Sofrito peppers, celery can replace onions, and parsley or culantro can be used in place of cilantro. In Ecuadorian cuisine, sofrito is called "refrito", and it is made of Spanish onions, cubanelle peppers, fresh tomatoes, roasted garlic, cilantro, and ground toasted cumin. In the Mexican state of Yucatán, habanero chiles are essential to the local variation of sofrito. In Puerto Rican cuisine, sofrito is mostly used when cooking rice dishes, sauces, and soups. Sofrito is closely related to "recaíto". The two main ingredients that give Puerto Rican sofrito its characteristic flavor are "recao" (culantro) and "ají dulce", but red and green
Parsley with numerous 2 mm diameter yellow to yellowish-green flowers. The seeds are ovoid, 2–3 mm long, with prominent style remnants at the apex. One of the compounds of the essential oil is apiol. The plant normally dies after seed maturation. Parsley is a source of flavonoids and antioxidants, especially luteolin, apigenin, folic acid, vitamin K, vitamin C, and vitamin A. Half a tablespoon (a gram) of dried parsley contains about 6.0 µg of lycopene and 10.7 µg of alpha carotene as well as 82.9 µg of lutein+zeaxanthin and 80.7 µg of beta carotene. Excessive consumption of parsley should be avoided