Weekly Eats Eleven (3/21 - 3/27)

Post Workout Snack: Toast with Chocolate Peanut Butter + Banana Chips

I was desperate for a banana/chocolate PB toast but was out of bananas...so banana chips to the rescue! It was actually still delicious and I loved the crunch from the chips. Chocolate peanut butter is one of my favorite snack additions because its a nice little twist on regular PB!

Dinner: Fast and Flavorful Fried Rice

Cooked, leftover rice plus frozen mixed vegetables and eggs, is a one way ticket to the laziest and tastiest dinner. Next time I think I'd like to use Chinese 5-Spice powder instead of the chili powder, which sort of numbed the other spices in this dish. However, for something that took less than 10 minutes, this filling take on fried rice certainly did the trick. To make vegan, simply sub crumbled tofu or edamame instead of eggs.

Feast: Vegan Okonomiyaki Panckes with Tonkatsu sauce, steamed Edamame, and Cold Marinated Tofu

This vegan, Asian-inspired feast was sooo good. Every once in a while, I like to make a few meal components instead of just one main entree. It makes dinner feel like something special, because maybe it took just a tiny more effort than one dish. First, I prepped the cold tofu salad which comes from America's Test Kitchen's Complete Vegetarian Cookbook. The tofu is marinated in a mix of seaweeds, mirin (sweetened sake), rice vinegar, and vegan fish sauce. To serve, strain with a slotted spoon and top with crumbled nori and toasted sesame oil. I've never had tofu served like this before, but it was delicious! We had it the next day in cabbage leaves, which was also wonderful. Finally, the main even if you will, were these Japanese vegetable pancakes loaded with vegetables and topped with vegan mayo and a ketchup/tamari sauce. These pancakes were absolutely delicious. The mix of the sauces on top took it over the edge and made them perfect. To round everything out, I served all of this with some simple cucumber sake martinis - equal parts dry sake and vodka, with thinly sliced/mandolined cucumber.

Dinner: Cheater Pad Thai

Step 1: boil noodles. Step 2: make sauce. Step 3: mix noodles with sauce and miscellaneous vegetables. That's really it, and that's why "cheater" is in the name of this recipe. I love traditional versions of pad Thai, but this quick and easy version will satisfy your cravings as well. I've made this recipe many times before, but this time I added sliced cucumber, coleslaw mix (green/red cabbage, carrots), and that's it! To make this last longer/serve more people, I multiplied all of the ingredients by four to make enough for one pound of rice noodles. This is also delicious served hot and cold.

Imbibe: Beetbox at 1618 Wine Lounge

Creamy, vinegary, sharp, and bitter - the Beetbox cocktail at 1618 is absolutely perfect. Besides its Pantone hued color, the bitter tastes of Campari mixed with a sweet/sour beet shrub made the best combination. The mint on top is a nice, bright balance to all things bitter and sour.

Imbibe: Kimchi Gibbler at 1618 Wine Lounge

Kimchi in a cocktail? I know what you're thinking. But let's not forget that I have some sort of inherent duty to try all of the strange cocktails that I can find. So after some (very brief) deliberation, I decided to give it a go. Finely strained kimchi juice, mixed with just a touch more of sriracha, local gin, and lemon make a much lighter riff on a bloody Mary. The balance in this cocktail was surprising, as I was expecting the kimchi to be overpowering, but the flavors together made a wonderfully spicy and sour drink.

Friday Favorites

1. huge heart eyes for these breakfast waffle nachos

2. vegan pizza needs to happen more often in my kitchen
3. I feel like I've waited my entire life for side by side comparisons of films and their re-makes
4. how funky cool are these psychedelic spring rolls?
5. matcha can go on anything - even dusted with sugar over churros
6. the ultimate supercut of the fourth wall being broken
7. bourbon plus girl scout cookies - need I say more?
8. here's what's next for cocktails in 2016
9. cereal milk, chia, and Lucky Charms are the healthiest/least healtgy breakfast combo that I would totally justify if I could
10. how did my beloved negroni become today's favorite cocktail?
11. so much love for black sesame thumbprint cookies
12. one of my absolutely favorite drinks - in frozen form!
13. literally the only shamrock shake I care about - she had me at peppermint and matcha!
14. in honor of International Women's Day, here is my favorite round-up of the badass women of Greensboro (my hometown and current stomping grounds)
15. I thought this cake would be my gateway excuse to buying culinary grade matcha, but it turns out it's my excuse to buy a ridiculous amount of fancy marshmallows (earl grey?!!)

Little Ham having his daily brushing session.

