Tag Archives: bok choy

(C)how Fun

by

Fun eats from the past week…

A coffee date at Quhwah House. I got an iced Yemeni latte (great in theory but I ultimately am just not a ginger in coffee fan) and we shared a yummy creamy pistachio dessert.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this Cafe Bustelo coffee. Not as good as brewing their coffee myself but the best pre-made coffee I’ve tried.

Snack plate – olive oil and za’atar labne, baby carrots, and corn fritters (we got bar food one night!).

I went to J-Mart for fresh noodles and scored in their amazing snack isle – these Sichuan pepper chips were fantastic.

Drinks and desserts at Whisk and Whiskey. We really enjoyed this spot and want to go back ASAP.

We made Hummingbird High’s best ever banana bread recipe.

I, of course, ate some cubed in a yogurt bowl with blueberries.

And, of course, I toasted thick slices to be the B in BEC (banana bread, soft-scrambled eggs, extra-sharp cheddar). Served with blueberries and roasted green beans.

Another fun dinner I made was Leah Cohen’s recipe for Chow Fun! With baked chicken subbed in for beef and roasted zucchini subbed in for bean sprouts. It was delicious.

Big salads. Romaine / cucumber / balsamic vinaigrette / roasted pumfu (pumpkin seed tofu) / crispy rice (leftover black rice roasted with soy sauce, sesame oil, and chili crisp).

Best meal of the week = Bricolage. We’ve loved this Vietnamese spot for years. Their take on coquito blew me away – Ten to One dark rum, house-made creamy coconut spice blend, and Chinese cardamom. I also had a great Vietnamese Espresso Martini – Grainger’s vodka, chicory infused coffee, condensed milk, and five spice coffee garnish.

Mushroom ginger congee with lemongrass tofu.

Five spice roasted honey nut squash with maple gastrique and a kale cauliflower cous cous salad.

Hawker broad noodles – fresh flat rice noodles, shiitake mushrooms, Chinese broccoli, cherry tomato, peanuts, crispy shallots, and spiced soy three-bean peanut sauce.

Caramelized shrimp pot – Gulf shrimp, baby bok choy, onion, cherry tomato, and scallions in a caramel-chili sauce. This is my favorite dish on the menu!

With Crab On Top

by

We had a wonderful weekend. NYC weather warmed up enough for some city walks and we were able to enjoy (many!) iced coffees. Highlights…

Blue Bottle‘s current Nola special is cinnamon, honey, and vanilla.

Meanwhile Elk Coffee‘s special had condensed milk, butterscotch, and cinnamon!

Enly Coffee‘s viral tiramisu latte.

Iced lattes from Humble Cafe. Pandan and guava with brown sugar. We love this spot.

This blueberry coconut water tasted exactly the way I hoped it would.

I 100% get the hype around the new Hani’s Bakery. We tried a cinnamon roll and a rice krispie treat with pistachio and halvah and both were perfectly executed.

Finally tried PopUp Bagels now that we have a location out in Roslyn Long Island. We got poppy, everything, and sesame with scallion cream cheese and white fish salad. These were quite good – and we loved the toppings – but I wouldn’t call them the best bagels in NYC (I am La Bagel Delight loyal).

Finally tried Fini Pizza. Again, very good – nice chew and the white slice was rich and decadent – but not the best pizza in NYC (L’Industrie).

Italian Food at Ci Siamo. We started and peaked with the focaccia – the center was chewy yet fluffy and the crust was shatteringly crisp. We also thought the tomato conserve was just lovely.

The caramelized onion torta was also great.

Mandilli with guinea hen sausage, pecorino, and dandelion greens and cavatelli with crab, chili, and vermouth.

Lemon torta with olive oil and fantastic meringue was a perfect ending. Adam loved the chocolate budino.

Chinese Food at Antidote. I loved the Fei-Hong Fries with peanuts and lots of Sichuan chili pepper; they were so crispy! Suntory Story in the background – jasmine green tea infused Roku Gin, Haku Vodka, kumquat lemon, honey, and garnished with salted plum.

Garlic boy choy.

Tea-smoked duck fried rice.

Soft tofu with salted egg yolk and crab. This was our favorite dish; it was divine on the fried rice.

Dips and Sips

by

This post is late because my laptop was in the shop. Things from the week/end, many dips and sips, 50% seasonal!…

Kings Coast Coffee Company‘s The Griswald – espresso with cinnamon and housemade oat nog.

Iced matcha latte with candy cane syrup.

Cheesecake-y smoothie – cottage cheese, vanilla protein powder, water, and frozen blueberries, cherries, and pineapple.

A take on our favorite seasonal smoothie – plain Greek yogurt, frozen strawberries, vanilla protein powder, chocolate milk, and candy cane syrup.

Hint chocolate peppermint flavored water. Good but not something I would seek out again.

Chobani eggnog Greek yogurt with blueberries and Heritage Flakes (and tiny star sprinkles!).

