Zucchini Margaritas & dinner

This sounds odd, but tastes absolutely fantastic.

Recipe lightly adapted from Andrea Albin's Zucchini Lime Tequila Slushies featured in Gourmet, because I like things boozy and I don't particularly like things sweet. This makes a double batch.



You will need:

• 4 small zucchinis cut into inch long sections (I think this was just over 3 cups)
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 180 ml (.75 cups) tequila
  
• 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
• shake or two sea salt
• 5 cups ice cubes

Puree all the ingredients in a blender and serve. This made three large glass fulls.

[A brief aside on blenders--I never really thought about them, but had always been disappointed with ones I'd purchased, they leaked, jammed and just sucked. As a wedding present J's mom got us a vita-mix (same brand jamba juice uses) and it is amazing; I even never thought a blender could be amazing. So if you've got a few extra hundred bucks, never want to buy another blender in your life, or see one of these at a garage sale or 2nd hand store get it!]

We needed dinner to go with our drinks, so I threw together this quick and easy mexi-tinged sweet and sour stir-fry; it took only a few minutes and complimented the drinks perfectly.



Make some brown rice ahead of time (or if you're me, have some left in the cooker from yesterday)

• 1/2 cup firm tofu diced
• small onion in slices
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
  
• medium cucumber in half moons
• large tomato chopped (1 cup)
  
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/8 cup ketchup (oh shush, it works)

1. heat some oil in wok over medium high
2. toss in tofu and cook until it begins to turn golden
3. add onions and cook until they become aromatic
4. add cumin and stir well, let spice cook briefly
   
5. add tomatoes and cook until they begin to break down
6. add cucumbers
   
7. squeeze in lemon juice and ketchup, stir well
8. cook an additional minute or two, but make sure cucumbers retain some crispness
9. remove from heat and serve over brown rice

Enjoy!