Llamas, And Pigs, and Humans, Oh My!

by Emily

Three-day weekend highlights, including lots of new “bests”…

Unicorn smoothie! The layers were acai and pitaya with coconut water and plain Greek yogurt.

Bananarama smoothie. Frozen banana, plain Greek yogurt, a hot chocolate packet, and Banana Wave Banana Milk. <– free product review alert: the banana milk is a vegan milk made of banana puree, soy, oats, and other ingredients. One serving contains as much potassium as a small banana as well as 29 vitamins and minerals and 1200 mg of omega-3 fatty acids. One cup has 150 calories, 4 grams of protein, and 5 grams of added sugar.

Black bear, aka Otha‘s coffee concentrate with housemade chocolate milk. This shop was adorable and we want to go back immediately.

Du’s Donuts. Adam’s all time favorites.

Lunch at Llama Inn.

I had soft-boiled eggs with delicata squash, charred scallions, pumpkin seeds, and chimichurri sauce.

We got our own desserts, flan for Adam and key lime pie for me. Best key lime pie of the decade, it was enrobed in toasted meringue!

Lunch at Pig Bleeker. We had a Salty Spritz – vodka, St. Germain, and apricot, with a salty white wine rinse, and a Champagne Sherry Cobbler that was the all-time best drink we’ve ever had – Fino sherry, fresh citrus, and champagne.

I got a fried chicken thigh sandwich with Pig Beach mustard sauce, house pickles, mayo, and hot sauce. The meat was smoked before it was fried and it was by far the best fried chicken I’ve ever tasted.

Durian mochi.

Malter Chronkite from Mister Dips, a malty chocolate-dipped cone.

Spicy crunchy tuna sushi bowl. Brown rice with ginger, rice vinegar, seaweed, and black sesame seeds / canned tuna fish and smoked trout with Sriracha and mayo / quick pickled cucumbers / fresh avocado / panko and fried garlic toasted in butter / Sriracha on top.

Chopped romaine salad with honey mustard dressing, dill, sautéed mushrooms with garlic, shredded chicken, crumbled blue cheese, and homemade raisins.

I am on Saturday/Sunday so I’ve only got two days of work before a day off, woo-hoo!

15May2017

Salmon Cream Cheese Wontons

by Emily

I had to work this weekend but somehow I ended up with a bunch of eats that were super good. Because they all included sugar and/or cheese? Probably! Here were the highlights…

Three fun new coffee cups. Halvah cotton candy on top.

Chocolate milk ice cubes.

Starbuck’s nitro cold brew. I loved the velvety texture but was not a fan of it being served without ice.

Pickings are slim at the cafeteria on the weekends but I put together a pretty good lunch plate. BBQ wings, veggie lo mein, roasted baby carrots, and cherry tomatoes with blue cheese dressing.

Mango yogurt with fresh mango on top. Guys, fresh mangos are so flipping good, how did I forget about them all winter??

Cookie and coffee break. From Bittersweet (a hopping Fort Greene coffee spot with no less than 7 cute doggies waiting in line when I walked in).

Another sweet snack, vanilla yogurt with chocolate peanut butter stirred in and mini chocolate chips on top.

Cinnamon dusted apple slices with sharp cheddar squares and chocolate peanut butter sticks.

Whole Foods hot bar dinner on an after-work shopping trip. Crispy potatoes, vegan meat balls, roasted zucchini, tabbouleh, and pasta salad.

Best meal of the week was this quick and easy dinner I threw together Friday night.

Salmon cream cheese wontons! I stuffed wonton skins with a mix of canned salmon, cream cheese, brown sugar, fish sauce, and minced ginger. Baked at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.

They were creamy and crispy and delicious. Served with roasted green beans.

A close 2nd for best meal was our dinner at Lady’s, a newish Italian spot in Brooklyn.

The food was all fantastic – so fresh, and perfectly seasoned. Like this amazing salad with snow peas, sunflower seeds, and pickled radish. <– 2nd best salad of my entire life

We also started with hummus with crispy chickpeas, charred cucumber, lemon, and focaccia.

