Enjoy senior center taco salad with loads of toppings

Susan Ohanian, Write Ingredients

Taquería El Califa de León, one of the nearly 11,000 registered taco shops in Mexico City, recently rated a Michelin star. Already a popular place, now the wait time can be three hours. Nearby businesses rent out stools for people in line for their Michelin-rated tacos. A clothing store set up tables for the taco stand’s customers among men’s underwear and shirts.

Of course, I wondered what the venerable Judge John Hodgman might have to say about tacos.

From his perch at The New York Times, he advised a woman complaining about her significant other’s wanting to eat at Taco Bell not to be a food snob: “This isn’t to defend Taco Bell, necessarily. Big fast-food chains pose a lot of problems for local economies, the environment and your own gut. But a simple Taco Bell cheesy bean-and-rice burrito is a masterpiece of legit deliciousness. I had one in particular 25 years ago that I think about every day.”

In the “who knew?” category, The New York Times also reveals that Taco Dibbits is the director-general of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Jon Stewart puts a political spin on Taco Bell. (Imitating a conservative pundit.) “Two races? In one person? Now I’ve seen everything. I heard she sent her DNA to 23 and Me, and it broke the computer. I don’t know what to do! Goodness gracious. If these people ever saw a Pizza Hut/Taco Bell, they’d lose their [expletive] minds: ‘What is this, a DEI restaurant?’”

Here’s a historical note: In 1955, Charles Elmer Doolin, a cofounder of the Frito Company, created an edible cup out of Fritos and served it at his Disneyland restaurant, Casa de Fritos. It was the size of a teacup, filled with ground beef, beans and sour cream. The ’60s brought a proliferation of recipes for taco salad.

Although plenty of us prefer our watermelon straight, with “It’s Sweet. It’s Hot. It’s Your New Favorite Salsa Recipe,” Texas Monthly offers an offbeat combo to go on your tacos — a sauce made of watermelon, red pepper, habaneros, garlic and lime juice.

I always enjoy the often wacky reader comments that follow the recipes in The New York Times. Hey, it gives people a chance to be heard. Here are some comments accompanying the recipe for taco salad:

  • This is the quintessential Seventh-day Adventist meal.
  • Add half-and-half mix of Thousand Island dressing and a hot-as-you-like-it salsa.
  • Homemade guajillo tomatillo salsa. I toast dried guajillo chilies, dried chile morita, dried chile pasillo and two garlic cloves in a pan with a tablespoon of canola oil. Then I put six tomatillos and one sliced white onion in the pan until bruised and soft. Last, place all in a blender with two tablespoons white vinegar and two tablespoons water. It beats Pace Picante store-bought brands.
  • I grew up eating this in the 80s. Our version came from the back of a French dressing bottle. Need to add the dressing to take this up a notch, as well as ranch-style beans (rinsed) instead of plain beans. No avocado or sour cream needed. It’s the best!
  • If you can start with a margarita, all the better.

Figuring that adding some spice to astronauts’ food could improve their appetites and their morale, NASA researchers spent two years figuring out the best pepper to grow in space. They settled on the Hatch chile from Hatch, New Mexico, planting 48 pepper seeds on Earth with a fertilizer specifically designed for peppers and sent them to the space station on a Space X cargo resupply mission.

Astronauts watered the plants, and when fruit appeared, it was harvested for tacos. Here’s an astronaut on Twitter in 2021: “Friday Feasting! After the harvest, we got to taste red and green chile. … I made my best space tacos yet: fajita beef, rehydrated tomatoes & artichokes, and HATCH CHILE!”

No complaints about the absence of margaritas.

The July 23 Los Angeles Times named the “101 best tacos in Los Angeles” and published a long taco glossary: from Adobada and Alambre to Vampiro and Zarandealo, “words you need to know to order tacos like a pro.”

To enjoy the taco salad prepared by the volunteer Monday Munch cooks at the Charlotte Senior Center, the only words you need are “thank you.”

Celebrating this Monday Munch, these books will be added to the Little Free Library for Kids at the Grange (2858 Spear Street): “Amelia Bedelia” (whose cooking skills save her job) and “Dragons Love Tacos.”

“Amelia Bedelia” is a fun, sure-fire way for a child to learn about language while having great fun. Peggy Parish, the author, taught at the Dalton School in Manhattan for 15 years and published her first children’s book while teaching third grade there. When she died in 1988, her books had sold 7 million copies.

Because I’m a childless woman who loves cats, the wonderful Newbery Honor title “Millions of Cats” will also be added. I will forego “Dead Cat Tail Assassins,” but thanks to a recent announcement from The Flying Pig bookstore, the just-published “Bodega Cats: Picture Purrfect” will also be added.

Aug. 12
Monday Munch: 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Taco salad with lots of toppings: lettuce, beans, corn, tomatoes, olives, salsa, guacamole, sour cream and beef or turkey. Churro bars with ice cream. No reservations needed. No charge: A $5 donation is recommended.

Aug. 19
Menu to be announced
Check online.