Tag Archives: bar

Best Ever Broccoli Salad

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Highlights from such a yummy week…

I enjoyed the (new?) chocolate and cherry 88 Acres bar.

These 12 Tides kelp chips are perfect; great crunch and very garlicy and savory.

I’m holding out on eggnog and peppermint until after Thanksgiving, but a winter-themed beer felt appropriate for November! Abomination Brewing’s Wandering in the Snow – double dry hopped IPA with lactose and marshmallow.

The Roast special this week was a shortrib smashburger with pickles, roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, arugula, white cheddar, and aioli on a potato bun – we obviously had to try it. Plus fries and amazing homemade green beans (sauteed with butter, garlic, and honey dijon).

Cajun-ish rice casserole. I baked brown rice with Trader Joe’s turkey summer sausage, red kidney beans, cream of mushroom and roasted garlic condensed soup, fire-roasted Rotel, red bell pepper, yellow onion, salt, pepper, and paprika. Topped with Cholula and Greek yogurt and served with a side of garlic sauteed broccoli rabe.

A new variation on a broccoli salad we made almost one year ago that I’ve thought about ever since. Roasted broccoli, roasted red onion, roasted cannellini beans, dried cherries, and the sauce (in the food processor – cilantro, roasted jalapeno, garlic, white cheddar, smoked sardines, pine nuts, honey, salt, paprika, gochugaru, evoo, and water). I topped my serving with Trader Joe’s hot and sweet pickled jalapenos. Plus a side of roasted honeynut squash that we also swooned over.

One of the best salads we’ve ever made at home. Romaine and chicory blend lettuce / charred asparagus / strawberries / white cheddar / Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy candied pecans / Greek yogurt marinated baked chicken / homemade honey mustard vinaigrette (equal parts mayo, honey dijon, yellow mustard, honey, lemon juice, and vinegar).

Cinnamon And Sugar Cookie

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Things from the weekend…

I signed up for an online CEU in GI Nutrition this weekend. The speakers were former UVA colleagues so that was neat! It was four+ hours on a Saturday though so I needed a fun breakfast – Adam and I split a Roast breakfast burrito (scrambled eggs, avocado, crispy potato, peppers and onions, hot sauce aioli, and I added sliced turkey) and fries.

Starbucks’ new sugar cookie cold foam is tasty but not as good as chocolate or pumpkin. Sandwiched between shots of espresso and cinnamon dolce sprinkles.

I made a dalgona iced coffee with cinnamon and chocolate milk (YUM).

Paired with an 88 Acres oatmeal chocolate chip bar that was also quite cinnamon-y.

I paired Whole Food’s hot bar chicken tenders and charred broccoli – and a hard boiled egg – with every kind of dipping sauce (ranch, blue cheese, Roast house sauce, honey mustard, bbq).

Dinner at Sandro’s, which someone at work highly recommended for Long Island Italian.

It was good! I got garlic broccoli rabe and the Mafaldine pasta with pesto, tomato sauce, Stracciatella, and toasted pine nuts. This was so satisfying.

This Is Halloween

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I didn’t dress up this year but still considered it a successful Halloween; Adam and the dog and I packed bags of candy and drove around admiring decorations.

Related – this candy corn hared cider was better in concept than flavor but still fun.

Other highlights from the week…

This Blue Point Big Mother Pumpkin was the last of (and one of the best of) the pumpkin beers.

Made Good cinnamon bun oat bar with fresh strawberries.

Trader Joe’s dried baby pineapple. Their selection of (unsweetened and unsulfured) dried fruit is unmatched.

An aggressively Southern snack hour. Stubbs BBQ chips with pimento cheese. Pro-tip – I served the dip warm with honey and spiced pecans on top.

This week’s dinners were all about the sauces! Trader Joe’s scallion pancakes + cucumber salad with Sriracha, sugar, soy sauce, and rice vinegar + canned salmon salad with Sriracha, mayo, and soy sauce + Sriracha, Kewpie, oyster sauce, and furikake.

Fried mini tofu, Sea For Yourself bechamel and sherry lobster cake, roasted purple cauliflower, and a toasted miso sesame dipping sauce (in a saucepan over low heat – canola oil, miso, tahini, urfa pepper; whisked with mayo and a squeeze of lemon).

