iFiesta!

Well, it nearly hit 80 in San Antonio today, and if it's going to act like summer then I might as well enjoy it and eat like summer! I felt like indulging my great love for Mexican food by making a delicious salad. The best thing about salads is that you can literally put any veggies you like on them - variety only makes them more interesting! I had no clue what was going to end up on mine until I checked out at Central Market, the candy shop for foodies.

Tequila Lime Chicken Fiesta Salad

Ingredients:

-2 cups mixed greens (or lettuce of any kind)

-2-3 chicken tenderloins

-1/2 tomato (if you're using cherry or grape tomatoes, I'd say 6-8 of those should do the trick), sliced

-1/2 avocado, sliced

-2 tbsp sour cream

-1/8 cup cheese, chopped (I used a mild cheddar - any cheese will do but you don't want it to be too sharp)

-1/2 lime, juiced

-1 tbsp olive oil

-1/2 tsp black pepper

-2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

tequila

That's everything I used, but you could easily spice it up some more and add some pico de gallo, your favorite salsa, or slice up some jalapeno!

1) Brush the chicken tenderloins with tequila, then grill until cooked. Slice them up and drizzle a little more tequila on top to allow the flavor to soak in (Note - all in all, you don't want to use more than 1-2 tablespoons of tequila). Set aside to cool.

2) Meanwhile, in a small-medium bowl, mix together the greens, olive oil, lime juice, and black pepper.

3) When the chicken has cooled down to warm, toss it in the bowl with the greens and add the sour cream. Toss until combined.

4) Toss in the tomato and avocado and mix lightly

5) Finally, garnish with cheese and cilantro. For an added crunch, you can top with crushed tortilla chips.

Enjoy! Central Market is having its citrus festival, and when I saw "pink" lemons, I couldn't pass them up! For dessert, I mixed some Haagen Dazs lemon ice cream with pink lemonade Emergen-C (sounds weird, I know, but I really liked the fizz it added and I need to keep my immune system healthy!) and topped it with some pink lemon juice.

Pastacular!

I was sick all last week, so to celebrate my first home cooked meal as a once again healthy person, I wanted to make something super tasty. Winter in San Antonio may not be cruel, but it's still nice to have warm food. Also, I've been on a zucchini kick. So, I decided to cook some pasta and make something up as I went along. I was originally going to add some marinara sauce, but the bottle in the fridge dated back to November so I had to improvise. This is a recipe that can easily be adapted - throw in any vegetables you like, add some sauce.. anything is pastable! (last pun, I promise)

Ingredients:

1 cup of pasta (I used penne - I'm trying to get rid of this bag so I can move on to my whole wheat cavatappi!)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 zucchini, sliced but not peeled

red onion, chopped (use as much as you want - I have a small mandolin so I just sliced off 2 layers)

2 garlic cloves, minced (one needs to be small, one can be as big as you want depending on how much you like garlic)

1 tbsp butter

1/4 cup parmesan cheese (pecorino would have been amazing in this pasta, but sometimes you just have to settle for what's in the fridge)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 slice bread (I used challah, hence the extreme yellow hue. such a great bread for dipping in soups as well!)

1) Cook the pasta in boiling water until it is almost completely cooked.

2) You can either add the zucchini in the boiling pot and cook it while the pasta finishes before draining, or you can drain the pasta, put it back in the bowl, and add the zucchini. I've done it both ways and liked it, it just depends on how soft you want your vegetables.

3) After the pasta is drained, return it to the pot and add the zucchini, red onion, 1 clove of garlic (not the small one), half of the butter, and the parmesan. Stir until the vegetables are reasonably cooked.

4) Mix remaining butter and the small clove of garlic in a small bowl and microwave 15 seconds. Stir together and pour over bread slice.

Enjoy! Side note - acai berry juice is delicious at any time of day.

Spicing Up the Ordinary

Some people, like my mom, don't like turkey. I love it, but I will admit it's a pretty boring meat by itself. Being a lover of spicy foods, I decided to change up my usual turkey sandwich lunch. I was pretty happy with how it turned out - there was a nice combination of spice and flavor with sriracha (a Thai chili sauce) and black pepper juxtaposed with cheese and sour cream to keep it smooth. Also, sitting at 395 calories, it's not a bad choice! If you lose the bread and just toss everything over arugula, that cuts it down to 195 calories, but if I'm going to contribute to my Middle East politics class today, I'm going to need some 7 grain goodness. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 slices wheat bread
4 slices turkey (I used turkey with cracked pepper for a little extra flavor)
2 tablespoons light sour cream
1 teaspoon sriracha (at most supermarkets)
3 thin slices of sharp cheddar (I bought a block of cheddar, but if you're using precut slices just use one, or 2-3 tablespoons of shredded cheese)
1 slice of red onion (or about 2 tablespoons chopped)
2 tablespoons arugula
2 pickle slices

Mix together the sour cream and sriracha sauce and divide it between the two slices of bread. Place the turkey, cheese, onion, pickles, on the sandwich and sprinkle the chopped arugula on top.

On the side? Garden herb Triscuits and a Clementine orange were pretty delicious.

Hor d'œuvres

Just like hor d'œuvres precede a meal, I wanted to make a forward to precede this blog. I guess the best way to start this blog is by being simple and straightforward: I love to cook. Cooking combines almost all of my interests and skills. With just a little bit of logic, creativity, and common sense, it's pretty easy to make something delicious. It's for this reason that I always veer towards the cookbook section of any bookstore. However, as an impatient and busy college senior, I don't have the time or resources to spend all day creating complex meals (as much as I would like to). Also, lately I've been steering away from cookbooks and inventing my own recipes, especially if there are one or two ingredients that I dislike in a dish that looks otherwise delicious.

Introductions aside, I should explain what this blog is all about. Mystère et boule de gomme is a phrase I learned in high school French class. Roughly translated, it means "mystery and gumballs." In context, it is used by children as an answer to questions that they don't know. Similarly, I have no clue what will become of this blog. It's entirely possible I'll get bored with this in a month. What I want out of this, however, is to post recipes that anyone can take and make their own. Some think that cooking is difficult, when in reality the only limitations are your own tastes. Some of the recipes may not be my own, and credit will be given where due. So, browse through the recipes (which will start to be posted soon!) and don't be afraid to change ingredients/proportions. In fact, let me know! You might make it even better.

-Emily


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