Tonight, my dad was in the city to visit my brother and I, and he took us out for Vietnamese food in my neighborhood. I love Vietnamese food. I could live on Pho and summer rolls for the rest of my life, true story, so I was excited to find this cute looking Vietnamese place only a short walk from my new apartment. I was even more excited by the fact that the prices were unbelievably reasonable.
We split some vegetarian summer rolls. These were pretty standard fare, to be honest. They were awesome, as summer rolls always are, but there was nothing mind-blowingly special about them. They included mint, vermicelli noodles, and fried tofu, with a peanut-based dipping sauce.
I had the seafood pho as my main meal. This is my standard order in any Vietnamese restaurant, and this one was nice. The broth was well-prepared, although blander than a recent pho that I enjoyed in Philadelphia, and I got a giant, incredibly satisfying bowl filled with noodles, shrimp, vegetables, fish balls, crab sticks and squid for $9. I couldn't even finish the whole bowl.
I have to admit, though, that my order was not the star of the meal. My brother, Patrick, definitely won that competition. Patrick, a recently converted vegetarian, went for the tofu banh mi. For those of you unfamiliar with Vietnamese food, banh mi is sort of like a Vietnamese po boy. Apparently, the word itself in Vietnamese is simply the word for bread, but when you see it on a restaurant menu it usually refers to a specific type of stuffed sandwich on a baguette. Most traditionally, this would include all kinds of meat in sauce, with herbs, maybe with pickled carrots, and that version is incredibly delicious. Patrick's tofu version, however, was anything but a disappointment. The sandwich was gigantic, and absolutely exploding with flavor. The bread was crusty, with a great crunch, but soft and light on the inside. The tofu was covered in a sort of sweet sauce, with just a tiny bit of a kick (if I had been lucky enough to order it, I would have put some garlic chili on to spice it up). I want to go back and eat it again and again just to figure out what is in that sauce, because it was incredible. It also had lettuce, tons of cilantro and, of course, tofu. Also, and this may or may not be the best part, this gigantic sandwich, which I believe was sent directly from the heavens, retails at Sao Mai for only SIX DOLLARS. That's stupid cheap. According to the menu, it is only served from 11-5, but Patrick ordered it when we met for dinner at 7:30. I'd say you're taking your chances ordering it after 5, but definitely give it a go.
If you're in NYC, Sao Mai is at 203 1st Ave between 11th and 12th streets, next to a now-defunct Philippino restaurant (too bad!). I highly recommend it, particularly for the sandwich!
Enjoy!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Healthy Mushroom Casserole
Tonight's dinner is a healthy mushroom casserole that I have made before. The recipe comes from 101 Cookbooks, which is a great food blog, and which also has the best recipe for banana bread that I have ever tried.
I made a few adjustments to the original recipe. I made all the dairy fat free, used greek yogurt instead of sour cream, and added some chicken for protein. I also used asiago instead of parmesan, because I had it in the house. The protein was a nice added touch, as it kept me fuller than the last time I made it when I did it with only the mushrooms. If you are vegetarian, I think you could add tempeh or smoked tofu, for some similar deliciousness. With the greek yogurt and cottage cheese there is already SOME protein though.
The recipe is here: Mushroom Casserole
This recipe is really versatile, and I think there are lots of ways you could spice it up. She suggests leafy greens, pine nuts, etc. I think that you could try different kinds of fresh herbs (sage would be AWESOME with the mushrooms), toasted walnuts, and add other veggies. If you added veggies with a high water content, I would be a bit careful, just because the casserole might fall apart a bit. As it is, I actually think it bakes up almost too firm, and next time I might see what happens if I use only one egg. Some people in the comments also substituted egg whites, and that seemed to work for them.
This is a great comfort food recipe, and it doesn't take too much active cooking time. Plus it makes a lot, so it could feed your whole family or, in my case, last for several meals!
