(I need to take this moment to tell you that WordPress will not allow me to put tabs and spaces where I so desire, like in a research paper, so this entire post might look jank to the naked eye. A bottle of aspirin is advised. Thank you.)
It’s AUGUST!
Which normally I wouldn’t be so !!! about, BUT do you know what this means? Let me tell you.
I) We’re one step closer to:
A) Cooler temperatures.
1) Duh.
B) Football season.
1) Hawd on, hawd on, listen. I didn’t just randomly become a sports weirdo. I just like the sounds of “aaaahhhh” in the background as I noodle around in the kitchen over a pot of soup or something with the air conditioning OFF and the back door OPEN.
2) Remember these little outline breakdowns back in school? The back and forth between the ABSs and 123s? Little graphs?
a) I do.
b) Little bullet points.
c) I like bullet points.
d) Sorry.
C) The sweet, sweet disappearance of cicadas.
1) Which meaaaaans, the sweet, sweet disappearance of CICADA KILLEEEEERS.
a) Can I get a woot, woot?
b) Are you just so sick of me talking about these bloomin’ cicada killers yet?
c) Plus, you know the constant cicada humming can be quite deafening and I’m sure it’s not the healthiest buzz of death for our delicate ears. I’m JUST SAYIN’.
D) Oh hey, are you watching the Olympics? Of course you are, what am I thinking. More specifically, are you watching women’s gymnastics? That is, if your heart can even bear the stress of watching them ON THOSE BEAMS I MEAN ARE YOU KIDDING ME.
1) Guess whose song is like, their theme song? Any guesses?
a) That’s riiiiiight, my dreaaaaambooooaaaaat Phillip Philliiiiiiips.
b) Oh you felt that? Yes, that was a shooting star from my eyeball that just landed on your life.
E) With the dragon bees out of my way, I will be able to go outside without wearing astronaut gear and work in my pathetic, crispy, dried up yard and garden. Baby needs some TLC, y’all.
II) We’re going on vacation!
A) Which in true form I have anxiety because I’m a total homebody and a freakishly nervous traveler.
1) But there will be a wedding.
2) And a beach.
3) And family.
4) And my cute new bag and aviator sunglasses I bought yesterday.
a) I almost said “shades” but I didn’t want you to take an ice pick to my aorta.
III) And lastly, it’s my birthday month!
A) Noooo, I’m not one of those people who celebrate all month long. I just needed a 3rd bullet point and OH CRAP, THESE TACOS.
Okay in short, your mouth is nothing but lost without them. The soft but toothy lentils, velvety arugula and lightly sautéed zucchini is one thing, but that cilantro-lime-chipotle-yogurt sauce is like, the very reason babies are made.
IV) Eat with caution. Or reckless abandon.
A) Definitely reckless abandon.
1) Class dismissed.
Lentil and Zucchini Tacos with a Chipotle Cream Sauce:
What it took for 4 humans:
* 1 cup green lentils
* 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 cups diced zucchini
* 4 cups arugula
* 1 (6 oz) container plain Greek yogurt
* 2 or 3 chipotle peppers with a little adobo sauce
* 1/2 cup cilantro
* juice of one lime
* 16 white corn tortillas
* coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
In a food processor, combine the yogurt, chipotle peppers, their adobo sauce, cilantro and lime juice. Blitz until smooth. Set aside.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the lentils and cook until tender, but not broken, roughly 25 minutes. Test at the 20-minute mark. Drain the water if needed. Add the arugula to the lentils and stir to wilt. Cover and keep warm.
In the meantime, heat the olive oil to medium high. Add the garlic and bloom 15 seconds. Add the zucchini and a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté until it starts to brown on both sides, about 7 minutes. Remove zucchini from pan and set aside for a hot second.
Back in the pan, with the heat on medium, add the corn tortillas a few at a time and heat them until they slightly char on both sides.
Layer two corn tortillas at a time. Spoon the lentil/arugula mixture on the bottom, followed by the sautéed zucchini. Drizzle with the chipotle cream sauce.
Serve tacos with more cilantro and lime slices on hand!
Fo’ da real.
Hey — there’s the famous drizzle! That sauce looks insanely delicious!
They look amazing! Great way to use that darn zucchini that mounts on the counter!
Did you try holding down the shift key and pressing enter after your period on the previous line? This should allow you to type on the very next line without spaces. Tacos look amazing.
Well, I’m trying to add spaces like in a research paper, ya know? Like where the next sentence would be 5 or 10 spaces in, and not all the way to the left. I can’t figure it out! Is that what you mean?
Happy Birthday Month Bev! These tacos look so yummy!
These look wonderful! And yes, the gymnastics makes me nervous to watch but I can’t look away!
GIMMMEEE. Particularly that cilantro-lime-chipotle-yogurt sauce.
Also, I share your affinity for bullet points.
SO STOKED ABOUT FALL! and i have to say i do love me some football season…’cause i like to watch and listen when i cook!
Does that mean that I’ve now heard a PP song or is that just on the NBC coverage?
This looks spicy and healthy! Right up my alley!!
I’ve been out of school so long that I really don’t have any idea what you are talking about….
These tacos are yummy looking, really I love to put anything in a taco.
I definitely had flashbacks to writing outlines for research papers…but this is way more fun.
Yummmm! That cream sauce, oh my oh my.
Oh, these tacos look so good. Love the lentils and the greenery, plus, with the sauce, I can almost taste it.
As to WordPress, have you tried using html coding for bullets or lists?
http://www2.gol.com/users/billp/articlehtml/bullet.html
That will work like the tab key. Plus, spaces can be coded with in the line. This adds an additional space between your sentences.
I tried in HTML and it still showed everything to the left! I guess I just need someone to hold my hand. Ugh. But thank you for the link!
omg i love that sauce. i want to drink it. i need to experiment with chipotle in adobo sauce, dangit! i keep forgetting to buy it at the store. these look so friggin awesome!
I love using lentils instead of ground beef in Mexican dishes.
Also, I totally salivated at the photo of that sauceeee going through the food processor!
I know you made these for me! Thank you!
Pardon my French, but FUCK yes.
These are so freaking fabulous. Loooove!
I don’t watch Idol, but I’m listening right now to Philip Phillips on YouTube. I’m loving your photos, beautiful setups.
Keep writing…
I’m going to go for the reckless abandon.
Yum! These are going on next week’s menu. Your blog always makes me laugh like a crazy person at my monitor – thanks for the laughies and the recipes!!
That sauce. YES. PS. Your description of fall with the football game on and the back door open? Brought tears to my eyes. Mostly because it will be a full year until I get to experience that again.
WAHHH! Feed me your tacos.
Oh Bev! You are so funny! These taco’s look divine girl.
Every time I see a recipe with chipotle it makes me just want to take a ride to Chipotle and get me a burrito bowl. I just can’t get enough of it. But I will settle with your amazing looking tacos with chipotle cream sauce. Yum!
This looks soooooo bomb bomb bomb. I’m a taco junkie so this should be a perfect recipe to fulfill my addict needs!
It’s like you piled a bunch of my favorite ingredients on a taco. Wanntttttt these for dinner.