Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine Mexican Food

Is it just me, or could you eat Mexican three meals a day? Every day! Chorizo breakfast burritos, steak tacos for lunch, chicken quesadillas for dinner, and a burrito for a bed time snack! YUM!!!

It is unquestionably tasty, but if I were to eat it 4 times a day, I'd be big as a house. For me, it's more like once a month.

It seems I am working on that "big as a house" thing...Get in my belly!

I did a bunch of slow cooked mexican foods so it's been carnitas tacos with black beans all week. Nice.

Coming from the land of "fusion" cusines (oh how I hate that word) and having grown up in Hawaii, its Asian flavors I wouldn't be able to give up. Lemongrass, ginger, lychee, mango, sambal, curry paste....

Oh my! I don't even who what half those words are...but the black beans and carnitas tacos does sound tasty. I suppose I could throw a bit of Itailian, cheeseburgers, pizza, chili, and chinese in there too. Oh! And chili cheese dogs! Where is the land of fusion by the way???

LyleLyle, what's sambal? I know the other indgredients.

Sambal is a slightly-sweet chili paste, I sometimes call it "rooster sauce" cause the most unbiquitous brand had a rooster as their logo.

Hmmm, the black beans were cooked with a ham hock, onions, garlic, a chipotle and some freshly cracked (in a motar) pepper. It was worth the time it took.

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Where is the land of fusion by the way???

The Bay Area where trendy "fusion" restaurants are still all over the place. I like the food, except for that haughty trendiess that comes with it (which peaks when you mix it with the other trendy food I love, tapas, which are small servings that allow you to order a lot of different things in small quantities, good if you don't have a big appetite but often wants to taste everything on the menu.)

You eat at the restaurants on Valencia, LyleLyle?

Sounds like it, doesn't it? Castro mostly, but that's much less frequent now that the boyfriend and I moved to Oakland.

I love Tapas! There is a restaurant not too far from that has wonderful tapas and GREAT sangria. I like the whire sangria. I think I know where i am going next payday!

I have visited the the Bay area on tourisity things a couple of times. You must be a billionaire to live there! Too rich for my poor blood. Loved the biggest hill in SF too...

Don't I wish I were a billionaire... naw, you just need to be a billionaire to live comfortably and with financial security.

Then again, that's why the boyfriend and I moved to Oakland. We realized there was no way we would ever become homeowners in San Francisco, unless we made choices that left us hating life until we won the lottery. Even then, the financial situation isn't very comforting, not to someone as fiscally conservative as I am. Still, at leasat our mortgage payments are going to something, unlike rent checks.

There's a nice medely of food styles in the area tho. Too bad we're no longer in a "step out the door and there's a ton of great shops to explore.

The restaurants, shopping, and culture in the big cities are nice. I live about forty minutes outside of Chicago, but could never live in the the city. Too many people, too busy for me. I guess I do not like people that much! Renting does suck, and it is made so difficult to get loans it seems. Who has 20% to put down on a house?!?!? Then if you don't, we slap you with PMI...aw don't get me started...

There are ways to avoid PMI, check with a banker you trust...

This conversation reminds me of my last trip to Central America (lo, these 10 years ago! sometimes it sucks being a responsible husband and parent! but ma, I wanna go bum around foreign countries!), on which I decided to see if I could eat black beans with every meal. It was quite easy...And I never got sick!

There's still plenty of good non-fusion East Bay restaurants to go to LyleLyle. Are you near the Oakland/Berkeley border? There's a coupla great BBQ places around San Pablo. I love Zachary's and Barney's and Spengers too and College Ave. has a buncha tasty places to check out. What else? There's some good dim sum near Oakland Chinatown too. If your near the Oakland/Alameda border, there's plenty of good Alameda places I'd recommend too. Food names at fusion restaurants are hilarious! Its like "General Tsao and Ulysses S Grant Chicken!" or "Kung Pao Tiki Masala!" I feel like they match things up for the cutesy name value more than the flavor.

Nah, most of the fancy-ish restaurants I go to list the ingredients in naming their dishes...

"I'll have the Flame-Seared Corriander-Shallot Nieman Ranch Spare Ribs with the Saffron-Infused, Chipotle-Guava Glaze and the Sweet Potato-Yuzu Souffle for my main dish please."

Otherwise known as "Look at the item I'm pointing to on the menu because I'm not going to try to say all that."

Reading a menu in San Francisco requires a bit of translating. I remember going to the diner-ish Chow and taking a whle to realize the "Applewood Smoked Bacon, Early Girl Tomatoes and a mix of Fresh, Leafy greens on Foccaccia" was a way to say "BLT" with an additional fifteen words to it. (Good, tasty sandwich tho.)

Locally, we've been recommended to Le Chevalier, but we haven't ventured out much or even figured out where it is from our place. We're close to Broadway Auto Row and Lake Merritt so much of what's "right outside" is focused on the workday, lunchtime crowd. It's mostly a matter of being un-lazy enough to drive out. We've gotten lazy after living right next to a Muni trolley stop.

Hey for those of us who are into a little Mexican eatin' but are on a decidely stay at home budget, do any of you have any decent salsa recipes? I've got a whack of tomatoes but need some advice on what to do with them. (be nice please)

There's a bunch of different ways to go at it but the basics would be tomatoes, onions, garlic, cilantro and some kind of acid, usually vinegar, lime juice or a combination of the two.

Try the following links and search for 'tomato salsa' for some possibilties. It's a simple process but look for a recipe that works with quantities that work for you.

Food Network

allrecipes.com (kinda ad heavy)
Martha Stewart (yes, I know)

The wife has a pretty good one. I'll look into it for you Cad...

Dudes. Thanks a bundle for the links and promises of recipes, I had all but given up

[uhh changed my name. I am the legionnaire formerly known as Cad Lad]