Jenifer & Simon's Kitchen

Tacos/Burritos

Prep. time: 1/2 hr
Yield: 12 average Tacos

Simon's very own original adaption of the famous Mexican dish, which is cooked using only one saucepan. For a really Mexican flavour, serve with taco chips and salsa. Carrot salad also goes well with tacos.

If you use soft burrito shells (flour tortillas), the meal is slightly neater, but hard taco shells are perfectly fine, and often lot easier to get; just be sure to give everyone a paper towel. It's possible to make your own flour tortillas, but that doubles or triples the preparation time. If this is you bent, see the Flour Tortilla recipe.

THE FILLING:

THE FIXIN'S:

Chop up the onion and the potato into fairly small pieces. Throw the potato into the saucepan (medium high heat), and cook till at least halfway tender. Meanwhile chop up the jalapeno pepper and the cilantro, nice and fine. Throw in the onions, and cook till they are as done as you personally like your onions to be done (I like mine pretty raw). Now add the refried beans, the chopped cilantro and pepper, the taco sauce, and the corn (be sure to drain all the water out of your corn, or your filling will be even sloppier than its natural tendency). Stir up all the ingredients, and let them heat up. While they are heating is a good time to chop up the fixin's (lettuce, tomato and grated cheese). When the filling is heated up, it is ready to eat.

BUILDING YOUR MEXI-FOOD

Tacos: Put a good spoonful of filling in the taco shell, then put some cheese on the filling, then some lettuce, and some tomato. Now try not to squeeze all the filling out the back when you bite the front. Enjoy!

Burritos: Same thing, except you and add a blob of sour cream, then roll the little devils up, right?

Borscht

A Ukranian peasant's chunky stew. This one makes great leftovers, because it gets better with age. It's best served on chilly evenings with warm wholewheat buns and cheap red wine.

Preparation time: 1 hour
Yield: Approximately 4 big servings
From Don Karaisiuk, an old co-worker of Jen's

4 to 5 beets
2 to 3 medium-size potatos
3 to 4 carrots
2 stalks celery
1 medium onion
1/2 cup frozen green peas
2 tablespoons dry dill or equivalent fresh dill
1 teaspoon vinegar or lemon
Sour cream or substitute (yogurt or cream)

Peel and cut, into chunky pieces, the beets, potatos, onions, and carrots. Put them into a saucepan with enough water to just cover the vegetables, add dill and bring to a boil. Simmer for approximately 25 minutes, then add the celery and green peas and simmer for a further 20 minutes (45 minutes total simmering time).

Sour the stew by adding vinegar or lemon juice, and serve hot with a dolop of sour cream in the center. Chill any leftovers and reheat for a quick meal the next day.

Hot Monterry Salad

A yummy concoction that rather defies description, and is served alone as a complete meal. The vegetarian version is actually far better than the original meat version.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Yield: Approximately 4 big servings
David Hill's Recipe

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped fairly fine
2 cups textured soy protein (get it at a whole-foods store such as Capers)
3/4 cup water
2 cups cooked rice
1 cup chopped green pepper
4 medium tomatoes, cut into chunks
2 cups chopped celery
1 grated carrot
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
1 cup mayonaise
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Tarragon
Oregano
Garlic
Ginger

1. Put the rice on to boil first, and let it get cooked. In the meantime ...
2. Put the soy protein into the water to moisten.
3. Saute the onion in a big saucepan.
4. Add the soy protein and the herbs to the onion.
5. When the rice has cooked, drain it, then throw it, and all the other ingredients (except the mayo), into the onion/herb/soy protein mix. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, then take off the heat and stir in the mayo. Serve hot. YUM!

Seven Layer Salad

This is Jen's favorite at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it's equally good for any dinner party. Serve it in a clear bowl to best show off the layers.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Yield: Depends on your bowl size
Originally Linda Johnson's recipe

• Sliced Tomato
• Parmesan Cheese
• Mayonaise with 1 tablespoon sugar mixed in
• Frozen Peas
• Water Chesnuts
• Red Onion
• Green Pepper
• Celery Slices
• Lettuce

Vegetarian Resources