Tacos are fun. They’re eat-while-standing-up food. They’re perfect-with-alcohol food…they’re party food.

I’ve always loved tacos—tacos (or spareribs) were my favorite dinner as a child, and they remain so to this day. I don’t, however, make tacos often. I’m not sure why, since they are easy as pie (much easier actually). I think it may be some deep-seated masochistic self-hatred—or maybe I just like to keep my favorite things special. Whatever the reason, it needs to stop.

Tacos should be eaten regularly. There’s so many different approaches to a taco that you could eat tacos everyday for months without getting bored (though you may put on a few pounds!). You have your pork, beef, or chicken tacos, your fish tacos, bean tacos—I’ve even heard of chocolate tacos. The possibilities of different cheeses, sauces, vegetables, and even fruit that can go into your tacos is endless. Then you can pick from soft tacos, or puffy tacos, or hard, crackly ones. There’s no reason that one shouldn’t have tons of tacos. The more tacos, the better, and the more people that you share them with, the merrier. Tacos are perfect party food—everyone loves them, and they leave the hostess free to party it up with her friends. There’s something wonderfully fun and inviting about setting out a bunch of bowls and accouterments for your guests and letting them put their plates together. It makes dinner a bit of a game.

But, I feel like I’ve become a bit of a Taco PR-girl, so I’ll end this post shortly—after recommending, of course, these tacos. They may be a bit more difficult than pie—since you make the salsa verde and the cabbage slaw from scratch—but they are absolutely worth the effort, making themselves my favorite tacos ever (and that’s an accomplishment!).

The salsa verde is bright, tangy and able to cut right through the creamy lime mayonnaise slaw. The onions, which I used to marinate the (very fresh) tuna and then used to top the grilled tuna tacos, are softened through the marinating—they retain a bit of onion-bite but aren’t offensive. If you’re unsure about eating onions that touched raw fish, reserve some of them for serving before you add to the raw tuna.

I suggest you taste the salsa verde before adding the sugar and the chicken broth—I found I didn’t need much sugar (I used 1/4 tsp) because my tomatillos were sweet, and I didn’t use as much chicken broth as the recipe called for (I used 1/2 cup) because I didn’t want to dilute the bold, punchy flavor.

Finally, I urge you to fry your tortillas. It’s a celebration, right? Screw your diet!

Grilled Fish Tacos

serves 4//from Bon Appetit May 08

• 2 cups chopped white onion, divided
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 5 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided
• 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
• 1 pound tilapia, striped bass, or sturgeon fillets*
• Coarse kosher salt
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Corn tortillas
• 2 avocados, peeled, pitted, sliced
• 1/2 small head of cabbage, cored, thinly slice
• Salsa Verde
• Lime wedges

Stir 1 cup onion, 1/4 cup cilantro, oil, 3 tablespoons lime juice, orange juice, garlic, and oregano in medium bowl**. Sprinkle fish with coarse salt and pepper. Spread half of onion mixture over bottom of 11x7x2-inch glass baking dish. Arrange fish atop onion mixture. Spoon remaining onion mixture over fish. Cover and chill 30 minutes. Turn fish; cover and chill 30 minutes longer. Whisk mayonnaise, milk, and remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice in small bowl.***

Brush grill grate with oil; prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Grill fish with some marinade still clinging until just opaque in center, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Grill tortillas until slightly charred, about 10 seconds per side.

Coarsely chop fish; place on platter. Serve with lime mayonnaise, tortillas, remaining 1 cup chopped onion, remaining 1/2 cup cilantro, avocados, cabbage, Salsa Verde, and lime wedges.

*I used tuna steaks.

**I used all the onions, then marinated the fish and used the marinade for a topping afterwards. Come on, you eat sushi, right?

