Tag Archives: rice

Walking On Sunshine

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Adam and I randomly had one of the Best! Weekends! Ever! (TM) this past weekend. We lucked out with a good chunk of time to spend together and nice weather. Friday night we took a long walk in our neighborhood and went to a fancy yet lackluster dinner near our apartment. Saturday we drove into Brooklyn for a bridge walk and took long walks around Williamsburg + SoHo + Thompkin’s Square Park. Sunday we took the LIRR into the city and took long walks around Koreatown + Midtown + Central Park. You’ll notice a theme there! Food highlights included…

Fantastic mochi doughnuts and black sesame iced coffee at Bear Donut.

Cinnamon brown sugar cold brew at Now or Never.

We went to a different Felix Roasting Co location each day! For an espresso tonic and a smoked s’mores latte.

We scored new flavors in two of our favorite drinks.

Best beverages of the weekend were this combo from Blue Bottle – Nola Cola (New Orleans-style coffee with vanilla and sparkling water) and a yuzu lemon fizz.

Hanoi House has a dessert window pop-up this summer and it is my new favorite place. I got a Bright Eyes Sundae – vanilla soft-serve, hot fudge, egg custard, chocolate sesame crunch, and Vietnamese coffee over crushed ice.

Egyptian food at Zooba. We loved the tamarind chicken rice bowl.

Plus hawawshi and falafel with hibiscus tahini.

Lebanese food at Au Za’atar. We knuafe plus some of the best lamb we’ve ever tasted (no photo due to lighting but it was a truly gigantic serving and we’ll be happily eating leftovers all week!).

Sushi at Maki Kosaka. We ordered practically the whole menu; both of our favorites were the bluefin toro preparations.

Aloe, Banana, Congee

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Highlights from this past week include…

I made my first ever loaf of banana bread! I added tons of coconut caramel jam to a traditional recipe and we loved it.

See also – banana bread cubes on a Greek yogurt bowl with nectarine, cinnamon, and honey.

This bar + coffee combo was a 10/10. I also ate a mini York with it – perfection.

See also – I made a mint syrup for my iced coffees this week and it was great in this iced matcha latte.

Sooo many snacks! The highlight of which was these crab roe flavored broad beans. They were the perfect amount of crunchy and the perfect balance of sweet and savory.

See also – aloe drink and my two favorite seltzers.

Tyger leftovers (sauteed water spinach and pad see ew) stir-fried with eggs and peanuts. The leftovers were mind-blowing so we clearly need to go back ASAP.

I made fantastic brown rice chicken congee. Filled with chopped chicken thighs and spicy chopped kale and red chard. We topped our bowls with peanuts, green onions, and chili crisp.

Chewy

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Highlights from this week include…

Chew frozen things. Black sugar boba popsicle and a passionfruit ice cream mochi.

Chewy vegan candies. I loved the tropical ones (grapefruit slices!) and liked the hearts and stars.

Grapefruit beverages. Hard seltzer and kombucha.

Takeout dinner from Roast. A roast beef melt and an on-special salad with arugula, asparagus, cauliflower, parmesan, crispy breadcrumbs, chicken, and pesto vinaigrette.

Easy rice bowls. Brown rice / Trader Joe’s green vegetable foursome frozen veggies / tuna salad with mayo, soy sauce, rice vinegar, furikake, and Korean chili flake / kimchi / chili crisp.

Homemade cashew chicken. With red bell pepper, green onion, and extra cashews. Served on roasted broccoli slaw.

Oreos And Mung Beans

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I worked six of the last seven days so we’ve eaten a lot of take-out chicken nuggets but also managed to go on a few nice dates! Highlights from the past week include…

Mint pour-over with chocolate sweetened condensed milk.

This week’s probiotic beverages – tamarind citrus tepache / hibiscus rhubarb kefir.

Sparkling calamansi matchas. I’m not sure why that photo is so swampy, it was lovely in real life.

I am still very into these Kishu mandarins. I used to love Cara Cara oranges but I tried one recently and it paled in comparision.

Newly into these Crunchsters sprouted mung beans which are perfectly savory and crunchy.

And no one is surprised that I am excited about these limited edition confetti cake Oreos.

They are sprinkled!

Also impressed with this new Noosa chocolate gelato.

Drinks and snacks at The Linwood. I had a cocktail with tequila, sage, honey, lime, blood orange, and grapefruit soda.

Plus housemade chips with onion ranch dip.

Caribbean-inspired food at Coastal. My jerk chicken rice bowl was great.

But we were there for the drinks! Like a painkiller made with Soggy Dollar Bar rum (aka rum from the place that invented painkillers).

I also had a lovely drink with vodka, butterfly pea flower, chamomile, guava, pineapple, lemon, and soda.

Homemade chilaquiles with Trader Joe’s guajillo salsa, tortilla chips, shredded chicken, sweet onion, and bell peppers. Topped with sharp cheddar, sour cream, hot sauce, and a fried egg.

We made the best salads. Local lettuce with dijon balsamic dressing / stir-fried/charred snap peas / crunchy mung beans / cheddar / bbq chicken – shredded chicken breast and thighs from the crockpot tossed with homemade bbq sauce and roasted in the oven.

Vegan buffalo chick’n sliders with roasted green beans. The sandwiches were good but the green beans were great.

Pandan, Ube, Black Sesame

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Adam and I had both weekend days off together (!!!) and we ate ALL the things and had a glorious time! Saturday we wandered around Williamsburg, over the bridge, and into the Lower East Side (almost 9 miles!) and Sunday we did a foodie tour loop around Woodside/Elmhurst/Jackson Heights. Some highlights included…

Coffee Booth‘s March special – birthday cake iced latte. I’d like all of my coffees to have an icing swirl!

