Somewhere out there among the other "Journalscapers" is a woman who writes about her most recent forays/adventures in the kitchen, what she's cooked, and ideas for future meals. I wish I could remember the name of the Journal (something like "The Cooking Muse" but much better) because I'd like to go back and visit it sometime. From the few posts of hers I've seen in the past, it was easy to see that she's passionate about food and its preparation and always looking for creative recipes.

People who cook often and with elan are impressive, and I have no idea how they maintain their energy for an activity that one could easily do three times a day. So, I'd be lying if I said I like to cook often. I do, however, enjoy making the occasional meal, especially if it gives me the opportunity to stretch my narrow culinary boundaries and create something new.

Last night two friends came over for dinner, giving me a good excuse to "work out" in the kitchen. Since Paula and Suzanne (an avid and able chef) had already expressed a love of good pesto and I had recently stripped our impressively humongous basil "tree" bare, some dish with the garlicky, green stuff figured to be on the menu. Also, to pay back Suzanne for all the complex meals she's cooked us in the past, I quickly decided against a basic pasta and pesto entree and went with the following, home-grown recipe/experiment:

Mediterranean Burritos

Ingredients:
1. Flour tortillas
2. Orzo, one pound package
3. Avocado
4. Plain Joghurt
5. Large Tomato
6. Green Pepper
7. Onions
8. Fresh Garlic
9. Lots of Basil
10. Olive Oil
11. One Large Eggplant
12. Spices: Chili Pepper/Paprika/Black Pepper
13. Pine Nuts
14. Splintered Cashews
15. Mozarella Cheese
16. Parmesan Cheese
17. Feta Cheese

Game Plan (...because I'm a sports nut)

1. Pesto: Pour olive oil into the blender, adding basil leaves as you go. Blend often. Don't let mixture thicken so much that it impedes blender's ability to function. Add groud garlic, black pepper, parmesan cheese, pine nuts and cashews, mixing constantly. I'm certain you'll have to tamp down the nascent pesto frequently in order to get everything to contact the blades. (Of course, you may not have a ghetto blender like mine, so results will certainly vary.)

2. Mix Vegetable Filing: Mince one clove of garlic into some olive oil in a pot along with one chopped, medium sized onion. Add generous portions of chili pepper, red paprika, and ground pepper. Keep heat low, and while this mixture begins to brown, dice up the eggplant. (Probably just smaller than Yahtzee-sized dice...) Pour about a half cup of water into the pot, and then add all of the eggplant. Add chopped/diced tomato and green pepper as well. Cover pot, and let contents simmer for about 45 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the contents using a perforated ladle/scoop/spatula, placing vegetables into another bowl. (Leave remaining vegetable broth/liquid in original pot.) Crumble a small block of feta cheese into the still warm vegetable mixture, stirring occasionally, allowing the cheese to melt somewhat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside.

3. Orzo: Use the same pot and remaining "veggie liquid" for the orzo. Add a large quantity of water to the vegetable stock, bring to a boil, and add the desired serving size of orzo. (Be cautious here. I soon learned that orzo, which starts off small, expands quickly, nearly quadrupling in size in water. I used much too much of the stuff and now have leftovers which should last for weeks...So, be warned.) Remove from heat, drain off water, etc., etc., when the pasta is as firm/tender as you want. After draining, put orzo into another bowl, add large portion of pesto, and stir until pasta is all nice and green.

4. Joghurt/Avocado Sauce: Halve avocado, remove seed, and spoon out the fruit into yet another bowl. Use fork to make a mush of the stuff, adding joghurt afterward. Stir in some pepper and whip into a relatively smooth, light green sauce.

5. Grate a hefty amount of mozarella cheese.

6. Burritos! Fill flour tortillas with eggplant/vegetable mix, pesto orzo, and avocado/joghurt sauce. Add a sprinkling of grated mozarella cheese and microwave for a few seconds if you want a warm tortilla and melted layer of mozarella.

7. Guten Appetit!

And, finally, a word about measurements, amounts, portion sizes, etc.: THERE ARE NONE. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't handle authority well. I get the feeling that, for me, recipes are like little Hitlers, G.W.Jrs., and Stalins, so my aversion to their regimen is palpable in the kitchen. Hence, my advice: Use good ingredients and your best judgement, feel free to ad-lib, and don't worry too much about the final product. As long as you don't burn anything, you're cool!