Enjoy!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Turkey Sandwich of Extreme Awesomeness
Let's get real here. A turkey sandwich is just not exciting, or inspiring. It's not something I ever order off a menu, and it's the kind of thing I make when I don't have anything in the house and I need something that's going to be healthy, yummy and not take me too much time.
This is NOT that kind of turkey sandwich. Tonights dinner STARTED like that turkey sandwich, but it quickly transformed itself into the Turkey Sandwich of Extreme Awesomeness (which is most definitely a proper noun in this case).
Here's the story. I didn't want to go get more groceries, but my supplies were relatively limited. I had some Trader Joe's smoked turkey and decided to make a turkey sandwich with whatever was sitting around the house. So far, so boring. What was sitting around the house was the following: lettuce, half a tomato, an avocado, greek yogurt, feta cheese and bread. I decided to use all of it, and thus, the best turkey sandwich I have ever made was born. Here's the recipe:
Turkey Sandwich of Extreme Awesomeness
Two slices whole wheat bread
4-8 slices of smoked turkey breast (or as much as you will enjoy eating)
1/4 of an avocado
1 Tbsp fat free Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp feta cheese
Lettuce
Tomato
Salt
Turn on the broiler on your oven, and set it to high. Put the bread under the broiler, but keep an eye on it as it will tend to burn (this would be even better done in a toaster oven, but I don't have one).
Meanwhile, smash the avocado and yogurt into a guacamole like paste, and add a little salt.
Once the bread is toasted on one side, flip it over and put the feta cheese onto one of the slices. Continue to broil until both pieces of toast are crispy, and the feta is melted slightly. This shouldn't take long.
Take the bread out of the oven, spread both sides with the avocado spread, being careful on the feta side, because the feta will stay somewhat crumbly most likely.
Add the turkey, lettuce, and tomato to one side, top the sandwich with the other piece of bread, slice and consume!
WARNING! This sandwich is drippy, and avocado can stain your clothes, eat over a plate. Also, it's highly addictive. Highly. Addictive.
Enjoy!
This is NOT that kind of turkey sandwich. Tonights dinner STARTED like that turkey sandwich, but it quickly transformed itself into the Turkey Sandwich of Extreme Awesomeness (which is most definitely a proper noun in this case).
Here's the story. I didn't want to go get more groceries, but my supplies were relatively limited. I had some Trader Joe's smoked turkey and decided to make a turkey sandwich with whatever was sitting around the house. So far, so boring. What was sitting around the house was the following: lettuce, half a tomato, an avocado, greek yogurt, feta cheese and bread. I decided to use all of it, and thus, the best turkey sandwich I have ever made was born. Here's the recipe:
Turkey Sandwich of Extreme Awesomeness
Two slices whole wheat bread
4-8 slices of smoked turkey breast (or as much as you will enjoy eating)
1/4 of an avocado
1 Tbsp fat free Greek yogurt
2 Tbsp feta cheese
Lettuce
Tomato
Salt
Turn on the broiler on your oven, and set it to high. Put the bread under the broiler, but keep an eye on it as it will tend to burn (this would be even better done in a toaster oven, but I don't have one).
Meanwhile, smash the avocado and yogurt into a guacamole like paste, and add a little salt.
Once the bread is toasted on one side, flip it over and put the feta cheese onto one of the slices. Continue to broil until both pieces of toast are crispy, and the feta is melted slightly. This shouldn't take long.
Take the bread out of the oven, spread both sides with the avocado spread, being careful on the feta side, because the feta will stay somewhat crumbly most likely.
Add the turkey, lettuce, and tomato to one side, top the sandwich with the other piece of bread, slice and consume!
WARNING! This sandwich is drippy, and avocado can stain your clothes, eat over a plate. Also, it's highly addictive. Highly. Addictive.
Enjoy!
