Pistachio, Passionfruit, Pickles

Some things from the weekend…

This pistachio butter was perfect in an iced latte.

Also in an ice cream sundae! Jeni’s darkest chocolate with pistachio butter, Heritage Flakes, and Trader Joe’s chocolate shell.

Yogurt bowl – plain Greek with blueberries and tons of fresh passionfruit.

We did not care for this Trader Joes tarragon chicken salad wrap. The flavor was hollow; we split it and neither of us wanted to finish our half.

But I did quite enjoy their packaged southwest salad.

We got take-out from the Burger Spot for the 1st time so we ordered a bunch of things to try — Country Veggie salad – chopped kale, cabbage, avocado, cucumbers, cranberries, red onion, and a homemade veggie patty with cilantro ranch dressing / fries and onion rings (their sauces were all a 10/10!) / chicken parm sandwich – chicken fillet with marinara and mozzarella on ciabatta / and the special chicken burger with pickled jalapenos, pickles, coleslaw, cheddar, and bourbon sauce. We will be back!

We also had a shockingly good meal at Little Beet – herby rice with charred broccoli, smoky maple carrots (some of the best vegetables I’ve ever eaten!), baked tofu, and chimichurri.

Savory oatmeal bowl. Trader Joe’s rolled oats with ancient grains and seeds / frozen broccoli sauteed with gochujang, ginger, fish sauce, and gouda / fried egg / chili crisp.

Blackbird Blueberry

Highlights from the weekend…

Buzz’d Express Coffee‘s monthly special is a cinnamon roll latte.

Dessert-y yogurt bowl – plain skyr with Trader Joe’s chocolate shell, crunchy peanut butter, cookie dough granola, and tons of blueberries.

We both love those these Whole Food’s sour citrus slice candies.

Dinner at Blackbird. The food was great, the lighting was not. Among other things we had a wonderful salad with medjool dates, almonds, pecarino, and a mustard vinaigrette. And homemade pasta with short-rib ragu!

Sourdough pasta with food-processed roasted bell pepper, green onion, jarred piquante peppers, evoo, and walnuts. Plus cheese. And roasted cauliflower on the side.

Potato hash with poblano peppers, bell peppers, green onion, urfa, and gochugaru. Plus roasted Chinese eggplants with a spicy peanut sauce (peanut butter, gochujang, rice vinegar, dark soy sauce, white sugar, and water) and sesame seeds.

Brinner Winner

We did breakfasts for dinners this week. Here was everything I ate on theme…

Coffee, obviously. Sweetie Pies on Main makes some of our favorite lattes in Long Island. These specials were crazy – tres leches and tiramisu!

Cereal [milk latte]. Espresso plus skim milk I infused overnight with Cocoa Pebbles.

Orange juice. I wanted to be on-theme but I hate juice so we made cocktails. OJ with vodka and amaretto plus a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some Target rainbow sherbet seltzer.

Smoothie. Blueberry pancake smoothie. Frozen blueberries blended with cottage cheese, butter extract, maple syrup, vanilla protein powder, malted milk powder, and water.

Blueberry muffins. I think these protein mini muffins are disgusting in a delightful way.

Yogurt bowl, obviously. This was plain Greek with blueberries, blackberries, and cookie dough granola.

Egg and cheese biscuit. Hometown Bakeshop‘s build-your-own breakfast sandwich. We got a cheddar biscuit with two over-medium eggs, cheddar-jack cheese, caramelized onions, and smoked aioli.

Avocado toast. Whole-wheat bread toasted with butter topped with smashed avocado (with lemon, salt, and gochugaru) and cold-smoked sockeye salmon. Plus sauteed purple asparagus.

Cottage cheese bowls. Topped with cucumber salad (sesame seeds, gochugaru, rice vinegar, and sugar) and baked chicken meatballs (panade, hoisin, gochujang, oyster sauce, and white pepper). I ate several meatballs before they could make it to my bowl!

