Tag Archives: beans

Apple Month 2026

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Highlights from this week…

You know it’s a good week when you have two kinds of blueberries! Super Jumbo and wild.

On the Emily calendar, September is Apple Month! (October – Pumpkin, November – Pumpkin again and Cranberry, December – Eggnog, Gingerbread, and Mint). I have, of course, amassed a fun stash of apple-themed snacks.

Here was (some of!) the on-theme stuff I ate this week. The apple Altoids are weak but otherwise all winners. Also – the ruby apple Alani is a 10/10 (not a flavor I’d reach for every day but I had no notes).

Later in the week I also scored a Hal’s apple seltzer.

And some Trader Joe’s juicy apple gummies. <– hands down the best apple treat!

I made an apple syrup by boiling down apple cider with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Apple brown betty matcha – vanilla yuzu seltzer, apple syrup, butter extract, and matcha.

Apple smile iced latte – skim milk, espresso, apple syrup, marshmallow fluff, and One Trick Pony cinnamon sugar peanut butter. This was amazing, in no small part thanks to the peanut butter which is wondrously good.

See also – New York Beanery caramel apple iced latte.

An apple-themed dinner – apple pie chicken salad. Shredded chicken breast with Duke’s, plain skyr, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, cinnamon, smoked paprika, gochugaru, sharp cheddar, green onions, and toasted walnuts. Plus green beans (steamed then sauteed with honey, yellow mustard, rice vinegar, and chili crisp), apple chips, and toasted sourdough with butter.

Spaghetti with sauce and balls. Whole-wheat spaghetti / gussied up pasta sauce – Trader Joe’s pizza sauce sauteed with roasted garlic, tomato paste, gochugaru, urfa pepper, and dried basil / baked turkey meatballs – ground turkey with panade, egg, hoisin, and urfa pepper / mozzarella pearls.

We also made spaghetti casserole – all of the ingredients above baked in a casserole with sharp cheddar on top. Plus sauteed greens – fennel and broccoli rabe with roasted garlic, smoked paprika, and gochugaru.

I don’t have a name for what this dinner bowl was but its adjective was “yummy!” Waffle fries baked with sharp cheddar, Milu everything seasoning, and za’atar / roasted baby zucchinis / soft-scrambled eggs / homemade artichoke tapenade – marinated artichokes food processed with Castelvetrano olives, capers, evoo, and lemon juice. I went back and topped my whole bowl with smoky chili crisp.

Middle Eastern-inspired rice bowls. Brown rice / roasted cauliflower rice / crispy-baked navy beans / shredded super-firm tofu baked with evoo, za’atar, and urfa pepper / roasted garlic, toasted almond silvers, chopped dried apricots, and chopped olives. This was delicious but when I make it again I would add sauteed onion.

P.S. I’m going to go make a caramel apple cocktail when I hit publish!

Banana, Bean, Black Sesame

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Highlights from last week…

Pachanga Coffee iced latte with oatmilk and guava.

Plan skyr bowl with blueberries (Sweetest Batch and Jumbos!) and Grady’s peanut butter coconut granola.

Plain skyr dessert bowl with One Trick Pony cinnamon sugar peanut butter (divine!), banana chips, chocolate chips, and granola.

Grape cruffin from Ansa Coffee (impeccable!).

We loved the banana soft-serve from Koke. I got black sesame with banana chips and black sesame sauce.

Also a perfect black sesame mochi cookie with groats in it.

A chocolate menagerie from L.A. Burdick.

Little Cupcake Bakeshop. Princess cake and a caramel peanut butter bar. They are probably my 3rd favorite cake shop in all of NY.

Gertie’s new bagel shop concept knocked our socks off. We shared a bagel with scallion cream cheese, whitefish salad, and pickled peppers and latkes with apple butter and sour cream.

Tuck Shop‘s tuna melt is my new favorite. I was also head over heels for their honey mustard mayo (2nd sauce of all time; nearly tied with the salsa I had in Taos, NM).

Mimi Cheng‘s Thai chili lime dumpling special.

Authentic Thai takeout. Pad see ew with mock duck and tom kha gai fried rice.

Curry beans. Great Northerm beans and roasted garlic sauteed with green onion, ginger, coconut milk, lime juice, red curry, soy sauce, and Sriracha. Served on a mix of brown rice and roasted riced cauliflower.

A very loose take on joomukbap. Leftover rice made into balls with sauteed kimchi, sesame seeds, shredded cheddar, canned tuna, roasted garlic, skyr, and Kewpie and coated in roasted seaweed and furikake. Plus roasted eggplant (a local baby eggplant variety!) sauteed with tahini, gochujang, sesame oil, and honey.

