BBQ, Burgers, And Beans

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Obviously, we ate summer bbq themed nachos for the 4th of July. Red, white, and blue tortilla chips baked with sharp cheddar, vegetarian baked beans, and leftover esquites. Plus homemade cole slaw (roasted sugarcone cabbage with salt, sugar, Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning, lemon juice, and sour cream).

We had one of our best weekends in recent memory, including tons of dog cuddles, a picnic on the boardwalk in Long Beach, a few stops in Ridgewood, and a day at Industry City. Also some truly excellent food! My absolute favorites were…

Uluhuluh‘s sunny side up iced latte.

A lightly toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese and jelly at Apollo Bagels.

Hellbender‘s soft scrambled egg tostada with black beans, cheddar, salsa macha, and sesame.

Also from that same (fabulous) brunch – peanut butter jello with chocolate whipped cream!

Dolly’s black cherry pie. Excluding the key lime category, this was the best pie I’ve ever eaten.

Lil Al’s Burgers. It didn’t break my top five but this was a very solid cheeseburger. Plus very good fries.

I didn’t take a photo of Hometown BBQ‘s brisket sandwich with pickles, white onion, and sticky sauce on a crispy sesame bun that was possibly the best sandwich I’ve ever eaten. But Apollo sent us home with extra bagels and I did take leftover brisket meat and reheat it with scrambled eggs and sharp cheddar and eat it on an everything bagel with Kewpie and yellow mustard.

Sour Cream And Onion Chicken Salad

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Obviously, I had a cache of Fourth of July themed foods…

Here was some of what I ate this week…

Adam bought me this wild cherry Barebells bar because when he saw it was a new/limited flavor he knew I would want it (correct). It was not as good as most of the milk chocolate flavors but better then the other white chocolate flavors and surprisingly much better than the s’mores one.

Sour cream and onion chicken salad. Shredded chicken with caramelized sweet onion and shallots, fresh green onion, sour cream, Duke’s mayo, fish sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and white pepper. Served with star-shaped pretzel crackers and roasted cauliflower.

A savory, summery, vegetarian dinner. Roasted zucchini / a take on esquites – fresh corn sauteed with green onion, poblano pepper, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy pickled jalapeños, gochugaru, garlic powder, onion powder, and cotija cheese, plus lime juice, sour cream, and Duke’s after I took the pan off of the heat / glazed tofu – super firm tofu that I boiled (<– worth the time, the texture was great) then tossed in a hot skillet with butter, evoo, gochujang, chili crisp, honey, soy sauce, and minced garlic.

Warm bean salad. Sauteed sliced snap peas, celery, green onion, cotija cheese, pinto beans, lime, and chipotle Cholula. Plus crab dip and pretzels on the side.

Crunchy

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Weekend top three…

French Workshop Crunchy iced latte. Inspired by their Crunchy pastry with vanilla sponge cake, chocolate mousse, dark chocolate, and caramelized hazelnuts; with skim milk and an extra shot, I loved it.

Whole Food’s Caramel Cinema chocolate bar with candy-coated chocolate, caramel pieces, and crunchy corn nuggets. This was one of the best milk chocolate bars I have had in years.

Creamy umami turkey pasta. Whole-wheat pasta tossed with a homemade sauce with sauteed ground turkey, mushrooms, crispy baked shredded extra-firm tofu, caramelized onions, smoked paprika, gochugaru, gochujang, tomato paste, fish sauce, and sour cream. Plus garlic sauteed baby broccoli.

Blueberries And/Or Breakfast Foods

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On-theme things from the week, all delicious…

Smoothies! Strawberry malted – frozen strawberries blended with water, malted milk powder, and chocolate protein powder.

Blueberry cheesecake – frozen blueberries blended with water, vanilla bean powder, vanilla protein powder, and cottage cheese.

A breakfast-y, dessert-y, waffle yogurt bowl situation. Fage with blueberry topped with blueberries, Evergreen peanut butter banana bread waffles, and maple syrup.

Nightingale lemon blueberry pound cake ice cream sandwich.

Bagels with cream cheese and lox, chopped. We did a mix of cream cheese, Kewpie, smoked salmon, Trader Joe’s pickled onions, chili crisp, and honey. Plus roasted broccoli.

Egg tacos, chopped. Our filling was a mix of chopped together scrambled egg with extra-sharp cheddar, fried plantains, sauteed poblano pepper and green onion, avocado, and Cholula chipotle cremosa sauce. Plus roasted zucchini.

Savory oatmeal bowls. Our favorite oatmeal (Trader Joe’s rolled oats with ancient grains and seeds) topped with sauteed kale, crispy baked shredded tofu, a fried egg, and chili crisp.