***Instead of serving the cabbage and lime mayonnaise separately, I combined them and served as a slaw.

Salsa Verde

3 unpeeled garlic cloves
1 pound fresh tomatillos, husked, rinsed
1 small onion, quartered through root end
3 to 6 serrano chiles or 2 to 4 jalapeño chiles
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon (or more) sugar*
Coarse kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup low-salt chicken broth**
2 tablespoons (or more) fresh lime juice
Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat).*** Thread garlic onto skewer. Grill garlic, tomatillos, onion quarters, and chiles until dark brown spots form on all sides, about 9 minutes for onion, 6 minutes for tomatillos and chiles, and 4 minutes for garlic. Cool. Peel garlic. Trim core from onion. Scrape some of burnt skin off chiles; stem. Seed chiles for milder salsa, if desired. Coarsely chop onion, chiles, and garlic. Transfer tomatillos and all vegetables to blender. Add cilantro and 1/2 teaspoon sugar; puree until smooth. Season to taste with coarse salt.

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over high heat. Carefully add tomatillo mixture (juices may splatter). Stir until slightly thickened, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Add broth and 2 tablespoons lime juice. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer until mixture measures 2 1/2 cups, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and more sugar and lime juice, if desired. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly, then cover and chill.

*I used 1/4 tsp.

**I used 1/2 cup.

***I made everything (successfully I should think) on a cast-iron grill pan.

I’m usually a good Daring Baker. I may wait until the very last minute to do a challenge but I’ll get it done and, more importantly, get it done right—which means no cheating on the recipe rules.

But not this time. See, this go-round I got lazy and by Saturday night when we got back from food shopping and I realized I forgot to get lollipop sticks, I threw caution to the wind and decided to make “Cheesecake Balls” not “Cheesecake Pops.”

Maybe I should have planned better. Maybe I should’ve went to the craft store earlier in the day and bought the sticks. But life, as it tends to do, got in the way.

Our Saturday was spent at Shadfest, the annual festival in Lambertville, NJ honoring the shad that swims through the Delaware come springtime. Jim, Champ, and I lazily traipsed around the festival—not thinking about Daring Bakers for one moment—eating shad wraps and taking photos. By the time we got home, tired and happy, I almost threw the whole notion of cheesecake anythings in the trash.

But then I got a second wind and decided to make the balls. The cheesecake was surprisingly easy. I divided the recipe into fifths, because one can only take so much cheesecake. Everything was whipped up in cute little bowls since the ingredients were so fractioned off (.04 cup of flour can’t really mess up your kitchen). However, once the cheesecake came out of the oven, I was already tired, and didn’t want to bake anymore (but, of course, wanted dessert for the night). I rolled the balls up too soon—they were bumpy and quite ugly—and then froze them solid while I continued to finish dinner and get a bit zonked on some good wine. A little bit later, I tipsily dipped the balls in chocolate, threw on some sprinkles, and devoured some immediately, watching an episode of Entourage. I didn’t, silly me, even take a picture.

Luckily, there were some left over (still on the plate, which I threw in the fridge before bed, you know, for food safety) and I took some snaps this morning, trying not to get chocolate on my new MacBook.

The recipe for the real cheesecake pops is here and here, at the lovely sites of this month’s Daring hosts, Deborah from Taste and Tell, and Elle from Feeding My Enthusiasms. And of course, you can find all the links to the other (better) Daring Bakers here.

No one should be bored by what they eat. If the contents of your kitchen aren’t proof of that, then the internet is—we live in an age of information, where on the web you can find a recipe for practically anything and where the intricacies of food cultures are available to everyone, in books, on TV, and of course through bloggers. We all know now what tapas are, how to crack a coconut, and that sushi isn’t just a California roll. We ain’t in the 50′s anymore, and there’s no excuse to be bored by dinner.

It’s good to set goals. Try and eat something new once a week, or have something that you’d never before imagined cooking—or eating—once a month. Learn about all those weird seasonal vegetables that spring up now and then and figure out what to do with them. Or, you could take a dish you’ve had before and cook it in the tradition of another culture.

