Malli's Mint and Mimosas

Happy Vishu and Happy Vaisakhi!!

2015-04-15T14:47:00.001-04:00

Just a quick post to wish everyone a Happy Vishu (which is today) and a Happy Vaisakhi (which was yesterday). Vishu is the New Year based on the Malayalam Calendar in Kerala. Vaisakhi is the Punjabi New Year based on the Punjabi calendar, and hold religious significance for both Hindus and Sikhs of Punjab.

Our family being from Kerala, we all had a delicious Vishu sadya this past weekend. A sadya is a huge vegetarian feast! During most Kerala holidays and weddings, we have a sadya. Traditionally it can be comprised of up to 25 dishes! My mom definitely made quite a few, but not quite 25! The meal was fantastic. Take a look at the picture below. The sadya is traditionally served on banana leaves. (That's my dad preparing to place a spoonful of ghee (clarified butter) over the delicious lentils and rice - adds to the creaminess of the whole mix!).

On Vishu morning, the day starts with Vishukanni, this is meant to be the first thing you see when you wake up to ensure prosperity for the new year. As a symbol of prosperity, rice, fruits, vegetables, betel leaves, flowers, holy texts, lighted brass lamps and a decorated statue of Lord Krishna will be arranged by in the prayer room to be a welcoming sight on New Year morning.

S and I went to my parents place this weekend and had a great Vishu, with Vishukanni ready as we arrived!! Here's to a good New Year!

#317: Meatball Noodle Soup, By: V

2015-04-14T15:01:00.003-04:00

A couple weeks ago S and I went to New Jersey to visit his parents. We had planned for a quick stop by Edison on our way back to D.C. Edison has its own "little India," a strip of several blocks lined with Indian clothing shops, restaurants and grocery stores. We decided to go to Moghul Express for their delicious Indian-Chinese food. Yes, you heard me right! There's such a thing as Indian food combined with Chinese food. Two delicious cuisines together?! Um, yes, that sounds worth the stop, even if it means getting home is delayed a few hours. So, we stopped by for some delicious Chicken Manchurian. The dish wasn't exactly what I expected, but was still so delicious! The dish of chicken meatballs was served in a thick, rich, sweet and savory oyster sauce base (well at least it tasted like oyster or hoison sauce). The rice just soaked up the curry and made for a great treat and pit stop on our road trip home.

With getting back so late and the work week starting, I was too tired to get into too much detailed cooking. But, I happened to have some of those Chinese Meatballs I made in the freezer. So, Monday when I got back from work I made myself a nice warm Meatball Noodle Soup.

Ingredients:
1 Collard Green Leaf, chopped into large segments
1 cup cooked Quinoa Rotini Pasta
4 Chinese Meatballs
1 tsp crushed red chili flakes
2 cups Swanson's Thai Ginger Broth

Directions

In a small pot, on high heat pour in the broth. Allow the broth to come to a boil and add the collard green. Let this cook for one minutes.
In a bowl place your cooked pasta.
Add the meatballs to the broth. Let boil for 20 seconds.
Then turn the heat off and pour the broth, collard green and meatballs over the pasta in your bowl. Stir in the red chili flakes and you're ready to eat!

Feel free to add fish sauce or soy sauce to your soup - and for my fellow spicy food lovers out there - some sriracha (aka rooster sauce).

#316: Cheesy Breakfast Casserole, By: V

2015-03-28T13:25:00.000-04:00

It's been a long week and with upcoming weekends full of plans to celebrate Vishu with my parents, go to Richmond for a bridal shower, and then again for the wedding itself, this weekend we are planning on truly relaxing. But, that didn't exactly come so easy this Saturday morning. I woke up early to take my car to the auto shop to get a few things fixed. So, S picked me up and brought me home. Since we were both starving, I whipped up this quick and hearty Breakfast Casserole.

I thought I'd pop up this quick post to share the recipe while I wait on the call from the shop telling me my car is all good to go (fingers crossed). Hope you all try this recipe out this weekend!

Just a quick aside - this recipe can be easily modified, opt in sweet potatoes or regular pootatoes for the OreIda ones, use kale in lieu of spinach, ground beef or lamb in lieu of turkey, and the options continue. Weekends are all about being flexible, right? Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Half a bag of OreIda hash brown cubes
2 cups spinach
1 lb ground turkey
2 tbsps paprika
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Prepare the hash brown as per the directions on the bag.
Place them in your casserole dish and mash up with a potato masher or two foks. Create a base of mashed hash brown potatoes. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of the paprika on top of the potatoes.
Chop up the 2 cups of spinach and add them to a pan with 1 tsp olive oil or coconut oil. Cook the spinach down and add this as the next layer on the casserole.
Cook the ground turkey in a pan. There's no need for oil if you use a nonstick pan. But, if you don't use a nonstick pan, add in 1 tbsp of oil. Once the turkey is cooked, add the other 1 tbsp of paprika.
Add the ground turkey on top of the spinach layer.
Then top off the entire casserole with the shredded cheddar cheese (or cheese of your choosing).

Serve this with some chopped up avocado for a nice creamy side.

Commissary and Kapnos

2015-03-25T14:11:00.002-04:00

Last week my best friend, K, was visiting from Oregon. While I didn't have much time to document the lunches and dinners I prepared (which included a foray into cauliflower rice) I did take a few pictures at the happy hour and dinner we enjoyed. So, this is my review of Commissary and Kapnos.

One evening we went to Commissary for happy hour. This place gets fairly full around happy hour. We enjoyed the truffle fries (although, another customer's nachos looked like the better choice) and the drinks. We even asked the bartender if he could prepare our mutual favorite, a Pimm's Cup. Now, a Pimm's Cup is traditionally a British drink which has more of a clean lemon-lime flavor. This is because you are supposed to put in one part Pimm's liquer (gin-based) and two parts lemon-lime soda or ginger ale. However, major fail by the bartender (and this was after we showed him the simple recipe off our iPhone), but we had to commemorate things none the less. See how our Pimm's Cup is dark enough to pass for a Rum and Coke, most Pimm's Cups are supposed to be much less dark.

Another night we went to Kapnos for dinner. Kapnos, is another Chef Mike Isabella, establishment. See my review of Graffiato and you'll understand why I was so excited to try out Kapnos. K is a vegetarian, so I thought it would be good to just order a few veggie small plates and share, which is exactly what we did.

We started off with the Melitzanosalata, a smoked eggplant spread with roasted peppers and topped with feta and walnuts. This was my favorite dish of the night! Delicious! The contrast of the crunchy walnut with the creamy eggplant was phenomenal, and the saltiness of the feta really complimented the dish. Not to mention, that garlic pita that was served alongside the spread, was so light and airy!

Next we ordered the Grilled Broccolini which was topped with a "salsa" of tomatoes, capers and kalamata olives. Along the side was some creamy mizithra cheese. The cheese is made from goat's milk and has such a mild flavor, it was almost like a mascarpone or creamy greek yogurt on the side of the dish. The cheese added a creamy contrast without compromising the flavors of the broccolini and tomatoes.

The final plate was so delicious, you can see I forgot all about taking the picture and dove in. Spanokopita is a phyllo pie filled with spinach, leeks and feta. This small plate was fabulous. The phyllo was well prepared - crunchy, flaky and not too greasy.

I already told S, me and him have to go back to Kapnos. I just have too many other dishes I'd like to try!

#315: Mini Chinese Meatballs, By: V

2015-03-05T18:29:00.002-05:00

This has been the coldest winter Washington, DC has seen in over 20 years. Needless to say, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced frigid temps like we’ve been having. This weekend we ‘spring forward’ into the next season, but we’re still seeing an on-and-off snow fall. Crazy, right?

Well, on Monday I met up with my friend R for a quick dinner, before a movie date she had that night. R and I have been friends since high school, so it’s always great to meet up with her because we have that kind of comfort level where you can talk about anything. We gabbed about friends and her new date over bibimbap bowls at The Mixing Bowl. While neither of us had tried this small Tysons Mall spot, a friend of mine told me it offered super healthy option all in a convenient bowl. I already love bibimbap, a convenient Korean rice bowl dish with meat, veggies and a deliciously spicy sauce, so this was a great option. I ordered my bowl with brown rice, spicy chicken, radish salad, kale, kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage), cucumbers – all topped with gochujang (a spicy sauce made from fermented red chili, glutinous rice, soybeans and salt) and a fried egg. When the egg breaks into the rice, trust me, you're immediately happy choosing this add-on!

This week I made some “mini” Chinese Meatballs. I’m keeping the “mini” in quotes, because lets be real, I may have every intention of making something “mini,” but some times what you plan for doesn’t exactly come to fruition, and you end up with “medium” meatballs. Either way these delicious meatballs make a great addition to noodles, soup, or just as a protein-rich snack or appetizer.

The options are limitless, you could add lemongrass, oyster sauce or green onions to these meatballs as well. But, I kept my recipe fairly simple and worked with what I had right in my kitchen. I mean with the freezing temperatures who wants to venture outside, am I right?