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Quick and Dirty Chicken Stir Fry
This is a long-standing finals week favorite of mine, and despite not being in the middle of finals, it was called for on this lazy Sunday evening. The basic recipe goes like this:
Get some veggies. Frozen is fine (fresh onions, garlic, and ginger if possible). Chop some chicken. Put oil into a wok or skillet (sesame adds a nice flavor, but use whatever you have). Add garlic onions and ginger until soft/a bit brown. Add chicken until slightly browned. Add veggies and stir. Add desired sauce. Cook until chicken is done. Serve alone or with rice while studying, veging in front of the television, or whatever it is you do during finals and/or lazy Sunday afternoons.
It's the height of simplicity, is healthy, cheap, fast and delicious. Tonight, I used a frozen stir fry mix, some frozen green beans and frozen broccoli, chopped mushrooms, onions and garlic, chicken, and Trader Joe's Soyaki sauce. At the end, I added a cup of frozen Trader Joe's brown rice directly to the wok and let it soak up the sauce.
Gourmet it is not. Most even good home cooks would probably flog me for using frozen green beans when I can probably get them fresh just around the corner, and they would be right. I'm an awful, awful person. An awful, awful person with a delicious bowl of stir fry in front of me. I believe you should always use the freshest ingredients...except when you don't have fresh ingredients in the house, are broke, are lazy, and have all the frozen and pre-chopped makings of your dinner without even getting out of your PJs. In that case, I say bring on the freezer burn!
Substitutions include basically anything you can possibly imagine. Make it vegetarian with tofu, or tempeh, or leave out the protein all together. Make it with beef, seafood, or any other protein. Put whatever veggies you like, fresh or frozen (as I said, fresh is always better, but frozen is always lazier), and leave out whatever you don't like. Add Sriracha or garlic chili sauce for heat, add spices in different combinations for flavor, mix sauces. You can literally do whatever you want with the basic outline and come up with something pretty tasty. Well, probably not if you mix ketchup and balsamic vinegar with a cumin based sauce, but, you know, within reason.
Mine turned out great. Hope yours does too!
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Shakshuka
If the comments about this dish on Smitten Kitchen (the excellent food blog from which I got the recipe) are anything to go by, the origins of this dish are up for debate. Suffice it to say, there is general agreement that it comes from somewhere in the Middle East. My roommate, who spent last semester teaching in Egypt, says he definitely ate it there. The one thing that I think everybody can agree on is that it is delicious.
This dish (recipe here) became one of my standby dishes when I lived in Sarajevo, because most of the ingredients were easily available, it's incredibly cheap to make, and it's incredibly easy to prepare. Also, it's perfect for company, because it seems much more difficult and impressive than it is, so it looks nice enough to serve to guests, but if you've had a busy day you don't have to spend hours on it.
Tonight, it was the first dinner I served to my brother and his girlfriend who came to visit me in my brand new New York apartment. To prepare shakshuka you make a delicious sauce of garlic, onions, chilis (you can substitute bell peppers for the anaheim or jalapeno peppers called for in the Smitten Kitchen version if you don't like heat, or if you can't find chilis, for example, because you live in Sarajevo. If you want the heat but don't have the chilis you can add a bit of cayenne or substitute spicy paprika for sweet.) and tomatoes. You then poach eggs in this deliciousness. It's ideal if the yolks are runny, but let me say that I, being a general failure at runny yolks, often overcook the eggs, and it still tastes fine to me. Apparently, in some parts of Egypt at least, they use scrambled eggs and add them to the sauce later. I have never tried this, but it sounds just as delicious as the version I have had. At the end, you can add feta (or, probably more traditionally, halumi) to it. Sometimes, instead of thinning the tomato and onion mixture with water, I do it with wine for what is an absolutely delicious, and I'm sure completely inauthentic, version. Tonight, I served it with a baguette from the little French bakery down the street, and with Apothic Red wine, which is my current favorite affordable red. 10.99 a bottle here in NYC, and it's so good, I wish I could just consume it by the bottle, rather than the glass. I've also eaten it with Somun in Bosnia, with pita, with no bread at all, and once I added some brown rice to soak up all the delicious sauce. All of it was yummy.
