corn, black bean and quinoa salad recipe to serve with whatever you're grilling, or have a larger portion as a main dish. To use canned beans, skip Step 1 and add about 2 1/2 cups beans in Step 7.

A fish sandwich doesn't have to be deep-fried to be delicious. Try our healthy crispy fish sandwich recipe with a tangy, zesty pineapple slaw. It's worth taking the extra minute to chop pineapple slices instead of using crushed pineapple, which is too small and disappears into the slaw. Store-bought shredded cabbage-carrot mix saves time. Look for it in the produce section.

Picadillo, which means “small bits and pieces,” is a sweet-and-savory spiced ground- meat mixture from Latin America. Serve with warm corn or whole-wheat flour tortillas.

This healthy buttermilk chicken breast recipe has all the flavor of buttermilk fried chicken without the frying. The herb sauce recipe brings together mint, basil and ground coriander--perfect for serving with the chicken, or make extra and toss with pasta.

Though traditional Puerto Rican cuisine may favor fatty cuts of pork with the skin on, lean cuts like pork loin are just as delicious with the intense garlic rub in this recipe. Serve warm with red beans and rice. Leftover slices make a good sandwich.

Plantains and orange juice balance this thick, Latin American pork-and-bean stew with some sweetness and also a little acidity. Top with nonfat sour cream or yogurt, if you like.

In Venezuela, sandwiches are often made with corn rolls known as arepas (ah-reh-pahs) that are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Here, we use the arepas to create a healthy sandwich stuffed with chicken and avocado salad.

Escabeche, which means “pickled” in Spanish, is a popular condiment in Mexico and other Latin American countries. In this escabeche recipe, we also add carrots and onions to the chiles. Jalapeños are traditional, but any small hot chiles, such as serranos, will work. Stored in the refrigerator, the vegetables stay crunchy; if canned they will be softer, but still delicious.

Brooke Siem baked with grandmothers around the world for her Grandmother Project, including with Sofy in Buenos Aires, where she learned this Argentinian take on bread pudding. It tastes like a magical mashup of French toast, cheesecake and flan. The caramel is made directly in the pan you bake the pudding in (one less dish to wash!), so you'll need a metal cake pan or pie plate. Sofy uses Wonder Bread, but any soft white sandwich bread will produce luscious results. Learn more about this recipe and other recipes Siem learned as part of her project in the article How Cooking Connected One Chef with Grandmothers Across the World.

The flavors of picadillo--a dish found all over Latin America--turn meatloaf into something more than the usual. Make it a meal: Accompany with cornbread and hot green beans splashed with vinegar.

In this healthy kebab recipe, ancho chile powder, made from dried poblano chiles, is used for a slightly spicier and smokier flavor than regular chili powder. Serve alongside fresh tomato wedges for an easy weeknight dinner or arrange on a platter at your next cookout.

Barbecued meats (churrasco) are served in churrascarias, Brazilian barbecued-meat restaurants, with a salsa-like sauce as an accompaniment. Since hearts of palm show up at every salad bar in these restaurants, we've added them to the sauce to give it a tasty twist.

An acidic combination of citrus juices "cooks" fresh fish to make ceviche. Yuzu looks like a bumpy lemon and is prized in Japanese cuisine for its distinctly aromatic juice and rind. Buy yuzu juice in Asian markets and online, or substitute more lemon juice. Recipe adapted from Chef Greg Harrison, Pacific'O Restaurant.

Caramelize brown sugar on slices of fresh pineapple under your broiler for a quick and easy dessert.