With a yummy local watermelon ale.

And for our entrée we shared pasta with crab,

and honey butter pizza dough with sea salt and Calabrian chili. The spicy-salty-sweet contrast was perfection. I had a glass of prosecco with that course and the pairing was wonderful.

I got a giant scoop of the new cheesecake flavor at Ample Hills for dessert. It was a tasty weekend!

30Apr2017

Smorgasburg, Greenport, And The Weekend’s Top Five

by Emily

{1} A day trip to Greenport.

Greenport is one of Adam’s favorite Long Island areas and we finally had a Sunday together to go explore.

We walked on the pier, walked on the beach, ate a kind of meh breakfast in town, plus got a great iced latte and an almond croissant.

Aaaand a toasted marshmallow iced latte that knocked our socks off.

{2} Our 1st kolache experience.

So exciting!

I’ve been dying to try one ever since I started following Kylie and Brooklyn Kolache did not disappoint.

We did one sweet and one savory – poppy seed and turkey, egg, and cheese – plus a delicious brown sugar iced latte.

{3} Our 1st Smorgasburg visit of the season.

It was a good one! We hit up Duck Season for duck fat fries with confit and a sandwich with confit, pickled cabbage, gojuchang, and craklins.

Ube Kitchen for Halo Halo. It was a nice dessert, but not Halo Halo – there was no nata de coco, no palm seeds, plus it had granola in it, and almond milk instead of condensed milk.

Plus we got impossibly smooth coffee from Ministry of Kaapi.

{4} BBQ chicken salad.

Baby romaine dressed in yogurt ranch, shredded chicken in Korean bbq sauce, cucumber, sharp cheddar, and smoked paprika.

This was actually the appetizer course for a meal that included cheese fries and buffalo chicken wings!

{5} A toasted marshmallow smoothie/shake.

Toasted marshmallows, Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, and vanilla hemp milk.

It was wonderful.

P.S. This is currently the view when I step out my front door!!

24Apr2017

I Can’t Choose A Favorite!

by Emily

This is a longer wrap-up (Monday through Sunday) and I ate too many yummy things to chose a single favorite for my post title. I’ve got my top three – 1) Thai-style crab fried rice, 2) roasted garlic bread, and 3) black sesame shaved ice.

Here were the highlights…

Killer coffee combo – Volcanic roast with chocolate milk.

Usually I just have coffee for breakfast or eat something on my train, but this week the cafeteria sounded amazing first thing in the morning. Eggs and hashbrowns, with humus.

Cafeteria lunch, a spicy chicken sandwich on ridiculously cheesy bread with mustard, lettuce, and bell pepper.

Last weekend I spent forever trying to make coconut curd. I didn’t make jam, but I did filthy every last inch of my stovetop. My experiment didn’t work, at all, but I did kind of like the end result – a vaguely sweet, egg, cake.

I enjoyed my “jam” in lunches all week. Like with vanilla bean yogurt and blackberries.

And plain yogurt, berries, maple quinoa granola, and black sesame seeds.

Whole Foods hot bar lunch.

Sesame broccoli, turkey salad, and cole slaw.

Plus a maple soda that was not as exciting as I was expecting it to be; it had an off-putting aftertaste.

Snack time. Ice cream = maple walnut and a white chocolate vanilla marshmallow flavor.

Milk bun.

Crème brulee milk stout.

My workweek dinners were on point! Like crab fried rice with roasted broccoli and sliced cucumber.

I loosely followed this recipe, except I used brown rice and waaaay more crab. It was fantastic.

Vampire killer, I roasted three whole heads of garlic for this recipe.

Garlic turkey meatballs with red sauce and roasted zucchini.

And amazing homemade garlic bread – I mashed butter and roasted garlic and then slathered it on sliced sourdough and baked until delicious.