Bok choy sauteed with miso and ginger and Mandu chicken and vegetable dumplings. Plus a spicy peanut dipping sauce (for 2 big servings – 2 Tbsp peanut butter, 2 Tbsp hot water, 1/2 tsp brown sugar, heaping 1/2 tsp Sriracha, 1/2 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp rice vinegar).

Pumpkin GOAT

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Highlights from the weekend…

Pumpkin Noosa (the best pumpkin yogurt of the month) with caramel apple granola.

Pumpkin spice Chobani with apple pie granola and frozen/warmed berries and cherries. Plus a pour-over coffee with a cinnamon and vanilla bean cold foam!

Southern Tier is the greatest of all time when it comes to pumpkin flavored alcohol.

Paris Baguette brie and cranberry croissant. This was great. I also tried an everything cream cheese croissant from Whole Foods that was only ok.

Perfect peanut butter and berry layers bar. Delicious. I’ve been very into things with a jammy layer recently (I had a Jenny’s doughnut ice cream over vacation with a mind-blowing jam swirl).

Someone at work gave Adam these spicy cashews and they are hands-down the best nuts I’ve ever eaten.

Good enough to salvage this very lackluster Cup Noodles flavor.

Taco bowls. Roasted cabbage with Sichuan pepper salt, cilantro, and lime / turkey sauteed with yellow onion, poblano pepper, and spices / double roasted tomato salsa / everything and the elote dip / sharp cheddar.

Enchilada-inspired casserole. Trader Joe’s black bean and cheese taquitos baked with a topping of roasted zucchini, leftover turkey, salsa, sour cream, and cheese. <– I will be making this again

Pie Not Spice

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It’s Pumpkin Month! Over the years I’ve accepted that I like pumpkin but not pumpkin spice. That said, with the numerous varieties of pumpkin beers that exist now I still had a pretty giant gourd cache this year.

P.S. Sunday night Adam and I went on a seasonal date to buy a big pumpkin and try the Wendy’s pumpkin spice frosty (the initial flavor was an 8/10 but the aftertaste was too much spice. I also tried the new nacho chicken sandwich – also only ok)

Highlights from the weekend included…

Green protein smoothie – frozen chopped spinach and banana blended with a Premier Protein cake batter.

This bar has been one of my top-three favorites for more than five years.

Spicy rice cake snack. These were almost too spicy and very satisfying.

These Trader Joe’s brigadeiros were good but not great.

This dirt cake Ben & Jerry’s was very good but not great.

Meanwhile, this ice cream cozy my mom bought me for my birthday is one of the best things we own!

Salad night. Romaine / baby bell peppers / Trader Joe’s strawberry basil vinaigrette / Beecher’s Flagship cheddar / dried cherries / bacon-seasoned crunchy mung beans / super-firm tofu that I shredded; tossed with canola oil, white pepper, and Sichuan pepper salt; and roasted.

Sandwich and salad night; Adam and I split two things from Roast. The weekly special – bbq brisket, cheddar, crispy onions, peach slaw, and a cherry pepper aioli on a brioche roll.

The bbq chicken salad with ranch, avocado, roasted corn, crispy tortilla strips, and pepperjack.

Chicken tacos from Burrito Blvd – with zucchini, tomato, roasted corn, cheese, and chipotle aioli.

Apple Crumb Pie Sour

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Highlights from the week…

I get so much joy from my milk frother; cold foam on a homemade coffee is such a treat.

I couldn’t capture it in the rainy light but this apple I got at J-Mart was delightfully pink.

Trader Joe’s chile and garlic cashews are a satisfying snack.

As are the Perfect Layers bars, though I’ve decided I prefer the originals.

We visited Fern and Aurora – a newish Filipino bakery – and got an assortment of fun treats. Including a solid halo halo and a calamansi meringue that was one of the best desserts of this year.

Fat Witch mint brownie. This is our favorite of their flavors.

10/10 beer line up. Abomination Brewing Ice Cream Sandwiches in Space milkshake-style double IPA (P.S. I also tried their pumpkin milkshake IPA at a bar this week – we went out to do poorly at trivia – and was a fan) / Blue Point Apple Pie Crumb Sour.