Mini Chinese Meatballs

Ingredients:

1/4 cup grated yellow onion

1/2 tsp five spice

1 tsp crushed red chili flakes

1 lb ground chicken

2 medium-large crushed garlic cloves

1 tbsp grated ginger

1/4 tsp fish sauce

1/4 tsp soy sauce

2 tbsps olive oil

Directions:

First prepare the onion, ginger and garlic. Use a cheese grater to grate yellow onion and ginger. Use a garlic press or finely chop the garlic cloves.
Place your ground chicken in a bowl. Add the onion, ginger and garlic to the meat.
Then add the five spice, red chli flakes, fish sauce and soy sauce.
Incorporate everything together with your hands. (yes, time to get in there!)
Form the mixture into meatballs - the size can be your preference. If you have difficult forming the meatball shapes, you can add 1/4 cup breadcrumbs or panko to the mixture to help them form easier.
Pour olive oil in a pan on high heat. Once the oil is hot add the meatballs in one layer. Cook in two to three batches, if needed. Make sure you don't overcrowd. Cook on high heat on one side and flip over. Cook on the other side for one minute. Then lower the heat to medium and cover; cook like this for two minutes to be sure the meatballs are cooked through.
Once you've cooked all the meatballs, return them to the pan and add 1/4 cup Thai ginger broth (or any broth). Turn to high heat and cook covered for about three minutes. Remove the lid and continue on high heat for two minutes until the liquid evaporates.

Graffiato & Co Co Sala

2015-02-20T13:48:00.001-05:00

Presidents Day in Washington, D.C. This should be the day to visit some historical landmarks which laid the foundation for the United States we see today. But, instead, I had a girls day or I guess we should say ‘Galentine’s Day,’ has anyone else heard this phrase? It’s from Amy Pohler’s character on Parks and Recreation, probably one of my favorite shows right now. If you haven’t seen it, it is pretty funny!

Anyway, I hadn't spent some time lately with two of my friends, B and M, so the three of us decided to have a day together full of fun stuff, and by ‘fun,’ I really mean eating. We started off at Graffiato for a brunch/lunch. Graffiato has been pretty high on my list of D.C. restaurants to try. A friend of mine discouraged that thought, by telling me the food wasn’t very good and that she was unimpressed. But, I thought I’d still try it out, and boy was she wrong! We ordered a variety of dishes (and cocktails) and I feel comfortable saying that this was some solid, hands down good food. We shared a pizza and each ordered our own smaller dish. My favorite was B’s order, the delicious, creamy and robust gnocchi with a lamb ragu. The flavors were smoky, but topped with some crispy rosemary and whipped ricotta this dish received some serious accolades from me, in between bites of B’s dish. Friends share!

Like a handful of other D.C. restaurants did on Monday, Graffiato offered a few of their menu options of their much larger brunch menu. The Hibiscus and Basil Mimosas were unique needless to say, but maybe a bit too sweet for my taste.

The three of us shared the White House Pizza. The pizza is made with three types of cheeses - tallegio, mozzarella and ricotta. Then it's topped with thin ribbons of prosciutto and drizzled with black pepper honey! The dish had me at 'black pepper honey.' I thought this was such an interesting and unique combination I had to try it, sort of a play on a honey-glazed ham!

I'm usually not a fan of white pizzas, only because I love red sauce so much, but I actually really enjoyed this one.

I ordered the Baked Eggs off the brunch menu. The dish came in a personal sized cast iron pan. The pan was filled with chunks of lamb shoulder, merguez ragu, and topped with two sunny side up eggs and foccacia croutons. Absolutely delicious. My only one complaint was, the lamb could have been seasoned better. I know I know, it's covered in ragu, who can tell the difference. I guess, me? Overall the dish was a great combination of flavors, and I loved the idea of topping the dish with croutons.

The star of the show, the delicious Potato Gnocchi, served with a pork ragu and topped with whipped ricotta and crispy rosemary. Great combination of flavors and if they made a huge pot of this, I'm pretty sure I could down the whole thing in one sitting. M ordered the Apple Pie Stuffed French Toast, which was equally amazing (sorry, I was too busy eating it to take a picture). I prefer homemade french toast, and am always disappointed by dry french toasts that most restaurants offer. This one on the other hand was incredibly moist and was topped with a streusel crumble.

By the way, I posted these pictures on Mint and Mimosas Instagram account, and Chef Mike Isabella of Graffiato actually 'liked' my picture. Gotta say that was the highlight of the week!

After our brunch/lunch we went to see "Fifty Shades of Gray," which I would not recommend. The movie was a bit of a disappointment needless to say, but, I won't get into it too much. Afterwards, we came out of the movie theater to snowfall! It was beautiful in the city! We decided to grab hot chocolate at Co Co Sala before heading home.

I mean how beautiful is this Dark Chocolate Hot Chocolate topped with a skewered homemade marshmallow. I love the presentation and that you get quite a large glass of hot chocolate. Absolutely the best way to end our Presidents Day holiday, and get ready for the major snow and cold temperatures that we've been facing in D.C. Hope everyone stays warm this weekend! We're anticipating another 3'-5' inches tomorrow, and I have brunch plans! But, don't worry...I'll press on with the eating!

#314 Chicken & Kale Stir Fry for One, By: V

2015-02-16T22:19:00.001-05:00

Most weeknights I want to head straight home after work and not have to pick-up or order-in take out. I want to be able to whip up an easy hot meal and relax on the couch. I mean, but really, don’t we all?

Chicken Stir Fry can be a very easy and quick dish to prepare. When I was in law school it was simple enough for me to whip up. I would come back to my apartment after class and scrounge up any veggies from my freezer and refrigerator crisper, tossing them in a pan with a bit of olive oil and always adding in some sort of heat component – red chili flakes or Thai chili peppers.

I’ve been on a big kale binge lately. Throwing it into my morning green smoothies, salads, curries and stir-fry. So, this week after work I came home and decided to make a quick kale and chicken stir fry. The fridge was low on veggie, so kale became the major player of this stir-fry recipe.

Prepping your ingredients before creating most dishes is such a helpful first step. This is especially true for stir-fry recipes. The cooking process is relatively quick and you don’t want your veggies over-cooked, so having everything by the side of the range, ready to pop into the wok or pan is really important, and a time saver.

You can even prepthe night before if you have the time. I washed my kale, cut the stems off and folded the leaves in half, before slicing them into ribbons. I took the garlic clove and crushed it with the back of a knife, to easily remove the outer skin, before placing the clove in a garlic press and crushing the clove out into a delicious pile of fresh crushed and chopped garlic. I took a piece of ginger root and peeled the outer skin with a vegetable peeler, or you can use a butter knife, then grated the ginger against a simple cheese grater. The chicken was rinsed and cut into about 1 inch cubes.

Chicken & Kale Stir Fry for One

Ingredients:

3 chicken tenderloins

1 garlic clove

2 tbsps olive oil

1/2 tsp red chili flakes

1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger

2 cups chopped kale

1 tbsp stir fry sauce

1 tsp soy sauce

Directions:

In a skillet (wok or pan) add olive oil and red chili flakes to low heat. Place garlic clove into a garlic press or chop up the garlic clove.
Turn the heat up to medium and let the mixture splutter for 5 seconds. Don't let the garlic brown.
Add the chicken pieces and turn the heat to high Cook on high until the chicken is no longer pink.
Add the ginger and kale to the skillet.
Stir everything together so the kale is coated with the oil.
Then add the stir fry sauce (hoison sauce, oyster sauce, or any stir-fry sauce of your preference) and soy sauce. Stir and cover with pot lid.
Cook covered for 3 minutes. Take the lid off, stir, and serve.

I like heating the oil on low or medium-low with the garlic and red chili flakes, to allow the flavors from both ingredients to permeate the oil slowly and without burning the garlic.

This dish can be served over quinoa, cauliflower rice, brown rice, jasmine rice (or any rice of your choosing), noodles or for a low-carb option, in lettuce wraps.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2015-02-14T11:52:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day! Hope everyone enjoys this day with their family, friends and all other loved ones!

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico , By: V

2015-02-12T12:27:00.005-05:00

This past weekend, I went on a short bachelorette trip for one of my closest friends from college. It was definitely something I was looking forward to. Getting away from the chilly winter temperatures in Washington, D.C. was just the icing on the cake.

Right as we arrived in Cabo San Lucas (or "Cabo"), we checked in, changed into our sundresses and headed to Asi y Asado to get some delicious tacos. On our arrival we soon found out this small restaurant was on the infamous Guy Fieri program "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," and we soon understood why! They have such a wide variety of tacos -- i.e. scallop tacos! And an awesome toppings bar, with everything from charred peppers, to coleslaw, to radishes and spicy salsas. We ordered grilled vegetables for the table and they were deliciously charred and sweet.

A picture of Guy Fieri from the Food Network show, Diners Drive-Ins and Dives.

On our walk back to our hotel, we stopped and grabbed a pina smoothie from Smoothie Bar. I enjoyed several of these pineapple + grated coconut smoothies during the trip!