Oatmeal. Trader Joe’s rolled oats with ancient grains and seeds – 10/10, it is perfect out of the microwave – topped with a fried egg, chopped baby broccoli sauteed with lemon and garlic, spicy caramelized peanuts (sugar, salt, white pepper, evoo, gochugaru, and togarashi), and chili crisp.

Bacon, egg, and cheese bagel salad. This was my best idea of the week. Arugula dressed with garlic Dijon dressing and horseradish Sriracha aioli / sharp cheddar / beef bacon / homemade bagel croutons (Bagel Joint sesame gochujang bagel tossed with evoo, salt, white pepper, and gochugaru and baked) / six-minute eggs.

Chewy

A short post for a short week. My parents are coming to visit today! And I took tomorrow off to do fun New York things.

The two things worth photographing from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday…

Tofu pasta. We did one package of super-firm tofu with 2 cups of flour, salt, and an egg and an egg yolk. These were quite doughy and I probably wouldn’t make them again but they were fun to try. We tossed them with sauteed baby broccoli and a pad see ew style sauce.

My new top tier yogurt bowl – plain skyr with blueberries, granola, and marzipan. The crunchy chewy combo was perfect!

Almond, Peanut, Pecan, Pistachio

Some favorites from this week…

Fun syrups from El Guapo, pecan and almond. They were good in iced coffees, okay in an iced matcha, and fantastic in an iced diet coke!

Obviously the best coffee of the week was the Dubai bar monthly special latte from Buzz’d.

My favorite skyr bowl this week had honey, salted peanuts, blackberries, and blueberries. I have been head over heels for the Driscoll’s “sweetest batch” blueberries.

I think I have tried and loved every flavor of these peelable gummies from Duane Reade. Peach was lovely and floral.

I’ll buy pretty much any new product Ben & Jerry’s puts out and this sundae style pint did not disappoint. It had butter toffee pecans!

I love a good egg salad. This one had chopped cornichons, poblano pepper, tons of mayo, and dijon mustard. Plus roasted broccoli on the side.

This dinner looks horrible but it really was good; brown rice and roasted riced cauliflower / baked eggplant sauteed with gochujang, black sesame paste, and sesame oil / a take on Korean steamed eggs / topped with chili crisp and peanuts.

I used leftover cauliflower/rice in kimchi fried rice. With poblano peppers, peas, green onions, eggs, soy sauce, fish sauce, and rice vinegar. Topped with surprisingly great grilled shrimp from Whole Foods.

Creamy gochujang pasta. Brown rice noodles tossed with cream cheese, gochujang, and sauteed dinosaur kale and green onions. Topped with sesame seeds and gochugaru and served next to some baked turkey meatballs.

Our favorite dinner of the week (month!) was savory oatmeal bowls. Trader Joe’s rolled oats with ancient grains and seeds / bok choy sauteed with ginger / TJ’s frozen tofu sheets / chili crisp / six-minute egg / candied peanuts with gochugaru.

3.1425

Highlights from the week…

New York Beanery is doing a pistachio cold foam iced mocha special. The pistachio, while a lovely green, could have been more flavorful but I loved their mocha.

My homemade blueberry iced latte was better – coffee blended with brown sugar, vanilla protein powder, and frozen wild blueberries.

This week’s yogurt bowl – plain skyr with Kodiak cookie butter granola (fantastic) and blackberries and blueberries.

An array of watermelon things. 9/10 for all but positioned from least to most favorite.

Whole Food’s pie cookies are great. These were pineapple and guava. <– this is foreshadowing

Tuna salad sandwiches. Canned tuna with mayo, dijon, chopped pickles, scallions, and crushed bbq kettle chips on toasted Trader Joe’s whole-wheat bread with gouda spread.

Monday night Adam and I met up at Gup Shup for dinner in the city and had the best Indian food in recent memory. I had a non-alcoholic refresher with kokum and fig purée, mint leaf, and club soda. Adam had a cocktail with clarified tamarind that I will be going back for.

