Do you have a favorite salsa recipe?

Mine is SO simple!

I chop a few tomatoes into small pieces, add about half a chopped onion, and add one finely chopped jalapeno pepper. Can’t get much simpler than that! Still, it totally satisfies me.

At one time I didn’t know much about Mexican food. My mother never cooked it. NEVER.

Then when I was about 23 years old, I had a Hispanic boyfriend. I say Hispanic instead of Mexican because he’s never been in Mexico. Maybe today the preferred term is Latino. I don’t know… Hispanic always sounded okay to me. Anyhow, he took me home to meet his parents… they were living in Chowchilla, California at the time. His mother made dinner … and I sat down to a meal like nothing I’d ever had before.

I was doing okay with the food - all vegetarian, my favorite! She gave me homemade pinto beans and fried potatoes on a paper plate, and then plunked down a flour tortilla right next to that. Oh my goodness! I had NO IDEA what to do with the tortilla! I had to sit there watching my boyfriend eat so I’d get an idea of what to do with it. He tore it into tiny pieces and used it to pick up the other foods!

That was my introduction to Mexican food. A few months later I MARRIED this guy, and actually LEARNED to cook Mexican foods. Then in 1985 we divorced… but I still love the Mexican food!

Have you ever noticed how much better home cooked pinto beans are? I mean, better than the ones coming out of a can? WOW, the taste differential is astounding!

I like to cook beans about once a week… usually black beans, pinto beans, or lentils. I often combine the lentils with rice. This is my burrito filling. At this point I’ve weaned myself off of cheese so all I put into my burritos is the beans, salsa, and sometimes potatoes, rice, or lettuce.

I also have the habit of warming my tortillas just like my mother-in-law did… directly over the flame of a gas burner. I’d be so lost with an electric stove! My now-boyfriend insists on frying his tortillas in a frying pan with butter. Not for me! I toss mine directly on a fully-lit burner and count to ten, then turn them over, count to ten, wait for the bubbles to emerge, and that’s it. No butter, no extra calories.. no mess.

Can you tell I love burritos? I’ve been eating them a lot lately… often alongside a mug full of my amazing and delicious vegetable soup. (The soup will have to be another posting… some other day.)

…

Also: Happy First Day of Spring… Joyous Spring Equinox… and for the Persians and Baha’is: Happy Naw Ruz!

My family of origin ate lots of meat, and I never knew there could be a life without it until I was a teenager. One day my mother sent me to the store for groceries and on the way home the blood of a chicken dripped on me. It was shocking to me that an animal’s life-blood touched my hands and clothing. That made me think about how much worse it was that I was putting these animals into my body.

I don’t know how much time elapsed, but eventually someone told me about vegetarians. Hard to believe I didn’t know about vegetarianism until I was in my late teens, but that’s the ignorance of suburbia in the 1960s. As soon as I heard that there are people who eat no meat, I was attracted to the idea, and I knew that was what I wanted to be.

Making the transition wasn’t completely easy, but my family was fairly understanding and accepting of my decision. I think I was 17 at the time. Really, nobody gave me a bad time about it except during one incident that I’ve never forgotten. I was visiting with my boyfriend, who wasn’t as enthusiastic about my vegetarianism as I was. In fact, he may have been trying to talk me out of it; I really don’t remember if that was the case. But I do remember his mother’s live-in boyfriend, a professor of entomology at the University of California at Berkeley, chiming into the conversation to say I was a vegetable because I wanted to be a vegetarian. That stung, and I never forgot his opinion.

Still I persisted in transitioning to vegetarianism. I am sorry to say that I’ve been through several relationships since then. None of my husbands or boyfriends have been vegetarian. My current boyfriend is being forced into vegetarianism by medical conditions, but he’s fighting it all the way and still occasionally eats chicken and fish.

Meanwhile I’m very happy with my luscious vegetarian cuisine. It makes me feel great to know that no animals were harmed in the preparation of my dinner tonight.

Vegan Visitor is a blog that invites you in with scrumptious recipes and colorful photography. The author starts her introduction by writing, “This is a guide to fill you, satisfy and demystify vegan cuisine.” Then she tells the story of her consternation at learning her fiancé’s parents, who were coming to dinner, were vegans. She had no idea what to serve them and had to research in cookbooks to figure out what to cook. That was a while back; now she’s a regular at vegan cooking and shares her recipes on her blog.

This blog is nominated for the Blogger’s Choice award. It would be nice to take time to vote for it while you’re checking it out.

One major thing I feel is missing from the blog is more description about the writer. I really prefer blogs where you can get to know the person who’s doing the writing. She’s got a great writing style, but there’s no name or picture to go with it. Still her personal stories are interesting and her talent for cooking is obvious. I recommend a look at her recipe blog, for anyone who enjoys vegan food.

Now I’ve got to hurry to get ready for work, and I’ll be out of town this evening and hopefully tomorrow. Today is my birthday and my boyfriend is taking me out on the town in the Eureka, California area. Have fun this Friday night.