Top 100 Quotes & Sayings by Marcela Valladolid

When summer squash is freshly picked, all it needs is a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and maybe a hit of lemon juice.

I didn't realize I was living in a very unique situation until I became a culinary professional. For me, there was nothing out of the ordinary about spending half my day in Mexico, and the other half in California.

There is no yellow cheese in Mexico!

In Mexico, where I grew up, women rule the kitchen. They control everything that happens; they hold the power.

I love my fish spatula so much. I don't have many specialty tools, but that's a favorite of mine.

You're only as good as the people who you surround yourself with.

One summer, when I was on break from architecture school in Tijuana, my aunt gave me a summer job cleaning up and peeling garlic, and I got to see her in her element. She was so passionate and such a good teacher, I decided to quit architecture school and go to culinary school in Los Angeles.

I love my molcajete, which is a Mexican mortar and pestle. There is no comparison in flavor to when I use a processor.

I love to shop at the farmer's market or grab something from the garden and roast that.

We do two things almost every week - either grilled steaks marinated in herbs or roasted chicken. There's always a roasted vegetable, like Brussels sprouts or sweet potatoes or broccolini - whatever's in season.

I'm usually pretty good about knowing which of my social media posts will create more excitement, but every once in a while I'll post something and be totally surprised at the response.

I'm not going to focus on the bad days. I choose to live in gratitude.

In Tijuana, because there's such a mix and match of people and regions and we're a newer city and everyone comes from some place else, I think we're just given permission to play with our food.

Growing up in Mexico, I know what real Mexican food is - and isn't.

We'll do frozen pizzas and then I'll get arugula from the garden and do a fresh salad over the top with shaved Parmesan. Or we'll buy a rotisserie chicken already made, and then we'll make tacos and a fresh salsa and we'll grill some vegetables to accompany it. We definitely try to make it a little bit homemade if it's not completely homemade.

I definitely recommend a quality chef's knife.

Usually when I have a salad it's pretty hearty, balanced and healthy and a full meal.

The combination of charred poblanos and corn is a classic one in Mexico and once added to a rich, creamy dressing and soft potatoes, it makes for the perfect summer side.

Growing up in Mexico, I have many fond memories of not only celebrating posadas with my family, but also of the time spent together menu planning and prepping for decoration and entertaining activities. A lot of work goes into celebrating these traditions, but that doesn't mean they have to cost a lot too.

I want children to feel proud of their heritage.

Supermarket cherry tomatoes do serve a purpose, but the flavor is vastly different than those from your own garden. Same for broccoli and snap peas.

I think it's important to educate kids about food and let them help a little with the cooking and cleaning. That interaction is really important.

It's what makes me the happiest - to make beautiful things for the people I love, and to fill my home with love and laughter and music and food and people.

All of my dishes kind of have the same thing going on - I'm always going to give you the same things that I grew up with or that my mom used to make. I'm not going to use nitrogen in my tacos.

When I heard that Capital One was fostering a conversation about natural connections that exist among all of us, bridged through our travels - I knew I had to get involved.

True success will come when you have the courage to be yourself.

In an attempt to have access to everything year-round, produce has lost its magic.

My aunt was a chef and she inspired me deeply so she was a huge motivator but more than anything it was a quest for independence and freedom that lead me to an L.A. Culinary School.

My half-breed culture informs everything I do but I'm not thinking about it. I'm just doing it. Not until very late in my career did I realize that I was so fortunate to just live with this profound pride in being half Mexican without being attacked for it.

In Tijuana, we have cuisine from every region of Mexico and cooks from all over cooking in all of the restaurants, so there is a huge influence from sources like the Yucatan, Oaxaca and Puebla.

I use my Le Creuset dutch oven for everything you can think of. I even fry eggs in it.

Growing up, everybody would cross the border, even to just do grocery shopping. A lot of traditional American foods stuck with my parents and became part of my upbringing. This all had to do with the proximity to the border. We were an absolute mix of classic Americana, traditional Mexican, and Baja cuisine.

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of having a salad before a meal.

I do the best I can to remind my family as often as possible that I love them more than life itself, and to let them know that every step I take is with them in the very front of my mind.

My decisions are motivated by my life, my values, and what I stand for, not what I can gain financially from it. This has weeded out the opportunities that I don't care about and has brought on a lot of new opportunities that mean everything to me.

Herdez Salsas have always been a favorite of mine because I love the authentic taste.

I'm a purist when it comes to certain foods, and al pastor tacos (known as adobada tacos to us in Tijuana) is one of those foods. I lived off them - literally.

Growing up, I didn't realize how unique it was to live on the border of the United States and Mexico. It wasn't until I started doing interviews with the press that I actually began to appreciate just how cool it was that I would cross the international border every single day from Tijuana into San Diego to go to school.

I kind of love the idea of teaching our kids that you don't have to follow the rules to be incredibly successful and live in harmony and have a wonderful life.

I hate perfect centerpieces and formal tablescapes.

I'm passionate about holding on to my heritage and sharing it with family and friends, and cooking is a great way to do this.

Those of us that were raised in Tijuana have so much access to San Diego. I was crossing the border every day when I was a kid, and that back and forth has a huge influence on the cuisine. So the U.S. is coming down to Tijuana, Tijuana is going to San Diego. There's this great blending, a great exchange.

I strongly believe that it's possible to conserve our heritage while making more healthful choices.

There's a particular quality that those of us who live on the border share; we can switch from being Mexican to being American in an instant just by scanning our surroundings. Not everybody has this superpower; it takes a very specific kind of upbringing to instill a deep pride in two very different cultures.

It fills my heart with pride and joy that international food writers and press have taken an interest in Tijuana.

We don't eat nachos in Mexico.

I surround myself with people that are supportive of our insane family dynamic, and I savor every minute of every day I have at home with my family.

I love warm salads with bacon and spinach. I love the varieties of the nicoise that show up on so many menus. I love steak salads for their lusciousness and how the meat juices seep into the dressing.

I cook healthy meals all the time. That's really important to me.

I was a contestant on 'The Apprentice: Martha Stewart' and more than her telling me I learned from her that authenticity is key. She had a huge issue with a contestant using the phrase 'fake it 'til you make it' and fired her that same episode. She taught me that you can't fake being a master of your craft.

Quesadillas, those are my comfort food.

Tijuana is a baby compared to pre-Hispanic cities like Puebla or Oaxaca, the birthplace of mole.

I had a lot of female role models around me as a kid, but my aunt Marcela Rodriguez was the strongest. When she was only 26, she opened Artes Culinarias Internacionales, one of the first culinary schools in Baja. She started with six students and built up to 800.

My boys will not only respect and admire women and see them as their equals, but they will also see them as sources of inspiration and knowledge.

Cannot deal with cumin. We are not friends.

Typically a weekend retreat for the heart, soul and palate, brunch is the perfect way to unwind and reconnect.

Growing up, my mom was a stay-at-home mom. I knew that her entire world revolved around us, and she relished being involved in every school project and every craft.

My life revolves around chipotles.

I hold both of them with equal amounts of pride. I feel just as strongly and equally Mexican as I do American.

The more you make an effort, the more life gives you things to be grateful for.