Olé!

Some of you who know me might be aware that I have a big thing for Mexican food. And when I say Mexican, I mean my version of something like Mexican, or Tex-Mex, or similar, because really I've never lived anywhere close enough to Mexico to know what "real" Mexican food is! (Perhaps I should though...) In fact I think my slight obsession might stem from having lived very very far away from Mexico for several years and thus the availablity of such deliciousness was often quite limited. It's the whole "you want what you can't have" idea....with food! As a result I crave Mexican food on a regular basis. The phenomenon has extended well past Mexican food though, forcing me to buy sour cream at any opportunity, no matter how much I already have or how readily available it might be, and making my heart race just at the sight of the baking goods and spice aisle in a supermarket!

Anyway, in Hanoi where eating out is usually pretty cheap and just about any food you want can be delivered, there are still only a handful of places that make "Mexican" food. Having tried a couple of them, I still find that I prefer my own version of whatever Mexican food might really be! Tonight's dinner was inspired by a few things: a random craving I had the other day for tacos in the middle of class, a recipe I saw on http://www.eatingwell.com/, tomatoes and green pepper about to go past their best, and chicken breast and tortillas taking up valuable space in my fridge and freezer.

This recipe I saw suggested charring the tomatoes in a hot, dry pan, which was something that had never occurred to me so why not try it? I heated a pan and put two tomatoes in, and turned them when they became brown. Simple! They came out soft, easy to peel, and with a bit of a smoky flavour that was yummy! I cooked up the chicken breast chunks, added chili powder and a bit of cumin and salt, onion, garlic, one bird's eye chili, and green pepper. When it was mostly cooked I doused it with lime juice and added the chopped tomatoes. Serve on a flour tortilla with cheese, top with sour cream, cilantro, and a few green onions and YUM!

After two of these delicious tacos I wasn't quite full, and the tacos were just spicy enough to remind me of a friend who always said that after eating something spicy, ice cream is the best thing! (She's right!) Luckily I happened to have a few of these homemade fudgsicles in the freezer:

Mexican AND chocolate. That just might be my perfect meal!