What Vegetables? Tortilla Soup

A coworker brought this delicious tortilla soup to a potluck and I fell in love with it. I hate cauliflower and was so impressed that I was devouring it, "What do you mean there is vegetables in this?" This is basically nothing but pureed vegetables with a Mexican flare and thickened with tortillas. I have slightly adapted it and you should feel free to change it up to suite your own tastes or to use up any vegetables you have on hand. The soup is wonderfully savory and has a little kick of spice to it too. The garnishes really make the dish and it's fun to see your diners make their bowl of soup their own. I like mine with shredded cheddar, avocado, and few dashes of hot sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 leeks, white and light green parts only, chopped. You can substitute an onion if leeks aren't available.
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled but left whole
• 5 mild chili peppers (Anaheim, Poblano, Pasilla), charred over flame or under broiler, then chopped
• 6 cups chicken broth
• water
• 1 head cauliflower, chopped
• 1 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped with large stems removed
• tortillas - 2 medium flour or 4 small corn, toasted in oven and crushed into small pieces. You can also use a handful of tortilla chips instead if you have that on hand. 
• salt to taste
• milk (optional)
• garnish ideas: shredded sharp cheddar cheese, chopped avocado, sour cream, tortilla strips, and/or hot sauce.

1. Heat oil in soup pot over medium heat. Add leeks, carrots, celery, and garlic, and saute until fragrant and start to soften. 
2. Add in peppers and saute another 5 minutes. 
3. Pour chicken broth over vegetables and increase heat to high until it boils. Decrease heat to medium simmer ad add cauliflower. Add water if needed to cover the cauliflower completely. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, until cauliflower can be easily pierced with a fork. 
4. Add cilantro and tortillas. Using immersion blender, puree until smooth.
5. Season with salt. If soup is too spicy you can add a cup or 2 of milk to decrease the heat.
6. Serve with garnishes. 

The Food Truck Craze

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that food trucks are all the rage. No longer referred to as "roach coaches," these trucks even reach gourmet status. What's the big deal with these trucks anyway? Well, the obvious is that they come to you. They are there when you drunkenly stumble out of the club downtown or are parked in front of your office building on your lunch break. In my opinion the best thing about food trucks is that you, potentially, get superb food at a low price. With lower overhead costs than a restaurant they can afford to give you gourmet food for much cheaper.

Just this year food trucks have started popping up in Santa Barbara and I couldn't be happier. Next time you are here, be sure to hit up these guys; you'll often find them parked along the beach or off of State Street. And tell them Dina sent you.

The Burger Bus

The Burger Bus has actually been around for a couple years. They serve- you guessed it- burgers. But they also make the best pickle chips I've ever had. If you've never had pickle chips, they are simply dill pickle slices in a beer batter and deep fried, and they are amazing! Their onion "rings" are pretty darn good too. What I really love about The Burger Bus is their commitment to high quality local ingredients. Everything is local; the meat, cheese, bread, spreads, and produce. Their signature burger is known as the "CB&J" which is short for cheeseburger and jelly. Jelly on a burger isn't as crazy as it sounds once you've tried one.

The O Street Truck

The O Street Truck prides itself on it's French-Mex-Vietnamese fusion cuisine. They frequently feature new, seasonal items on their menu, but they always sell banh mi style sandwiches and tacos. For only $5, the banh mi sandwiches come on a 6 inch baguette with your choice of marinated chicken or steak, or BBQ pulled pork (my favorite), carrots, cucumbers, cilantro, and their spicy "cha cha" sauce. Occasionally, I'll splurge on one of their french pastry pizzas which aren't really pizzas, but are sinfully delicious.

THAI on a Truck
When I went to Thailand I tasted some of the best food I've ever had. The problem was coming back to the United States and finding that all Thai food failed in comparison to the real thing. Well, these guys at THAI on a Truck are the real deal and never leave me disappointed. They go all the way to LA to find specialty ingredients to make their food as authentic as possible. Their Panang curry is, hands down, my favorite dish, but everything is delicious. They offer a few main dishes and usually a daily special, a variety of small bites, and a not-too-sweet Thai iced tea.

Road Dogs

The newest mobile cuisine in town is the Road Dogs, a mobile gourmet hot dog cart. I can't express to you how happy my husband was when these guys opened up. These aren't just any wieners, but are Hoffy, and if you're a hot dog connoisseur that means something. Long and thin, and with a great snap, you won't be disappointed. You can get anything from a plain, no-fuss dog to dogs loaded with all kinds of homemade toppings. My favorite is the Sweet Baby Ray which comes topped with BBQ sauce, crunchy bacon, and fried onions.

