Black Bean Balls

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).

Kimchi Migas

Things from a yummy week…

Yogurt bowl – plain Greek with honey, blueberries, and two types of kiwi. I started scooping kiwis out of their skin with a grapefruit spoon (rather than trying to clumsily peel them) and now I eat them all the time.

“Mountain city spicy flavor” rice snacks.

We had leftover pandan white chocolate blondie from Chim Chim in our freezer and I blended it into a great milkshake with vanilla ice cream, milk, pandan syrup, and malted milk powder.

Passionfruit smore’s! Effie’s pecan biscuit crackers, oven-roasted Malvi passionfruit marshmallows, and Chocxo dark chocolate passionfruit cups.

Dinners listed in order of how much we liked them. Satay-inspired tofu (just ok-good). Tofu – sauteed extra-firm tofu that was marinated in Jamaican curry powder, red curry paste, fish sauce, lime juice, and coconut milk / lackluster peanut sauce – peanut butter, Sriracha, lime juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and coconut milk / marinated cucumbers – with rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, Milu everything crisp, and sesame seeds / on a packet of Ben’s Original coconut jasmine rice.

Tuna joomukbap (very good). We’ve made this Cafe Maddy recipe before and will definitely make it again. I used leftover brown rice, two cans of tuna, and a poblano pepper instead of a bell pepper. Plus chopped baby broccoli roasted with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Red curry beans (excellent). Great Northern beans sauteed with garlic and ginger and cooked in a curry sauce (coconut milk, red curry paste, fish sauce, lime juice, dark soy sauce, and Sriracha). Served on a mix of roasted cauliflower rice and brown rice.

Kimchi migas (best meal of the week!). Sauteed kimchi, green onion, and tomatoes with gochugaru, gochujang, honey, sesame oil, and sesame seeds, plus kimchi flavored kettle chips, eggs, and sharp cheddar.

Bao Haus Is Back!

Adam and I had the whole weekend together and it was just the best! We had two days of Manhattan fun (East Village and the Upper East Side) including great food, a long walk, time loving the trees in Central Park, and a trip the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum. The highlights…

Fancy Kook‘s carrot cake iced latte with cream cheese foam, cinnamon, and pecans.

I was disappointed in this egg coffee from Le Phin but we also had the best pandan iced latte I’ve ever had.

Cola and lemonade slush from Slik. Perfect consistency and not too-too sweet.

We quite enjoyed this bowl from Yogurt Club. Super thick strained Greek yogurt with blueberries, Biscoff kataifi sauce, and mochi.

Speaking of mochi and kataifi – Bear Donut‘s new chewy cookies are amazing. We got white chocolate hazelnut.

Before they closed, Bao Haus served my favorite food in New York and their new iteration is even better! We had lamb bao and unphotographed duck bao.

The Birdhaus bao was as fantastic as I remembered.

The new location does large plates like these outstanding noodles with chilis, pickled greens, and burnt ends. The wonderful schmaltzy pea shoots are hiding in the back.

I also had a guava gose with a delightful rim (li hing mui, maybe?).

Cambodian food at Bayon. We shared shrimp, crabmeat, and corn chowder.

Tamarind duck. Perfectly crispy skin!

Sauteed eggplant with beef, fresh basil, garlic, chili peppers, and oyster sauce. The beef was even better than the duck.

And the Spicy Siem Reap Noodles – sauteed wide rice noodles, basil, scallions, eggs, onion, chili, fish sauce, and
soybean, with beef, extra spicy.

I tamed the spice with a creamy iced tea.

P.S. The leftover noodles were great reheated in a skillet with kale and an extra egg.

Nachos. Stew Leonard’s salsa verde protein tortilla chips (delicious!) with sharp cheddar, ground turkey, and onion, poblano, and bell pepper sauteed with taco seasoning.

Milk Mochi And Coconut Flan

Things from the weekend, mostly fancy snacks…

Buzzd’s latte of the month was their best yet – banana brulee.

Chip City‘s Peeps cookie, obviously – marshmallow flavored dough with sprinkles, marshmallow filling, vanilla buttercream, and a Peep! It was good but not as good as it sounds.

We didn’t like it, but I’m thrilled someone at McDonald’s thought to put blueberry in a Flurry.

My two top favorite treats from 99 Ranch.

