Skip Casa del Matador

DON'T GO HERE:




















My friend Bruno felt like tacos tonight, but was up on NW 23rd. Where to go? I'd never been to Casa del Matador, so I suggested that. Turns out, that was a mistake. You want blaring music and frosted faux blonds from the suburbs? Go there. You want to spend $10.95 on mediocre tacos served with unseasoned, boiled black beans (seriously, the only seasoning on them was a sprinkle of cotija cheese) and numerously reheated generic "Mexican" rice. Go to Casa del Matador! You want only one napkin to share between the two of you? You guessed it! Casa del Matador. So you get the idea: this place was horrid. There was one bright spot, though: the drinks. My tamarindo margarita was really good and sprinkled with cinnamon, and Bruno's mojito was solid.
GO TO THIS TYPE OF PLACE INSTEAD:
Next time I want tacos, I'll be going to Taqueria Santa Cruz in St. Johns. Actual Mexicans eat there instead of transplanted Minnesotans who reside in Lake Oswego, and the tacos taste like what you'd get in Mexico, otherwise described as DELICIOUS. Oh, and they're all around $2.00. So yeah, if you want a taco, it's definitely worth a trip to St. Johns.

Felt Good Enough to Cook

Whoa! I haven't posted in a looooong time.

Last weekend, I bought ingredients for this very simple, but healthy and delicious dish, but have been too sick all week to make it. I don't mean *sniffle* *delicate cough* sick. I mean phlegmy, hacking cough, 101 degree fever sick. NOT FUN.

But today I feel BETTER. YAY! So I made this recipe I got from the Whole Foods Market Flavors Newsletter: GREENS WITH CARROTS, FETA CHEESE AND BROWN RICE, and it was a definitely a success. I was afraid it might be too plain, but it wasn't at all. Look at all that color! I could feel the nutrients seeping into me as I ate.

I used a combination of broccoli rabe and kale in mine and made two slight alterations to the recipe: I sauteed the onions in olive oil first before adding the rest of the vegetables, and used truffle-infused sea salt instead of plain sea salt. That's it! Try it.