Tag Archives: eggplant

Nuts for Baru Nuts

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How are we in the 2nd to last week of August??! Some highlights from this week included…

A blackberry and soursop smoothie (with banana, plain Greek yogurt, and brown sugar).

A banana and coffee smoothie (with cinnamon roll oat milk creamer, cinnamon, brown sugar, and cold brew powder).

Whole Foods snacks. The baru nuts are fantastic! They taste like a cross between peanuts and almonds. I brought some to work and got all of my coworkers hooked as well.

Quinn pretzels with Bitchin’ sauce. A coworker recommended this dip and she did not steer me wrong. We are also both obsessed with these delicious pretzels.

Kombuchas and or matchas.

A loose interpretation of this chicken and corn stir-fry recipe. Instead of rice we paired ours with sautéed shishito peppers and mushroom.

So much Thai take-out! We had pad see ew, cashew chicken, and amazing spicy ginger eggplant.

Very fancy salads – local lettuce, black garlic vinaigrette, pistachios, dried apricots, and goat cheese.

Spicy peanut chicken pizza (a Trader Joe’s crust with spicy peanut sauce, shredded chicken breast, quick-pickled carrots, and cheese) with smashed cucumber salad.

Black Sesame

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I’m late — I worked the weekend and it knocked me out — but last week was too yummy not to post! Tons of ube, black sesame, and homemade fried shallots, oh my!

Highlights included…

Vietnamese coffee combo all week.

See also, phin-brewed coffee with sweetened condensed milk and black sesame paste.

Cookie dough Perfect Bar and a fresh peach = my new favorite breakfast combo.

Calpis filled marshmallows.

Everything new and ube from Trader Joe’s! P.S. we made epic sundaes with those items plus sliced banana, frosted flakes, sweetened condensed milk, and black sesame paste.

We have loved everything we’ve tried from Fat Orange Cat, particularly this sour double IPA.

Udon noodles / roasted zucchini, shredded rainbow carrot, green onion / ground turkey / sauce including doubangijang (spicy bean paste), chili crisp, tahini, soy sauce, and rice vinegar / fried shallots.

Roasted eggplant with shallot oil and sumac / roasted super firm tofu / sauce including tahini, black sesame paste, gojuchang, lemon, maple, and rice vinegar / green onion and fried shallots.

Baked chicken thighs / roasted green cabbage with carrots and green onion plus tons of fresh mint and cilantro / Nuoc Cham / fried shallots.

Weekend Provisions

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Highlights from a yummy weekend include…

Pistachio milk iced latte at Post Factum.

We popped into Daily Provisions for a cappuccino and finally got our hands on one of their famous coffee crullers. <– worth the hype!

I took my cola + coffee obsession a step further with a boozy coke coffee float.

We had our best meal of the year at Bahn. Including Vietnamese iced coffee and a housemade strawberry lime soda.

Noodle salad bowl with lemongrass butter beef. That meat was so good it literally took our breath away!

We also had it on a bahn mi on perfect bread.

We got Win Son take-out after I had a little too much to drink at Evil Twin and ordered all of the things. Fried chicken sandwich with mayo and herbs / roasted spiced peanuts / marinated cucumber salad / braised beef in a scallion pancake / fried eggplant with black vinegar, labne, and spiced cashews / sesame noodles with black sesame and trumpet purée, oyster mushrooms, snow pea leaves, and peanuts.

Have a great week!

Mediterranean Cruise

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I’m late posting from last week but our meals were too good not to share! We did a theme week – Mediterranean! Here were the highlights…

Coffee with Turkish spiced coffee sugar.

I expected to love the date & walnut ice cream from Adirondack Creamery and was pleasantly surprised by the Trader Joe’s halvah.

Panzanella. Lamb sausage / baked sprouted tofu / roasted eggplant / baby tomatoes / crumbled feta / kalamata olives / garlic flatbread.

Naanchos! Homemade baked flatbread chips / sharp cheddar / feta / lamb sausage / roasted eggplant / pickled red onions.

Plus a sour IPA with milk sugar, peach, hibiscus, and lemon peel.

Tuna pita melts. Tuna salad with pickled red onions and sharp cheddar in the whole-wheat pita that I practically deep-fried in butter. Plus roasted zucchini with sumac.

