ow that I live here, although there are plenty of visits to the local taqueria, I can get all the ingredients to make fabulous tacos at home. The really good kind of corn tortillas. Cilantro for 25 cents a bunch, and limes for a dollar a dozen. The sweet white onions necessary to real Mexican food. And the meat. Any carniceria worth its salt will sell you carne asada — seasoned beef, ready for the grill. But I’d never attempted to make it myself, until I saw the recipe in the LA Times, in an article about the combining of Mexican and Armenian food traditions in one Angeleno family. It seemed almost laughably easy, so I picked up the ingredients at my local Mexican Armenian market — beef flap meat (though any very thin and flavorful cut of beef will do), cilantro, onions, and the ultimate authentic ingredient: Worcestershire sauce. (LA always has been, and always will be, a melting pot). A few whirls in the food processor, some quality time with the grill, and I had my tacos. No need for a taqueria run.
Entries Tagged as 'mexican'
Tacos Por Favor — Shredded Chicken Tacos with Tomatillo Sauce
September 29th, 2009 · 14 Comments · Main Dishes, Poultry, Quick, Recipes, weeknight dinners
I like to to say I’m a California girl born and bred, but when I hit the tender age of seventeen I was ready for anything but. I wanted away from brown hills and palm trees, dry desert air and eternal sunshine. So when I graduated from high school, I lost no time in packing up my life and heading for college in New England.
New England was a revelation – the summers were a deeper green than I have ever seen, shading through a multicolored fall into a grey and black and sometimes white winter. I dove into the culture, donning peacoats and woolen scarves, going apple picking and clam digging. I picked leaves in the fall and lilacs in the spring. And even now my years in Connecticut have changed me, making people who are die hard Easterners think I must be one too.
For more on my California Girl tendencies and a recipe for tacos, clock on the post title above.
Tags: chicken·Gluten Free·mexican·weeknight
The Hits Keep Coming — Recipes for Black Beans 3 Ways
June 11th, 2009 · 8 Comments · Kitchen Management, Main Dishes, Make Ahead, Quick, Recipes, Soups and Starters, Vegetarian, weeknight dinners
I know I’m going to get my frugal license taken away for this, but the truth of the matter is I don’t really like leftovers. Sure, I’ll take last night’s dinner as a brown bag lunch the next day, but that’s pretty much it. I’m certainly not eating the same thing for dinner the next night, and forget about having it every night for a week.
However, when you are cooking for two adults and a toddler (who may, or may not eat whatever you’ve made, depending on some bizarre power struggle/whimsy/will of the gods), sometimes leftovers are unavoidable. Sometimes I foist them on my husband to take to work for lunch multiple days in a row; sometimes I strongly hint to my babysitter that she’s welcome to help herself to anything in that fridge, but sometimes these strategies don’t work, and I am forced to my last resort. No, not eating leftovers. I’m talking about the element of disguise.
See, even though I may not want to eat the same thing three days in one week, I am perfectly willing to eat three different things with the same base ingredients. Like these black beans three ways. I like beans and rice, and realize that many people eat it every day of their lives, but sadly, I am not one of those people. I can, however, eat beans and rice one day, and a quesadilla another day, and soup on a third day and be perfectly happy to do all three. Apparently I’m not too bright if I can trick myself this easily, but there you go. Thus we have — black beans three ways, or how to use up your leftovers without driving yourself crazy.
Tags: beans·crockpot·Gluten Free·mexican·savings·soup·Vegetarian·weeknight