Give this recipe a try next time you don't have a ton of time, and can't stand the thought of another frozen meal. I guarantee you won't regret it, and it won't break the bank.
This dish (recipe here) became one of my standby dishes when I lived in Sarajevo, because most of the ingredients were easily available, it's incredibly cheap to make, and it's incredibly easy to prepare. Also, it's perfect for company, because it seems much more difficult and impressive than it is, so it looks nice enough to serve to guests, but if you've had a busy day you don't have to spend hours on it.
Tonight, it was the first dinner I served to my brother and his girlfriend who came to visit me in my brand new New York apartment. To prepare shakshuka you make a delicious sauce of garlic, onions, chilis (you can substitute bell peppers for the anaheim or jalapeno peppers called for in the Smitten Kitchen version if you don't like heat, or if you can't find chilis, for example, because you live in Sarajevo. If you want the heat but don't have the chilis you can add a bit of cayenne or substitute spicy paprika for sweet.) and tomatoes. You then poach eggs in this deliciousness. It's ideal if the yolks are runny, but let me say that I, being a general failure at runny yolks, often overcook the eggs, and it still tastes fine to me. Apparently, in some parts of Egypt at least, they use scrambled eggs and add them to the sauce later. I have never tried this, but it sounds just as delicious as the version I have had. At the end, you can add feta (or, probably more traditionally, halumi) to it. Sometimes, instead of thinning the tomato and onion mixture with water, I do it with wine for what is an absolutely delicious, and I'm sure completely inauthentic, version. Tonight, I served it with a baguette from the little French bakery down the street, and with Apothic Red wine, which is my current favorite affordable red. 10.99 a bottle here in NYC, and it's so good, I wish I could just consume it by the bottle, rather than the glass. I've also eaten it with Somun in Bosnia, with pita, with no bread at all, and once I added some brown rice to soak up all the delicious sauce. All of it was yummy.
Give this recipe a try next time you don't have a ton of time, and can't stand the thought of another frozen meal. I guarantee you won't regret it, and it won't break the bank.
Where am I?!? How did I get here?!?
Welcome new readers! I don't really know how to kick this whole thing off, so this is just a short introduction to what this blog is and how it came about.
This blog is the outcome of multiple years worth of requests and suggestions from friends and some family members that I write a food blog. I've gone from surprised that anybody would care what I had to say about anything, to flattered but resistant, and finally I have decided to give it a try. Like most of you, I spend a lot of my time eating, usually as often as twice or three times a day! Possibly unlike many of you, I also spend a lot of my free time cooking, planning what I'm going to eat, learning about different types of food, discovering new restaurants, etc. Apparently, some people in my life think that the things that I have to say about all of these processes are interesting, and worth reading about. I don't know if that's true. Frankly, I finally decided to create this blog because writing about something fun and satisfying and soul-feeding seemed like a good hobby to develop as I embark on a lifelong study of violence and atrocity.
Part of my initial resistance to starting a blog about food, as that there are a million such blogs in the world, many of which are shockingly good. I'm not a chef, so a blog entirely devoted to recipes seemed like a bit of a stretch, but including some recipes seemed like a nice idea since sometimes I cook some cool stuff. I'm also not a food critic, and I don't have the money to eat out all the time in New York City, so restaurant reviews also seemed a bit of a stretch. On the other hand, I have a mini-reputation for discovering delicious, interesting places to eat, and I thought some of those would be good to share. I also thought the idea of how to eat when you're a grad student on a limited, fixed income was kind of interesting to write about. I know from my high school English class, however, that a blog, like any good story (because really, isn't a blog just an ongoing story?) needs to have a clear premise, so just jumbling together a bunch of posts about food would quickly lose any sense of premise and devolve into disorganization. This blog is a compromise of this jumble of ideas.
