FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Tzatziki!

by

Tzatziki

Tzatziki is, hands down, my favorite accompaniment.  I’m certain it has much to do with nostalgia – walking with my family through the Sponge Docks, eating Chicken Souvlaki, and begging for a second piece of baklava.  As a kid, my tzatziki to sandwich ratio was always out of proportion.  As an adult, not much has changed.

Grated English Cuke

The homemade tzatziki story is the same as any other why-did-it-take-me-so-long-to-make-this story. Taking almost as little effort as hummus, it’s not complicated to make. And I even found that all of the leftover juice gave me perfect excuse to make a super summery cucumber cocktail that I can’t wait to share with you!

Tzatziki Ingredients

There are so many ways to use tzatziki that leftovers couldn’t possibly be a problem.  This light and fresh cucumber sauce could be used as a dip {with sliced veggies or pita chips}, in place of mayo for chicken salad, as a sandwich spread, or as a side for grilled meat and veggies.

Recipe below adapted from this recipe.

Array

Chipotle Salsa

by

Chipotle Salsa

There are a few foods that I just can’t bring myself to buy pre-made anymore. Hummus and salsa top that list.  Hummus and salsa are also some of the easiest, most crowd-pleasing party food contributions – a coincidence I can totally live with.

Halved Tomatoes

I’ve experimented with homemade salsas before, but today I wanted something smoky, something close to the El Alma salsa I love so much.  I found a recipe that sounded exactly like what I was looking for {and had the picture to prove it} on What’s Gaby Cooking.

Blendtec Salsa

I didn’t love the idea of using canned tomatoes or peppers, but I had a hunch that was the only way I was going to achieve that deep, smoky flavor I was looking for. And in an unbelievably short 90-ish seconds, the recipe was validated.  Gaby’s salsa was so, so good!

I also… have a newfound obsession with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

Avocado Cream for Quesadillas

by

Veggie Quesadillas with Avocado Cream 2

It’s been quite some time since I’ve done the quesadilla thing. The beany, cheesy, spinachy quesadilla thing that makes me all sorts of happy.

Vegetarian Quesadilla

And tonight, the quesadilla thing got even better because I didn’t go for a typical dollop of sour cream.  And maybe it’s because I couldn’t {for the life of me} find the sour cream at Whole Foods.  So I headed to the Greek yogurt area, grabbed a small 2% plain, and headed to the produce department.

Avocado Cream

It was there I found the tiniest, ripest avocado that I would later season and whip with yogurt to make my new favorite thing to dollop.

Array

Mango Avocado Salsa

by

I’ve been mass consuming avocados and mangos lately.  Partially because I love them, but mostly because they’re always on sale for a dollar around these parts.  It seems criminal to not pick up at least two of each when they’re only a dollar.  Just criminal.

Surprisingly, I haven’t made mango avocado salsa since I first started FoodFash (gasp!).  You can check out the original salsa post here and feel free to tease me about my sass and rough camera skillz.

Revamped FoodFash Mango Avocado Salsa

1 ripe, but firm, avocado, cubed

1 ripe mango, cubed

1/4 to 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

juice of two small limes

sprinkle of cayenne pepper

salt to taste

I created this mix to scoop atop scallops, but made an abundance for leftovers because it’s so, so delish.  The added kick of the cayenne was a total win.  Oh!  And the little lime green impulse buy pictured above was another win.  Citrus squeezer > citrus juicer, for sure!