Blueberry cottage cheese pancakes. I used this recipe but added vanilla bean powder, lemon zest, lemon juice, and some blueberries. Plus sauteed kale and homemade turkey sausage (ground turkey with sharp cheddar, maple syrup, fish sauce, smoked paprika, urfa, gochugaru, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper). I coved the whole plate in maple syrup and Cholula chili garlic hot sauce!

Best Of The Best

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It was a perfect New York summer weekend! Including great food (several of my top favorites and lots of sweet treats!), a couple of long walks, brunch on the water in Roslyn, a trip to Rockaway Beach, and a visit to the mall! The best things I ate were…

Rockaway Beach Bakery. Guava cheese danish. We also had a yummy slice of croissant bread. Their new location is great.

From Lucie. They make my favorite cake in the city. This was a (super duper moist) vanilla cake with Earl Gray frosting and blackberry jam.

Culture Espresso makes our 2nd favorite chocolate chip cookie in the city. This was the corn cookie and we also enjoyed a frozen maple coffee.

Pavlo Mochi. My favorite was the banana milk jam with a dulce de leche center.

Connolly’s Bar pina colada is my current favorite frozen cocktail.

I didn’t actually love my brunch burger at Naks but their wonderful vinegar fries were fantastic dipped in egg and gravy.

My cocktail was also a win; I got the Zesto – a milk punch with coconut, soursop, and rum (and that’s a pandan coconut rum jello shot!).

Roberta’s house-made bread + stracciatella + sugar snap peas with pea shoots and green garlic.

Best meal of the weekend = lunch at Rippers. Cheeseburgers and seasoned fries. This is Adam’s favorite burger.

Their cocktails were magical too! Lychee soju martini and a frozen sangria (we ate spoons of sangria with soft-serve and swooned).

P.S. No photos but I had a kale salad with salmon at Daily Provisions that knocked my socks off.

Superlatives

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Of the week…

The best new find – Woodstock blueberry banana water. This was yummy! And no added sugar.

The best snack – Brownie batter Barebell’s protien bar. One of their best flavors; it was almost oddly filling.

The best dinner – crab rangoon baked quesadillas. The filling was crab meat, green onion, cream cheese, melted butter, sweet chili sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and sharp cheddar. Plus bok choy sauteed with green onion and mushroom. Plus a homemade Sriracha mayo dip.

The best dinner leftovers – Buffalo chicken baked pasta. With whole-wheat bowtie pasta, baked chicken, green onion, garlic powder, onion powder, buffalo sauce, cream cheese, and sharp cheddar. Plus baby carrots.

Accidentally Vegetarian

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Things from the weekend…

King’s Coast coconut iced latte with coconut cold foam. 100/10.

See also – Beanmonger‘s strawberry white chocolate iced latte. A little too sweet for me.

Paris Baguette Dubai chewy cookie. Nowhere near as good as Bear Donut but still delicious (obviously).

Veggie cheese fries. Baked fries tossed with furikake, garlic powder, and onion powder / poblano pepper, corn, green onion, and honey goat cheese / six-minute eggs tossed in a skillet with butter, evoo, gochujang, chili crisp, maple syrup, soy sauce, and lime.

Bean salad. Great Northern beans, celery, cucumber, tomatoes, peanuts, sesame seeds, and sharp cheddar tossed with evoo, sesame oil, chili crisp, honey, and rice vinegar.

Chickens Salad

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No post last week because we were on vacation! Adam and I went to New Mexico (my first time there) – Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and a night in the desert in Taos. We had a wonderful time! It was beautiful, the food was outstanding, and we visited our final Meow Wolf.

Things from the week back in real life…

A sugar plum yogurt bowl! The plums were the leftover solids from a plum syrup I made (red and black plums simmered with sugar and water — ok in iced coffee, better in seltzer) plus plain skyr and granola.

Veggie snacks. Fun to try but not for me (the sweet potato was too chewy and the okra was too crunchy); I brought them to work and at least one person liked each thing.

The best vegan jerky.

Tofu veggie bowls. This was the best meal of the week. Hedgehog-cut baked super firm tofu and roasted brussels sprouts topped with chopped white mushrooms sauteed with evoo, butter, lemon juice, maple syrup, dark soy sauce, miso paste, Dijon, garlic, gochugaru, and sesame seeds.

Chickens salad. Shredded baked chicken, six-minute eggs, Wilde chicken chips, and sauteed hen of the woods mushrooms tossed with plain skyr, Duke’s mayo, pickle brine, chopped pickles, salt, Sichuan pepper, white pepper, smoked paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder. Plus succotash we did not suffer for – frozen mixed veggies (carrots, peas, corn, green beans, and baby lima beans) sauteed with butter and lemon.

Inspired by our chicken salad we also made a chickens migas! Eggs scrambled with shredded chicken, Wilde chicken chips, kettle chips, honey goat cheese, and sauteed tomato, poblano pepper, corn, and green onions. I topped my bowl with tons of Green Cholula (the sweet goat cheese was possibly not the best cheese for this dish!).