S’mores iced coffee! I blended coffee with ice, cold brew powder, chocolate milk, vanilla bean powder, and toasted marshmallows.
Yogurt bowl set up – vanilla skyr with Made Good chocolate granola and Jelly Berry grapes.
I quite liked these crispy onion chips from Trader Joe’s.
Toasted turkey and cheddar sandwich. On sprouted wheat sourdough with mayo and pickled jalapeños.
Mexican-ish vegetarian bowls. Brown rice, cauliflower rice roasted with green onion and poblano pepper, Trader Joe’s soyrizo, cojita cheese, and orange Soss.
Crab fried rice. Leftover brown rice stir-fried (with soy sauce, rice vinegar, and fish sauce) with blue crab, eggs, green onion, peas, and carrot.
Dinner inspired by a dish we loved recently at Llama Inn – sautéed bok choy with grapes, sunflower seeds, and black garlic vinaigrette. Plus tuna cakes made with soyrizo.
Adam and I had a fantastic time on vacation! I have no photos to share, but not to worry, we ate all of the things! We spent the weekend in the city with my parents (Roosevelt Island, Central Park, Seaport, Williamsburg, Montauk, +) and then drove to Virginia (Charlottesville and Richmond) to visit with friends and family and visit a million craft breweries. And then we came home and had insane work-weeks and no longer feel relaxed at all, the end.
Some highlights from the week include…
Dessert-y cold brews. Salted caramel from Whole Foods.
S’mores snack mix – Trader Joe’s ube shortbread cookies with chocolate chips and mini marshmallows.
Dipping plate – pimento cheese with pretzels, baby carrots, and mini cucumbers.
Reuben nachos! Whole Food’s pastrami on rye potato chips with shredded gouda and swiss cheese, roast beef, and homemade Russian dressing. Plus sautéed broccoli slaw with pecans.
Our best sheet pan hash to date – yellow potatoes, zucchini, white onion, corn, Cajun-style chicken sauce, and cojita. Topped with diced radish and an esquites inspired sauce with Kewpie, garlic mayo, sour cream, lime juice, paprika, and gojuchang.
Paired with these tamarind chamoy bears from 7-11 that I cannot recommend enough.
Homemade meat lovers pizza! I made a big batch of sauce by cooking down jarred marinara with yellow onion, garlic, turkey bacon, ground turkey, shallot oil, urfa chili, Korean chili flake, smoked paprika, and fish sauce. On a Trader Joe’s frozen crust with whole-milk mozarella balls. Plus roasted caulilini.
We had leftover sauce with roasted zucchini and Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi.
And I put leftover bacon in some homemade okonomiyaki (eggy cabbage pancakes). I also stuffed it with ginger and chili crisp and topped it with Sriracha, Kewpie, and furikaki.
We also made a sandwich style pizza that was my favorite meal of the week. With mozzarella, cheddar cheese curds, sliced turkey, and a homemade roasted garlic aioli. Plus sautéed snap peas and red bell pepper with tons of garlic and butter.
Three (out of the house!) highlights from the past week —
Fancy caffeine at New York Beanery. We had a lavender matcha and a peanut butter cup iced latte.
Mixed fruit mangonada! Somehow this was Adam’s first time trying chamoy but now he’s hooked.
Dinner at Llama Inn. A former coworker got us a gift certificate as a thank you (I helped train her when she moved from acute care to critical care) because it’s her favorite restaurant.
Everything was amazing. Atlas Shrubbed = Pisco, Shochu, aloe vera liquor, kiwi, lemon, and lime.
Asparagus with salsa, pickled green almonds, and huacatay // bok choy with huacatay, sunflower seeds, and grapes.
Scallop tiradito with kiwi leche de tigre and tapioca. <– best dish of the night!
Beef with scallion pancake, avocado, pickled chilis, and fries.
I hope all of my American readers are enjoying Memorial Day long weekends. I worked Friday-Monday; womp, womp. But Adam and I are off together next weekend and I am so excited I could burst. Meanwhile, most of what we ate last week was truly fantastic. Highlights include…
Phin-brewed coffee with herbed cold foam.
