In exactly five days, I will turn 35. Yikes! And although I may not be where I thought I'd be by this age, one thing is certain. I sure do eat well.
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If you've ever watched Top Chef, then you've heard of Todd English. English is a celebrity chef and restaurateur with at least ten restaurants under his name. One day I had a skirt steak filet, and didn't know what to do with it. A quick google search turned up a Todd English balsamic skirt steak marinade that knocked our socks off. We had it with sauteed vegetables, steamed corn, and mashed potatoes with gravy. Ismael couldn't stop giving me kisses throughout dinner.
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Ismael had a hankering for cheesy enchiladas one night, and he made these ooh-y, gooey, oh-so-cheesy Enchiladas Rojas con Pollo. We topped them with lettuce, tomato, onion, and sour cream.
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Sometimes, I like to veer off the "green salad path." After all, there is only so much green salad one can eat throughout the week before it gets really, really, mundane. Behold! My Jicama Mango Summer Salad is comprised of jicama, mango, cucumber, and cilantro. Sprinkled with salt, cayenne powder, and lime juice, it's totally refreshing!
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My mom came for two and a half weeks in March. She couldn't have come soon enough because I had begun to dream about Vietnamese food. Her first creation was Vietnamese Crab Soup, one of my childhood favorites. You eat it with noodles, topped with a healthy helping of fresh herbs and bean sprouts.
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My all time favorite soup is Sour Vietnamese Fish Soup, or "Canh Chua." No one makes this better than my mom. When you order it in a restaurant, they barely use any vegetables. My mom, however, makes it exactly the way I like it.
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The only thing better than Ismael's enchiladas rojas are his Enchiladas Verdes. The perfect balance of pasilla flavor and creamy texture, we eat it with buttered rice and pickled onions.