Crawfish... Tex-Mex Style

What happens when you mix a little dirty South with some Tex-Mex? No, this is not a joke (though I'm sure there is one out there)... just the makings of a completely fun Friday meal. And I'm sure you're saying but it's Wednesday... well this was last Friday's delicious meal. It just took this long to actually put it into words.

I'm not sure what I'd call this. A mishmash of ingredients, a Mexi-Cajun fusion casserole. What I can tell you is how ecstatic I was wandering through Whole Foods, my Friday treat to myself, and saw those little red critters in the seafood section. A complete no-brainer. The roasted ratatouille I had initially planned to shop for was cast aside in my mind... but how exactly could I use the crawfish in a dish outside of just pouring old bay seasoning over and serving up with corn and potatoes? Besides these were already cooked. A casserole formed in my head... like a grits casserole, but with hominy as the base, then layered with some sauteed vegetables like okra, onion and chayote (looks like a green apple but tastes like a sharper squash) infused with some chile powder or even old bay, then topped with earthy huitlacoche and some lovely, melt-y queso oaxaca. Then the crawfish tails. All roasted and then sprinkled with  chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime. What a delicious little accident of a meal.

One Rotisserie Chicken Please: Part 1 Hominy Casserole

My sister posted on this a while ago when she was doing her budgeting month and it was actually a little trick I guided her to. I've mentioned this before but I was laid off for 8 months nearly 2 years ago, so in that time I was able to gather all sorts of fun ways to still eat well while on a budget. This was one of my favorite because it allowed me to feel a little like I was splurging and yes, I know a rotisserie chicken doesn't sound all that exciting but being able to buy something that someone else made is a huge luxury when you're watching where even nickle and dime is going.

For 1 person, or even 2... a whole chicken can translate into 5-6 different meals. And it's easy. Don't feel like making enchiladas, or chicken pot pie, or aji de gallina, and I can assure you, there were plenty of nights where the thought of cooking, the act of using up supplies and thus by default further dwindling my bank account was too depressing to get me into my "cooking mode." So simply chop up some of the chicken, mix with a little mayo and mustard, add in a nut or crunchy veg and some raisins and voila, chicken salad.