Tasting plates. Multigrain pita crackers / red, orange, and yellow bell pepper / smoked almonds / salami / roasted garlic hummus / kalamata olives / stuffed grape leaves.

Guava – Luxardo – Soursop

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Highlights from this week include – easy frozen meals, my first time making (and eating!) carbonara, and cocktail walks with Adam and Webster…

Strawberry guava sour.

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Grimm (local) barrel-aged sour brewed with cashmere hops.

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Soursop daiquiris.

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This drink trio made a great team.

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Trader Joe’s frozen scallion pancakes with Kewpie, Sriracha, and furikake.

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Amy’s chile relleno frozen casserole.

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I made carbonara with turkey bacon and whole-wheat pasta and it was still 10/10 decadent!  With roasted baby eggplant.

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We had leftover egg whites from the pasta so I made scrambled eggs the next night.  With kale and Korean chili flakes.  Plus turkey bacon and buttered pumpernickel-rye toast.

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P.S. These chocolate-covered gummi bears were perfection!  The chocolate and the gummies were both amazing so the combo was even better.

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All By Myself

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<– that title is facetious, I’m actually living with my cousin and her fiance and they are taking very good care of me!  But this was my first week surviving solo without Adam and Webster.  On a related note, look at the stickers I just bought!!!

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We had a fantastic, fantasmic, over-the-top wonderful vacation, by the way!  We hung out with some of our favorite people, ate some of our favorite things, and got to walk up and down the beach fifteen times, all the while exclaiming how beautiful the water was.

I brought back the best ever cold brew (Grady’s) from New York.

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Plus my new favorite cup, from St. Thomas!

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I got back to Charlottesville from New York on Sunday night so I didn’t have time for a grocery trip this week which meant I mostly ate a bunch of (tasty) nonsense.  Like cafeteria food that I carted home.  Chicken tenders + fries + seaweed salad.

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A Beyond Burger with hot sauce and tomatoes.

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And Wegman’s hot bar.  I pretty much got every chicken and vegetable option from the “Asian” section.

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One night my cousin threw a dinner party and cooked an honest-to-god, grown up meal – eggplant parmesan and garlic bread (plus a fancy cheese plate and homemade chocolate chip cookies).

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And Thursday I finally made it to free pretzel night at Hardywood because my work hosted an after-hours journal club there.

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Super Salad

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We are 85% moved to NYC and the move went swimmingly!  Plus we had a fantastic time at our friends’ wedding.

Here were the highlights from this week…

These new Trader Joe’s chocolate covered espresso beans are my new favorite thing.  They have the perfect ratio of bean to candy and the chocolate coating isn’t waxy at all.

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Ridiculously good cake from Marie Bette; chocolate with salted caramel frosting.

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This cranberry sour ale was a total winner.

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I got a smoked chicken quesadilla from Asado that was shockingly good.  Plus fries with queso!

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I had an amazing salad bowl from Mezeh.  Mixed greens // veggie kefta // tabouleh // olives // red cabbage slaw // cucumber // caramelized eggplant // roasted corn // baba ganoush // harissa and tzatziki dressings.

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Plus we made wonderful salads at home.  TJ’s cruciferous crunch mix // spicy peanut vinaigrette // sesame honey cashews // hot smoked salmon // hard-boiled eggs.  I made the eggs in the oven because we don’t have any pots and they came out great!

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Finally, we met my cousin and her fiance for dinner at Maya.  I had catfish with sweet potato fries and garlic broccoli.  Plus we shared a cheese plate (with pickled apples!) and peanut butter pie.

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Weekend Top 5

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{1}  High Brew Double Espresso = a packaged coffee option I actually enjoyed.

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{2}  My first Mezeh experience.  I went with Kath!  It was great to catch up with her and the food was great too.  Caramelized eggplant should be on every menu.

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{3}  Creamy honey mustard skillet chicken.  Served with brussel sprouts.

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{4}  Strawberry rose frozen dessert.  This stuff was so good!  And all I did was food process strawberries, sweetened condensed milk, and rose water and then freeze.

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Related note – this shampoo has been rocking my face off.

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{5}  Related note 2 – while I had scm open in the house I made a shakerato and it was the best coffee to ever come out of my kitchen.

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