Better-Than-Fried Jalapeno Poppers

I love jalapeno poppers. Spicy jalapeno peppers filled with melted cheese and fried to crispy deliciousness. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Problem is that they are almost always ultra greasy and gut-busting from being deep-fried. Can you create a lighter, yet still delicious, jalapeno popper by baking instead of frying? You sure can!

These baked jalapeno poppers maybe too good. My husband and I ate an entire batch of these one night and we paid for it dearly. He still won't go near one. These are better than any of those fried jalapeno poppers I've had before. The cheese filling is creamy and full of flavor and doesn't dribble down your chin when you bite into the jalapeno. The panko bread crumbs give it a great crunch too. Spicy, cheesy, and crunchy, but light and fresh, these babies are awesome!

Ingredients:

• 16 jalapeno peppers
• 4 oz light cream cheese
• 2 cups shredded jack cheese
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup four
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups Ppnko bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• ranch dressing, for serving

1. Pre-heat over to 350.
2. Halve the jalapenos and clean out the seeds and ribs.
3. Mix together the cream cheese, jack cheese, and garlic powder. Fill jalapenos with cheese filling.
4. Mix together in small bowl the flour, salt, and pepper. In separate bowl, beat eggs and milk. Spread panko bread crumbs on a plate.
5. Lightly dredge each jalapeno in flour, then eggs, and then panko before placing on a greased cookie sheet.
6. Bake for 40 minutes and let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. Serve with ranch dressing. 

Pastel de Tres Leches

My husband and I just spent a weekend in San Francisco. One of my favorite places to go while I'm in that area is a market in Oakland just across from the Rockridge BART station. It has the most breathtaking selection of meats, cheeses, wine, and an amazing little bakery. Having never tried tres leches cake, but hearing about it more and more, we went for a slice of it. One slice was apparently not enough because the day we got home my husband decided he is going to make a tres leches cake.

While cake soaked in milk sounds soggy and kinda icky, it is actually delicious. It's something you have to try to believe. Tres leches cake is a vanilla pound cake or butter cake that is soaked in 3 kinds of milk: heavy cream, evaporated milk, and sweetened condensed milk. It is moist and decadent, but not mushy. A light Chantilly cream (a fancy way of saying sweetened whipped cream) is the perfect topping for this rich cake. Tres leches cake is extremely popular in Latin America where it originated. Nestle claims they created the cake in an effort to increase canned milk sales, but it's history is unclear.

He picked out an Alton Brown recipe (isn't he amazing, by the way?) which you can find here. We did change up the whipped cream topping though. Using an electric mixer, we beat the cream on medium until thickened and you have soft to medium peaks, being careful not to over whip or it becomes grainy.

Ernie's Tijuana Torte

I love potlucks at work because my coworkers make some awesome food! One of the many stars at these potlucks is Ernie's Tijuana Torte. It is a Mexican version of lasagna, layering tortillas with tomato meat sauce and cheese, and it is delicious! Ernie was kind enough to share his recipe with me which I made exactly as instructed (because you don't mess with perfection!).

My Tijuana Torte came out really saucy and the layers didn't really hold up, but I tend to have the same problem with traditional lasagna too. I think I put too much filling in between my layers so be sure to go light when you make this. Despite it's sloppy appearance, it tasted delicious! Now that I know how easy this is, I don't have to wait for a potluck next time I'm craving Ernie's Tijuana Torte. Thank, Ernie!

• 1 tsp oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1-1 lb can of whole tomatoes
• 1-8 oz can tomato sauce
• 1-4 oz can diced green chiles.
• 1 packet of taco seasoning, or make your own by combining cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, paprika, etc.
• Flour tortillas
• 1 lb cheddar cheese, grated
• 1.5 cups sour cream

1. In large pan, saute onion in oil. Add ground beef and brown. Next, add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, chiles, and seasoning, and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Spoon the mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish, creating a thin layer. Place a layer of tortillas over the mixture, tearing them if necessary. Spread more meat mixture over the tortillas and then a layer of cheese.
3. Continue to layer tortillas, meat mixture, and cheese. Before adding the last layer of tortillas, spread the sour cream over the mixture.
4. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 or until bubbly.