I also had a really great bowl with fresh persimmons, blueberries, granola, and plain Greek.

I made extra chestnut cream cheese frosting so that I could scoop it with pretzel thins and that was a very good idea.

See also – Trader Joe’s blue cheese roasted pecan dip with garlic parmesan pretzels.

I tried two new-to-me Trader Joe’s prepared items – crunchy slaw salad and peanut udon salad – both 8/10’s; both had some nice spice and fresh vegetables.

This soup was so easy and so satisfying – baby bok choy sauteed with scallions and ginger, chicken broth, and Trader Joe’s mini chicken cilantro wontons.

Hedgehog roasted super-firm tofu – topped with a mix of thinly sliced scallions, gochugaru, sesame seeds, furikake, sesame oil, honey, sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, and water – and roasted baby zucchini.

Bars And Bowls

by

Things from a yummy week…

Butterscotch instant coffee! I liked this better than their maple flavor but still wanted it to have more roasty oomph.

It was perfect in my fluffernutter coffee shake. With ice, skim milk, additional cold brew powder, vanilla protein powder, peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, and frozen banana.

I know I’m repetitive but this combination is perfect – plain skyr with blueberries, blackberries, and chocolate cookie granola.

Pumpkin pie Perfect Bar. I prefer the chocolate flavors but these are always good.

This minty chocolate Barebells bar was a 10/10. I love the layer of gooey mint; this is fully like eating a candy bar (with zero grams of added sugar).

Spinach and artichoke casserole. Sauteed frozen artichokes and chopped spinach with garlic and gochugaru, eggs, plain Greek yogurt, shredded chicken breast, lemon juice, cheese, and Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi.

Chicken congee. Brown rice slow-cooked with vegetable broth, white pepper, ginger, fish sauce, and shredded chicken. Topped with chopped boy choy and Trader Joe’s Cruciferous Crunch veggies sauteed with garlic, dark soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Plus tons of chili crisp. The veggie broth (which gave this its orange hue) worked great in here and I would use it again.

Cardamom, Maple, Pumpkin

by

Things from this week…

This maple chocolate instant coffee did not have nearly enough flavor (maple nor coffee) but it did mix instantly.

This new Trader Joe’s vanilla cardamom cold brew was more successful.

Pumpkin Noosa (best in the game) topped with blueberries, blackberries, and Purely Elizabeth double chocolate cookie granola.

Pumpkin beers! Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin was one of our favorites years past but it was too syrupy for us this year. Meanwhile, Great South Bay’s Baked pumpkin pie ale was a new hit; it was very well balanced between beer, pumpkin, and pie.

This isn’t a flattering picture but it serves as a reminder PSA – if you live near a Nuts Factory you NEED to go get their viral Dubai pistachio chocolate bar.

Peanut butter noodles. Udon stir-fried with eggs, peanut sauce (chunky peanut butter, brown sugar, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, Sriracha, sesame oil, and water) and sesame seeds. Plus spicy green beans – steamed and then sauteed with honey, rice vinegar, yellow mustard, and chili crisp.

Thai basil chicken. I used chicken breasts instead of thighs and added red bell pepper and baby corn. Served on a bed of roasted riced cauliflower.

Korean-ish tofu plates. Shirakiku frozen kimchi pancake / super-firm tofu that I shredded, baked, then tossed in a skillet with Trader Joe’s green tea yuzu jelly, gochujang, sesame oil, and rice vinegar / bok choy, asparagus, and green onions sauteed with ginger and sesame seeds.

Thirteen Years

by

Highlights from the week…

This week marked Webster’s thirteenth Buyday! We celebrated with a walk at Edgewood Oak Brush Plains Preserve.

Plus smashburgers from Paper Plate. The dog and I shared a double 🙂

The human family members also enjoyed some fries.

Also we checked out Kismet Coffee and had a honey vanilla latte. They were out of skim milk and the pistachio milk was surprisingly pleasant.

Snacks this week were most bougie/international candies. The last of my Bon Bon stash.

Blueberry and sour passionfruit gummies (both 9.5/10’s!).

Colombian guava caramel candies.

My parents sent me this hibiscus sugar for my birthday so I tried it in some fun drinks.

Like a smoothie with frozen blueberries, vanilla protein powder, and water.

And in cold foam on an iced matcha.

One of my favorite dinner combinations is cole slaw with baked chicken. This bowl was Bang Bang inspired! Cabbage slaw with plain skyr, sweet chili sauce, honey, rice vinegar, Sriracha, mayo, and dijon mustard and baked chicken that was marinated in skyr, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, sesame oil, oyster sauce, and sweet chili sauce.

Turkey Laab. Paired with roasted zucchini and a mix of brown rice and roasted riced cauliflower.

Leftover cauliflower/rice with marinated kale (basically this recipe) and cheesy scrambled eggs.