Even our leftovers meal was tasty. Cheese tortellini with meatballs, peas, roasted garlic, and red sauce.

One night I had dinner out with a coworker. We checked out the new Brooklyn MŏkBar location. They have a liquor license now, and I got a yummy vodka “cloudsicle.”

Plus chicken ramen with kimchi and poached egg.

And the new Brooklyn Snowdays location was right next door! Black sesame shaved ice with oreo, mochi, and condensed milk.

Plus a dinner date with the husband. Brinkley’s has Genesee Cream Ale on draught!

We got pimento cheese dip and duck fat fries to start and I dipped my fries in the pimento cheese and pretty much died of ~~heart failure~~ happiness.

Plus fish tacos with mahi, guacamole, and pineapple salsa.

The other two dinners were decidedly less exciting. Like Chipotle take out. And more hot bar. Yes, I went to Whole Foods two different days, it was an exciting week. I was too busy at work yesterday to break for lunch so by the time I got dinner I ate a giant plate of all of the things.

Now it’s two days of work before a break on Wednesday.

Have a great week!

10Apr2017

Pastrami Smoked Salmon On Sourdough

by Emily

Once again, this title reflects the most exciting thing I ate in this post. Honestly though, everything I ate this weekend was pretty darn tasty!

Iced coffee with cake popsicle used for ice. <– gaaaaah! so swoontastic!

Perfectly sweet just enough sour smoothie – passionfruit sorbet / plain Greek yogurt / frozen blueberries / princess flavoring / water.

Snacky lunch at work. Mandarin, uncured turkey pepperoni, yummy cinnamon roll Chobani.

Cafeteria sandwich. Spicy chicken, pesto, red pepper, and tomato, on an insanely cheesy roll.

Mr. Flip sandwich from Flip Bird – pulled rotisserie chicken, harissa honey, pickled coleslaw, sambal mayo, and a piece of crispy skin. It was a 10/10.

Dinner from the freezer – ice cream and a naan pizza.

The cilantro pesto pizza – which I got with a free coupon given to me for review – was delicious, the flavor was a bit spicy, which was a nice surprise.

Lox and cream cheese on ~~a bagel~~ sourdough toast.

This pastrami-style smoked salmon from Trader Joe’s is my all-time favorite smoked salmon.

Served with a quick salad of tomato, cucumber, cilantro, green onion, olive oil, and Himalayan salt.

I made a recipe! Cheddar bbq turkey meatloaf.

I ate all of the crispy cheese bits that started to burn to the pan and was sooooo happy. Plus roasted broccoli.

Do you have a favorite type of smoked fish to recommend?

20Mar2017

Pie In The Sky

by Emily

This is a longer wrap-up (Monday through Sunday) but I’m missing a lot of photos because this week felt like the actual longest and I mostly just ate cheese on top of various things. Adam and I both have a week off coming up at the end of the month and man, oh man, do I need it! Three big complaints from this past week – 1. some horrible thing are happening in our department and my schedule/work-load is going to become ridiculous; 2. the “blizzard” killed my big Pi(e) Day plans; 3. I stood in front of an automatic door like an idiot and gouged my big toe and then bled all over the place in front of a bunch of cute doctors.

My schedule was all over the place last week so I was disoriented in addition to cranky. Thanks to the weather-related NYC shut down, a last minute schedule change for a lunch and learn, and weekend coverage, I was off on Wednesday, worked a half day on Tuesday and Thursday, and worked a full day Monday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. But now I’m off again on Wednesday which is pretty much a golden lining!

/end rant. Here were some of the yummy things that put a smile on my face last week…

Coffee combo on point. Chicory with sweet buttercream creamer.

I also had wonderful iced lattes from Butler and City of Saints.

Killer lunch components = California Grape kombucha. Peach and cloudberry(!) skyr yogurt with Heritage Flakes and a sumo mandarin.

Our lunch and learn was a Nestle presentation on perioperative nutrition. It was more product promotion than educational, unfortunately, and the research wasn’t as robust as I had hoped. My lunch was good though, grilled salmon and mixed veggies.