I’ve had okra before, but mainly in Creole gumbos (a delicious one of which I had this past weekend, made by Jim’s wonderful aunt Maria) or Cajun stews. Okra acts as a thickening agent in these dishes because of that sticky, gunky, oozing stuff inside of it (I looked for the technical term in the Oxford Food Dictionary, but they just called it a “sticky substance”) but since okra is one of my favorite components of these dishes, I wondered if it would be good on it’s own. Searching through my recipe books and on the internet, I learned that okra is a traditional Indian side dish—stir-fried in a wok with onions, chilies, and Indian spices. Since Jim and I make red-lentil dal at least once a week (using the leftovers as lunches), this technique sounded perfect.

The resulting okra was indeed sticky (or gummy or slimy–we couldn’t agree on a adjective), but coupled with the caramelized onions and chilies, and the earthy tones of the coriander and cumin, it was beautiful—complex and tasty. Not totally sold on the stickiness, we mixed the okra into our dal and were impressed by the depth that it contributed. I’m sure it would go wonderfully with black beans, though I urge you to make the okra separately, using this simple recipe, and then to mix it into your beans, or dal, or whatever at the table, because the caramelization of the dish is not to be missed. Maybe it will even transport you to new worlds!

(Though if it doesn’t, you could at least click on this video link for a laugh!)

Stir-Fried Okra

serves 3-4//adapted from Curried Flavors, Maya Kaimal MacMillian3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 green chili (serrano, Thai, jalapeno), split lengthwise and chopped (leave in seeds if you want added heat)

1 pound fresh okra, trimmed and cut into 1/8-inch slices

Spice mixture:
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/8 teaspoon red pepper (cayenne or dried red pepper flakes)

1 teaspoon salt

Over medium-high heat, fry oil with onion and chili until soft.

Turn up heat to high. Add okra and fry, stirring, for two minutes. Add spice mixture and continue stir-frying until okra browns around the edges (15-20 minutes.) When browned, add salt.

It’s getting hot in here. Well, not in here—this series of tubes that we call “the internets”—but out there, on the other side of my window, where tulips and blossoms are beginning to bud under the warm New Jersey sun.

Tomorrow’s temperature may reach 80, there’s a warm breeze blowing through the blossoming trees, and the kids at my school have a terrible case of Spring Fever. There’s no denying it—Spring has sprung.

So, why in the world would I give you a hearty, warm, comforting vegetable soup? I could make up excuses that I’m trying to reach out to those poor saps in Canada or wherever it is that snow is still on the ground. Or I could tell you I’m sick and that’s why I made it. That, thankfully, is not true (I’m feeling quite great, actually, and so is Jim.) I could tell you that the vegetables that went into the soup were so good, so irresistible, that I just had to post the soup. That, also, would be a lie.

In truth, the vegetables in this soup had been hanging around the bottom drawer of my fridge for quite a while. I bought them, used some, and left the rest to twiddle their thumbs in the frigid air. I had good intentions, mind you, of lots of vegetable spring dishes. And then I got lazy this week, falling back to our old standards—red lentil dal, risotto, dishes that have me going to the pantry more than the vegetable drawer. I almost forgot about all those sad, bored veggies, and I would have let them wither and die had I not decided, with spring-cleaning motivation, that I would clean out the fridge.

We’re going away for the weekend, to attend Jim’s uncle’s photography show’s opening in East Hampton. I’ll plan it out so that we do next week’s shopping on the drive home on Sunday and making room in the fridge is the last thing I’ll want to do when we finally get back to the apartment.

The best way to use up all your idle veggies is a pot of vegetable soup. The more, the better—I used leeks, onions, parsnips, turnips, carrots, and potatoes. You don’t even need a recipe, just chop everything up, render some bacon in a big pot (or simply use olive oil), add your vegetables, saute them until fragrant and golden, and then add enough water to cover. The vegetables will flavor the water to make a rich, delicious stock. If you are using potatoes, add them in about 10-15 minutes after adding the water. Simmer until all the vegetables are done. Ladel into bowls and top with a bit of salted butter. Pretend it’s cold outside and enjoy with a good French baguette.

