Tuck Shop Chef Carmen Vazquez shows us how to cook vegan empanadas with style
At our headquarters in San Francisco and in many of our other offices around the globe, we’re proud to say that we have some of the best chefs in the business working for Dropbox. They all bring their individual backgrounds, tastes, and skills to our Tuck Shop kitchens, where the rest of our team members can get the world-class meals they need to get through their work days.
As part of a special WFH cooking series, we asked a few of our chefs to film a favorite recipe to share with Dropboxers as they cook their way through quarantine. Carmen Vazquez, one of our Tuck Shop chefs in San Francisco, put her signature style and heritage to work as she selected the perfect meal to showcase.
“It wasn’t easy to choose! As a chef, we always have a bunch of recipes that we like and want to share with everybody, especially in these moments where you can’t cook for people or share a meal so easily. For this video, I wanted to show off my heritage, so definitely wanted to cook something Mexican. I’m also vegan, so it was a little fusion there too. And then there was the interesting/challenging factor to consider; I didn’t want to do a recipe where all the components were store-bought, making it too simple. Everyone’s baking a lot, so I decided to go with empanadas stuffed with calabasitas — with a healthier, baked version that’s easier and cleaner. Once I took in all the positives of choosing that, then it was easy for me to be proud of that recipe.”
Carmen’s choice paid off for her own dinner too. After filming, she got to enjoy some of her creations — but like the true chef she is, she still found a way to safely share her talents with someone else.
“The recipe made about 10 empanadas, and I baked some of them for myself. I made some fresh salsa and a cabbage and jicama slaw to go with them. They’re also really easy to freeze raw and cook later, so I gave some frozen away to my boyfriend’s vegetarian grandma. I knew she would love them!”
Since Carmen hasn’t been able to cook fresh recipes for hundreds of Dropboxers every day like she used to, she’s had to work a little differently to find new inspiration. For her, it all boils down to gratitude for the experiences and privileges she’s enjoyed, while immersing herself in other walks of life as much as she can.
“I redid a part of my living room to stage a little desk, where I can revisit a lot of my books that have been hidden for a long time. I also find inspiration from shows I watch — I just recently watched a Latin America street food show. You can be inspired through that — they’re focusing on a lot of indigenous people who, at some point, struggled to get their feet wet in the food industry, but now they’re killing it and they’re well known. You see yourself as so privileged to have so much at your disposal to make things happen. There’s also the seasonality — I’m so grateful to be at home right now during the summer, where we can take our time to barbecue and garden and enjoy the outdoors.
If you’re open to your surroundings, inspiration can be as simple as your Instagram feed. If you’re open to what you’re intaking and how you view that, you can find inspiration through anything.”
Ready to be inspired by some incredible vegan Mexican food? You’re in luck. You can check out Carmen’s tutorial here.
