Spanish-Style Spaghetti

When I'm on my own for dinner, I usually resort to a casserole or spaghetti. It's quick, usually pretty flavorful, and makes a large quantity that can be used for leftovers. This Spanish-Style Spaghetti looked pretty appealing, so I thought I would give it a shot. I also had my reasons for trying to find a quick recipe that incorporated saffron, a spice that I have had sitting in my pantry for about two months without any use. The verdict? Just so-so. It actually had a very pizza-like taste to it, just on pasta. Decent, and very filling, but I doubt I will use this as another go-to for a weeknight meal. I did sub in black olives for the green ones recommended in the recipe, just because I prefer the black olives. Surprisingly, the crushed red peppers got lost in this recipe and did not provide much of a heat profile.

(Also, I cannot get a decent shot of spaghetti without it looking like the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Deal with it.)

Carne Asada Chicken Tacos

So....there is no way I can go back to the boxed tacos mixes now that I've found a quality carne asada recipe. I started with this recipe for the pickled onions (which, by the way, don't try them on their own; they taste amazing on the tacos, though) and moving to this recipe for the carne asada marinade. Go for the mojo sauce in the Tyler Florence recipe and marinade chicken or flank steak for at least three hours. I took three skinless chicken breasts and sliced them horizontally, pounding out each half to make for a quicker grill time. After marinating, I brushed off any residual garlic from the meat to avoid burning any garlic (a taste that will overwhelm anything you cook) and placed the chicken on a preheated grill pan.

The marinade is really just as simple as those boxed taco mixes, but the flavor is much fresher and much, much better. Just try it. Garnishes included the pickled onions, chopped tomatoes, shredded cheese and diced avocado.

Sides included some mashed black beans that were heated up with a splash of chicken broth and chopped green chiles. And (you'll be seeing a lot of this): fresh corn. I really cannot get enough of fresh corn when in season, so it will probably grace our dinner plates more than once a week until the hubby starts begging me to find something else to serve with the entree.