Friday night we went down to the Marina, and went to a fun restaurant where we were forced by the waiters to do karaoke. These are the sorts of things you get asked to do when you're in a bachelorette group, so we obliged and sang heartily to the Spice Girls - Tell Me What You Want (not our choice, but the waiters!). We downed a bit of liquid courage (see tequila picture below) before belting our our group song.

On Saturday we spent much of our time at Playa El Madano in Cabo San Lucas. That night we headed to The Office and enjoyed some delicious fish tacos on the sand. It was absolutely gorgeous, and a lot of fun!

On Sunday we woke up early to have breakfast at the beautiful Villa del Palmar Beach Resort. The dessert was delicious, with the most gorgeous fresh papaya and pineapple. My favorite Mexican breakfast dish, chilaquiles, and a yummy omelette station. After we filled up, we went on a morning whale watching tour. We expected not to really see anything, but within five minutes of pulling away from the dock we were riding beside whales. They were gorgeous and large and entertained us with their flips. It was amazing to see. Then we saw the infamous Arch of Cabon San Lucas. It was beautiful and one of the most gorgeous land masses I've been close to.

I must say the fruit, vegetables and delicious fresh seafood is one of the things I miss from this trip. Mexico truly is a paradise. It's beautiful! I can't wait to head back some time soon, but for now back to work and the snowy days of the east coast.

#313 Roast Chicken, By: V

2015-02-01T11:51:00.000-05:00

This was a quiet week and happy to have it that way. Friday I'll be off to Cabo San Lucas for the weekend on a bachelorette trip with a dear college friend of mine, and three others. Looking forward to the good times and to getting away from this cold weather!

Yesterday, we braved the fiercely cold winds and went to the Washington Auto Show, which has been going on in D.C. for the past two weeks. It was my first time attending an auto show, and I have to say it was fun sitting in different cars and checking out some classic cars - which always look so cool! Afterwards, S and I went to our favorite spot for pizza, Matchbox, and shared our go-to choice -Fire & Smoke Pizza (and we top it with some chicken). The base of the pizza is a chipotle pepper tomato sauce, and the pizza is topped with spanish onions, fire-roasted red peppers, garlic puree, smoked gouda and fresh basil. It's spicy, but delicious!

Then we went home and I made this quick Roast Chicken dish (quick in terms of prep time and easiness), to have fo lunch this week. Today's a big day in U.S. culture haha - it's SUPER BOWL SUNDAY. Usually I have plans for what I'm going to make to snack on, but not so much this week. I'm rooting for the Seahawks, solely because their Quarterback and another player are Virginia natives - so, of course I have to support!

With Cabo San Lucas next weekend, my next post may not be until the following Sunday (Valentine's Day weekend!). But, I hope you all enjoy this recipe and have a wonderful week ahead!

Roast Chicken

Ingredients:

2 3 lb. chickens
Salt and Black Pepper
1/2 cup fresh thyme, chopped
2 lemons, quartered
6 garlic cloves
4 tbsps softened butter
1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and pat the outside dry.
Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken.
Stuff the cavity of each chicken with 1 lemon and half of the sliced onion.
In a bowl add the softened butter and thyme. Mix together. With your hand spread this mixture under the skin on the outside of each chicken.
Place 3 garlic cloves under the skin of each chicken.
Surround the chickens with veggies of your choices - carrots, potatoes, parsnips, broccoli, eggplant, tomatoes (literally anything of your choice).
Bake in the oven for 1 1/2 hours or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh.
Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for 20 minutes before serving. This will make the meat juicy.

I made this easy dish yesterday and plan on eating it atop a salad or in sandwiches for my lunch this week.

#312 Easy Curried Lentils with Kale, By: V

2015-01-25T20:21:00.001-05:00

I had the most wonderful day on Monday. Yes, it was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and S and I had the day off from work. As I mentioned in my last post, Monday was also the start of D.C. Restaurant Week. S and I decided to enjoy restaurant week with a lunch at 701 Restaurant.

So we went to the city, and the city was bustling and busy with people enjoying the day off and the gorgeous weather. I say 'gorgeous', as in it wasn't below 40 degrees, and it isn't snowing as it was thisThursday. The restaurant week menu at 701 was a three course spread. We both started off with the Tuna Tartare, which was dressed in a wasabi vinagrette and topped with sliced asian pear. The plate drizzled with a persimmon-yuzu sauce. I generally prefer tuna tartare with a more spicy lime flavor running throughout, so this probably wasn't my favorite as far as flavor is concerned. S agreed that this wasn't the best tuna tartare we've had, but it was ok.

For his main course, S ordered the Skuna Bay Salmon which was served atop a mustard spaetzle mixed with pomegranates, kale and pecans - talk about a perfect Fall/Winter dish! It was delicious!

I ordered the Duck Tajarin, spaghetti with duck bolognese with two beautiful spoonfuls of goat cheese on the side. Let me just say it was amazing! Promptly halfway through our dishes, we switched to enjoy the other person's order - these things have to be done!

And then we come to the dessert course. I ordered the Chocolate Pot De Creme which was served with ice cream, brownie bits and a salted caramel. I was not impressed by this dessert - the brownie bits were dry and crumbly, but I have to say the salted caramel was made to perfection. S ordered the Cheesecake (his favorite dessert) which came with a berry sorbet and peanut butter crunch. I have to say the cheesecake seemed to be made of goat cheese and cream cheese, rather than cream cheese alone; that taste was certainly distracting and not in a good way.

All in all the main course was the highlight of the meal. Not sure that I would run back to 701, but I'm glad I had the opportunity to try the cuisine. The restaurant group that owns this restaurant owns several other popular D.C. Restaurants (Rasika, Bombay Club, Bibiana, Ardeo + Bardeo, The Oval Room and Nopa).

After lunch was over we walked over to the National Gallery of Art and the Hirshhorn Museum. That's by far one of the best things about Washington, D.C., you can visit all of the museums and sites for free. It's great! We took in all of the beautiful sculptures and paintings. It was a nice way to enjoy a day off from work. Afterwards we enjoyed coffee at my favorite D.C. coffee shop, Chinatown Coffee Co. and headed home to get ready for what ended up being a long week.

Today I went to brunch with three girlfriends to Nopa Kitchen + Bar. I had a delicious Bloody Mary (my favorite alcoholic brunch beverage) and a healthy Farro & Black Quinoa Rissoto.

The quinoa dish had a flourish of sage-pumpkin seed pesto, kabocha squash, baby sweet potatoes, egg 63 and truffle pecorino. What's egg 63 you ask? I asked the same thing of the waitress. Egg 63 is an egg cooked for one hour in 63 degree celsius water. It was creamy inside and when broken into and stirred into the black quinoa and farro turned the entire dish into a creamy rissoto flavor. This sounds like how I described my Creamy Lemon Orzo dish from last week! It's surprising how flavors work, and how a little thing like a poached egg can change a dish's texture and flavor.

After brunch I headed with a law school friend of mine, R, over to an articles club I just joined. In lieu of getting through an entire book, one member hosts and assigns an article that the group will read and discuss, all over some wine and snacks. It's a great way to meet new people and to debate, discuss and learn others opinions. It was a generally fun and relaxing evening. This idea came from a blog post on A Cup of Jo. The article we discussed for this month's club gathering, if anyone's curious was How To Be Polite. Let me know what you think of it!

This week for dinner I made Steamed Fish and Easy Curried Lentils with Kale for dinner.
To make the fish I simply took cod filets and placed them on top of sliced red tomatoes all atop a sheet of foil. Sprinkle a tablespoon of chardonnay or any white wine you may have around the house and seal the whole foil packet. Let bake on a baking sheet for 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then open the packet and top the fish filets with a layer of panko breadcrumbs, then turn the oven to broil and cook for another ten minutes. It's a simple and easy dish to make when you're loking for a quick dinner on the lighter side.

I served the fish with a side of curried lentils. The lentils were quick and easy, and supery spicy, so feel free to ease up on how much garam masala and chili powder you use in your version. Since the fish had a clean mild flavor, I thought I would spicen things up with a stronger lentil flavor.

Easy Curried Lentils with Kale

Ingredients:

1 cup of red lentils
2 cups of water
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ginger, grated
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chili powder
2 tbsps tomato paste
2 cups chopped kale
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a medium pan add the oil and onions. Turn the heat to medium high and fry until the onion softends. Add the garlic, ginger, garam masala and red chili powder and mix together. Make sure the mixture is blended, only heat through for about 10 seconds.
Then add the lentils and stir together. Then add the water and bring to a simmer.
Let the lentils cook for 20-30 minutes. Add water as it evaporates. You can have it more watery or thicker to your taste. Once the water has mainly all evaporated, add the tomato paste and raw kale (or spinach).
Stir thoroughly, the heat from the lentils will cook the greens through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Turn the heat off and serve. You can also eat this dish with naan or rice.

