Empanadas

I enjoy going out to eat, and I really enjoy cooking something nice (or stupid,) but sometimes I just want something quick and inexpensive. I love empanadas. My favorite item ever at Trader Joe's were the goat cheese empanadas that they stopped carrying a couple years ago. When I see empanadas at a street fair or farmers market I always try one. But it never occured to me to try frozen empanadas. That seems as silly as buying frozen tacos - why the hell would you do that when you can get fresh, cheaper ones on pretty much every block?

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But a couple weeks ago at Vons I noticed a box of frozen empanadas on sale for $2.50. I figured it was worth a try. And they were great. I had a craving for them last night so I cooked another box, with a "Fresh Express" bag salad of lettuce, cheese, tortilla strips, and sour cream-salsa dressing.

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I wish I had some of the marinara-type sauce that used to come with the TJ's empanadas, but I didn't have anything like that, so I just used some garlic-herb lemonaisse. A little bit of it tastes good with the empanadas, although it is overpowering and too sweet if you use too much.

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I also got a box of their "Imperial Rolls" (spicy pork mini egg rolls) that I will probably cook on Sunday while watching football. (And by watching football, of course, I mean the TNT double-header of "What Women Want" and "Something's Gotta Give." )