Weekly Eats Eight (2/29 - 3/6)

Travel: Potato Bhajji Dosa at Curryblossom Cafe in Chapel Hill, NC

We took a tiny little trip to Chapel Hill with our friend last week and discovered some new spots that we will definitely be returning to! First stop was an appetizer, in liquid form, at the Lantern Restaurant - the perfect house sake martini with thinly mandolined cucumber in the midst of a well-lit red-lanterned bar. The atmosphere reminded me of a scene in Only God Forgives and from what I can tell, this restaurant left much more of a good impression. The restaurant's creator has also written a cookbook for those of you interested - Cooking in the Moment: A Year of Seasonal Recipes.

Next stop was Vimala's Curryblossom Cafe, tucked away in a sultry alley off the beloved Franklin Street. We walked into the "bar entrance", which consisted of some taps, bottles, and desserts, and one of my most coveted gluten-free beers caught my eyes high up on a shelf (thank god) - Omission IPA. I've never seen this beer in NC and was only lucky enough to receive one in a free prize bundle from them last summer, so I was certainly thrilled about this! Curryblossom has a note on their menu that everything is GF (minus samosas and breads like naan, of course) and that anything vegetarian can be made vegan. That being said, I had a ton of options, but I opted for this potato bhajji dosa that was basically the size of my forearm. I couldn't tell you the last time I had Indian food, mostly because I always prefer making it at home, but I thoroughly enjoyed this cozy dining experience. Plus this dosa was tops. I absolutely can't wait to return and try something new!

Travel: Vieux Carre at The Crunkleton in Chapel Hill, NC

Truth time: I have quite a few books. Something in the ballpark of 200+ if we include cookbooks. A fair amount of these also happen to be booze related - historical writings, recipe books, and all around guides to having/tending to a bar. This is my excuse for knowing about weird drinks that aren't on your common drink list. I'm still stuck on/in love with The Bar Book - an A-Z compendium of spirits, brief bits of their histories and how they're made, plus recipes sneaked in between. Plus I love anything in alphabetical order. So somewhere in the "B" section I stumbled upon Benedictine and snuggled next door was a recipe for the Vieux Carre. This herbal French liqueur was created by monks many moons ago, and creates a perfectly balanced cocktail when combined with rye, cognac, vermouth, and two types of bitters. Enough ranting - I was beyond thrilled to find this on the menu at the Crunkleton, which might be the coolest bar I've ever had the pleasure of being at. With over 500 spirits, the possibilities are endless, but I decided to go for my coveted Benedictine twice - the second in a Rye Monk cocktail featuring Green Chartreuse, Apple Brandy, as well as bitters. The atmosphere has the cozy feel of a library, the kind where you'd like to stay all night. We had such a great time there that I'm already plotting my return, and exactly what drinks I'll try next!

Dinner: Cauliflower Crust Pizza

So I sort of failed at cooking last week and ate out far more than I'd ever like to allow again. But after an unexpected nine hour work day, I still managed/forced myself to break out a cauliflower pizza with my leftover cauli. I've had this type of crust before, made by some friends, but have never actually tried it myself. It was so dead simple to make, much easier than a traditional GF yeasted dough, but I think next time I will make the crust much thinner. It was cooked all the way through, but still a tad mealy for my tastes. Then again, I'll never turn down homemade pizza like this. We topped ours with good store-bought pizza sauce with no crazy ingredients, peppers and mushrooms which were pre-cooked slightly before baking, and a ton of the best dried herbs. My favorite pizza herbs are basil, oregano, pinch of thyme, fennel seeds (this is key), Italian herbs, and crushed red pepper flakes. I honestly just might need to invest in Penzey's pizza seasoning, which seems to have a lot of fennel in it, so they know how to do it well.

Lunch: Chopped Tahini Salad

I've been craving this healthy salad since I saw it on this lovely blog, and it did not disappoint. You could change up the greens on this, or make it with all cabbage for a tangy slaw. I used half romaine and half red cabbage, but I think this would make a great kale salad if you massaged the dressing in. The crunch of the sweet peppers and red cabbage are a great addition, plus super healthy edamame and peanuts. Now onto this dressing...this dressing that tastes like peanut sauce but is most definitely not that, at all. Instead there's tahini paste, red curry paste, some tamari, rice vinegar, etc. that all make up this incredible power house salad. I might have to use this sauce again as a dipping sauce for spring rolls or to glaze tofu with. This will make a great lunch too - just pack the dressing separate - and I might add some cold quinoa too next time!

Snacks: Salmon Sushi Rolls with Peanut Sauce

I think it's so funny how food cravings work for people. For me, sometimes I can be dead set on getting my hands on the new vegan Ben & Jerry's (still haven't seen it) or getting a basket of my favorite fries outside. Other times, I daydream fondly of something but am honestly too lazy to go get it or make it. Sunday, the man got a craving for sushi after he peeped the new sushi burrito trend that's going on right now. And there was no silence of this until we had the sashimi in the basket, alongside some toasted nori, avocado, and peanut sauce. I thought it was pretty cute to be honest. Luckily I still had a bag of sushi rice, so he whipped up some amazing rolls. He didn't use a recipe but it's essentially - cooked/cooled sushi rice, sashimi, avocado, cucumber, sriracha, black/white sesame seeds, some peanut sauce. Roll and cut! I was amazed that I could still roll sushi even though I've only made it once - and I think this was a sign that it certainly needs to happen more often.