#311 Orzo Three Ways, By: V

2015-01-17T18:02:00.000-05:00

Orzo is an Italian short-cut pasta that looks a lot like rice. I often tell people that it's similar to Risotto, but I'd say it mirrors rice even more. Early last week I grilled chicken for dinner and was planning on serving them with some linguine marinara when I realized I didn't have any linguine at home. In a flurry I just decided to dump a whole box of Barilla orzo into a pot of boiling water. Let's just say after about 9 minutes of boiling later (yes, it cooks that quickly), I had enough orzo to last for the week. So, it became my dinner that night as well as my lunch for the week. In order to make the dish more interesting as the week progressed, I came up with a few variations. Unfortunately I don't have pictures for all of them, but I hope you'll try the recipes out nonetheless.

That night for dinner since I was grilling a pretty spicy chicken, I decided to balance out the flavor by pairing it with a mild but bright flavor. The Creamy Lemon Orzo was a perfect match. The tartness of the lemon with the creamy addition of the soup morphed the taste of the orzon into that of a creamy risotto.

Creamy Lemon Orzo

Ingredients:

juice of 2 whole lemons
1 can (10 3/4) oz. condensed cream of broccoli (or any creamed) soup
1/2 box of Barilla Orzo
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup shredded mozarella or grated parmesan

Instructions:

Cook the orzo per the directions on the box. Usually bring the water to a boil (covering the water with a lid and heating on high heat does the trick faster), add the dry uncooked orzo and cook uncovered for 8-10 minutes. It should be al dente.
Drain and place the orzo in a large serving bowl.
Add your creamed soup and all of the juice from 2 lemons.
Then, while the orzo is still warm add in your mozarella or parmesan.
Add the salt and pepper to your personal taste and stir thoroughly.

Grilled Asparagus and Orzo

Ingredients:

1 bunch of fresh asparagus
2 tbsps olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup Caesar dressing (or Italian)
3 cups dry orzo

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash the asparagus. Cut the stem ends (about 1/2 inch) off all the asparagus. Place them on a baking sheet (on top of aluminum or tin foil makes cleaning easier). Drizzle olive oil and salt and pepper over the of the asparagus.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until slightly browned. Take out of the oven and let cool, while you prepare the orzo.
Cook the orzo per directions on the box (see 1 and 2 in the above recipe).
Once you can handle the asparagus, place them on a cutting board and chop each into two or three pieces. Size should match the orzo. Add the asparagus to the orzo.
Then add in the dressing. You can make your own or use store bought.
Mix thoroughly and serve tossed into a green salad with chicken and feta.

Orzo with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Crispy Kale

Ingredients:

2 medium sweet potatoes
3 cups dry orzo
3 cups chopped fresh kale
3 tbsps olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp thyme

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Wash, peel and dice the sweet potatoes into about 1 inch cubes. Place them on a baking sheet (I like to line mine with aluminum foil to minimize the clean-up).
Drizzle the olive oil over the sweet potatoes along with the paprika and thyme. Toss the entire mixture to coat the sweet potato pieces fully. Add the chopped kale and toss into the mixture also.
Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 35 minutes.
In the meantime, make your orzo per the instructions on the box or as I outlined in my directions above.
Once the veggies are roasted take them out of the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Then add to the orzo and toss fully. Add salt and pepper to taste.

In my picture below I just placed the sweet potatoes and kale right on top of the risotto. But, stirred everything together at lunch right as I was about to eat. It really doesn't matter how you go about doing this. It's amazing how the kale gets crunchy almost to the texture of kale chips. With each bite the creamy sweet potato and crunchy kale blend perfectly against the risotto's texture. This is the perfect cold weather dish. You can even add this mixture to uncooked kale or spinach, top with a grilled salmon or steak filet and you have a delicious cold weather salad dinner.

Washington, D.C.'s Restaurant week starts in exactly two days. I have plans for lunch on Monday already in the works, so look out for that review next week! If you live in or plan on visiting the D.C. area from January 19-25 check out some of the great restaurant options and take advantages of these awesome deals: http://www.ramw.org/restaurantweek. I plan on checking out 701 and Nopa Kitchen & Bar :) Already excited!

#310 Bon Voyage Brunch, By: V

2015-01-13T18:34:00.001-05:00

Before N headed back to San Francisco I had her over for brunch with S and I. I took help from the store and bought some Pillsburry Cinnamon Rolls and Hash Browns. When N and I were little girls our mom would make cinnamon rolls every Saturday morning. As an adult, the mere smell of cinnamon rolls reminds me of those Saturday mornings, and I know how much N loves them! Another N favorite, are hash browns, I modified the store bought hash browns by adding green peppers, onions and spices for added flavor. Here's the full brunch menu:

Oven Broiled Sausage and Tomatoes

Spinach, Mushroom and Feta Frittata

Pepper and Onion Hash Browns

Cinnamon Rolls

Berries and Nectarine drizzled with honey

N brought me some delicious ground coffee from a wonderful coffee shop we visited when I was out in San Francisco this summer (Sightglass), so I brewed up some coffee for all of us to enjoy. We sat around and munched on all of the breakfast food, while watching a few funny YouTube videos that S just had to share! It was the perfect way to spend the last day with N before she left for San Francisco.

Pepper and Onion Hash Browns

INGREDIENTS:

Ore-Ida 2 lb bag of Diced Hash Brown Potatoes

1/2 jalapeno, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1/2 cup onion (yellow or red), diced

2 tbsps olive oil

1 tbsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp thyme

DIRECTIONS:

To a large non-stick saucepan add 1/2 the bage of Ore-Ida Diced Hash Brown Potatoes. Cook per directions on the bag. You can also use fresh potatoes, but I would recommend piercing them with a fork and cooking them per your microwave directions for a baked potatoes, then cut them up and add them to a pan with about two tbsp of olive oil to cook.
In a small saucepan add 2 tbsp olive oil, green bell pepper, jalapeno and onion. Let this mixture cook down until the peppers are softened and the onion is translucent.
Turn the heat off and add the spices. Mix together and then add to the cooked hash brown potatoes.
Let this cook on medium heat for ten minutes just to allow the flavors of the spices and pepper/onion mixture permeate the potatoes.

Turkey Links with Roasted Tomatoes

INGREDIENTS:

13.5 oz package of Hillshire Farm Turkey Polka Kielbasa (or any cooked sausage)

8 oz. Medley Tomatoes (variety of colored tomatoes or cherry tomatoes can be used)

2 tbsps olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to a high broil.
Cut each tomato in half lengthwise. Cut each sausage link in half.
Arrange the tomatoes and sausages on top of foil laid on a baking sheet.
Drizzle the olive oil over the tomatoes and sausages and toss them to coat.
Bake in the oven on a high broil for 20 minutes until the sausage skin has blistered.

Spinach, Mushroom and Feta Frittata

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. fresh mushrooms (I used baby portabella, but anything will work)

1/2 tsp minced garlic

non-stick spray

1 10 oz. box of frozen spinach

4 large eggs

1 cup milk

2 oz. feta cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 cup shredded mozarella cheese

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. If your frozen spinach is not already thawed, thaw it in the microwave. Place the spinach in a colander and let it drain while you begin to prepare the rest.
Slice the mushrooms thinly. Place the sliced mushrooms in a skillet coated with non-stick spray, add the garlic, and sprinkle a little salt and pepper. Turn the heat on to medium-high and saute the mushrooms for about 10 minutes, until they are brown and any liquid released has evaporated.
Spray a dish with non-stick spray. Squeeze the rest of the water out of the spinach and spread it out on the bottom of the pie dish. Next add the cooked mushrooms and crumbled feta.
In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs. Add the milk, parmesan, and another small sprinkle of salt and pepper. Whisk to combine. Pour this mixture into the dish over the spinach, mushrooms, and feta.
Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over top. Place into the preheated oven and bake until it is golden brown on top. Bake for 1 hour and serve.

This week we had some serious snow in the D.C. area. Worked from home one day and slowly trekked into the office the next. Even with all the messy roads I managed to catch dinner with a good friend at RANGE, a restaurant by Bryan Voltaggio, who placed second to his brother in the televised cooking competition, Top Chef (he was in Season 6). RANGE serves modern American cuisine. The food was pretty good, although I heard through a law school classmate of mine that Voltaggio's restaurant, Family Meal, is much better. This might be a place I'll have to check out!

We started off my order a drink called What's With All The Tattoos? and what came to the table was certainly a surprise. I asked the waiter how the bartender managed to get these images on top, and much like the writing floating atop my foamy drink says, the bitters placed on top of the drink formed this magnificent creation.

For the first course I ordered the Bone Marrow topped with a mixture of shallots, pinenuts and raisins. I scooped the marrow and placed it on the toasted bread - delish! Yes, marrow can often appear unalluring, but the contrast of taste with the fatty marrow and the sweet/sour shallot mixture was great spread atop a piece of crusty bread.

