Filling up the refrigerator
Well, since I was running a bit low on some food (and I had the day off), I went to Nutri-Foods (a tiny natural foods market) & Hollywood Market in downtown Royal Oak this afternoon.
Later, I made some fresh homemade salsa. When I was growing up, oddly enough, we rarely ate salsa and corn chips. I think that must be a Tex-Mex thing, not a true Mexican appetizer. Of course, there are so many provinces in Mexico, and my family hails from only two of them, Jalisco and Michoacán. Chips and salsa might be a snack in the other 29 provinces (or states as they call them) of Mexico, though. Who knows?
I’ve never, ever found a canned or jarred salsa that I liked. They always had an odd taste to them; probably stale and old. I have a wonderful recipe from the cooks at Armando’s Mexican Restaurant in Detroit--they are old family friends-- that I now make consisting of organic tomatoes, jalapeno, oregano, 1/2 an onion, clove of garlic, salt & pepper to taste. I pulse it in a food processor and then, when it’s done, I add the juice of a slice of fresh lime. Delicious! Of course, in the summer, I use fresh tomatoes, jalapenos, garlic, & oregano from my garden but in the winter I have to settle for canned organic tomatoes, dried oregano, & jarred jalapeno slices. It still tastes good. With crispy salted corn chips, too, of course!
I also made a little bit of dinner since I wasn’t that hungry. I made a very flavor-ful garlic sauce with 4 garlic cloves sautéed in olive oil, then simmered in water, oregano, thyme, Bragg’s (an alternative to soy sauce or tamari), paprika, & a dash of cayenne pepper. When it was done, I added some baby spinach to wilt. Then I tossed it all with some soba noodles. W-O-W! The flavor was incredible. I love Asian noodle dishes of all kinds and this one rivaled any I’ve eaten in a restaurant.