Tuesday, September 3, 2013

East-West Tacos

Seems like you, dear readers, will have to let me know when you have seen enough iterations of Food Rolled Up in Tortillas. My Beloved and I never seem to get tired of them.

Remember that okay-but-uninspired Pad Thai I wrote about last time, the one that was so boring that it didn't even rate a single comment?  Well, I looked at the mess of it that we had left over (did you know that rice noodles clump together the next day like mats in a cat's fur?) and was tempted to pitch the whole thing out. There is little so unappealing as congealed, cold rice noodles and limp scallions.

My cheapskate side, however, couldn't bear to throw away expensive shrimp, so I fished around in the nest of noodles, extracted all the shrimp, and repurposed them into lunch. Our shrimp tacos had fresh corn, thinly sliced onion, lettuce, our own ripe tomatoes (yes, the volunteer plant is still producing! Huzzah!), cilantro, and Cholula hot sauce. Three or four shrimp down the middle of our favorite tortillas makes a sumptuous lunch and, when they have previously been bathed in fish sauce and tamarind paste, they have a special extra tang that shifts the geography from Del Norte America to the Far East at first bite.

The moral of the story: You can use up anything (and love doing it) if you have tortillas on hand.

7 Comments:

Blogger Diane said...

I was taught by my mom to use up leftovers too...sounds delightful. I use the whole grain tacos in place of crackers for spreads, for a quick lunch.

Tuesday, September 03, 2013  
Blogger Zoomie said...

Diane, our mothers likely came through the Great Depression, and learned thrift.

Wednesday, September 04, 2013  
Blogger Nancy Ewart said...

I can't imagine NOT using leftoevers. The difficult part for me is to cook smaller amounts so that I have less leftovers and less stuff to spoil before I can get to it. Tortillas really are an all-purpose kitchen helper.

Wednesday, September 04, 2013  
Blogger Greg said...

That is a mighty fine use of leftovers! I have been hiding from the internet lately. Hence no comments from me.

Wednesday, September 04, 2013  
Blogger Zoomie said...

Nancy, this recipes says it makes enough for four, but we could easily have fed six - or even eight! If you try it, be sure to reduce all the ingredients!

Greg, it's good to take a break from the internet from time to time. Reminds us that there is so much else to enjoy in life.

Wednesday, September 04, 2013  
Blogger cookiecrumb said...

Wait until you discover moistened Vietnamese rice paper wrappers, the kind used for summer rolls!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chicken-summer-rolls-recipe/index.html

Wednesday, September 04, 2013  
Blogger Zoomie said...

Cookiecrumb, thanks for the link. Something fun for the future.

Wednesday, September 04, 2013  

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