3 days in a row we have feasted on pinterest-found meals that we never would have attempted in our more closed-minded years, and 3 days in a row we have made inappropriate noises of pleasure while eating said meals. it's a very good thing.
fun fact: i lived in mexico for 6 months when i was 22. i lived in puebla, which (duh) is where the battle of puebla was fought on may 5, 1862. this was a big win for mexico over france and thus cinco de mayo was born. contrary to popular gringo belief, cinco de mayo is not mexican independnece day, nor is it margarita appreciation or nacho awareness day.
history lesson complete.
but god bless the incorrectly celebrated "holiday" of cinco de mayo that inspires grocers to put all their avocados on sale so that i can buy and hoard insane quantities of this the most perfect of fruits and make all sorts of delicious goodness out of them as i slowly bring them out of cryostatis and into ripeness over the following weeks.
i found this recipe on pinterest while searching for summery meals. i have recently gotten on board with the concept of seasonality regarding food and so the prospect of having to turn on my oven or eat hot soup between april and september makes me develop a facial tic and feel a bit stabby.
psychological red flags aside, this baby is perfection. cool and crisp and bright and wonderful.
i made this while jesse and i were in a little bit of a fight and he was pouting in our room. i brought this plate of food in to him and left. its deliciousness alone brought him out and back into my arms. immediate reconciliation by way of food. always a win.
do yourselves a favor and make the shrimp version.
and if you're thinking, "oh,hey this recipe calls for smoked paprika. i have regular paprika so i'll just use that, " then you are dangerously close to making a very bad decision, and if i was in your kitchen with you, i would literally slap the canister out of your hand YOU RECKLESS FOOL!
stop now. put down the regular inferior paprika and go buy the smoked stuff now. it is everything. just like the NBA and the WNBA, they may have almost the same name, but one is exciting and inspiring and sexy and the other one just feels like a waste of life and should be avoided at all costs.
possibly sexist tirade complete.
when someone gives you the recipe for creamy black bean chicken salad (known to me, raechel and tom haverford as "chicky chicky chip chip"), you trust them for life.
so i went back to the cheeky kitchen blog to find some more goodness and struck gold right off the bat with a super easy potato and asparagus pizza.
i typically DETEST riccotta and all kinds of cutesy pizzas that waste my time with weird produce on top, but due to the chicken salad, i trusted her and obeyed the recipe (except for the bacon which i shockingly left out) with fantastic results. this was a fast and delicious lunch for us on a busy saturday afternoon (it did require turning on my oven which made me squirm, but only for about 10 minutes).
my pizzas look a little insane, over-cheesed and veggie-deprived because i put the cheese on after the other toppings. there are wonderful golden potato slices under there that deserved some attention. i honor them now.
this one is by the exact same blogger. she has yet to steer us wrong, and this was our biggest leap of faith yet. i mean a meatless burger? that is practically heresy where i live.
but we went for it and, hot damn, it lived up to the hype.
we left off the tomato because i cant abide those things unless they are in pico de gallo or their simpering watery-ness has been scorched and dried out of them by the warm embrace of el sol.
and i dont know what the hell farmer's cheese is, so i just used havarti (aka amish manna) and dont think i lost any drool over the switch.
eat weird stuff. let it make you happy.
Paprika / Basketball comparison : fabulous. It's so true.
ReplyDeleteAnd! My husband and I use Veganaise! I don't remember why we switched (because we love ourselves some meat), but it's a not-lame vegan substitute. It is more expensive than regular mayo though, so unless you have some awesome (and forgettable) reason for switching like we did, it's probably not a necessary purchase.
I was a total Veganaise doubter myself until I tried it- seriously no diff in taste. Lines are meant to be blurred. ;)
ReplyDeletei am so glad you did this post. i was just thinking the other day that i wished you'd do a pinny-food post b/c i like the encouragement to try all these yummy looking but potentially disappointing foods. i am pumped that the holy heck burger was that good b/c i thought it looked divine, but when i read all the effort that seemingly goes into it, i felt like a slowly leaking balloon. also, i often doubt the necessity of potatoes on pizza, but i will trust you on this one. but i doubt i could hold back on adding the bacon. the shrimp looks fab and this (wo)man could live on avocados alone, so i ain't skeered to try it.
ReplyDeletealso, i owe you an email. i haven't forgetten. promise.
droool.
ReplyDeleteHave never tried a portobello burger myself....but you make them sound amazing so I might give them a try. And we have a song in our house about how much we love avocados....no joke. The little ones think I'm genius for making it up a few years ago. Also, love all the pretty (paper?) plates.
ReplyDelete