Sometimes adolescents lead to the best inventions.  Our just turned 18-year-old son Kirby decided to cobble together some lunch recently.  His invention was endorsed by his younger sister Skyler.  It’s pretty simple to put together, or the concoction probably would have never happened.

Kirby was hungry and scrounging.  Bologna is one of his staples.  He likes to eat one slice before he takes his daily morning cross country run.  It sounds weird but it works for him.  That principle kind of applies to food:  Use what works for you.

He took out some bologna and put it in the chopper to dice it up.  Then he diced some lettuce.  We had some leftover cheesy rice (Rice-a-Roni, easy to make) from the night before.  He got out a soft tortilla and began lightly heating it in butter on the griddle.

The lettuce and baloney went on top of the tortilla, along with the cheesy rice, then he spread some extra grated mixed cheddar cheese on top of that, heating the bottom until crispy, then microwaving a few extra seconds to ensure the cheese was fully melted.

Amazing, I had made fresh salsa that week, and he put this on top as garnishment before folding and cutting in two.  If the endorsement of two teenagers means anything, they may have created America’s greatest next dish.  Try it out.

I like spicy sauces for crab or shrimp.  If you’re eating out and getting a shrimp cocktail, you want the sauce to bite you.  Similarly, if you’re having crab cakes, the extra heat in the dip enhances the crab.

If you’re a non-spicy food person, neither of these are for you.  But if you like to prepare your own dips for shrimp or crab, here are two easy ones.

The basic one, which most people know, is horseradish mixed with ketchup.  But, to get that extra kick, up the horseradish so it makes your nose burn.  Taste as you blend the two together until you get it just the way you want it.  The best part is if no one else likes it, you get to eat all the crab and shrimp.

The other way to heat up the dipping sauce is to use Tabasco.  It won’t give you the same texture but it’s different and good.  If you’re trying this for the first time, again, taste it as you go.  Add just a drop of lime.  That seems to give it a unique touch. 

Hey, and if neither of these turn out the way you want, just make sure you have a store bought jar of cocktail sauce on hand.  You can impress guests by pretending you’d whipped it up yourself.