My week of Frida Kahlo inspired cooking

In THIS post, I wrote about participating in a weekly women's history themed baking challenge and that the theme for the previous week was Frida Kahlo. At the time of the baking challenge, the cookbook Frida's Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo by Marie-Pierre Colle and Guadalupe Rivera was not available at my local library. However, I recently got my hands on it and loved it! 

This cookbook is one part cookbook, one part Mexican history and culture guidebook, and one part Frida Kahlo biography. It is packed with photos not just of recipes, but also from Frida Kahlo's life and Casa Azul -- her home and studio. the book is arranged by months and each month starts with three to five pages of biography and memories of the authors' experiences with Frida, followed by a page with a menu plan for the month -- often based around a holiday or celebration -- and then the recipes. 

Because I didn't have the cookbook during the baking challenge week back in August, I only used one of Frida's recipes that week (I found it online). I also went beyond baking and took it as a Mexican cooking challenge. 

The one recipe I did make that was from Frida's cookbook is Macaroni with Spinach Sauce. Due to a dairy allergy, I made some substitutions, but it turned out fairly tasty, although it looked nothing like the photo in the cookbook. Unfortunately, I neglected to get a photo of mine, but what I ended up with was a casserole that was entirely green, not yellow and green with pasta and spinach clearly defined. Oh well! I do have some ideas for making this again and having it turn out more like the cookbook photo, but we'll see. Here's the same dish in the cookbook:

For the rest of my cooking challenge focused on Mexican dishes, I made a vegan/dairy free Tres Leches cake -- but couldn't find one that fit both my and my son's allergies and so did a lot of alterations to ingredients. It turned out sooooo delicious though! For my three milks, I used Ripple dairy free milk, oat milk, and a coconut based creamer. 

The cake was so delicious! I will definitely make it again. My finished cake: 

I also made vegan barbacoa tacos which I loved, but my son didn't like the flavor very much. The filling is lentils based and was excellent as an enchilada filling too.

Lastly, I attempted to make chilaquiles, but they didn't turn out like authentic chilaquiles. I realized halfway through that the recipe I was using was not at all authentic! You don't need to tell me that these aren't authentic -- I know! I had someone tell me on repeat that they weren't authentic even though I had already stated that at the outset! I actually don't care that much that they aren't authentic because the dish tasted great anyhow!

And, finally, here are some images from Frida's Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo:

You can buy the book and support independent booksellers via Bookshop HERE.

Or, buy from Amazon HERE.

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