Back in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico

Saturday's farmers market

We returned to one of our favorite spots in the world in March after our long European adventure. It is nice to be staying in the same place for an extended period (until June). While I wrote about favorite restaurants and food adventures last year, I find that there are always new and different ideas that come my way, especially with regards to our plant based lifestyle. Here I will share with you some new foods, recipes and random pictures and thoughts.

Our weekly organic "Tiangus" or market is a full of delicious veggies and fruits and the prices are amazing. Each week I go with about 100-150 pesos ($7-$10 US) of change and usually do not spend it all. This bounty, including bread was under ten dollars. 

Granada China

One of the first new fruits that I encountered was a "Granada China" or "Chinese Pomegranate". The inside is a gelatinous sack of seeds and once the fruit is cut in half, you just eat all the insides with a spoon. Though it did not look appetizing to me at first, the taste was delicious.  From the internet I found this picture and information of the various nutrients that it contains. (For more information ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_ligularis).

Caimito or Cayumito

Today at the farmers market I encountered another new fruit - the Caimito which is a beautiful purple and white fruit with a delicious taste. If it is cut correctly a star of purple shows....you can see half of this star in several of these pieces. Here also is information from wikipedia..."The fruit is purple and green and usually with is a star pattern. The seeds are brown and hard. The fruits are delicious as a dessert - sweet. "We enjoyed trying this fruit together with our friends Erin and Philip at our weekly breakfast after the market. 

We have had a number of visitors and it gives us a great chance to visit different areas around San Cris. One visit was to the city of Comitan (about 2 hours from here). You may remember that we were there for 3 weeks volunteering several years ago. We happened into a beautiful restaurant in  "La Casa del Marquis de Camillas".  At first glance we did not find anything vegan on the menu but asked a few questions and the chef came and was thrilled to make me some special items. First a delicious vegetable soup and then an amazing salad of fruits and vegetables, presented so beautifully. We will surely return to this restaurant with a beautiful courtyard of flowers and artwork. I will remind you all that you can always ask for items not found on menus and usually, especially in areas with world travelers, the staff will accommodate a request for a totally plant based menu.

Several trips to the little textile village of Zinacantan brought us to this local family who prepared us home made tortillas and served them with a tasty powder of toasted pumpkin seeds. It was explained that animal protein was rare in this indigenous village and so rarely eaten. This is a very good option for getting protein. I was intrigued to try and make it myself which I did (see my recipe below). It is great served on warm tortillas, but also in salad, on stew or wherever.


Pumpkin seed topping (Polvo de pepita de calabaza)

Toast raw pumpkin seeds for 5-10 minutes
Process in food processor for a few minutes till powder
Add salt to taste (optional)