Sesame-Seared Tuna and Tempura Papaya Sushi with Spicy Sesame Sauce and Papaya Chutney

Quite a title, eh? SO. Remember that foodie fights thing I told you about like... 2 days ago? Well, guess who snagged a spot on the battle...um... kitchen this week? That's right, baby. After missing my chance last week, I made sure to be all over the sign-ups this week, even though I had no idea what to create with the ingredients- sesame seeds and starfruit. After a bit of thinking I came up with a sushi idea, but alas! No starfruit was to be found. Luckily Dan and Nick saw that starfruit availability might be an issue, so they decided to allow papaya as a substitute. I've never cooked with papaya, but they've been in every grocery store recently- so what better time to go ahead and try them out? Papaya slid into starfruit's spot in my mental recipes without a problem, and what was manifested was pretty darn spectacular.

Honey-Glazed 'Chicken' Enchiladas

Ok. It's been a while. I know. I have no excuses. Well, I do, but none that can explain away over a month of silence. What can I say? I'm just busy! I've been in Arizona for almost a month and a half now, and I've been trying to squeeze as much out of the gorgeous desert summer as I can. I even managed to find an awesome summer job, working as a server/counter girl for an super-cool pizza joint downtown. When I'm not there, I'm camping, swimming, seeing old friends, or cooking... and forgetting to take pictures of it so I can post it. Thing is... the apartment kitchen is a little cramped for all the stunning food photography that I feel a proper blog post is worthy of. But there I go making excuses again. Honestly though, how do those famous food bloggers do it? I feel like they all live in their own perfect world where it's always spring time, there are farmers markets everyday, no one has to work and everyone has endless funds. Maybe I'll get there someday, but for now I'll just have to cope with my minimum wage job, tiny apartment, and elusive free-time.