For the second course I ordered the Market Cod with cured lemon, fried capers and brown butter. I was curious about the taste of fried capers, but it was absolutely great. Crunchy on the outside with the bitter tang that I love in capers! My friend ordered the Pork Belly (pictured in the back), which came topped with a crispy pork rind, vanilla sauce and fennel.

We ended the meal with our own Molasses Cake topped with a spiced sorbet. It came in a small sized cast iron skillet and was deliciously warm.

#309 Southwest Beef Stew, By: V

2015-01-05T23:33:00.000-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! This New Year's Eve was fairly relaxed, S and I went to dinner at the Curious Grape. It was our first time there, and I have to say I was disappointed in the food. I ordered the monkfish wrapped in phyllo and S ordered the lamb chops with chickpeas and carrots. They weren't particularly delicious, so I won't be heading back, but afterwards we joined my roommate and another friend to watch Ryan Seacrest Times Square countdown and drink some champagne and lambrusco. I recently was introduced to lambrusco, this fizzy red wine is especially sweet and delicious! I'd highly recommend it, it comes in a white wine version as well. It is basically an Italian sparkling wine. It was a nice ease into the new year, and I have to say the perfect way to begin 2015.

Earlier in the week two friends of mine and one of their boyfriend's decided to head to Hank's Oyster Bar on Monday night for what ended up being a cold and rainy evening. Luckily D.C. clears out during the holiday season, so finding parking and getting ourselves quickly indoors and outside of the rain was a speedy process.

We settled ourselves into a cozy nook and immediately ordered a dozen oysters, with a happy hour deal of $1.25 per oyster, we had to give it a go! Two of us (me included) enjoy the clean, non-creamy oysters, while the other two love the briny taste of some oysters. By briny I mean that taste of the ocean! So we ended up with a good selection, but obviously that wasn't enough to satiate our dinner appetites. I ordered the Hog Island Style BBQ Oysters. They were fantastic! The shucked oysters are topped with a hot sauce flavored butter and sprinkled with panko. Then they are grilled on a barbecue and served on a bed of tangy lemon vinaigrette tossed watercress. The whole dish was delicious.

Friday I met up with N (yes, she's in D.C. until Tuesday, and will then be heading back to SF). We started with a nice glass of wine and tomato crostini at Seasons 52. They even had a piano player at the bar to entertain the customers. Then we headed over to the Mosaic District, to Four Sisters (an old family favorite!). We shared the crispy spring rolls, garden rolls, and the delicious caramelized fish in a clay pot. The fish came out sizzling like a plate of fajitas, but quite possibly even more delicious!

During the week I made a large batch of this warm and smoky flavored Tex Mex Beef Stew for lunch.

Tex Mex Beef Stew

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp coconut oil

2 garlic cloves

1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced

3 small-medium sized carrouts, roughly chopped

15.5 oz can dark kidney beans

14.5 oz diced canned tomatoes

14 oz "stew meat" (beef cubes)

1.25 oz packet McCormick Taco Seasoning

1/2 bottle of beer or 6 oz of beer -- IPA adds a darker flavor to the stew

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 cup water

salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

Turn slow cooker to high. Add the coconut oil and beef cubes to the pot.
Use the flat part of a knife and smash each garlic clove. Peel and chop finely. Add the garlic and onion to the pot.
Drain all liquid from the kidney beans and add to the pot. Drain half the liquid from the tomatoes, and add them to the pot. Add the chopped carrots.
Add the taco seasoning, beer, chicken broth, water, salt and pepper.
Stir thoroughly and cover with lid.
Cook on high for 1 hour. Turn to low and cook for 1 more hour.
Place 1 tbsp flour in a bowl. Ladle one spoon of stew broth and mix into flour unti their are no clumps. Pour this mixture back into slow cooker and stir into the stew thoroughly.
Cook uncovered on low for 30 minutes.

#308 Spinach and Sausage Spaghetti, By: V

2014-12-28T23:27:00.002-05:00

This is an old post from the week before Christmas, but I wanted to get it up soon. Of course, I don't want to bypass the Christmas holiday! Most of this week was spent at home. N is in town from San Francisco and we all had some great quality family time, watching some new Bollywood movies, having a delicious Christmas dinner, and sharing our secret santa presents...my dad and I had each other, and I have to say he did a pretty good job! I see living in a house full of ladies has influenced him somewhat...he gave me a box full of wonderful treats, an infinity scarf, necklace and earring set, a clutch, candles (Indonesian Sandlewood - mmmm!), and even a Chipotle gift card :) He's a smart one!

While Thanksgiving our family sticks with the traditional main entree of a roast turkey, for Christmas our family usually mixes things up. This year we had chicken pot pie, roasted brussels sprouts and a mixed salad. During the afternoon we snacked on buffalo chicken dip, sundried tomato cream cheese spread and southwest egg rolls --- along with some delicious sangria and apple cider.

The table as we're getting it set for Christmas dinner....

But now, it's back to work tomorrow...but, it's a short week and we welcome 2015!! :)

Now, here's my post for Spinach and Sausage Spaghetti.

On Tuesday I met up with a close law school friend of mine for happy hour. The weather was a bit cold and rainy, but we warmed ourselves up with some red wine and delicious Mexican fare. I met my friend at Fuego Cocina in Arlington. When we both use to work together we would frequent some of the restaurants in the Ballston neighborhood of Arlington, but Fuego Cocina was one that we missed. We decided to share the Queso Fundido, which arrived in a cast iron skillet filled with chihuahua and oaxaca cheese, blistered peppers and chorizo crumbled on top. You simply spread this cheesy filling into one of the warm fresh corn tortillas -- such a simple and delicious cold weather treat! Next we ordered the Suadero and Baja tacos. The Suadero tacos are filled with beef brisket, red and white onions, and finely chopped jalapenos. The Baja tacos are filled with crispy fried tilapia, cabbage and topped with a delicious habanero blood orange crema - sort of the perfectly balance of spicy, sweet and creamy. It was a wonderful start to the week and a great opportunity to catch up with such a close friend and have some much needed one-on-one girl talk time.

On Thursday, S and I went to his work holiday party. I had never been to a holiday party that was at an actual dance club, which was interesting needless to say. A DJ, Open Bar and some small appetizers, it was a fun evening at Opera. A late night, turned into a slow start to Friday.

Yesterday, I grabbed brunch with one of my closest friend's (we've been friends for 14 years!) in North Bethesda at Founding Farmers. I had the steak and eggs, which came with a biscuit, hash browns and a roasted tomato. I washed it all down with a Gibraltar. The Gibraltar hails from San Francisco (shout out to N!), and came out of a need to have a drink taller than a macchiato but shorter than a latte. It's pretty delicious!

Now for my recipe this week:

Sausage & Spinach Spaghetti

INGREDIENTS:

16 oz spaghetti (whole grain or regular)

6 oz of baby spinach

3 garlic cloves

1 tsp red chili flakes

1 tbsp olive oil

12 oz Italian sausage (casings off)

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

24 oz Marinara

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (Italian flat leaf or curly)

DIRECTIONS:

In medium saucepan on low heat, place olive oil, garlic cloves and red chili flakes. Cooking this on low heat will allow the olive oil to take on the flavors of garlic and red chili slowly.
Once the garlic turns a golden brown, turn the heat to high and add in the Italian sausage, crumbling it into the pan. Use a wooden spoon to break up the sausage pieces.
Then add in the washed baby spinach. Let the spinach cook through so that it appears wilted.
Add in your cooked spaghetti (use the directions on the box to cook the spaghetti).
Stir in the marinara. I used a Bertolli brand marinara sauce, but feel free to use or make any kind of your choosing.
Stir the whole mixture together and take off the heat.
Stir in the chopped fresh parsley and parmesan cheese.

Serve with garlic bread and/or a green salad. I like topping mine off with some fresh grated parmesan cheese and chili flakes.

2014-12-19T21:27:00.000-05:00

#307 - Butter makes it better! by: N

I love this time of the year filled with guilt free eating. Its ok to take cream, butter and bread and whip up all kinds of heavenly dishes. Think about it! Egg nog? Would you have that in April just ‘cause? A big ole’ bird stuffed with bread, sausage and butter. You feel like eating that in July? Don’t think so! I even made some of the Thanksgiving dishes twice! Yes, I’m horrible! And I don’t even care! I went out and bought some good ole REAL butter and let me tell ya….Barefoot Contessa was right! Butter makes everything better! You know that “secret” ingredient or flavor that you wonder about in most dishes...its butter people! I barely ever have it in my “real” life so when I do get that taste for butter...I can’t get over myself. There is no other time but now to fill up on these delectable dishes that just sound ridiculous at any other time of the year. So get to it! There is just a couple of more weeks left to indulge ;)

Here is one of the recipes for a dish I whipped up...my favorite!

Grean Bean Casserole

1 packet mushroom gravy mix

2 tablespoon BUTTER

½ cup milk
¼ cup low sodium chicken broth (you can use any kind of broth)
1 packet frozen green beans (who buys canned vegetables anymore!!)
1 box of the fried onions (the traditional green bean casserole recipe is on this box)

I substituted the cream of mushroom for a roux made with with gravy powder, milk and broth. The gravy powder has around 200 mg sodium, the cream of mushroom has 870 mg sodium. Something to think about when you make any casserole with these creamed soups!