Looking ahead: my budget will be fairly tight this week, so I'll be trying not to cook anything frivolous until I can afford to. I'm looking forward to simple meals based on things like pantry ingredients, such as rice and beans. I felt a little uninspired this past week, so I'm hoping that going back to basic things will reinvigorate me this week. I have some new cookbooks too that I hope to be cooking from very soon! I can't wait to write some more about my little food and booze travels. Thanks for reading :) 

vampires modernes

I am still posting really old things from a few weeks ago (yikes!) but now that classes are over, I can finally catch myself up. 

I try not to freak out when I plan food for road trips. It's quite obvious (or it should be) that I am obsessed with planning, especially when related to food. Here are things I try to consider when packing food for trips:

-How long is the trip? - You need to consider just how much food you need to have handy. Also make sure to pack plenty of water!
-What needs to be used soon? - Look in your fridge: what food will go bad while you're out of town? Use whatever you would be throwing away a few days later. 
-What's quick and uses less dishes? - No one wants to be stuck doing dishes right before they leave town. If you really want to be ahead, make your meals the day before, so all you're doing the day of is packing them up or assembling them. Also be sure to pick something that doesn't take a lot of time because you will need this time to pack (because I am a late packer!).

This brings me to my #1 choice for roadtrips: wraps. Sandwiches can be a little messy but wraps hold themselves together, especially when foil is involved. I chose these chickpea salad wraps from Heidi's 2nd cookbook because they're filling, flavorful and have vegetables! Make these for your next roadtrip //Dinner du Jour (originally Heidi Swanson)

How to make a really good pina colada:
-Buy this stuff and this rum
-Follow directions on the bottle of coconut cream
-Be amazed and how delicious and easy that was!

I found Pimm's at an ABC Superstore at the beach...so Pimm's o'clock obviously!

The sound view from our beach house

I remember this being one of the first dishes I made a couple of years ago, when I actually started cooking. This meal is easy to pull together, filling, and amazing doused in hot sauce and nutritional yeast (like most things). I always try to encourage myself to try different dishes from the food I love (Mexican, Italian, Vietnamese, etc.) and expand my horizons a bit. Start with this recipe for polenta rancheros with cumin seeds and black beans! //Vegetarian 'Ventures

After being at the beach for almost a week and indulging in snacks and blended cocktails, we needed a detox...a detox with lots of vegetables. I found this delicious, easy salad recipe with yellow squash, swiss chard, and chickpeas with a basil dressing. It sounds boring but trust me, this is just what we both needed. Just a bowl of vegetables with beans. It's really crazy how much better we felt after eating this for a few days. //In Pursuit of More

Remember what I was saying above about expanding horizons? This is another one of those dishes. Stir-fried black rice with ginger fried tofu and kale. I really loved this with sriracha on top, but I can never gauge my relationship with fresh ginger. It's hard for me to find a balance with what is enough or too much ginger. If you're not a huge fan of ginger, I would reduce it just a little bit. But this meal is still really good! It's always nice to branch out and use different grains other than plain rice or quinoa. //Whole Living

One thing that has changed around here lately is the ridiculous amount of smoothies we've been making. Maybe it's the weather or the strep I was dealing with for a few days, but I find myself making them more than a few times a week. This one is one of my favorites and I really hope you will try it! Don't let lime juice with almond milk scare you; it works fine!

-1 C almond/coconut/vegan milk
-juice of 1 lime
-1 heaping cup of frozen strawberries
-1 frozen banana

Blend + serve, adding more milk as needed. Top with coconut flakes! //Noms For the Poor

No matter how sick I am or what it is, I will only eat soup. The thought of eating canned soup all week while I had strep made me feel even worse. So with joint effort, Mike and I pulled this soup together so neither one of us would have to eat processed crap. My mom has made this soup before and I love it because of how comforting it is. It's incredibly easy but it's delicious and filling. It only has a few basic ingredients like stock, carrots, a TON of celery (hence the title of chunky celery soup), potatoes, wild rice, onions and garlic. That's really it. Eat it with toasted, vegan buttered bread if you can chew stuff like that while sick. I ate this for days and never tired of it. //101 Cookbooks

By the looks of this post, I have been cooking my way down memory lane lately! I remember this being one of the first dishes I made in my apartment. Yeah, I get nostalgic about this kind of stuff. I've posted this before, so if you haven't made it by now...do it. I am obsessed with squash and zucchini so this recipe is obviously a favorite. Coriander spiced chickpeas, tomatoes, zucchini, lots of garlic and red onions. I could eat this for days. This pairs perfectly with white jasmine rice. //Martha Stewart