Sabor a Mexico

Too much rice, too many beans, too much cheese "product" (that slab of melted orange stuff). These are some of the faults of some inexpensive Mexican places nearby, where the food comes
overcooked, obscured by sauces, out of proportion and shining with grease with nary a vegetable to be seen. On the other hand, many sit-down Mexican restaurants in West Los Angeles have overly long waits for $10 mediocre burritos and crowds of hipsters.
Faced with this problem, and wanting something new, I went to www.chowhound.com. Various posters extolled the virtues of Sabor a Mexico, at 8940 National near the intersection with Venice, so I decided to give it a try.
While walking into this small and very clean restaurant, I saw a woman making fresh tortillas. The large menu, written in neat, colored chalk, overwhelmed me as my mind swam with decisions. Forget the diet, I thought, as I ordered a quesadilla "en estilo DF" (distrito federal or Mexico City-style) with zucchini flowers ($2.75) and a tostada with beef picadillo ($3.50). We asked for water, and the cashier apologized for the different sized cups of water she gave us. The next stop was the salsa bar, which contained the following salsas: tomato, tomatillo, chipotle cream, avocado, pico de gallo, and hot (red), along with cilantro, onions, cucumber, and pickled carrots and jalapenos. With a few chips, I felt like that could be a meal alone. Sitting in the comfortable wicker seats outside on the fairly quiet street near the 10 freeway, I almost forgot I was in Los Angeles.
The cashier brought the food out on blue ceramic plates. My quesadilla was folded and about the size of a hard taco shell, with shredded iceberg lettuce piled on top with a smattering of queso fresco. The tortilla was fresh and lightly fried, but the best part was the flavor and the perfectly cooked texture of the zucchini blossoms inside. The tostada had a shell with a light spread of black beans, followed by juicy, lightly spiced ground beef, a lot of lettuce, some fresh cream, and a few small slices of avocado. Jack got a carne asada burrito (around $5), which had tender and flavorful beef with a reasonable--but not excessive--amount of rice and beans.
I felt that the cook had high standards for her cooking, since none of the food was too salty or spicy, but was seasoned enough and her presentation was picture worthy--something I may capture with a camera at a repeat visit.

Frozen banana

Today I had a half a banana for a snack and froze the other half, not knowing what to expect. Just a few minutes ago I took it out of the freezer and discovered a sweet, cold, and creamy treat, reminiscent of banana-flavored frozen yogurt. Now I know what to do with over-ripe bananas (besides throw them away)...