What, nachos aren't native?

Jim and I went to a Mexican/Salvadorean restaurant recommended by GWC on Texas Street. I’ve been a bit wary of his advice since The Old Post Office debacle, but he was right on with this one. I think we were both a little horrified to discover that not all Mexican restaurants have nachos on their menu, but we settled for a quesadilla after double-checking with the waitress to make sure they couldn’t make nachos for us. The chips were a little thick for my taste—I love Chevy’s chips because they’re thin and light and crisp. I definitely prefer that texture to crunchy. The salsa was basically a pico de gallo and pretty tasty. I liked the lime flavor. I got a veggie burrito sans cheese and with the guacamole on the side. Jim got a chicken super burrito. My burrito was so good! The rice was moist and flavorful, which is a big deal for me, since those are my chief complaints about Spanish rice in general. They also put fajita veggies in mine, which was an awesome idea. Jim also gave the place a thumbs up. The quesadilla was also good, but then again, it’s very difficult to screw up placing cheese on a tortilla and grilling it. I liked that it didn’t have too much cheese. Oh, and the guacamole was excellent. It was a little hard not to eat all of the stuff on the side. The only complaint I had was that they were beyond slow. Mexican is supposed to be fast. I mean, think of Taco Bell! All you do is slap some food inside a tortilla and roll it up.

I went to Lucky’s after work, but I was thinking of how to clear out the fridge of the perishables, so dinner was Fetuccine Alfredo. The only thing was that I forgot about the parmesan cheese. Luckily I had a nub in the freezer, so although it took forever to grate, I was able to finish making it. I’ve only used Giada de Laurentiis’ recipe, but I think it’s excellent. So easy and quick. I had this idea of making her parmesan twists, but that didn’t happen, so Jim had to deal with plain Pillsbury breadsticks. They got slightly jazzed up with some sprays of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter and a rub of fresh garlic. I guess I prefer scat parmesan, cuz the fetuccine wasn’t my favorite. I used half and half instead of heavy cream and took out one tablespoon of butter, but that should have only affected the richness, not the flavor itself. Jim liked it though. He got leftover bread sticks, 2 meat loaf muffins from the week before, and yogurt with granola to go.

I also threw together Ina Garten’s eggplant gratin with some of the half and half. I think it turned out pretty good. Jim’s later review was positive.