The UConn Health community is celebrating their beloved Hispanic heritage and cultural roots by sharing their favorite family recipes with the community.<\/p>\n
UConn Health\u2019s Assistant Director of Food and Nutrition Services Ashley Sep\u00falveda, 35, from New Britain\u2019s family originally hails from Guayanilla, Puerto Rico.\u00a0 This is her second time working at UConn Health, with 11 years already under her belt.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, at UConn Health she is following in her father\u2019s career footsteps and is celebrating her culture through food.<\/p>\n
\u201cI work in the same kitchen at UConn Health that my Dad did for 34 years!\u201d she shares. \u201cThat\u2019s why I am in this food business. UConn Health is my home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each week beginning on Friday, September 20, during the four-week run of Hispanic Heritage Month, the main caf\u00e9 located in the Main Building at UConn Health, will be offering new special menus created by staffers.<\/p>\n
Sep\u00falveda’s menu is extra special: \u201cPollo guisado is my Dad\u2019s favorite meal.\u201d<\/p>\n
September 20th <\/sup>offered menu creation of Ashley Sep\u00falveda: <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Arroz blanco y habichuelas\u00a0guisadas-<\/em> White Rice and Stewed Beans<\/p>\n Pollo Guisado<\/em>– Stewed Chicken<\/p>\n Ensalada de coditos<\/em>– Macaroni Salad<\/p>\n Beef Empanadillas<\/em>– Beef Turnovers<\/p>\n Boricua Style Baked Ziti<\/em><\/p>\n Lily Paradis, 37, is also of New Britain and is of Puerto Rican descent. She\u2019s only been with UConn Health\u2019s Salad Bar for seven months but loves her job.<\/p>\n \u201cI really like my job,\u201d Paradis shared. \u201cThis is an opportunity to share what my food tastes like, and our culture.\u201d<\/p>\n Her recipe is close to her heart too, and in memory of her late mother.<\/p>\n \u201cI picked my recipe because my mom\u2019s favorite was pork shoulder and yellow rice,\u201d Paradis says.<\/p>\n She loves working at UConn Health because it\u2019s just like her family and Hispanic culture.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are very family-oriented, and we like to help others,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n September 20th<\/sup> offered menu creation of Lily Paradis: <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Arroz con Gandules<\/em>– Yellow Rice with Pigeon Peas<\/p>\n Pernil<\/em>– Puerto Rican Style Pulled Pork<\/p>\n Ensalada de papa<\/em>– Potato Salad<\/p>\n Flan<\/em><\/p>\n Platanos Maduros<\/em>-Sweet Plantains<\/p>\n Enjoy the new special food offerings presented each week this 2024 Hispanic Heritage Month offered through October 15 by UConn Health\u2019s very own.<\/p>\n Each year Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated September 15 – October 15. It is a celebration of Hispanic and Latine\u00a0history and culture. It is in extra recognition to the many contributions made to the history and culture of the United States, including important advocacy work, vibrant art, popular and traditional foods, and much more.<\/p>\n In addition, Hispanic Heritage Month provides an additional opportunity to explore the incredible impact Latinas and Latinos have had on the United States for generations. The Latine\u00a0presence in America spans centuries, predating Spain\u2019s colonization of what is now part of the United States, and they have been an integral part of shaping our nation since the Revolutionary War. Through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Treaty of Paris that followed the Mexican-American and Spanish-American wars, the United States gained territories in the Southwest and Puerto Rico. This incorporated the people of this area into the United States and further expanded the presence of Hispanic Americans.<\/p>\n This Hispanic Heritage Month menu initiative is a collaboration between Morrison Healthcare, the UConn John Dempsey Hospital (JDH) Diversity Council, and UConn Health\u2019s Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI). <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Through October 15 Visit the Main Caf\u00e9 Weekly for New Celebratory Family Recipe Food Offerings<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":219074,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1873],"class_list":["post-219070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uconn-health"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-30 02:17:20","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219070"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219075,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219070\/revisions\/219075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/219074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219070"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=219070"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=219070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}