Jim and I are cursed. I’m absolutely sure of it. The very same day that my back began to feel better than before I got my steroid shot (exactly seven days after I got the shot), Jim hurt his back.

When I heard his voice over the phone at work, I assumed that he was calling to see if I was feeling better, and I happily exclaimed that I wasn’t feeling any back pain so far that morning. I was puzzled that he didn’t sound happy on the other line and when I asked what was wrong, he grimaced well, honey, I couldn’t say the same for myself. He had fallen while doing his Russian kettle-bell workout (which, now, seems like the most ridiculously dangerous way to work out) and he felt like his entire midsection was in a knot. We called the doctor who’s been treating me and a few hours later we were sitting in the office, with every employee coming in to say now who’s takin’ care of who and laugh at our cursed misfortunes (we laughed with them, of course.)

It turns out he may have a herniated disc, though we can’t be sure since Jim has no insurance and can’t get an MRI. The doctor prescribed some painkillers (we’re becoming quite a drug factory here), a week of rest, and we all agreed that if anything got worse we’d go to the hospital and pray that the bill wouldn’t be a bah-zillion dollars. Luckily, he’s feeling better today, and isn’t even taking the painkillers (like a good ex-addict). But I still think we’re cursed.

And really, what do you do when you are cursed? I imagine that cooking a good, healthy, nutrient-rich dinner would be one way to help alleviate things. I spied Barley Risotto in Gourmet a few days ago, marking it as a good weeknight dinner—when regular risotto feels a tad to decadent. Being that decadent was about the furthest thing from what Jim and I were feeling, it seemed like the perfect dinner. It’s comfy yet healthy. It’s springy but warming. It’s just what you feed someone who’s injured.

Since you are blending a portion, use as much of the asparagus as you can—only cutting off the base and not doing the normal bend-and-break thing that you do to prepare asparagus for pan-frying. The “sauce” that you make by blending the asparagus stalks and garlic is mouth-watering, but potent; make sure to use only the given amount of garlic and no more—unless you are trying to ward off vampires (or kisses).

Barley Risotto with Asparagus

adapted slightly from Gourmet: April 2007//serves 4

1 bunch medium asparagus, trimmed
5 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 cups pearl barley
1/2 cup vermouth
1 garlic clove
1 1/4 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
3/4 cup Parmiggiano-Reggiano, grated
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped

Cut top third of each asparagus stalk diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices, reserving tips and slices together, then coarsely chop remainder. Bring water (5 1/2 cups) and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan, then add chopped asparagus and cook, uncovered, until very tender, 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a food processor (not a blender, which would require adding liquid).

Add reserved asparagus tips and slices to boiling water and cook, uncovered, until crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer with slotted spoon to a sieve, reserving cooking liquid in pan, and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Drain well and reserve in another bowl.

Measure cooking liquid and, if necessary, add enough water to bring total to 4 cups, then reserve.

Cook onion with pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt in oil in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Add barley and cook, stirring, 1 minute.

Add vermouth and boil, stirring, until liquid is absorbed, about 1 minute.

Add 4 cups reserved asparagus-cooking liquid and bring to a boil, covered, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until barley is tender (it should be chewy) and mixture is thickened to a stew-like consistency, 35 to 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, mince garlic and mash to a paste with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt using side of a large heavy knife, then add to asparagus in food processor along with zest and purée until smooth.

When barley is cooked, stir in asparagus purée, asparagus-tip mixture, and enough additional water to thin to desired consistency and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until hot, about 1 minute. Stir in cheese, then season with salt and pepper. Serve with pecans and additional cheese on the side.