Salty Lunch Lady‘s (always a joy!) Chicky-smashed chicken meatball, charred onion, feta, arugula, and smoked paprika mayo on a seeded bun.

Leftovers. Turkey and black bean meatballs and zucchini. I added a lot of green Choloula.

Shanghai You Garden. We shared chicken and broccoli and rice cakes with beef.

Rincon Crillo. Vaca Fritta, grilled chicken with onions, and maduros.

And coconut flan.

Space Yam!

Things from the weekend…

Blueberries aren’t my number one favorite food (a three way tie between nachos, Cherry Coke Zero, and Milk Bar’s marshmallow brownie), but they are probably the food I eat most often. Plain skyr with granola and jumbo blueberries.

We ordered fun cookies from Salamat! This was Space Yam (ube and marshmallow) but my favorites were Peach Mango Pie and Strawberry Matcha Latte.

Fish dip dinner. Canned pink salmon and lightly smoked salmon, Dukes, Kewpie, Dijon, lemon, paprika, garlic powder, onion, powder, and white pepper, food processed, then topped with chili crisp. Served along side baby broccoli sauteed with salt, pepper, gochugaru, Milu everything seasoning, butter, and lemon.

We scooped with TWO types of seaweed crackers (both excellent) – Mary’s Super Seed seaweed and black sesame and Trader Joe’s sticky rice seaweed crisps.

Trader Joe’s Thai yellow curry potato chips needed to be turned into nachos. With two types of sharp cheddar and a loose take on Thai basil chicken. Plus bok choy sauteed with ginger, white pepper, and hoisin sauce.

I enjoyed my chicken leftovers in a bowl with fried eggs and green beans that I steamed then sauteed with chili crisp, Dijon, and maple.

Green With Glitter

Highlights from the week…

One of our local Mexican spots did a green margarita special for St. Patrick’s day. A green kiwi margarita with edible glitter. Obviously I was there!

Another green drink – the pandan coconut sparkler is our favorite beverage from Lucky Ox.

This marshmallow syrup from Surrup tasted specifically like Lucky Charms. It was good in iced coffee but better in a diet coke.

I don’t usually care for lower alcohol beers but this Irish coffee cream ale from Southern Tier was delicious.

I paired the beer with brinner! An omelet with sauteed shiitake mushrooms and sharp cheddar. Plus roasted yellow cauliflower and leftover pizza from Third Time’s the Charm (we loved it there, by the way, everything was excellent).

The best meal of the week was this chicken and veggie bowl. Roasted red, orange, and white sweet potato / shredded cheese / baked chicken thighs that I marinated in pineapple juice, hot sauce, vinegar, and garlic / sauteed pineapple, bell pepper, and poblano pepper with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. The leftovers were great too!

Spicy Cheesy Honey Eggs

Things from the weekend…

Wonderful coconut iced latte from Space Cowboy.

Yellow dragon fruits are the superior color.

Ice cream sundae – vanilla ice cream with chocolate tahini, dulce de leche, and crumbled miso black sesame cookie (we ordered online from an artisanal place we liked but didn’t love).

Leftover crabby greens.

Pasta salad – bowties, roasted zucchini, baked chicken breast, Trader Joe’s cilantro salad dressing, homemade sauce (food-processed cilantro, evoo, water, gochugaru, sunflower seeds, and roasted poblano pepper and green onion). Plus viral spicy cheesy honey eggs (with chili oil and Dubliner cheese).

Hot Honey Butter Crunch

‘Twas a yummy week! Some highlights…

Cottage cheese with cinnamon, vanilla bean powder, granola, and pineberries.

A savory cottage cheese bowl dinner with sauteed zucchini and green onion, a fried egg, sunflower seeds, Milu everything spice, and chili crisp.

Something I will be making again – crispy baked butter beans and shredded super-firm tofu tossed with honey, butter, chili oil, and gochugaru. Served on top of sauteed shredded brussels sprouts.

We ate the leftovers (still great!) on salads with romaine and chicory blend lettuce, cilantro salad dressing, sauteed baby broccoli with garlic, and Dubliner cheese.

A loose take on callaloo with yellow onion, red jalapeño, frozen chopped spinach and kale, ginger, urfa, coconut milk, and tons of crab. Plus homemade dumb bread.