Homemade callaloo with spinach, crab, and turkey bacon. Plus leftover teff biscuits and blue cornbread from Hav & Mar (the bread basket was the highlight of that meal!).

Tuna pasta. Whole-wheat spaghetti with roasted zuccini and romanesco, pine nuts, canned yellowfin tuna packed in olive oil, lemon juice and zest, gochugaru, and urfa chile pepper.

Tasting plate dinner – smoked salmon spread / bitchin dip / baby sweet bell peppers / everything corn crackers / Trader Joe’s black bean and cheese taquitos.

Sandwich Week Forever

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Things from last week…

Coffee combo – Nguyen Dalat roast (my new favorite after Hanoi) with coconut sweetened condensed milk. The SCM was more solid than liquid and it clumped terribly but tasted amazing.

See also – a summer s’mores iced latte (as good as it looks!) from The Barn in Merrick.

An array of apple beverages! Alani caramel apple energy drink / health-ade pink lady apple kombucha / Targer honey apple sparkling water.

An envy apple with 88 Acres vanilla cinnamon sunflower butter (so dreamy!).

Over Easy apple cinnamon bar – too raw oat chewy for me.

Trader Joe’s honey crisp apple cinnamon yogurt with apple pie granolas, chia seeds, and a honeycrisp.

I did not eat enough plums this summer but I am still excited for the start of Sumo season.

I loved the idea of this Sweet Water Gummies Tropical IPA but it was too pineapple-forward for me.

This week required SO MUCH ice cream! Including this new-to-us Ben & Jerry’s – Mousse Pie.

See also – I am still in a committed relationship with the s’mores cookie dough mix.

Sandwich 1 – chopped sharp cheddar, Applegate Farms honey and maple turkey and citrus ginger turkey, mustard, mayo, and banana peppers on a ciabatta roll. With roasted baby cauliflower.

Sandwich 2 – buffalo chicken salad (shredded chicken breasts with mayo, Franks, red onion, and blue cheese) on Trader Joe’s sliced sourdough. Plus roasted green beans with furikake.

Sandwich 3 – soft scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, cheddar, and quick pickled red onions on a garlic naan. Plus roasted brussel sprouts with pecans and blue cheese.

Sandwich 4 – baked tofu (super firm that I marinated in hot and sweet pickled jalopeno juice), sharp cheddar, and mayo on sourdough. Plus roasted broccoli and cauliflower.

Apple Month, Starting Strong

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Some highlights from the past week…

This was the best bowl of fruit I’ve ever eaten together. Aprium, mango, and blueberries.

And this was the best yogurt bowl I’ve ever eaten! Plain Greek yogurt with honeycrisp apple pie granola and a Sonia apple that I microwaved with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Paired with an iced phin brew with brown sugar cinnamon cold foam.

Apple ginger crisp bar; I forget every year how excellent these 88 Acres seed and oat bars are, very balanced and satisfying.

Trader Joe’s dried apple chips (Adam loved these, I prefer the honeycrisp ones) and a BelliWelli chocolate chip cookie bar.

Caramel apple cocktail! Michigan Apple Whiskey, Goldschläger, ginger seltzer, and caramel sauce.

The Trader Joe’s cookie butter ale was okay but not as good as I was expecting; it was overly spiced in a way I found sort of nauseating.

Same review for these Utz hot honey chips.

Brunch at For Five while I powered through some work projects. I got a poached shrimp cobb salad (it came with turkey bacon so it was perfect for me).

Noodles with a gojuchang tahini sauce, topped with soft-boiled eggs, Sriracha, and furikake.

The “hack” where you shake macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets with blue cheese and buffalo sauce is a go-to in this house. I used Whole Foods macaroni, Applegate Farms nuggets, and added roasted cauliflower.

Nacho night. Tortilla chips and extra-sharp cheddar with smoked turkey, roasted zucchini, Blind Betty’s hot sauce, and a salsa with heirloom baby tomato, tomatillo, lemon, pepper, and Sichuan chili salt.

Basil tofu (so good!) on brown rice with sauteed baby bok choy and red bell pepper.

Another winner recipe – spicy salmon sushi bake. For my salmon layer I used a mix of hot smoked salmon, canned smoked salmon, and canned wild Alaskan pink salmon (all from Trader Joe’s). Plus a side of seaweed and a cucumber salad.