Vanessa, the leader of the South Arm Community Kitchen was away on her visit to her homeland in HongKong. Minoo took over the kitchen for the week and she made this Magnifico Meatless Tacos. This is a vegetarian dish and the recipe was obtained from a Heart Smart group. It is rich in fiber and vitamins and complete with protein and calcium.

Kids will love this dish as they get to assemble the tacos themselves.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1/3 cup sweet red or yellow pepper
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped jalapeno pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons tomato juice or salsa
• 1/2 teaspoon dried coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• taco shells warmed in a microwave
• 1 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1 cup salsa

Click on the link below for the instructions.

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A colleague of mine at the Atlanta office offered to show me some of the nicer places to eat. Anytime anyone offers to take a drive away from the office area for food, I immediately will jump into the offer. After all, at the rate I am visiting Atlanta, I think I would have tried every place that is within walking distance within the next two trips.

We went to a Mexican restaurant called The Border. It was only until I was home and started blogging about this that I realized, hey … I had been here before. I was here the last time for lunch. Here is the blog entry. That was about lunch … this one is for dinner.

What drink would you order in a Mexican restaurant? For me, I only know of Margaritas and got myself a mango version. Hmmm … not bad. Would have preferred it a bit more fruitier.

OK, don’t roll over your eyes. I am a newbie when it comes to Mexican food. I am still in a very early stages of discovery. So, the food below may be very basic to you … but not to me! :-)

We also had nachos but ordered something new that I never knew existed. The dip is made of cheese! I can’t remember what type of cheese but I think it is something like goat or something. It was awesome but as I had that, I just keep thinking how much cholesterol there are in this.

The best part of the meal is this soup. Again, I forgot what it is called but I vividly recalled that it had big chunks of avocado. Next time I am in a Mexican restaurant, I’ll look for this. Wait … I see it now. I actually took pictures of their menu and I guess this one is called … well … Chicken Soup!

By the time the Fajitas came, I was really full. The tender-sliced chicken is served on a sizzling hot plate with bell peppers, onions and tomatoes.

It also came with some stuff that you wrapped it in. I still hate the mashed up beans but the tomatoes were very fresh.

The tortilla came wrapped in foil, I guess to keep it warm.

Then the hard part … putting this into the wrap and rolling it up …

… not an easy task really. I guess I must have put in too much and found it hard to keep it together.

Seems like the whole village was in Atlanta the week we were there — which was good. My boss and my boss’s boss was there too to meet their boss. Separate meetings though. Minions like me have lesser meetings. I had expected this trip is going to be lighter than the previous ones as I am not driving the meetings. I just need to participate … I like these kind of trips.

First thing we did when we landed at the massive Atlanta airport was head over to Midtown Atlanta. Marko had offered to join us for dinner show us around Midtown. For me, I am always game to go somewhere new and try something different. After all these trips to “motherland” Atlanta, I am beginning to run out of places to try in and around Cumberland.

Long story short, Marko suggested Mexican but well, I am not really a fan of Mexican food. Somehow it always conjure up in my mind images of mashed beans … shudder. But then he used the magical words … AUTHENTIC Mexican food … now, that’s a different story altogether. I just gotta try it.

We went to this place called Zocalo. Man, the place was packed to the gills. They seem authentic enough … no aircond, semi open space and guess what … no lights too … just candles. It was unbelievably dark. It was so dark we could not even read the menu. They came by to give us a small torchlight to read. LOL! The place was loud and noisy though … lots of Spanish chatter. BTW, are Latin American ladies generally loud? I can hear their screams and howls and laughters from the other table. The guys are more subdued. They know how to have a great time.

I ordered the Mango Margarita. Wowee … this is the best Margarita I had ever had. It was so fruity that I could hardly detect a hint of tequila. Not a drinker myself, the drink went to my head and felt somewhat tipsy. Nice choice. They came by and asked if I wanted another … no way man, I would not be able to walk after another one. This sweet potent margarita will be my baseline benchmark of what a great margarita is going forward.

The salsa was awesome. Sure beats the ones we buy from the Superstore about a million times over. Don’t roll your eyes, OK? I got a legitimate question. Guacamole … how do you eat them? Use it like a dip just like salsa here? I saw them making it fresh next to the tables that order them. They looked absolutely delicious. I am gonna try that next time I am in an AUTHENTIC Mexican restaurant.

Now … for the life of me, I can’t remember what I ordered for dinner. No, it was not because of the Margarita that I have select memory. No, no … it was simply because it was so long ago and I don’t have the receipt. I think it’s some fish dish. It was nice … I liked it. The best part? There were no mashed up beans on this.

It was a good start to the trip this time. At least, this time I can totally relax because I don’t really have to prepare anything for the next day. So, I don’t care if I check into the hotel late. Life is good … it’s all good.

We were not hungry at all but then since we’re in the San Jose Flea Market and there are plenty of Mexican food around, we decided to drop by one of the authentic Mexican places to try out their breakfast.

Ordering this was easy since the sign board is in English. If this had been in Spanish, we would have not even dared to attempt going in.

Seeing so many people who had soup, we ordered the same thing. This is called Menudo and is basically soup with beef tripes. It’s $3.19 and came with …

… two warm tortillas rolled in some aluminium foil paper. This is the best tasting tortillas I had ever tasted.

We looked around and followed how everyone else ate it. First, we rolled up the tortilla and then dunk it in the soup. Although the soup looked very spicy but we do find it a bit bland.

There is a small cup of spices we could add to the soup for that extra kick.

We also got ourselves a Spicy Buritos. It is prepared fresh and warm.

We like this one … just only $2.32.

Frankly, we know very little about Mexican food and can’t tell you much. Are there any good authentic Mexican restaurants in Vancouver you know of?

Mark took me to a Mexican place for lunch today. I’ve never really been to an authentic Mexican restaurant before although there were a few around Vancouver. Not that I don’t like Mexican food but it’s just that I don’t know what to order besides Taco.

The nachos and salsa were free. Mark told me that most Mexican restaurants will serve it free. The salsa was made fresh and the nachos warm. Very nice — definitely much nicer than those we make at home.

I really can’t remember what it is I ordered! :-) I know the short name — it’s the Lunch Special #6. Well, it has some rice. It also has some fried beans — all mashed up. Almost every dish has beans. Mexicans like beans but not me. There is also some guacamole (spelling correct?) — it’s the green stuff. Avocado, I believe.

The lunch special was just $5.45. The restaurant is called The Border — kind of an odd name for Mexican restaurant, if you ask me, especially when these days the US is getting less tolerant of illegals from Mexico.

Mark said he’ll show me Southern Cooking tomorrow.