Trying it on - Fiona is dreaming of Albuquerque and so are we.

A few months ago Lee subscribed to "New Mexico Magazine" and we've been devouring every issue. This is the correct verb because food is always a focus. This month featured a Salsa contest with lots of recipes. Tonight we were inspired by a recipe for pineapple salsa. We had skewered and grilled some veggies a few days ago, and this was a good way to use up the left-overs. The house that we are trading to is only 4 blocks to La Montanita Food Co-op and this dinner made us eager to have more time to cook fresh.

Pineapple and avocado salsa:

3/4 c of julienned fresh pineapple. (Choose one whose skin is yellow and the fruit is very sweet.)

1 small jalapeno (diced)

2 TB of minced yellow onion

1 c of diced heirloom tomato

1/4 c of grilled green pepper

2 green onions with stems - minced

1 small ripe avocado

1/4 c parsley - minced

4 large leaves of fresh basil - minced

juice from 1/2 lime

a dash sea salt

Turkey filling:

1 TB of olive oil

3/4 lb Turkey tenderloin cut into quarter sized medallions

1 large tomato diced

the remainder of our grilled onion, green pepper, and 1 roma tomato

3 cloves garlic - macerated

8 leaves red chard with stems - chopped

a handful of fresh basil - chopped

Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the turkey and cook until lightly browned. Add the garlic, mix, and then add the rest of the veggies and basil. Cook about 10 minutes over a lowered heat.

Put tortillas in a tortilla warmer and nuke for about 1 minute to soften. Serve with large leaves of washed lettuce. Fill a tortilla with the turkey mix, top with salsa, fold and use the lettuce in the crack to keep the goodies from falling out. 

You could top this with yogurt or sour cream, but all these fresh veggies can stand alone!

Why Albuquerque?

It was October 2010 and we were getting ready to retire in June. We've pretty thoroughly explored the NW near our home over the last 24 years we've been married. It was time for a change. I went to homeexchange.com, a website that we have used for about 7 years to find home exchanges. It's worked well for us in the past for short 1-2 week exchanges, so I looked for something longer term.


I did a 'reverse' search to see who might like to come to Portland. I found Liz and Bill who live in Albuquerque, NM. They were thinking about moving to Portland, but they didn't want to commit to something permanent without first trying on a Portland winter. Lee and I had been to Albuquerque several times in the past. Lee spent his early years in Clovis, NM and then went to college there. He had good memories of expansive landscapes and open skies filled with stars. Me? I wanted to try on some year-round sun shine!  We contacted Liz and Bill, and a year-long exchange was born!!