This will be a blog about what is for dinner. Each day...well...no promises...MOST days, I will write an entry about what I (and my partners in crime) ate for dinner. If we ate out, I'll review the restaurant, tell you about the food, recommend it or not. If we cooked, I'll include recipes, links, notes and reviews of the outcome. But Megan, I hear you saying, what if you aren't feeling well and put yourself to bed with nothing but crackers?!?! Thank you for asking! The nice thing about having travelled as much as I have the last few years, and having resisted creating a food blog for so long is that I have a huge list of cool things I have eaten in cool places just hanging out in my brain. Some of them even have good stories behind them. So, on particularly boring days, I will do What's for Dinner Flashbacks. I promise in advance to tell you about the best bakery in Barcelona, and the only place to get proper Somun in Sarajevo.
I want to say up front that I have no idea whether this is a good idea or whether it will work. I don't know if you will find these musings interesting or not. I don't know for sure whether I will be disciplined enough to keep up, but I'm going to give it a try, and I hope you'll give it a try along with me. I also hope that, along the way, you'll give me feedback on whether you're enjoying the ride or not. Since at this moment I have zero readers and zero posts, there is nowhere to go from here but up. So, welcome, and enjoy the meals!
This blog is the outcome of multiple years worth of requests and suggestions from friends and some family members that I write a food blog. I've gone from surprised that anybody would care what I had to say about anything, to flattered but resistant, and finally I have decided to give it a try. Like most of you, I spend a lot of my time eating, usually as often as twice or three times a day! Possibly unlike many of you, I also spend a lot of my free time cooking, planning what I'm going to eat, learning about different types of food, discovering new restaurants, etc. Apparently, some people in my life think that the things that I have to say about all of these processes are interesting, and worth reading about. I don't know if that's true. Frankly, I finally decided to create this blog because writing about something fun and satisfying and soul-feeding seemed like a good hobby to develop as I embark on a lifelong study of violence and atrocity.
Part of my initial resistance to starting a blog about food, as that there are a million such blogs in the world, many of which are shockingly good. I'm not a chef, so a blog entirely devoted to recipes seemed like a bit of a stretch, but including some recipes seemed like a nice idea since sometimes I cook some cool stuff. I'm also not a food critic, and I don't have the money to eat out all the time in New York City, so restaurant reviews also seemed a bit of a stretch. On the other hand, I have a mini-reputation for discovering delicious, interesting places to eat, and I thought some of those would be good to share. I also thought the idea of how to eat when you're a grad student on a limited, fixed income was kind of interesting to write about. I know from my high school English class, however, that a blog, like any good story (because really, isn't a blog just an ongoing story?) needs to have a clear premise, so just jumbling together a bunch of posts about food would quickly lose any sense of premise and devolve into disorganization. This blog is a compromise of this jumble of ideas.
This will be a blog about what is for dinner. Each day...well...no promises...MOST days, I will write an entry about what I (and my partners in crime) ate for dinner. If we ate out, I'll review the restaurant, tell you about the food, recommend it or not. If we cooked, I'll include recipes, links, notes and reviews of the outcome. But Megan, I hear you saying, what if you aren't feeling well and put yourself to bed with nothing but crackers?!?! Thank you for asking! The nice thing about having travelled as much as I have the last few years, and having resisted creating a food blog for so long is that I have a huge list of cool things I have eaten in cool places just hanging out in my brain. Some of them even have good stories behind them. So, on particularly boring days, I will do What's for Dinner Flashbacks. I promise in advance to tell you about the best bakery in Barcelona, and the only place to get proper Somun in Sarajevo.
I want to say up front that I have no idea whether this is a good idea or whether it will work. I don't know if you will find these musings interesting or not. I don't know for sure whether I will be disciplined enough to keep up, but I'm going to give it a try, and I hope you'll give it a try along with me. I also hope that, along the way, you'll give me feedback on whether you're enjoying the ride or not. Since at this moment I have zero readers and zero posts, there is nowhere to go from here but up. So, welcome, and enjoy the meals!
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