Arepas
Arepas are corn cakes that are part of the cuisine of Venezuela and Colombia. I first ate them when I visited Medellin.They were part of the breakfast included with my stay in the hotel in Poblado. Recently I hosted a Venezuelan as a guest un my home and I learned how to make arepas and now they are a regular part of my diet.
Arepasas are corn cakes fried in a little oil in a frying pan. They are thicker thn Mexican tortillas and thinner than the pupusas of El Salvador. They are simple to make. I am not a good cook and if I can make arepas, anyone can. But to make arepas, you need a special type of corn flour, not just any corn flour. Don't ask me why, but my guest insisted we by the right brand. PAN corn flour is suitable, and the directions for making arepas is on the back of the package, if you don't trust mine. I use three quarters of a cup of flour to make two large arepas. Add a little salt to the flour and enough water to make a dough ball from the flour. This will be a little less than the amount of flour. Divide the dough ball into parts, flatten them, and fry them in a pan with a little oil, about five minutes per side.
I slice them in half and add fake ground beef made from TVP, because I'm a vegetarian. It's more traditional to add real meat or cheese to the middle. Vegans can add black beans. Arepas are very versatile, like bread for a sandwich, you can add almost anything you would put in a sandwich.
So how healthy are arepas? In my opinion they are pretty healthy, healthier than regular bread, because they have less salt and no milk or sugar. They are a carbohydrate, but I can't see a reason why a normal person shouldn't eat carbohydrates, as long as they don't over consume them. Whether arepas are health or not dpendes on what you fill them with and I think any lean protein is healthy. You are getting healthy carbohydrates and protein in a meal. Just add fruit for dessert to make a balanced meal.
Not only are arepas healthy, it is tastier to eat a warm meal thn a cold sandwich. And they can be made in a few minutes. So I would recommend them to anyone.