Vegetarian Recipe Suggestions

For my sister whose future in laws are vegetarian – I found some great recipes. I haven’t made them but they look pretty good with options to put your own spin on it!

1. Ricotta-Spinach Tacos
2. Chile Cheese Casserole (like chilaquiles)
3. Tofu Tacos

For the ricotta-spinach tacos, you could easily replace the ricotta with maybe feta, cotija, goat cheese or even halloumi. To make it heartier you could add zucchini/courgette or even mushrooms. Add some kick with some chipotle powder.

For the casserole, you could easily make this non-vegetarian by adding some chorizo or diced ham. If you wanted it to be heartier you could add a layer of pinto/refried beans before adding the tortilla chips. Some sliced green/spring onion as a garnish might also add some nice bite to it. Or you could even add them with the last layer of cheese and let them melt in.

The tofu taco is a pretty straightforward one. They simply replaced meat with tofu. You could look into other veggie options such as soy meat. I know Trader Joe’s Meatless Meatballs are delicious. They’re recommended for Italian dishes, but there’s nothing stopping you from using it in a Mexican dish!

Hope you enjoy!

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I’ve been avoiding good food

It’s so sad for me to say but the past few months I’ve put aside my love for food to focus on the wedding. In my attempt to shape up for the big day I’ve had to put all my favorites to the side and just try to forget them all together.. I’ve done well and have managed to find healthy dishes to eat. But I’m so busy working full time, planning my wedding and helping with my sister’s wedding too! So busy in fact I’m getting quite bored of the ‘healthy’ dishes I’ve been consuming..

Some of my healthy favorites lately have been:

• My go-to-snack that is perfect for taking the edge off : avocado on wheat toast with a drizzle of olive oil and habanero garlic pepper
• Orzo with spinach, sundried tomatoes, ricotta, black olives and feta
• Rotisserie chicken with anything
• Turkey wraps with Laughing Cow Cheese Lite and sprouts and maybe Dijon mustard
• Cous cous with raisins, grilled chicken, chickpeas, grilled veggies and curry powder
• And of course fish tacos!

My mom got very creative last weekend and made up a whole new method/recipe – fish taco ‘cups’. She’ll probably be mad at me for sharing this secret but it’s pretty darn cool. I’m bummed I didn’t get a photo of the cooking process. Of course I was trying to eat these while I was getting my wedding hair trial done at home!

Fish Taco Cups!

 

To make these she bought square won ton wrappers. She lightly brushed a muffin tray with oil and gently pushed a wrapper into each hole. She baked until lightly golden and just let cool on a baking tray. I can’t remember which fish she used but she loves tilapia for fish tacos. Cod would be great too. Underneath is a spicy mango and avocado salsa (with cilantro and red onion of course) and lettuce. It’s topped with her ‘super secret sauce’! 🙂 I have a feeling it contains some sour cream, some cumin, salt, pepper, lemon juice and maybe some Cajun spice. It was so light and delicious! A great way to re-invent one of our favorites and perfect for a party too.

The wedding is nearly here and then I’ll have some free time – so hopefully lots of blogging to come soon!

xoxo

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THE FIRST ANNUAL ARIZONA BBQ FESTIVAL

Last weekend I attended my very first BBQ festival right here in Scottsdale. Something that I’ve learned about Arizona is that, due to its almost-year-round sunny weather, locals are really into putting on outdoor festivals. They range from various music festivals (jazz and blues, etc) to cultural festivals (Asian themed or just ‘international’) to foodie festivals. Although this was the first time this event was put on, it seemed like it was a success.

Theme of the Day = Pig!

It was located down by the Scottsdale waterfront, across from Fashion Square mall on a large dirt parking lot with tents set up. With a $10 admission charge and $2 tasting tickets, it was a pretty decent set up. I liked that it wasn’t too spread out nor did it feel overcrowded. My cousin and I arrived around 2pm and there were still loads of people (the tasting ended at 4pm). We decided to just make our way around with no agenda other than to eat and get a cold beer (it was in the mid 80’s!). Our obvious approach was to go to the stands that had the longest crowds (assuming they’d have the best food).

First up was The Mission which is a modern, Latin restaurant in Old Town Scottsdale. They were not in the competition but were selling small versions of dishes from the restaurant. Tiff had already told me that I had to try this place as it’s one of her favorites. So we got the combo platter with a chicken taco, pork shoulder taco and grilled sweet corn. As we waited for our tacos the smells coming from the grill were intoxicating and made us all the more hungry. I must admit I am not a huge BBQ (sauce) person, but once you get that smell in your nose you really can’t say no. Plus you just think about the tender, smoked pork melting in your mouth and that memory reminds you that you’ll eat it even if you’re not hungry. As Tiff promised, the tacos were delicious. The pork shoulder taco is served with pineapple glaze, cilantro and cotija cheese. The chicken taco is served with oregano, lemon, aji Amarillo, cabbage and more cotija cheese. If you’ve never had cotija cheese, it’s a slightly salty yet mild Mexican cheese. The texture if very much like feta in that it’s firm and crumbly. One of my favorite ways to eat cotija is with grilled corn on the cob and lime juice. Both tacos were so refreshing and were packed with lots of flavor. I will definitely be making a trip to The Mission some time soon.

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