Tropical yogurt bowl – Trader Joe’s guava and passionfruit Greek yogurt with coconut chips and fresh mango.
How excited was I to find Dr. Brown’s in a 2-liter?!
IPAs brewed with milk sugar are my favorite. The Founder’s was good and the Evil Twin is god-tier.
Pretty much any time I go to any store for any reason I come out with at least one ice cream.
Caribbean beans and rice – brown rice cooked with coconut milk, red kidney beans, habanero pepper, urfa chile, garlic, ginger, and onion // with curry chicken breast – baked after marinating in goat’s milk yogurt, green Tabasco, lemon juice, Jamaican curry powder, and paprika // and roasted zucchini.
Salad night – baby spinach and spring mix blend with green onion, red bell pepper, avocado, coconut chips, roasted garlic salmon cakes, and homemade creamy passionfruit vinaigrette.
I made callaloo! A very loose take on callaloo but a good one nonetheless. Spinach cooked with green onion, yellow onion, habanero pepper, spices, coconut milk, and crab meat.
Often eaten with rice, I paired mine with chipotle cheese crisps.
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.
Highlights from the last week include fruits + grains and Greek-ish homemade dinners.
There is cocoa granola and milk under that mountain of blueberries.
This Guava Squad double dry hopped IPA was lovely.
Baby chocolate milkshake!
One of our best sheet-pan hash dinners. Potato, purple sweet potato, zucchini, and Trader Joe’s sweet apple chicken sausage. I topped mine with zhoug.
Dolmas / homemade roasted garlic hummus / everything pretzel thins / Persian cucumbers / baby carrots / bell pepper.
My favorite take on a Greek salad. Chopped romaine, Persian cucumber, Trader Joe’s Greek feta dressing, sumac, crispy roasted chickpeas, and zhoug.
Trader Joe’s kunefe, aka the best packaged dessert you can buy.
P.S. No post from this weekend – now that I have include sunblock in my bag again it felt too heavy for a camera – but we are living our best lives with a long walk through Central Park and a stop at Butterfield for many desserts yesterday. Today we have a run on the boardwalk in Long Beach planned!
We had a giant, insanely good meal at Sunday in Brooklyn. Honeybear on Holiday – rum, Montenegro, sherry, apricot, pineapple, lime, cumin, and honey.
The Tiger Prince – Indian single malt whiskey, pandan, coconut, curry leaves, and lime.
Warm crab and artichoke dip with crusty bread.
Wood roasted mushrooms with salsa verde, peanuts, coriander, and spring greens.
Herb-crusted roasted chicken with butter lettuce and fries with za’atar, chili flakes, and spicy mayo.
Our dinners at home this week were great thanks to the best flour tortillas and a big batch of homemade salsa (loosely based on this recipe). Quesadillas with Oaxaca cheese and sharp cheddar (and salsa and plain Greek yogurt) plus shishito peppers.
Turkey tacos with ground meat sautéed with poblano pepper and orange yellow bell pepper plus cheese, yogurt, and salsa.
Chilaquiles – salsa, poblano and bell pepper, homemade baked tortilla chips and pico de gallo chips, plus tons of cheese – topped with fried eggs, shredded chicken thighs, yogurt, and hot sauce.
This mochi chocolate chip cookie from Cha An Bon Bon is one of my favorite things I’ve eaten this year! The crispy, slightly savory cookie was the perfect foil for the mochi.
Crepe cake with salted milk foam, boba, and brown sugar syrup from Prince Tea House.
Oddfellows Ice Cream – saffron passionfruit ice cream with apricot and pistachio plus chocotorta (cream cheese ice cream with dulce de leche and chocolate cookie crumb (<–my new favorite flavor!))
Kitsby dessert bar blew our minds. We came for (and loved!) the salted egg yolk lava cake.
But were head over heels for The King – durian cream brulee with banana ice cream, brown butter shortbread, and herbal jelly. If you’re a durian fan in NYC I recommend getting this immediately!
Eating Chalk 