🥔 Food People, Parent Picks: Marta's Favorite Things
Marta Rivera Diaz of Sense & Edibility on homemade adobo, the pastelón that travels, the cocktail bartenders should know — and the kitchen rules she's quietly retired.
Food People, Parent Picks: we ask our favorite chefs, food writers, and industry insiders who we interview in our Order Up! Series to share the products, books, and bites they can’t live without.
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Earlier this week in our Order Up! conversation, Marta Rivera Diaz — chef, author of Sense & Edibility, and founding member of Eat the Culture — talked about cooking through food insecurity as a kid, writing recipes that meet people where they are, and finally letting “done is better than perfect” run her kitchen. Check out this week’s Order Up! interview with Marta here.
Today, we’re getting practical. From the three pantry staples she refuses to run out of, to the freezer meal she’d put in any new parent’s hand, to the splurge that’s always worth the money, Marta shares the ingredients, tools, and shortcuts that keep her kitchen running.
Three pantry staples you refuse to run out of?
Can I do six? Three perishables and three non-perishables.
Perishables: Onion, Garlic, and Ginger.
Non-perishables: Unsalted tomato sauce, Chicken stock (or whatever stock you have), and Adobo or sazón — a seasoning blend.
You can do almost anything with those.
One homemade pantry essential every parent should try making once?
A spice blend. If you make your own adobo, you’ve covered all the bases — garlic, onion, salt, pepper, color. It’s seasoning in one shake.
If you already keep spices in the pantry, you have what you need to build your own blends. And it’s going to taste better than the store-bought one. I promise.
The freezer meal you’d put in a parent’s hand?
Probably my pastelón. It’s sweet, it’s savory, it’s a complete meal in one — picadillo and plantains layered up. Add a green salad and you’re done. Kids love the sweet-savory thing. You can tell them it’s “Puerto Rican lasagna” if it helps. (It’s not — but they’ll go for it.) It bakes off ahead, freezes beautifully, and reheats well, which is why it’s the one I always brought to new moms in my husband’s unit.
If not pastelón, then my five-cheese mac and cheese.
One kitchen tool you’d buy twice?
An immersion blender. It purées soups, makes dressings, builds sauces, even whips cream. They are not expensive anymore. I especially recommend them for people with dexterity issues, college kids, or single parents — anyone who doesn’t have the space (or the energy) to lug a full blender out every time.
Grocery store shortcut you don’t apologize for?
Boxed stocks. They are what they are. If you need to fortify them, add a little bouillon. You will rarely catch me hovering over a stove making stock from scratch. I do it sometimes, but if I don’t have to? I have a degree. I don’t have anything to prove.
All-time favorite cookbook?
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat [Bookshop, Amazon]. She killed it. That book is going to become part of the canon. It’s an expert book.
The cocktail you order anywhere — and want every bartender to know how to make?
The Gin Rickey. It’s a classic, and it makes me mad how many bartenders don’t know it. (I feel so cultured saying, “I’ll have a Gin Rickey, my good man.” It’s just cute.)
Birthday dessert your twins always requested?
Cheesecake, any cheesecake [Marta’s Classic Cheesecake Recipe]. I’m a New Yorker, I know how to do cheesecake. One year, even though their birthday is in early July, they asked for pumpkin cheesecake. So I went looking for pumpkins. (That was peak “I have to do everything from scratch” energy. It also taught me to roast pumpkins in the fall and freeze them for later. I’m a big freezer person.)
Kitchen splurge that’s always worth it?
A good knife. Spend money on your knives, and please don’t put them in the dishwasher. With one good chef’s knife that fits your hand and a paring knife, you can do almost anything.
And if your hands aren’t on board with that, a food processor.
The dessert you make as a comfort gift?
My banana pudding [recipe on her website here!]. It has graham crackers and vanilla wafers, homemade pastry cream, and homemade whipped cream. It’s a labor of love. There’s a purity to it because nothing is artificial — no shade to anyone using pudding mix, but pastry cream made from scratch is a different thing.
Anything else you want parents to know?
Eat the leftovers. Stored and reheated properly, they’re often better the second day. And try to be intentional about being at the table together. We do something at our house called You’ve Got a Chef at Home: every Friday, we pick a restaurant meal we want to recreate, shop for it during the week, and cook it together. It’s cheaper, inclusive, and it teaches the kids technique while I supervise. Build in one night a week where you’re intentional about being together over a meal.