A loose take on callaloo. Frozen spinach cooked with yellow hot pepper, white onion, garlic, urfa chili, curry powder, coconut milk, and crab meat. I ate my bowl with a side of Vigil’s butter and mesquite beef jerky.

Brothy beans. Sauteed leak, green onion, and baby bok choy with ginger, gochugaru, butter, rice vinegar, chicken broth, and pinto beans. Served with buttered toasted sourdough bread (from Cafe d’Avignon, delicious).

Strawberry, Blueberry, Peach

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Highlights from the week…

This “sweet bean snack,” a blend of sugared red kidney, adzuki, navy beans, and green peas.

I wouldn’t have necessarily known peach without the label but these blueberries were extra fruity and floral.

This Barebells peanut caramel bar tastes like an even better take on a Snickers.

Trader Joe’s knocked it out of the park with their Strawberry Fields gummies. The mini mochis were quite nice as well.

Creamy peanut noodles. White rice ramen noodles / sauce – food-processed peanut butter, Sriracha, dark soy sauce, chili oil, sesame oil, lime juice, and silken tofu / roasted zucchini / tempeh stir-fried until crispy with green onions, garlic, soy sauce, maple syrup, Sriracha, and gochugaru / chili crisp.

BBQ chicken. Shredded chicken reheated in a frying pan with with gochujang, tomato paste, rice vinegar, brown sugar, fish sauce, and soy sauce // steamed green beans sauteed with Dijon, honey, sesame oil, and chili crisp.

Larb inspired chicken salad. Shredded chicken with Duke’s, Kewpie, skyr, Sriracha, lime juice, garlic powder, toasted rice powder, brown sugar, shallot, mint, pickled red onion, and crispy fried onion and garlic // salad – tomatoes, cucumber, green onion, and mint with chili crisp, gochugaru, gochujang, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and honey // plus our last frozen Apollo bagel.

P.S. We had a great, unphotographed dinner at The James, a new Long Island steakhouse. We enjoyed everything we ordered, especially the duck fat confit potato with fermented black bean, scallion, ginger, shallot, and lemon.

Crunch Wrap (Reigns) Supreme

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Posting a day early because it’s my birthday tomorrow and we have fun dinner reservations tonight (Rolos – I am hoping to snag a burger!). Things from this week included…

A bunch of weird birthday cake flavored things. My mom also gave me cake-scented hand soap, body wash, hand sanitizer, and a candle!

Creamy mango smoothie. Frozen mango and banana with water, milk, vanilla protein powder, and malted milk powder.

Two new favors of Wilde chicken chips. Both were good but maple waffle remains my favorite.

More Roast; I obviously had to try their crab rangoon crunchwrap (with crab rangoon spread, jasmine rice, sweet chili cucumber slaw, crispy wontons, and pepper jack cheese — my version was better!). We also shared a buffalo chicken sub and had baby carrots from home.

The best meal of the week was this chicken jalapeño popper dip – cream cheese, skyr, Duke’s, Kewpie, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy pickled jalapeños (plus brine!), baked chicken breast, and sharp cheddar. Scooped with roasted broccoli and Trader Joe’s new sweet chili black eyed pea tempeh crisps (which are fantastic).

Bean salad. I sauteed onion, orange bell pepper, poblano pepper, baby tomatoes, and black beans with lime juice and more brine; added diced avocado and sharp cheddar once it cooled; and added Love Corn corn nuts just before serving. We made this in advance and ate it cold and it was delightful.

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.

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.

Black Bean Balls

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The best things I ate this week…

TWO new-to-me Jeni’s flavors. Frosted sugar cookie was great, miso butterscotch brownie was possibly the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted.

Kelang’s side dishes remained delicious as leftovers. Taro gnocchi and roasted cabbage plus roasted baby broccoli that I made.

We’ve made several iterations of these baked black bean tacos and we like them more each time! Our filling was food-processed walnuts, black beans, evoo, and sauteed mushrooms, green onions, and poblano peppers with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder. Baked in tortillas with sharp cheddar. Plus roasted cauliflower on the side and a dipping sauce (Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, gochujang, honey, and mayo).

I used the leftover taco filling to make excellent baked meatballs; with ground turkey, panko, egg, and sharp cheddar. <– We will be making this set of dinners again for sure! Plus leftover veggies and ranch for dipping (plain Greek yogurt, Kewpie, Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning, and pickle brine).