Melt butter and add the gravy mix and slowly heat for 1 minute
Add milk slowly, while stirring to make sure that the milk doesn’t curdle
Add broth slowly, stirring to create a creamlike substance without lumps
Add the thawed beans, with ½ cup of fried onions and cook slightly
Pour into a greased pan and top with ½ cup more fried onions
Bake at 475 degrees for 15 minutes

#306 Chicken Picadillo, By: V

2014-12-14T13:57:00.004-05:00

What started as a sore throat quickly became a full blown upper respiratory infection this week. So, I sat myself at home and became close friends with orange juice, soup, and all the other sick day usuals. When I was finally feeling a bit better toward the end of the week, I decided to make myself avocado toast. This quick and healthy treat has made its way around the food blog world and right onto restaurant menus. I even saw it on a brunch menu for a new D.C. restaurant the other week, the avocado toast was served along with a variety of other toasts (gravalax is a common topper, but now we see avocado, goat cheese and hummus served on top of a crunchy toast base). I simply took a half avocado and smushed it on top of a crunchy piece of sourdough toast. Sprinkled with a bit of red chili flakes (or salt/pepper, olive oil, lemon), and bam! A great side to soup or salad and a nice snack.

Toward the end of the week I took a visit with my roommate to my favorite burrito spot in Arlington: Pedro & Vinny's. They grill the meat fresh to order and have a delicious array of sauces/salsas. I've never heard of cucumber as a burrito filling, but it's delicious! I ordered the steak burrito and my roommate ordered the chicken and of course we cut both down the middle to give one half of each to the other person. What a treat!

This week's recipe is Ground Chicken Picadillo. Picadillo is a traditional dish in Spain, Latin America and the Philippines. It is commonly made with ground beef and tomatoes, and a variety of other ingredients based on region. This chicken version incorporates green olives, which is commonly seen in the picadillo recipes of the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Cuba. Picadillo can be seen with potatoes, eggs, capers, bell peppers and other ingredients and variations. This dish is my simpler version.

Often recipes call for a tablespoon of tomato paste, but all that's available is a full can. My picadillo recipe includes tomato paste, and I found a great way to use a portion of the tomato paste from a can and saving the rest for other recipes. A great idea is to empty the can into a ziplock bag, take your finger and separate it out into smaller sections, freeze, and you can then cut off a piece of tomato paste whenever you like and keep the rest back in the freezer. Hope this proves helpful for some of you!

Ground Chicken Picadillo

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. ground chicken

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsps chopped curly leaf parsley

1/2 small tomato, diced

4 oz. tomato paste

1/4 cup green olives

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 bay leaf

1 tsp cumin

1 cup water

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the olive oil in a deep pan. Once the oil is heated add the garlic and onion. Cook the onion until translucent. Then add the ground chicken. Cook the chicken through until it is no longer pink.
Turn the slow cooker to high heat. Add the chicken, onion and garlic mixture to the slow cooker.
Add the tomato, tomato paste, green olives, garlic powder, cumin, bay leaf and water to the pot.
Cover with a lid and cook on high heat for 1 hour.
Turn the slow cooker off, take the lid off and add salt, pepper and curly leaf parsley to the mixture. Stir thoroughly and serve on top of rice.

#305 Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Burgers, By: V

2014-12-08T22:11:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week S and I went to dinner at Farmers Fishers Bakers down by the Georgetown waterfront. It was a rare day with gorgeous weather, so we had to take advantage. And, it was a good thing too, because two days later we'd see the first snow of the season. S ordered the Crab Cake Sandwich and I had the Cioppino which was filled with shrimp, squid, fish and mussels. Both were delicious!

On Friday night we went to the Washington Wizards vs. Denver Nuggets game. The Wizards won! I've been to two games this season, and the Wizards won both, can't say I'm not thinking I could be a good luck charm (just kidding!).

The following morning, a close college friend of mine and her husband hosted S and I for a nice brunch. It was a great spread! She served us croissants (Trader Joe's has delicious frozen ones that you can pop in the oven) with nutella and mixed berry jam, turkey bacon, a delicious pancetta basil quiche, yogurt mixed berry parfaits, and potato latkes. Everything was washed down with mimosas and pumpkin spiced coffees.

After brunch in Rockville we drove out to Reston for my annual work holiday party. The catering at the holiday party was delicious. I won't get into all of the food details, but the charred swordfish and chive creamed potatoes were my favorites. So, after a long weekend, I made these chicken burgers for lunch this week.

And, thennn I got really sick....

This should explain why there was no post yesterday. I called out of work today and laid in bed nursing myself to the point where all I have is a throaty deep voice. Hopefully I'll be back to 100% soon!

Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Burgers - Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. ground chicken

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 cup chopped yellow onion (or red onion)

1 tbsp goat cheese per patty (so, 4 tbsps total)

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 tbsp coconut oil

DIRECTIONS:

Place the ground chicken in a large bowl. Add the salt, black pepper, garlic powder, parsley and onion to the bowl. Incoporate these ingredients into the meat, but do not over work the meat (this can lead to some pretty dry and tough burgers).
Form the meat into four patties. Place on a plate. Take 1 tbsp of goat cheese and place on the middle of a patty. Do this for all four patties.
Press the cheese into the burger. You can do also re-form the patty into a ball with the cheese in the middle and press back out into a patty shape.
Melt the coconut oil in a pan on high heat. Place the patties into the pan and cook for two minutes on one side. Flip over and cook for 2 more minutes on the other side. Lower the cover to medium heat and cover with a lid. Keep like this for about 4 minutes until the patties are cooked through.

These can be placed on a whole wheat bun and topped with sliced avocado, tomato, lettuce or spinach, whatever you like.

Often burger recipes involve adding breadcrumbs, eggs, or milk soaked bread to the meat mixture to act as a binder. I prefer to avoid any of these fillers, and I've found that the burgers will stay together fine, as long as you gently flip them over and take care to form the patties so that they are tight.

#304 Thanksgiving and a Leftover Turkey Dinner Idea, By: V

2014-12-05T09:54:00.002-05:00

Well, we're over a week past Thanksgiving, but thought I'd still put up a Thanksgiving post and quick recipe to use your leftover turkey. I'm guessing at this point all that turkey is over, and if it isn't you should probably toss it! But, if you've decided to freeze some turkey or you enjoy making turkey, then here's a simple recipe you can keep on hand, Shredded Turkey Enchiladas with Red Sauce.

This will be a brief post, and I'll be back on Sunday with another blog post.

Here's a picture of the turkey fresh from the oven. This year N stayed in San Francisco, and decided on an extended stay for the Christmas-New Year holidays. But, we managed to Skype with her during the latter half of our food fest. Since it was just our parents and me, we made a smaller turkey breast, gravy, green bean casserole (N's favorite), baked sweet potatoes, cranberry-ginger chutney, and stuffing with a mix of roasted vegetables.

Our dad carving the turkey...

The table all set. Of course, we'd have some red wine too!

I was at our parents house for four days, so on one of the days our mom (Malli) and I made a load of cookies to share with our respective work colleagues. These are sugar cookie blossoms with a caramel hershey kiss in the middle, but, this wasn't all. We also made cranberry organge biscotti, ginger molasses cookies, mint chocolate chip cookies, toffee walnut cookies, and coconut macaroons! My friends at work loved every last one.

And noww....the enchiladas :) I shared these with S when we both got back to D.C. from visiting our parents. He loved them just as much as I did.

Yes, they're just that creamy and gooey.

Shredded Turkey Enchiladas

INGREDIENTS:

12 flour tortillas
3 cups shredded turkey
2 8 oz. packets of Frotera Red Chile Enchilada Sauce
with roasted tomato + garlic
8 oz. or 2 cups of shredded Monterey Jack cheese
8 oz. sour cream

DIRECTIONS:

Take your turkey and shred the meat into a large bowl. Measure out about 3 cups of turkey meat.
Take one of the Frontera enchilada sauce packets and empty it over the shredded turkey. Mix thoroughly.
Warm your tortillas over a gas burner or stove top.
Spread a layer of sour cream on one side of the tortilla along with a sprinkle of the shhredded cheese.
Take one tablespoon of the chicken mixture and spread it evenly down the center middle of the tortilla. Roll the tortilla and place it in a baking dish. Keep doing this with all of the tortillas.
Top the rolled tortillas with a layer of sour cream and empty the other packet of enchilada sauce over the rolled tortillas. Top with the remaining cheese.
Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.

Happy 1st Anniversay, My love! By: N

2014-11-26T18:22:00.001-05:00

Happy 1st Anniversary, My love!

