Qdoba Mexican Grill

Recently a Qdoba Mexican Grill, was installed in a local plaza/mall which got the better of my curiosity. I had actually never heard of one before but I assumed it was a franchise operation, just based on the way it looked from the outside. It wrecks of fast food with a twist, more expensive. The real question was, how's the food.

Upon entering the restaurant, I was struck by the utter simplicity and almost cafeteria style atmosphere. The place was clean and modern in design, brightly lit and somewhat plain. As you come in you are ushered along by a wall that divides the order line from the dinning room. The menu is posted above the prep area, but as you come in, there are racks that hold menus and other printed material that you can look over before you order.

I don't usually like places like this because I feel rushed to place my order before I fully understand the menu. Maybe it's just me, but I want to know what each item comes with before I place my order.

As it turned out, I still wasn't fully sure what I was getting, all the way till the point of having to pay for it. I watched as the pleasant young lady, who took my order began to prepare the meal. I got there a little late, so my original order (Fire-grilled red onions and bell peppers with their tangy Ranchera sauce) could not be completed because they no longer had the essential ingredients. By the time I got there they were no longer really cooking anything, so the kitchen and grill area was pretty inactive. They were happy to substitute another item for the original, but I declined. Instead, I ordered a pulled pork burrito.

As you move along the glass counter, the preparer ask what ingredients you prefer to along with pulled pork, such as your choice of black or pinto beans to be wrapped in a large flour tortilla. Their burritos come with rice and beans as a part of the burrito selection of various meats (Chicken, beef or pork), you can add cheese, sour cream or guacamole and an assortment of sauces including pico de gallo, salsa, salsa verde and even mango salsa.

Behind the glass counter, rows of pans holding the various ingredients are ready to prepare your choice of their burrito specials, tacos, quesadillas, salads and soups.

If you visit their site, you can see they are a pretty slick organization with a good story line and premise. But at the end of the day, they are another Baja Fresh or other "Mexican" styled upscale fast-food restaurant chain. For me, although the food didn't taste bad or anything is just a bit too antiseptic and patented for my taste, and doesn't give me any sense of real Mexican food.

Qdoba
They are pretty much all across the country,
the one nearest me is at:

261 Old York Road

Jenkintown, PA 19046

p: 215-887-2341
www.qdoba.com

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Grilled Chicken with Chimichurri Sauce and Spanish Rice

The other day I had the urge to make a couple of things, one was s dish using Chimichurri as a sauce and, my version of Spanish rice to share with my Latino friends.

The Spanish Rice
I wanted to try a quickie recipe version I'd seen somewhere online. Any way, a quick trip to the market to get the ingredients that I wanted to use, which included Chorizo, and black beans for the rice and nice fresh bunch of parsely for the Chimichurri sauce. Before preparing the veggies for the dish, I made two cups of arroz. (This is the quickie version of the Spanish rice, where presumably you've already made rice and have left overs from the night before.) Starting with a mirepoix of celery, onions and peppers (red and green) getting them wilted and seasoned, I added the chorizo to the mix which I had also cooked and diced earlier. To this mixture, I added one (12oz.) can of zesty diced tomatoes with peppers and an 8oz can of tomato sauce.At this point I also added the black beans, rinsed and drained. I let this reduce for about 5 minutes an added the cooked rice to this mix, stirred well and incorporated into the tomato sauce. I reduced the heat and let the rice absorb the sauce

The Chimichurri Sauce
Since I do not have a food processor, this sauce is all manually chopped, and maybe a bit coarse for some but for me, I like the added texture. Chopping a bunch of parsley as finely as I had the patience for, I added three good sized cloves of freshly peeled garlic, also chopped as finely as I could, along with quarter of a Vidalia onion. To this I slowly added a quarter cup of extra virgin olive oil and about two tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Whisked together with a half a lemon squeezed, and seasoned with rock salt and coarse black pepper, viola! my version of Chimichurri Sauce.

I seasoned the four chicken breast on both sides with a mixture of salt, pepper, chili powder, a mixture of herbs and slathered them with a coating of the Cimichurri sauce before grilling. Came out pretty well, at least I enjoyed it.

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