In Pursuit of the Perfect Chicken Taco

Food is all that really matters. Sure, there are little things like love, death and taxes, but without food all you get is that middle thing: death. And if you have to eat anyway, it might as well be something good. Not just good, but great. Not just great, but infinitely delicious.

Now, I've lived my life shoveling sugar in my pie-hole for many years, and my thighs bear attestation to this point. Lately, I've taken seriously the dieting adage that protein will go a lot farther than carboyhdrates, or at the very least, they should be eaten together.

That makes chicken tacos the perfect food. Tortilla: carbs. Chicken: protein. And if you add cheese, there's your calcium that all girly types require. Salsa is a bonus. No points if you ask Weight Watchers, and all that tomato goodness and whatever type of spices you want to add.

But if you are lazy, and don't want to make them yourself, or if you're not lazy, but have a ten-year-old, a full-time job and a house/zoo that could sustain itself financially if you charged admission, and spend your time going back and forth from desert to beach, then you may be tempted to purchase your chicken tacos ready for consumption. And that's HUMAN consumption. The cats can't have any. Just try telling them that, though. Silly the stealth cat is able to paw away several items from a plate in less than a blink, but that's for another blog and another time.

So, in my quest for the perfect chicken taco, I am still seeking a winner.

Today's contestant was Del Taco. Uh, no. Not the best. But they'll do in a pinch. And only if you like sour cream. They do have the Tacos del Carbon now with salsa that is onion-loaded and runny. If you only have time for a drive-through on your lunch, you could do worse.

I prefer the little hole in the wall places, not unlike one that I was taken to lately while visiting a different office. Their chicken has been slow-cooked and their salsa is handmade. If the tortillas are also handmade, they earn extra points. And if you get to squeeze a little extra lime in the salsa, you're one step closer to heaven.

For Easter, a group of us visited http://www.mozambiqueoc.com/ and I enjoyed the Peri Peri chicken wrap. Kind of like a taco, but with pita. And the chicken was similar to Jamaican Jerk chicken. They have these tomato/pepper hybrids there called pepperdrops, too, that are different. But the sweet potato fries were the best. Still not a chicken taco, though.

I tried to make my own pollo asada a couple weekends ago and I couldn't get the chicken right. I think I need to break out the crock pot and invest a few hours. And Fresh and Easy now offers salsa kits, with tomato, avocado, lime, and onion in a little mesh bag to take out all the guess work. Of course, you may add whatever you like. I think turmeric might be a good option.

So, I still don't know who is the winner, and after my Del Taco snack just now, I'm still hungry. I wish I had more of an opportunity to cook from scratch, like I used to. That was fun. In the meantime, I may have to personally scout out every Mexican restaurant in Southern California.

Do you know how many there are?