We went to Chuy’s one day last week to celebrate a friend’s birthday.  It just opened here…apparently the first outside of Texas.  It was quite busy but the service and the food were both above average.  The margaritas got our stamp of approval too.  (But 2 people in our party got mojitos and said they were pretty awful.)  I got baja tacos – they had shrimp, shredded purple cabbage. and this amazing sauce they call creamy jalapeno.  The tacos were so good I couldn’t stop thinking about them (I’m not saying the margaritas didn’t have something to do with my happiness).  I decided I had to recreate them at home.

The taco part was easy(ish). Corn tortillas heated in a pan with some non-stick spray.  I used broccoli slaw because I couldn’t find purple cabbage that day.  I bought some shrimp and cooked them.  But the magical creamy jalapeno sauce was really the key. I googled copy cat recipes and found several.  I  took my ideas from them and gave it a try.  My tacos weren’t any where near as good but they were pretty darn yummy.  And the dip/sauce?  It wasn’t an exact replica but is really good.  I’ve been eating it on everything for the past week.  First the tacos, then on a chicken club, on some chicken nuggets, and tonight on a baked potato.  It is cool and fresh with a slight heat at the end.  Yum!

I will probably halve this next time…it made a lot.

1/2 cup light mayonaise

1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup salsa verde

1 packet dry ranch dressing mix (e.g. hidden valley)

handful fresh cilantro leaves

2 jalapenos, seeded

juice of 1/2 of a lime

Put mayo, sour cream, buttermilk, and ranch packet into a bowl.

I threw the jalapenos, cilantro, salsa verde, and lime juice in the food processor and pulsed until it was finely chopped.  You don’t want any jalapeno pieces large enough to crunch into.  Put this into the bowl with the other ingredients and whisk until combined.

Why can’t I buy buttermilk in a quantity smaller than a quart? I don’t know what to do with the rest.

Someone asked if everything I make turns out amazing.  No.  Admittedly, I have enough skills to make most things decent.  There haven’t been many times we’ve had to throw an experiment in the trash and head to McD’s.  (There was an awful, terrible, horrible lentil soup once that tasted like dirt.)  But not everything turns out pretty and yummy.  An example…I tried to make biscuits with the Jiffy mix from my pantry to go under some hamburger gravy concoction.  These were the result.  We ate them but they were kind of like flat, tasteless, hockey pucks.