We tried two different kinds of pandan and coconut pudding. A creamy one from Pata Market.

And a chewy tapioca and corn version from Three Auntie’s Market.

Kuih Cafe‘s black sesame burnt cheesecake was perfectly balanced with sweet and savory.

Purple Dough‘s halo halo is my new favorite.

This strawberry guava alcoholic Topo Chico is basically all of my favorite things in one.

We went to L’Industrie for the first time and now I totally get the hype. Our cheese slice was both crispy and chewy.

Plus we had a lemon cream doughnut.

Miss Lilly‘s jerk chicken was so juicy! With rice and peas and mango chutney.

Fantastic Thai food at Ayada. Thai iced tea and Thai iced coffee.

Green papaya salad with salted egg.

Crab and chicken dumplings in tofu skin.

10/10 chicken pad see ew; wok hei galore.

We made great breakfast for dinner bowls. Hashbrowns, roasted riced cauliflower, soft-scrambled eggs, avocado, heirloom tomatoes and red onion sautéed with butter, sharp cheddar, sour cream, and sweet and spicy jalapenos.

Two Kinds Of Cola Cocktails

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I worked all weekend but we still managed to make/go out for some amazing food in the evenings! It was so cold Sunday night that we refused to walk more than a few blocks but Saturday we had a great time wandering around the Lower East Side and across the Williamsburg Bridge. Highlights include…

A fantastic latte with a giant iced cube from Kodawari.

A vegan chocolate chip sandwich cookie from formerly Babycakes.

I made a frozen rum and coke. This was actually the best frozen cocktail I’ve ever had, the texture was perfection. I blended golden rum, amaretto, key lime juice, and frozen coke ice cubes.

We made hedgehog tofu aka crispy pull-apart baked tofu. With this sauce and sautéed celery and bok choy.

Dinner on the Lower East Side. We did veggies/appetizers at one stop and entrees at another! First Fat Choy for baby bok choy and rice rolls with charred scallion, black vinegar, and Chinese broccoli. <– the rice rolls were the best thing we have eaten so far in 2022!

Then Bronson’s Burgers. I went with cheddar, pickles, and crispy onions.

And we got a toasted marshmallow shake.

Dinner at Chela in Park Slope. I quite liked the food and was head over heels for the cocktails. Like the Cosita – mezcal, tequila reposado, guava, grapefruit, lemon, and a spicy rim.

And the Mojito De Mata with white rum, fresh tamarind, lime, saline solution, and burlesque bitters. All mojitos should have tamarind, apparently. We also tried a Movie Night with buttered popcorn fat washed rum, homemade cola syrup, and fresh lime and a margarita with fresh passionfruit!

I got a salad for dinner — watermelon, baby arugula, onions, jicama, queso fresco, peanuts, cilantro vinaigrette, and beef barbacoa.

And we got fantastic churros for dessert.

Of Champions

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Breakfast highlights from a lovely weekend…

Homemade maple vanilla matcha latte.

Hometown Bakeshop. We shared a great egg sandwich – over-medium eggs on a cheddar biscuit with cheddar, turkey bacon, and smoked aioli.

Plus a funfetti scone.

Pilar Cuban Eatery.

I had a cafe con leche with condensed milk! Plus a pink flamingo – mezcal with guava and lime.

And shredded beef for breakfast, with sweet plantains, avocado, and black beans and rice. This was almost as good as the Cuban food of our Miami days!

Mint, Matcha, Meatball

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For a week of easing back into real life from vacation the past 5 days weren’t too bad! I even managed to cook a few dinners. That said, work has been insane and I am not sad that I’m heading into a three day weekend!

Highlights from the past week include…

Coffee combo – Hudson Roastery with sweetened condensed milk.

See also – we are head over heels for this dulce de leche instant coffee.

Really enjoyed this energy tea; I’ve been loving mint drinks since December.

See also – we made green Thai tea iced lattes.

We also made fruity matcha spritzers. Matcha with key lime La Croix and fresh lime and orange juice.

Berry (beary!) milkshake – Thai tea ice cream mochi blended with vanilla almond milk and frozen strawberries and grapes.

Yogurt bowl – vanilla yogurt with peanut butter, chia, and granola.

These apple pie rice cakes have milk powder in them and a great sweet/savory thing going.

Vegan pepperoni-inspired jerky + everything seasoning chickpea snacks. Both were good but not my favorite. But a nice snack paired together.

Layered halvah. P.S. We also bought halvah-crusted pecans and they were insane.

Leftovers and lettuce wraps converged for the perfect dinner. We used butterhead lettuce to wrap ground turkey sautéed with gojuchang with celery, peanuts, quick pickled cucumber and carrot salad, and pickled radish. Plus leftovers from great take-out we got over the weekend – kimbap and Korean fried chicken.

It’s possible we over-purchased fried chicken… we snacked on it all week long!

A quick and easy dinner – chicken burgers from the freezer with sautéed bell peppers and green onion, mashed avocado, a fried egg, and fantastic hot sauce from back home.

The best dinner of the week/month/new year! I made buffalo chicken meatballs (with ground turkey since we were shopping during a winter storm, hot sauce, cream cheese, and blue cheese) with sautéed carrot and celery, and homemade garlic bread (garlic, butter, spices, and tons of parmesan baked on everything ciabatta rolls).