Austin Cookin'

I ate eggs and it did not kill me. I was craving them; I’ll be honest. Nathan had bought some for himself, and I caved. I have a feeling I will have these moments in my vegan-hood where I break down and eat a breakfast taco. It’s hard not to when I’m in a breakfast taco paradise (For example, see here, here, or here).

Such a paradise, that is, that with bought ingredients you can easily make them at home, and they will be delicious (and cheaper). The ticket is a good, fresh tortilla. I’m still not eating flour tortillas (still avoiding gluten), but that’s fine. Corn tortillas are tasty. Man, though, I am eating a lot of corn. So much corn.

I made a simple scramble with bok choy and eggs. Heated up the tortilla on the stove until it was just starting to brown (I like it a little crunchy), and then added some Valentina sauce on the top of the taco.

I want to talk a little more about Valentina sauce. I’ve been in love with this stuff since college, when my housemate at the time added it to her guacamole, and my mind was blown. She had brought it over from her visit in Mexico, and it was difficult to acquire in Portland. Fortunately, the bottle sizes are HUGE, so one trip near the ‘burbs for a bottle, and I was set. I was sauce-less in Argentina (though Nathan had stocked up in his last US trip three huge bottles of that rooster sauce), and now, in Texas, Valentina sauce is easy as pie to get. And it’s super cheap! I have a 1L bottle (it was the only size available) of the “Muy Picante” black label version (the black label means it doesn't play) that I got for 99 cents (or was it $1.99? I don’t remember). Either way, it was a pretty sweet deal. One liter! I like the flavor to this sauce a lot, but I could see it not appealing to everyone…I guess.

Here are the ingredients:
Water, Chili Peppers, Vinegar, Salt, Spices, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative)

So the ingredients aren’t so bad, especially for the price. Sodium benzoate doesn’t have the best reputation, but I know this list at least passes one friend's hot sauce standards – vinegar is not the first ingredient. Hmph.