Well the Thanksgiving season has a special meaning to me this year because its also my 1 year anniversary since my move to the Bay area. This move was special and this year has been blissful, difficult and amazing. It had its ups and downs. There is something to be said of a relationship thats formed where there is an amazing connection, happy highs and scary lows that allows you to really form a bond. And its safe to say that I feel a bond with the Bay area :) I’m probably not the first East coaster to say this but I think I’ve always strived to be a Californian but now I’m just doing it IN California. I’ve appreciated the California mentality. Now I don’t understand and never will understand some things (hipsters?)! But the chill attitude along with a strong ambition is MY type! Let me tell ya!

# 303 Goat Cheese Filled "Five-Spice" Chicken, By: V

2014-11-23T17:43:00.002-05:00

On Friday night, my roommate and I hosted a group of twelve of our friends for a game night. The usual rules, we provide the food and two bottles of wine, everyone else was asked to bring dessert or a beverage of their personal preference.

We hunkered down on this incredibly cold night with a gorgeous cheese plate. The plate included parmesan, havarti and goat cheese. I also took a brie and covered the top with a bit of thyme and honey, baked it till it was gooey and delicious. We made a slow cooker queso recipe, which included canned tomatoes, green chilies, Velveeta cheese and ground chicken. You simply place the mixture in a slow cooker and let it stay on warm during the evening, so everyone can enjoy the hot queso. It's basically like your own personal fondue. I think this was everyone's favorite! It was warm, gooey and delicious to scoop the sliced French bread into. Since we bought so much French bread we though we'd pair the bread with not just the cheese, but some bruschetta topping and olive tapenade. Of course taking some assistance from the grocery store with some premade tapenade and bruschetta topping. After a long day of work, you can't expect homemade everything!

A few of our friends brought games with them to share with everyone. We spent the night playing Scene It and Cards Against Humanity, but most of the night was spent talking. The major topic of discussion was the Serial podcast. If you haven't heard of it, it's definitely one to check out. It involves the question of wrongful conviction, and is full of suspense. A nice evening in, after a long work week :)

A quick shot as we were getting the food ready...

The delicious queso...

In last week's post I made a Pickled Carrot and Cucumber salad. I mentioned pairing this with a "five spice" chicken. Five spice is a spice mixture most commonly used in Chinese and Vietnamese cooking. There are many variations of the spice powder mixture which include licorice, orange peel, ginger root or cardamom, but the most common version includes: (1) star anise; (2) cloves; (3) cinnamon; (4) szechuan pepper; and, (5) fennel seeds. I call my version "five-spice," because it is a variation of the typical powder, including nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, pepper and paprika. It should really be "five spice +" for that matter, because of the addition of sriracha sauce (or rooster sauce) to the mix.

In Vietnam the rub is most commonly used in cooking broiled chicken, and so I got the idea for this "five spice" rubbed chicken. The goat cheese addition is certainly not traditional to Vietnam, but I thought this change would give an interesting modification to the dish and a surprise when you bite in. Hope you all enjoy!

"Five Spice" Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts - Serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

2 chicken breasts
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
11/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 tsps coconut oil
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp goat cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Flatten out the chicken breasts by placing on cutting board with a sheet of plastic wrap over the chicken. "Hammer" down with a can or rolling pin, in a "hit and roll" type of motion. Do this until each breast is about 1/4 inch thick.
Place 1 tbsp of goat cheese on each breast and spread to cover one side of the breast. Fold or roll the chicken over so that none of the goat cheese is exposed, and instead it is all held in the inside of the rolled chicken breast.
Melt coconut oil in a microwave safe bowl on high for 20 seconds. Then to the melted coconut mixture add the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, salt, and pepper (the "Five Spices") and also add the Sriracha or Rooster Sauce. Mix this together with a spoon until well blended.
Place each stuffed chicken into the oil and spice mixture. Roll around so the chicken is coated in the mixture on all sides.
Place the chicken on an aluminum foil lined pan.
Bake the chicken in a 400 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 20 minutes. Turn the oven off and let sit in the heat for 5 minutes. Then you are ready to serve.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! I feel like I'm looking forward to it this year more than last, can't wait to gobble down all the turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed garlic potatoes, cornbread stuffing, and more :) Of course, I'll have pictures for you all next week! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

#302 Pickled Carrot and Cucumber Salad, By: V

2014-11-16T17:47:00.002-05:00

This was quite a week for my belly! I checked out three new restaurants, went to my first Washington Wizards game and went on my first excursion to a golf driving range. Friday was S's birthday so I had a weekend planned which included hitting some balls at Hilltop Golf Club in Alexandria, dinner at Filomena's, and homemade NY Giants cupcakes.

It all started on Tuesday. I had the day off from work, so I checked out two happy hour spots with my roommate and two of our friends. Del Campo and MXDC both have delicious Mexican food and margaritas. Here are a few pictures of our food from Del Campo. My favorite was the Hanger Steak Crostini with Burnt Onion Jam and Blue Cheese (bottom picture). We also tried out the delicious Peruvian Chicken Salad Sliders with Aji Amarillo Aioli, the Grilled Tomato, Anchovy and Goat Cheese Crostini, and the Wagyu Skirt Steak Empanadas. I think both restaurants will be seeing me more often :)

On Wednesday night I went to my first ever Wizards game with S. He managed to get great tickets. It's a shock that I've grown up in this area and it took me THIS long to make it out to a Wizards game. Before the game we grabbed a drink at Rocket Bar, but since the bar only provides beverages and no food, we quickly went over to Bar Louie to down some buffalo chicken flatbread and chicken quesadillas before the game started. And maybe a martini or two to wash it all down.

The game was great! The Wizards beat the Detroit Pistons in a final score of 103-107 with all the Wizards fans up on their feet. Two of my friends, who are from Michigan, joined us, so there was definitely smack talking going on, most of which got heavier toward the final minutes of the game.

Then, Saturday I took S to a birthday dinner at Filomena Ristorante, one of my mom's favorite D.C. restaurants. I had never been before and since S loves Italian food so much and insists he can't get the same type of Italian down here as he can back home in New Jersey, I thought I would try this one out on him. Unfortunately I didn't get good shots of the food we ate, but we both agreed that we have never had Italian food this good outside of Italy. S had a dish that is heralded on the dinner menu as Bono's (yes, of U2) favorite at Filomena, and he apparently asked for seconds when he first had this dish. And, trust me, after having a bite I fully understood why. The Penne Con Salisicce is penne pasta with a hearty Abruzzi (Abruzzo is a region of southern Italy) style tomato sauce made of roasted & ground Italian sweet sausage, sautéed mushrooms, onions, herbs and Chianti wine. The dish is topped with three large sausage links made by the Chef himself. I had the Gnocchi Della Mama which is a dish of potato based dumplings tossed in a tomato based Bolognese meat sauce with ground beef, veal, Italian pork sausage, vegetables, Chianti wine. Both were phenomenal and we decided this may be our go-to spot for all special occasions.

In continuing the birthday celebrations I prepared these birthday cupcakes for him. Let's be clear, these don't make me any less of a Washington fan!

Definitely a busy week, and I also made Pickled Carrot and Cucumber Salad!

The Vietnamese sandwich, or Banh Mi, are absolutely delicious, and in the northern Virginia area the best place to get them are at the various Vietnamese bakeries in Eden Center. These sandwiches are most commonly made with pork placed atop a French baguette. They are then topped with cilantro and a pickled carrot and daikon salad. This week I had a taste for those crunchy pickled vegetables, and decided to make a pickled carrot and cucumber salad. This is likely not a traditional brine recipe, and generally when brining, you have to boil the liquid solution first, but, this was my quick and easy version. The tartness offsets the sweet and earthy flavors of the "five-spice" chicken I prepared with it, which will be featured on next week's post.

Pickled Carrot and Cucumber Salad

INGREDIENTS:
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsps honey
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp Tamari/Soy Sauce
1 tsp crushed red chili flakes
3 medium sized carrots, julienned or sliced
1 large cucmber, julienned or sliced

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a bowl pour in fish sauce, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce and chili flakes. Whisk together.

2. Pell and julienne or thinly slice the carrots and cucumbers.

3. In microwave safe dish place honey and microwave for 20 seconds on high. While whisking pour the melted honey into the liquids.

4. Add the vegetables and toss throughly to coat veggies with liquid.

Chill in refrigerator and serve when you're ready to eat. The longer this stays in the fridge, the better the taste. Ovenright is best. Next week I'll show you a goat cheese stuffed chicken breast recipe with a "five-spice" dry rub that paired perfectly with the sweet, tart and briny flavors of this dish.

#301 Mexican Quinoa and Salmon, By: V

2014-11-09T18:32:00.000-05:00

Two things that I thoroughly enjoy and could happily eat everyday: mexican food and seafood. So, any opportunity I get to incorporate tex-mex flavors and fish into my diet I'll take! Not only is this dish full of smoky spicy flavors, it's also extremely healthy. This was my first delve into spicing up my quinoa. Generally I boil the plain stuff or buy a boxed quinoa dish with its own dry spice packet to mix in. But this time I decided to try incorporating my own flavors to create a sort of "mexican" quinoa.