Fabulous lunch date at the White Oak Tavern.

I had a cocktail with whiskey, Kahlua, housemade butterscotch, espresso, and cream.

We split a salad and salmon for lunch. Chopped salad with cucumber, feta, olives, avocado, haricot vert, and tahini dressing.

Pan seared salmon with a smoked tomato and piquillo puree, plus crispy potatoes and cipollini onion.

We were pleasantly surprised by how good the food was because we definitely came for dessert – a dark chocolate brownie with butterscotch, walnuts, and toasted marshmallow.

Fruit and cheese plate, the cafeteria was feeling fancy.

Coffee break with a honey caramel chocolate bar.

Adam totally saved Pi(e) Day by offering to bake with me. We made S’mores Pie which is one of our favorites. Almost as good as going on a pie crawl in Brooklyn, almost.

The crust looks red because instead of graham crackers I made it out of Peeps flavored Oreos (<– which turned out to be freaking amazing).

P.S. on Monday night while the grocery store was packed with people filling carts with bread, canned goods, and bottled waters, I got in line with Oreos, chocolate bars, marshmallows, and a case of soda. I’d die first if the blizzard had been real but I’m still pretty sure I win.

Eggs for dinner that tasted far better than they looked. Scrambled with sharp cheddar and brown sugar and Sriracha shredded chicken.

When we were at the University of Miami I worked at an on-campus bar that served the yummiest pita tuna melts; it took me ten years, but I finally made them at home.

Curried tuna salad – canned tuna with mayo, green curry paste, curry powder, spring onion, and shallots – with sharp cheddar stuffed in a pita and cooked in a skillet with copious amounts of butter. They were 10/10 fantastic.

Plus roasted green beans with shallots.

Buffalo chicken and veggie bowls.

Roasted sweet potato and brussels sprouts, topped with shredded chicken breast in buffalo sauce, and a drizzle of blue cheese dressing.

Have a great week!

6Jan2017

Hello, 2017!

by Emily

How is everyone’s year going?? So far, the word for my 2017 is tasty.

Here are some culinary highlights from the first week…

Coffee first, always coffee. Espresso roast and chocolate milk before work.

I also had the best iced latte of the year from Birch; their shots are extra strong and roasty.

Adam and I both had Monday off of work and we started our new year with a trip to Serendipity 3.

Veggie chili for my lunch.

I kept lunch boring because I was focused on the main event – sundae funday! A giant scoop of peanut butter pie with hot fudge and bananas. <– swoon city

Work lunches were centered around a box of free product review samples I received from ips snacks. The snacks – crisps and popcorn – are all made with whey protein and pack at least 5 grams of protein for </ 150 calories.

I have to admit that I liked the snacks a lot more than I was expecting to. The salted popcorn was honestly the best bagged popcorn Adam or I have ever tasted! It was filling, satisfying, and totally delicious. The chips would rate poorly if I compared them to chip-chips, but score a 9/10 as snack crisps. Very few snacks, especially ones that pack less than 200 calories, keep me full enough in the afternoon that I don’t consider gnawing my own arm off on the train, but these did the trick.

I packed crisps and fruit to pair with toasted turkey and cheese cafeteria sandwiches. BBQ chips and a cara cara.

Sea salt and black pepper chips and an Asian pear.

Snack attack. Popcorn and a honey kolsch.

Yogurt bowl with plain Greek, chocolate tahini, sliced snap dragon apple, chia seeds, cinnamon, and sweet and spicy pecans.

I was killing it with dinners this week. Three different veggie-forward, flavor-loaded, 10/10 dishes! When I made fried green onions last week I saved the infused oil and that’s what I used for cooking this week. First, a simple salad to start off the new year.

Oak leaf lettuce, TJ’s Greek-style feta dressing, cucumber, dill, and roasted chickpeas. With hibiscus kombucha on the side.

