Last Night's Dinner 4

Quinoa con Pollo: Marinate boneless, skinless chicken thighs in lime juice, vegetable oil, chili powder, salt, and pepper for a few hours. Grill them then rest the cooked thighs for 10 minutes wrapped in foil. While grilling, make the quinoa according to the instructions on the box. Add the cooked quinoa to a saucier over low heat. Then add a can of drained and rinsed black beans, frozen corn and peas, chicken broth, olive oil, and various spices. (I used cayenne pepper, chili powder, ground cumin, saffron, and smoked paprika, but that's just me.) Cook until the corn and peas are done and the broth soaks into the mixture. Chop up the chicken and add it to the mixture along with the juices in the foil. Stir everything together in the saucier and serve. Sprinkle cilantro and scallions on top. Magnifico!

Picture-worthy arugula and spinach as well as tiny hot pepper plants. Too bad they're not plate-worthy yet.

Skirt Steak Burritos = Muy Umami

Marinate skirt steak in lime, tamari sauce, worcestershire sauce, cumin, salt, and pepper (and whatever other flavors you're craving). Refrigerate for a few hours. Grill for 8-10 minutes total. Rest for 5. Slice thinly. Enjoy in a black-bean-and corn-salad-stuffed tortilla.



I've been hearing a lot about "umami" recently so I read up on it, and I discovered that beef as well as soy sauce (in this case tamari) and worcestershire are loaded with the stuff--glutamate and ribonucleotides to be exact--that make you experience this fifth taste. If "umami" means "delicious" then my skirt steak burritos are muy umami. (Actually, this is a bit of a stretched translation; it better translates as "savory.") Check this and this out.

As a side note, my lettuce is now on red alert. It seems to have stopped growing, but I suspect it will pick up speed this week. The weather's been bizarre since I last wrote, but I think it's now leaning toward normal. Expect photos soon.