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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

Cannot deal with cumin. We are not friends.

My life revolves around chipotles.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

For me, candlelit is the only way to have a dinner. There are always candles at my table. And I like to have Luis Miguel playing in the background.

We don't eat nachos in Mexico.

It is very important to cook out of your heart.

There is nothing more satisfying to me than seeing people who eat my food have smiles on their faces. It makes the experience special.

I like risk takers. They're the ones that end up changing the world.

We're a family with a pretty light sense of humor but, still, on the anniversary of my mom's passing we don't feel like getting 'colorful' and remembering her favorite foods. Every March 5th, the anniversary of her passing, we go to church and are sad for pretty much the rest of the day.

Queso fresco, which is a very mild cheese, is definitely one of my favorites.

On the 'Today' show, I feel comfortable because I get to interact with people. I love that interaction. I love hearing other people's stories. I would much rather have that human interaction so it feels like a real conversion than just standing there and demonstrating things to the camera.

More than anything, a lot of our family's history is tied to food. It's just one of those things.

People ask me all the time, 'What do you do for Cinco de Mayo?' And my honest answer is always, 'When I was growing up in Mexico, nothing. Really, nothing. It was a school day. It was totally normal.' But when I grew up and started going to San Diego and started drinking margaritas, that's when Cinco de Mayo celebrations started for me.

When I'm in San Diego, it's carpools and making dinner and getting the kids to bed. It's real life.

Entertaining is much more than a reason to eat and drink; It's a reason to bond with friends and families.

I don't make mole everyday nor do I cook Mexican food every day.

I really only eat burritos in Tijuana from street corners that come out of coolers from businesses with no name, telephone or website.

San Diego, in fact, is one of the hardest places to sell Mexican food. You just cross the border into Tijuana and they have better food that's more authentic and for half the price.

From the time I start prep to serving the food at the table, I like for the whole thing to be beautiful.

Most Mexican restaurants serve fake, heavy versions of my home country's cuisine. But real Mexican food is full of brilliant, fresh flavors.

There isn't anything hotter than a guy who cooks.

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.

I'm all about simple appetizers when it comes to the holidays.

Tart pomegranates that pop in your mouth make the perfect counterpoint to roasted chicken and salty-creamy feta cheese.

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.

I know how to bring recipes down to the level where people with no experience can feel comfortable making them.

My job is to show people that true Mexican cheese is not neon yellow cheese. We don't eat tacos all day long and we don't eat burritos stuffed with everything in the kitchen sink.

My goal and my mission is to cook the home-style food that I grew up with - simple, straightforward, inexpensive and homemade tortillas. Nothing fancy and no cream based sauces - just tomatoes & chiles and nothing pre-processed.

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.

I've been really fortunate and I've just tried to focus on the work and getting people to see Mexico, its food and its culture in a slightly different light. It's tricky with Mexican food because a lot of our recipes are so deeply rooted in tradition and Mexican history. That's a heavy responsibility!

Honestly, I'll take a little lard over the 20 chemicals and ingredients I can't pronounce in some store-bought tortillas.

We didn't grow up with processed foods at all. I mean, I am not a nutritionist. I make enchiladas for a living, so that disclaimer needs to be there.

Simplicity is key. Some people like really high-tech kitchens, where you have warming drawers and ice makers and storage for a million different things. Honestly, for me, I need an oven, a stove top, a fridge and a sink.

Huitlacoche is typically eaten as a filling for quesadillas or with any tortilla-based food. Also great stuffed in crepes.

Escamoles have a cottage cheese-like consistency and have a buttery yet slightly nutty flavor. They are usually served sauteed with butter, garlic, and scallions for making soft corn tortilla tacos.

Our holiday table is loud!