Next up, spicy cabbage salad with turkey and peanuts from Bon Appétit. I only ever read this magazine on plane rides but this recipe alone would be worth the subscription cost!

I doubled up so that we could get 4 big dinners out of it, and roasted the cabbage so it was less voluminous, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly <– something I rarely do.

Served with cheesey breadsticks, aka pizza dough rolled up with an obscene amount of cheese.

Finally, I tried my hand at shakshuka. Based loosely on the recipes from Serious Eats and My Name is Yeh, my version had red bell peppers, red jalapeño pepper, and serrano pepper.

Served with hunks of sourdough.

I’m excited to do a little more exploring in the kitchen this new year. My meal plan list for the next month or so includes menemen, mapo tofu, kaya jam, okonomiyaki, and chilaquiles!

25Nov2016

Tastes Like Thanksgiving

by Emily

I hope all my American readers stuffed themselves silly yesterday (all of my readers really!) and made good memories with family and/or friends. Adam and I both had to work, so no festivities here, but thankfully I spent time with 3/4 of my family in St. Thomas last weekend. P.S. No post from last weekend, I didn’t take many pictures, but I did eat johnny cake with cheese and day drink almost daily.

In spite of being kind of lame on Turkey Day, I did manage to pack my week with holiday flavors – cranberry, green beans, turkey, pumpkin, and egg nog. Plus, apparently I’ve decided that chips are an on-theme holiday flavor!

Winter Cheer Stumptown with a cranberry clementine seltzer and a giant pomelo.

Cranberry turkey Wilde bar with a snap dragon apple and a cranberry cider seltzer. <– are we appreciating the cranberry seltzers I squirreled away for this week?!

Holiday spiced sweet cream cold brew.

Thursday felt like an appropriate time to get my eggnog goodies going.

Veggies with pita chips for scooping from the cafeteria for lunch. Tomato, green bell pepper, corn, cheddar, and beans.

Oats in a jar. I dumped hot oats with chia seeds and pepitas into the last of the chocolate tahini. Plus an ambrosia apple.

With more chocolate for dessert, I snacked on a cookie dough bar and a latte.

The cafeteria made a special Thanksgiving lunch. I had veggie lasagna, stuffing, and green beans.

Tuesday night – aka the first time Adam and I laid eyes on each other since last Wednesday! – we went out for dinner before making an overdue grocery run. I got a chopped salad with green chili lime vinaigrette, roasted corn, cucumber, jicama, and tons of avocado plus blue tortilla nachos with black beans, serrano salsa fresca, and Oaxaca queso sauce.

Post-dinner coffee to get me through Trader Joe’s. The aged Sumatra is tasty.

And the next morning I was able to get dinner going in the crock pot – cranberry bbq chicken that knocked our freaking socks off. In a slow cooker on low for 8 hours / chicken breast / maple whiskey bbq sauce / fresh cranberries tossed with minced garlic and a bit of sugar. I topped my bowl with some shredded cheese.

Served with roasted green beans and pumpkin beers.

I was the only RD at work on Thanksgiving and the day ended up being pretty exhausting. Thankfully I already had planned the ultimate lazy dinner – nachos. I kept things on theme though! TJ’s turkey and stuffing kettle chips / cheddar, swiss, and gruyere / turkey breast / cranberry sauce. With green beans in thyme honey balsamic vinaigrette.

Served with – just under the wire – the last pumpkin beer of the season.

Plus a nauseating amount of baking nibbles for dessert, we are doing a belated Thanksgiving with my in-laws this weekend and I’m bringing cookies.

What’s your favorite traditional Thanksgiving dish? I won’t judge you if you say nachos.

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: cucumber

Llamas, And Pigs, and Humans, Oh My!

Salmon Cream Cheese Wontons

Smorgasburg, Greenport, And The Weekend’s Top Five

I Can’t Choose A Favorite!

Pastrami Smoked Salmon On Sourdough

Pie In The Sky

Hello, 2017!

Tastes Like Thanksgiving