New Bilingual Cookbook: Latinas’ Tasty Recipes Get Cancer-Fighting Makeover

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Eating the right food can help fight cancer.

But what foods are right? Are there such things as healthy—and tasty—traditional Latino dishes?

Check out a new bilingual cookbook, Nuestra Cocina Saludable: Recipes from Our Community Kitchen, to guide you and your family to eat healthy and help protect against cancer and other chronic diseases. The cookbook is from the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) and the Cancer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC) at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Download the free cookbook in English or Spanish.

Inside are 46 recipes for healthy, delicious foods straight from real Latina kitchens.

The cookbook originated when Latinas from across South Texas shared their mouth-watering recipes—like Aurora Rodriguez of Eagle Pass and her savory Beans with Cactus—often noting to be sure to sprinkle in “just a dash of this” or a “handful of that.”

We connected these women with a Latina dietician, who added actual measurements and suggested ways to make the recipes healthier.

Researchers then prepared and taste-tested all recipes to make sure they reached both the highest level of flavor and cancer-fighting ability possible.

“This process created recipes that were lower in fat and/or richer in fiber and vitamins,” said Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH, director of the IHPR and cookbook editor. “Some foods may look a little different or taste slightly different from traditional Mexican-American cuisine, but they are still very delicious and true to the original recipes.”

The cookbook also contains tips for eating healthier, measuring portion sizes, smarter shopping for groceries, and keeping children’s diets in mind.

A sampling of cookbook recipes include:

• Rosita’s Chicken Soup from the kitchen of Rosita Arreguin of San Antonio, Texas (English/Spanish)
• Rosy’s Beef Stew (Carne Guisada Al Vapor) from the kitchen of Rosy Garcia of Eagle Pass, Texas (English/Spanish)
• Lupe’s Spanish Style Vegetables from the kitchen of Lupe Gonzalez of San Antonio, Texas (English/Spanish)
• Consuelo’s Fresh Fruit Punch from the kitchen of Consuelo Cardenas of Eagle Pass, Texas (English/Spanish)
• Alicia’s Frozen Banana Treats from the kitchen of Alicia Rocha of San Antonio, Texas (English/Spanish)

“Each recipe in this cookbook highlights vital nutritional content, such as the per-serving amount of fiber, an important part of a cancer-fighting diet,” said Amanda Sintes, MPH, an IHPR researcher who helped develop the cookbook. “Fiber can lower our cholesterol and blood sugar levels, keep us fuller and help move food through our digestive system. High-fiber foods include beans, whole grains and fruits and vegetables.”

The cookbook was made possible by support from: Redes En Acción: The National Latino Cancer Research Network, an initiative funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to combat cancer among Latinos; and the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC), an NCI-designated Cancer Center at the Health Science Center (Grant P30 CA 054174-19S3).