Hey Friends - John here,

Last month I received a piece of my past in the mail. Before Cass and I formed The Wet Spots, I spent ten years performing all over Canada, the USA and England with a band called The Orchid Highway. The music was 60’s style British invasion pop with some psychedelic-era Beach Boys thrown in. They’re still going strong, and they’ve just released their long-awaited, self-titled album to generally rave reviews. I played guitar on this album, and sang lead on a song called “Opiate” (which actually mentions a wet spot in the lyrics). If you’re a pop fan, you GOTTA check them out:

http://www.orchidhighway.com

http://www.myspace.com/orchidhighway

Also, in a totally unrelated entry that may or may not become an ongoing theme on our blog, here is a recipe I invented for amazing, low-fat chipotle / lime chicken burritos:

Chicken Burritos (serves 6-8)

2 packs whole wheat tortillas
3 limes
Lime juice (or buy 9 limes instead of 3)
1 can of Herdez Chilpotles Enteros (whole)
1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
8 cloves of garlic (or just get the pre-minced stuff – God!)
1 small-ish onion
3 teaspoons cider vinegar
2 cans black beans
2 ripe avocados
6-8 chicken breasts (bone-in is better if you barbecue – otherwise boneless – in all cases remove the skin)
Tub of fat-free sour cream (or regular)
Allegro 4% milk fat jalapeno cheese (or regular jalapeno monterey jack)
Fresh salsa
salt
1 tablespoon olive or canola oil
Honey

Directions:

Finely chop the cilantro & mince the garlic
Grab two peppers from the can of chilpotles & mince them.

In one large bowl combine the zest of 3 limes, the juice of 9 limes (or equivalent from bottled lime juice) 3/4 of the minced garlic, the chopped cilantro, the minced peppers, the oil and the cider vinegar. Also add 2 teaspoons of the sauce from the canned chilpotles. Stir & let stand for a bit while you mash the avocados.

Once they’re mashed start adding the lime juice mixture to the avocados a bit at a time until they have a mild lime flavour but it’s not overpowering. (You’ll only need to add a small amount.) Add small amounts of salt, salsa, honey, and extra garlic to the mashed avocados until you like the flavour. OK Your guacamole is done. Cover & set it aside in the fridge.

Stick the chicken breasts in the remaining lime juice mixture and let them marinate for a few hours. Read a book for a while. Or watch TV. Maybe do some cardio…

Pre-heat the oven to 350 or (preferred) fire up the barbecue.

While it heats up, dice the onion and the rest of the chilpotles. Rinse the black beans in a colander. In a large cooking pot fry the onion, chilpotles and remaining garlic until the onions are translucent. Add the black beans. You rinsed them right? GOTTA rinse them or everyone will get the farts. Add the remaining sauce from the can of chilpotles. Fill the chilpotle can with water & then add the rinse to the pot. Maybe even take a scraper to the cutting board where you chopped the peppers & scrape as much of the sauce as you can into the pot. The sauce is important. OK. Stir the beans & liquid together, then mash with a potato masher until there’s some bean paste, but some whole beans left as well. Add salt & honey to taste. Let simmer, stirring occasionally. (Should eventually reduce to a refried bean consistency.)

Shred the cheese & set aside.

Barbecue or grill the chicken breasts, until cooked through, turning & brushing often with the remaining marinade. Once cooked through, dice the breast meat into sizeable chunks.

You’re done. Just chuck the chicken, beans and guacamole into separate bowls (the nice bowls) and serve, along with the sour cream, salsa and tortillas.

Happy Eating!

John