The other healthy component of this dish is the salmon. Now, I recently read that it's extremely beneficial to incorporate one portion of fish into your diet EVERY DAY. This can certainly be hard to do everyday, so I try to incorporate it into my diet at least as often as I can. I typicall grill salmon or bake it, but this time I coated the salmon in a flour, garlic and chili powder spiced mixture and pan fried it in coconut oil. I know you're thinking, "ok V, I thought this was supposed to be HEALTHY, and now you're talking about frying?," but let me just say it was more of a two tablespoon coconut oil kind of fry. Not, the deep fry you think of with fried chicken or fish and chips.

But don't we all need a good dose of deep fried something ever now and again? On that note, yesterday my mom and dad surprised me by showing up at my front door with fish and chips! Eammon's Dublin Chipper in Old Town Alexandria is home to my mom's favorite fish and chips, so she brought some by for me to give it a go...and, I gotta agree with her opinion on this one. I wish I had taken a photo for all of you, but was busy demolishing the delicious crispy fried cod and homemade french fries to come up for air and take a photo or two.

Friday night I had dinner at Paladar Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar in Vienna. Now, this restaurant is relatively new and I had been wanting to try it out. The menu offered a wide variety of food options, but I have to say I thought the two dishes we shared were on the salty side, although the spicy guacamole was delicious and I love that it was served with a blend of plantain, yucca, malanga AND tortilla chips. I had the Feijoda Stew, and the chorizo in it was probably the best I've had. I also tried the Jalapeno Spiced Lamb Stew which was good but, my only complaint was the saltiness of the food. Not quite sure I'll be rushing back.

Well, there's my weekend restaurant reviews, now for the recipes.

Mexican Quinoa (serves 2-3)
Ingredients:

2 tbsps coconut oil

2 chopped garlic cloves

½ cup chopped yellow onion

1 cup quinoa

1 cup chicken broth (can use vegetable or beef broth as well)

½ 15.5 oz can of black beans

1 medium red tomato, diced

¼ tsp nutmeg

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp chili powder

Optional-

½ cup chopped jalapenos

¼ cup chopped cilantro

Directions:

Add the coconut oil to a pan on high heat. Once melted lower the heat and add the garlic and onion to the pan. Let this combination slowly cook down and become translucent.
Once translucent, add the uncooked quinoa. Stir to coat the quinoa in the garlic oil and onion mixture.
Add the chicken broth, black beans, and tomato. Add the spices: nutmeg, paprika and chili powder. Stir everything together and turn the heat back up to high.
Bring to a boil. Then reduce to simmer, cover and let cook for 20 minutes. This is enough time to allow the quinoa to cook. NOTE: Keep an eye on the dish, if it looks like the liquid has not fully evaporated, take the lid off and let it continue to cook until the liquid is gone. We don’t want soupy quinoa!
Once the dish is cooked transfer to a dish and let it cool. Right before serving top it with some chopped pickled or fresh jalapenos and chopped cilantro (optional).
Another optional idea is to served with avocado or lime.

Pan-Fried Mexican Salmon (Serves 2)

Ingredients:

3 salmon filets

2 tbsps unbleached white flour

1/2 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp paprika

1/4 tbp salt

1/4 tbsp thyme

2 tbsps coconut oil

Directions:

Prep your salmon as you prefer - take the skin off and make sure there are no bones in the filet.
Take all the dry ingredients and place them on a plate. Be sure they are mixed together well.
Heat up a pan on high heat and melt the coconut oil in it. Once hot take the salmon filet and flip it in the dry mixture ensuring that both sides are covered, then place into the oil.
Let cook on each side for 4 minutes. Cover for one minute and then you can take off the heat and get ready to eat.
Optional: A squirt of lime over the top of the salmon before serving would be delicious!

#300 Slow Cooker Citrus Lime Chicken, By: V

2014-11-02T19:11:00.000-05:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Yes, a bit late, but I hope you all had a great Halloween. Every year I miss the opportunity to hand out candy to the kids in my building, because both my roommate and I are always out at a Halloween party, and the same thing happened this year. But, I did get a moment to carve my first ever pumpkin!

This Halloween I attended a Halloween party hosted by a close friend and her boyfriend. I dressed up as a gumball machine! I'll refrain from showing you a picture, but you get the general idea -- a red skirt with the 25 cent slot and multicolored cotton balls (the "gumballs") covering a t-shirt I wore on top. All in all a quick and crafty costume, for someone pretty far from crafty!

Then, on Sunday I went out to my parents place for Sunday lunch. My mom (Malli) cooked a fantastic lunch. I was too hungry to remember to take a picture of everything, but I did get a picture of this delicious layered salad and her desserts: oreo cupcakes, almond joy mousse and an apple pie with a bacon crumb topping. Needless to say I packed enough leftovers to last a week or two.

So, in the middle of my weekend, on my lazy Saturday (post Halloween extravaganza of a night) I decided to make this Citrus Lime Chicken. If I haven't made it clear already, I'm a big fan of the slow cooker. My mom bought me one when I was in law school and while it slowly collected dust on my kitchen counter then, now, I use it time and time again.

I usually do slow cooker meals when I know I'll be home for a few hours at a stretch. What can I say, I'm just not comfortable leaving something plugged in and on while I'm away from my apartment. This is another one of those "levels of flavor" dish, but I can't take all the credit for the flavors in this dish - Grill Mates Baja Citrus Marinade does add the brightness to this dish, but if you can't find it I imagine a squirt of one lime will do the same!

Ingredients

15.5 oz can kidney beans

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 yellow onion chopped

14 oz chicken

2 tbsps cocnut oil

McCormick Baja Citrus Marinade

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 tsp salt

2 tspns Mexican-style chili powder (chili peppers, garlic, cumin, salt and oregano)

1/4 cup chicken broth

Directions

Remove all the fat off your chicken. Feel free to cut or not cut as you desire. You can use tenderloins, chicken thighs, or breast for this dish, but I’d recommend taking off the skin and extra pieces of fat.
Rub the Baja Citrus Marinade on the chicken. Turn the slower cooker on high and add the coconut oil.
Once the oil has melted place in the chicken. Top the chicken with the onions, bell pepper, kidney beans and diced tomatoes.
Then add the salt, Mexican style chili powder and chicken broth.
Stir thoroughly. Cover with a lid and cook on high heat for 1 ½ hours
Then take the lid off, rotate and rest on the crockpot so that about half the pot is uncovered. This will allow for some of the liquid to evaporate off. Cook for another 30 minutes and you're ready to eat!

#299 Indian Fried Okra, By: V

2014-10-26T19:48:00.001-04:00

Last week I posted a recipe for a quick keema that I made. To accompany the keema and rotis, I made a fried okra dish. I looked in my freezer after a long day of work and I spotted a bag of chopped okra. Frozen vegetables are amazing for making a quick dish because you can throw them right from the frozen bag into a pan and it can really just defrost in there. Yes, yes, sure you can thaw it with a few zaps in the microwave, but really that is all unnecessary. Place the frozen veggies in a pan with a covered lid and let the magic happen.

Indian Fried Okra

INGREDIENTS:

12 oz cut okra

1 tbsp coconut oil

2 green chilis

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place the coconut oil in a pan on high heat and let it melt down. After the oil is melted and you can feel the heat rise off the pan, turn the heat down to medium heat. Take the pan off the heat and add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds and green chilies. Let them pop around for about 30 seconds. BE CAREFUL! They tend to splurt and pop up, so watch your hands. Put this back on the burner.

2. Add in the ginger, garlic, and turmeric. Let these cook into the seeds and chilies for another 30 seconds. Turn the heat back to high and add the okra (yes, even frozen straight from the bag).

3. Stir everything together, coating the okra in all of the spices. Cover with a lid and continue letting it cook on high heat for about 10 minutes. Then take the lid off, stir in the salt and continue to cook, uncovered, for another 20 minutes.

4. When it's browned or green or blackened - however you like your okra - it's ready to eat!

As for this weekend, I spent my day yesterday checking out two wineries in Leesburg, Virginia: Fabbioli Cellars and The Vineyards and Winery at Lost Creek. Fabbioli Cellars pairs each tasting with a small tasting to bring out the flavors in the wine and to give customers an idea of what they could make to accompany their wines, if they choose to purchase. The image downstairs is from Fabbioli Cellars. While the wines were interesting (a pear based wine, an apple based wine), they were a bit too sweet for my pallette and I preferred the wines at Lost Creek. At Lost Creek we purchased a bottle of their 2012 Chardonnay to drink and enjoy on their property since the weather was beautiful. This was our way of enjoying the last few warm days of the year.

Later that night we went out to the U Street neighborhood of D.C. to the infamous Twins Jazz and heard a great sax performance by Anthony Nelson and had a pretty delicious cheesecake and coffee to end the night. Great way to enjoy a beautiful Saturday! And, now, back to the work week, but on a positive note :)

Twins Jazz: http://www.twinsjazz.com/

Lost Creek Winery: http://www.lostcreekwinery.com/

Fabbioli Cellars: http://www.fabbioliwines.com/