We shared a bunch of things and ended up with to die for leftovers. Mutton Sukka – goat meat, onion-curry leaf, black pepper, bone marrow stock, and malabar parotta (poppy seed).

Butter Paneer Masala. I was pleasantly surprised by how spicy this dish was.

Chicken Biryani with saffron basmati rice and burani raita. This was the most succulent and flavorful chicken. The dish came topped with a seeded bread dome that they excavated tableside.

Our favorite dish was Nizaam’s Haleem – lamb shank cooked overnight, haleem garnish, and butter naan.

Dessert was fantastic too; carrot halwa with gajar halwa ice cream from Caffè Panna.

Friday night we made a homemade pizza pie for Pi Day! Two ingredient crust topped with spinach pesto (spinach and basil food-processed with water, evoo, salt, pepper, and parmesan), extra-sharp cheddar, and tons of sauteed mushrooms.

I, of course, actually did a Pie Week. Turkey cottage pie. I loosely followed this recipe but used ground turkey and added baked cauliflower rice.

And chicken tot pie.

I very loosely followed this recipe but added sauteed mushrooms and substituted frozen potato tots for crust.

Chop Chop

Things from this week…

Two types of blueberry drinks. We adore the Once Upon a Coconut blueberry, it is my favorite coconut water.

I bought a box of Melo bars without tasting them (flavor untasted?) and fortunately the 1st two kinds I tried were great.

I obviously bought this Slice soda because of it’s font/branding but I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor.

Gigantic dessert yogurt bowl – plain skyr, Ben and Jerry’s s’mores bites (this was a fantastic idea!), cereal, granola, and tons of blueberries and blackberries.

Chopped chicken sandwiches. I am so glad we started making these! Chopped together on the cutting board – baked chicken, sharp cheddar, Kewpie, garlicy sauteed broccoli rabe, kimchi sauteed with scallions and butter and sugar. Plus a side of roasted green bell pepper and purple cauliflower with curry powder, sweet and spicy pecans, and dried cranberries.

Big salads. Romaine with ponzu vinaigrette, bell pepper, scallions, bean sprouts, sharp cheddar, packaged fried tofu, and Trader Joe’s crispy mochi nuggets (10/10).

Chicken salad. I put so many things in here I don’t think I remember them all but this was definitely baked chicken with skyr, mayo, dijon, hoisin, lemon juice, scallions, celery, and toasted slivered almonds. Plus a Bibigo kimchi and cheese rice ball, buttered toasted baguette, and roasted zucchini.

A take on chicken laab. I loosely followed this recipe but used ground chicken, doubled the onion, swapped guava jelly for tamarind, and added bean sprouts. Plus a quick cucumber salad (sugar, rice vinegar, Sriracha, and yuzu ponzu).

Chili, Congee, Cookie, Chewy

It’s March tomorrow, thank goodness! Did February feel even longer than January this year? Some things from the last week…

I searched for months for this chocolate chip cookie Nesquik to add to iced coffees and it ended up being very lackluster.

Meanwhile these Smash Bites are perfectly satisfying.

This pre-dinner snack was brought to you by the word “chewy.”

Yogurt bowl mix of the week – plain skyr with blueberries, blackberries, and granola and All Bran buds.

Dinners this week were all about comforting meals (and an excessive amount of unphotographed take-out!). Congee – brown rice slow cooked in chicken broth, topped with garlicy sauteed collard greens, silken tofu, chili crisp, and green onion. I loved the silken tofu texture/temperature contrasts in this.

Chili when it’s chilly! We made a huge batch with ground turkey, pinto beans, sweet onion, zucchini, yellow bell pepper, poblano pepper, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and a ton of seasoning. I pre-cooked my veggies by roasting them in the oven and it worked out great. We always add fish sauce and dark soy sauce to our chili. Topped with tons of cheese, hot sauce, and plain skry. With beer bread on the side!