Tofu – baked shredded super firm tofu that I tossed in a skillet with Trader Joe’s yuzu green tea jelly, gochujang, rice vinegar, and sesame oil / sauteed baby bok choy with ginger and sesame seeds / radish cakes from the 99 Ranch freezer section.

Gochujang, Kimchi, Sichuan

by

This week was yummy! Some highlights include…

Delicious birthday cake iced latte special from New York Beanery.

Trader Joe’s green tea and yuzu spread is pretty good. I shook some into an iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk (8/10).

Used it in a citrus matcha spritzer (9/10).

And stirred it into plain skyr (6/10 – too sweet) with Heritage Flakes, blueberries, and blackberries.

We are still loving/working our way through this giant bin of snack mix. If you spot it at Whole Foods buy it, it contains the best crunchy chickpeas I’ve ever had.

Sushi dinner that we plucked from a conveyer belt ourselves at Kura Revolving Sushi.

It was was a fun meal and the crunchy spicy handrolls were quite good.

Pre-gamed with a green (turquoise!) smoothie from home for some veggies – frozen spinach, banana, and blueberries with water and vanilla protein powder.

Leftover spinach and artichoke gnocchi casserole. We decided we need to make this again asap.

Homemade Dan Dan Noodles. I used ground turkey instead of pork, brown rice udon noodles, and skipped the peanuts but otherwise followed the recipe.

The best nachos I’ve ever made. Kettle sweet and spicy gochujang chips / extra-sharp cheddar cheese / baked chicken breast that was marinated in yogurt, gochujang, gochugaru, and lime juice / chopped radish kimchi and preserved mustard greens caramelized in a skillet with a bit of sugar. Plus steamed/sauteed asparagus with gochujang and sesame seeds on the side.

S’more Years Older

by

It was a fun week! Monday my parents were still in town and we took the day off to do Manhattan things with them. P.S. NY readers – we went to Lido Kosher Deli for their last dinner and the food was so good I got too excited to take a photo; you should go immediately.

Wednesday was my birthday and Adam and I took a long walk and got a giant ice cream (with BYOB sprinkles!). Plus I started my day with my free birthday Starbucks (with BYOB sprinkles).

Thursday we went to a bachelorette party and I had a margarita and discovered that the Trader Joe’s watermelon cucumber juice is the best mixer on the planet.

Friday we had reservations at Silver Apricot and did more fun Manhattan stuff. P.S. NY readers – they make some of the best Chinese food in the city and unfortunately are closing on August 11th so get a reservation ASAP.

Some highlights from the week included…

Joe Coffee yuzu elderflower coffee spritzer. The whole family thought this was delicious.

Donut Pub marble cruller. Stopping here after Strand book store is a great date.

Russ & Daughters + Morgenstern’s collab chocolate-covered halvah ice cream bar.

Glace by Noglu‘s Rockefeller Center truck has the same menu as their storefront with half of the line. Classic s’mores – frozen hot chocolate, marshmallow hallo, whipped cream, and chocolate drizzle.

Indoor s’mores bowl. I broiled marshmallows and chocolate chips on top of Heritage Flakes. Served with plain skry.

You know I had a cache of birthday cake snacks. Premier Protein protein shake (7/10), Made Good granola bar (9/10), Pop Art kettle corn (9/10), Sprinkles cupcake cups (11/10).

Chimango chili pineapple wedges have a wonderfully satisfying balance of savory-sweet and a great chewy texture.

This Wild Twist apple was Adam’s and my new favorite variety; crisp, juicy, and sweet.

All the leftovers. This bowl was pasta and harissa chicken from Sonder, pasta and garlicy greens from Rolos, and evoo and cheese from home.

My favorite sheet-pan hash. Roasted purple sweet potatoes and baby bok choy with smoked sockeye salmon and smoked salmon candy. Plus a sauce – plain Greek yogurt, mayo, Sriracha, honey, and rice vinegar – and furikake.

Spinach and artichoke gnocchi bake. This dip-lasagna-gnocchi abomination made a great casserole. Baked Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi; shredded chicken breast; spinach and artichoke sauteed with evoo, garlic, gochugaru, and salt and pepper; ricotta cheese, plain skyr, lemon juice, nutmeg, eggs, and extra-sharp cheddar; baked with mozzarella on top.

Silver Apricot. We shared and loved a ton of dishes. Adam had a great orange wine and I got an apricot spritzer.

Deviled tea eggs with pickled mustard seeds, chili-garlic aioli.

Crispy turnip cakes with scallion chili crisp, pickled radish, and garlic crunch.

Grilled summer squash with cashew chili crisp, cultured cashew cream, and coriander / rice rolls with celtuce, kohlrabi, and hoisin sauce / grilled hen of the woods mushrooms, pickled wood ear mushrooms, and salted egg yolk.

Mille-feuille with caramel / ridiculously good sesame panna cotta with grape granita.