The Eternal Taco Tuesday

I had a roommate in school that loves tacos. I say this in current tense because she will never stop loving tacos I also don't say this phrase lightly. She loves tacos. In fact, an often repeated roommate conversation was about how much we wished that the taco emoji was a thing, because that would be directly relevant in 77% of our conversations. (Sidenote: apparently the taco emoji has come to pass and will soon be available. Win.) This roomie is now in Texas having adventures without me, but more importantly, is now eating tacos with out me. As an attempt to keep our taco Tuesday (read: Wednesday, Thursday, twice on Friday) tradition alive, fish tacos were a must for this week's menu. I may not be in Texas, but I can make my own fish tacos. More importantly, sister L. was out of town this week which meant that fish tacos could rule the menu for the week. Seafood loving is out of her comfort zone, so I took full advantage of her being gone...both in the kitchen, and with her closet.

If I learned anything from a taco loving roommate, it was that all you needed was some really good sauce, corn tortillas, avocado and some sort of protein...bam, tacos. The college-ness of our tacos varied from missing somewhat crucial ingredients, but somehow "tacos" made with a meat and a few different kinds of salsas and verdes were pretty great at 12:30 AM. Especially when this roommate came back from visiting Texas and returned with carefully packaged jars of "That Green Stuff": it's spicy, slightly textured from some sort of blended pepper, green stuff. It was poured onto many a tacos, and also eggs. And roasted veggies.And pasta. And toast. That green stuff goes well on nearly anything.

I composed a non-college version this week: Blackened halibut, topped with lime crema and a cilantro/cabbage slaw rounded out for some dynamic flavors for this batch of tacos. I also recommend serving these with twice as much avocado as you think necessary, because avocados help make the world go round (basically). I seasoned the fish with cumin, paprika, quite a bit of cheyenne for kick and some garlic salt to mirror the garlicky vinegar I tossed the slaw with. Oh yeah, they were that good.

Taco Tuesday should be everyday.

I make my own Pad Thai

I consumed a ridiculous amount of Pad Thai in college. Just around the corner from my last apartment, there was an excellent Thai restaurant that my roommates and I frequented....frequently. We would run over to celebrate the important things in life, like birthdays, good test scores, and Tuesdays. Pad Thai was there for engagements, and break-ups, and cancelled television series. I love you, Pad Thai.

You would think that eating so much Thai food in college would eventually dampen my love of curries and mango sticky rice. Not so. I think my love of Thai food comes from not knowing such foods existed. Though mom is an excellent cook and dad is quite the foodie, I somehow missed out on dishes from regions other than Mexico, Italy, or France. Granted, this girl loves tacos and a good baguette, but I'm pretty confident could happily live off of dumplings and rice swaddled in spicy coconut sauces. My logic is basically this: because I didn't eat it growing up, I need to make up for lost time.  

This week signals a break through in my Pad Thai consumption. A co-worker shops at this Asian market in West Valley and you know that's we did on our lunch break on Thursday. I tried to not food-geek out too much, but just know I was unsuccessful. I might have slightly frightened my co-workers when I got exuberant over steamer baskets but they'll survive

I had my arms full of mung bean sprouts, rice noodles, kefir limes, and other Pad Thai essentials (plus about 5 of those amazing yellow mangoes) a store clerk handed me a basket while I mentally thought "Oh good, now I can buy even more things and look less ridiculous".

For some reason I thought we would just slip in and I would grab some cool aloe drink and call it a day, so I didn't bother with a cart or anything. I should have known I would have walked out with bags brimming and dying to run home to make Pad Thai (read: eat the entire recipe that should feed about 8 people).

I tackled making dinner that night, but regretted not getting ingredients for a double batch. I sautéed veggies in garlic and coconut oil, but cooked them oh so lightly. I love Pad Thai where it still feels fresh and kinda crunchy. The cilantro on top certainly helps with that as does a squeeze of lime.

The dish was a hit with me and the family which is an added bonus I guess. I'm glad it was met with rave reviews but I've never been awesome at sharing. I did eat this bowl and subsequent bowls of Pad Thai with chopsticks because I have difficulty pacing myself with a fork. Be glad a poorly lit photo was taken before the bowl was licked clean.