June 17, 2015 Lunch - Luigi’s Dinner- Pork Tomatillo Enchiladas

June 17, 2015 Lunch - Luigi’s  Dinner- Pork Tomatillo Enchiladas

I called Peter Eller to go to lunch today.  When he arrived around 1:00 I said I wanted a salad and he suggested Luigis’s, explaining that they had a good salad bar and also other good Italian food, including chicken cacciatore, which he likes.  So we drove out to Luigi’s which is on 4^th just north of Chavez.

I was amazed by a number of things about Luigi’s.  First, it is a large restaurant, probably over 100 seats.  Second the variety of dishes was impressive; minestrone soup, sautéed vegetables, chicken cacciatore, chicken Florentine (in Alfredo Sauce), lasagna, meat balls and sausage and baked penne plus a large salad bar, which was why Peter recommend the restaurant.  The buffet was $9.95, which seems very fair for what it included.  Peter says that if you want fresh pasta they will make that for you also.

meatball, sausage, lasagna sauteed vegetables and chicken cacciatore

the last half of the salad

the buffet line

Luigi's dining room

 I liked it.  I will return.  I took a big salad and then discovered when I had eaten half of it that you could get any of the other items you wanted so I ate a second plate of the hot items and got happily stuffed.

I went to Rancher’s Market at 5:00 to take advantage of the Wednesday/Thursday fruit and vegetable specials.  I bought 6 avocados (3 for $.99), a 10 lb. bag of potatoes for $.99, limes (2 lbs. for $.99), Mexican squash (2 lbs./$.99), Anaheim Chiles ($1.49/lb.), FUD queso fresco ($1.99/lb.), LaLa yogurt ($2.50), corn chips (12 oz. for $.150) and cilantro for $.50/bunch.

Suzette arrived shortly after I arrived home and was hungry, so I suggested that we make enchiladas with the PPI pork in tomatillo sauce, corn enchiladas, and the Mexican squash.  Suzette added a layer of avocado.  I chopped up 1 onion and ½ Anaheim chili and she sautéed that in a skillet.  I sliced two Mexican squashes thinly and Suzette cooked them in a freezer bag in the microwave.  Then she heated a 32 oz. container of PPI pork and tomatillo sauce and added some chicken stock to it to cook the tortillas in the sauce to soften them.  She made the enchiladas in a ceramic baking dish, with a layer of softened tortillas, then onions and the green chili and then slices of 2 avocados and then more tortillas, then the pork and tomatillo and 1¼ cup grated Manchego cheese and more tortillas and then about 4 oz. of crumbled queso fresco and filled the baking dish with sauce to the top of the side of the dish.  She put the enchiladas into the oven at 350˚ until the cheese melted and the sauce was bubbling.  I went to meditate and did not eat an evening meal, due to my massive Italian feast.

I will have some enchiladas tomorrow.

Bon Appétit