While I did make a quick pasta the other night that could be considered my first meal in my new home, tonight’s dinner was a rather more messy and delicious true baptism of my kitchen, involving several pans, a ton of utensils, as many bowls as I could find, and both familiar and new ingredients (and utensils!). On the menu, stir fried veggies (chayote, carrot, potato, garlic) with bean burritos.
Yum, just yum. The meal came together perfectly. The chayote didn’t really remind me all that much of zucchini as it held its texture. It was just very crisp and light. I am going to be eating a lot of it because it is filling, cheap, nutritious, and low calorie!
One very important thing I learned today: when trying to light a burner, make sure that the burner you’re trying to light is the one for which you’re turning the knob. It took me about 15 matches and lighting my right thumbnail on fire to finally clue in. I will spare you photos of my thumbnail, but assure you that it doesn’t hurt in the least. Nail polish is flammable, folks, and Mexican matches ARE dangerous! 🙂
The potato, garlic, and chayote I bought from the veggie man were absolutely lovely, same aesthetic quality as you would find in a Canadian or US supermarket.
The carrot, much less so. But I grew up eating from our garden and have been given worse looking, yet perfectly good and delicious, produce by C&C. So I know that supermarket produce is an illusion and I wasn’t worried about the sad looking carrot because it was still firm. I shopped off the bad bits, peeled it, and sampled it raw. YUM.
I actually had dessert, too! It was some of my carefully rationed strawberry yoghurt. I’m still avoiding sugar outside of fruit, but wanted a treat the other day and yoghurt seemed the least evil option. I’m only allowed four tablespoons at a time. It is Lala brand, a little runny, and very tasty with big pieces of strawberry. More yum! 🙂
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- The casita came with a really nice big sauté pan/wok thing that I am already in love with! And, yes, that’s my cast iron pan at the forefront.
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- Veggies sizzling in a hot pan.
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- These refried beans are just some sort of bean with lard and salt, exactly like what I can find back home. I couldn’t tell you the difference in a taste test.
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- There is no way to make refried beans look good, but add some onion, cumin, chili powder, and lime juice and I’m glad to have leftovers for a few days!
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- Veggies cooking nicely with some onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and a touch of Old Bay seasoning.
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- Salsa that came with my chicken dinner. VERY hot.
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- A bit of panela cheese on a softened corn tortilla.
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- Add a hint of the chicken lady’s salsa, then beans on top.
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- Bigger meal than I’ve had in a bit, but I did a lot of walking today!
You really need to make your own refried beans. My husband saysI make the best ones he has ever tasted,
Don’t know if you have a crockpot available, but refried beans made in the crockpot with dry beans are easy and cheap.
I make my own at home when the premade stuff isn’t on sale (I watch prices). I didn’t bring my crockpot here and a can of beans was something like five pesos, very cheap and not worth getting the apartment even hotter by cooking beans all day. 🙂
You could star in your own cooking show! Good for you for experimenting with local foods.
I love trying new things! I’m always happy when I see a new fruit at the grocery store, so this was just a natural extension of that and a much more successful taste test than was the nopal in Texas! 🙂
I remember that experiment!
That stuff was bizarre…
So nice to see there is a better zuchini type veggie out there. I hate zuchini’s slimy texture when cooked.
Peter, I mastered zucchini this summer! Making it delicious and something to be craved takes work, but it’s so worth it!
I take a zucchini and use a vegetable peeler to slice it very thin length-wise (if you have a mandolin, that would be easier). That gives you slices that look like lasagna noodles. I then slice then vertically with scissors, giving me slices that are about the size of fettuccine noodles.
Next, I salt the ‘noodles’ very generously and put them in a colander in the sink. Periodically, I come and squeeze moisture out of them.
When they’re fairly dry, I toss them in a hot pan with garlic, salt, and pepper until a little caramelized and still a little crunchy, then serve with sauce — tomato, Alfredo, pesto, it all works!
I once worked with a guy who grew zucchini and always had way more than they could eat. He would bring a huge box of it to work every few days in hopes someone would take it home. We tried several recipes and finally found a vegetable stew with onions and tomatoes that was quite delicious.