How to Burn Your Tongue

Make the easiest personal pan pizza ever and get too excited to let it cool down...

After my after-work run today, I headed over to Fairway to pick up some groceries. After scoffing at how much the loaves of bread were ($4!) I decided to pick up some wraps. I saw Aladdin Bakers made Sundried Tomato and Basil wraps which was something like $2.50. I read the packaging and it had a list of things to do with it such as various sandwiches but also... pizza. Intriguing, I thought. Even though I have had a lot of pizza recently (including today for lunch where I got 2 slices at Spunto), it was one of the few things that I craved as I was so sick of eating lentils, kale and quinoa that i needed something fatty, cheesy and/or meaty (nevermind the fact that is all I ate over the weekend). So I went to the cheese section, picked up a small ball of mozzarella ($3.99), some anchovies ($2.50) and a can of tomato puree ($1.60). When I got home I just HAD to make it so I found my circular pizza pan, put a piece of tin foil on it, laid out a sundried tomato & basil wrap, spread a tiny bit of tomato puree, cut up some mozz (ok...a lot of mozz), and 3 filets of anchovies, drizzled a tiny bit of Olive Oil and popped it in the oven at 400F. 15-20 minutes later I found the cheese bubbling and the wrap toasted. I pulled it out and it was PERFECT. Surprisingly the wrap held together nicely and crisped up to a SUPER thin-crust. the cheese melded together and the anchovies gave it a nice salty kick. I sprinkled basil, oregano and crushed red pepper flakes and one of the easiest tastiest AND cheapest meals was born. This will definitely be made again soon.

P.S. I went up to the Organic section and found Sprouted Multi-Grain loaves for only $2.50. Organic, gluten-free AND cheaper than the heavily-processed sugared bread downstairs.

Eataly

I FINALLY got to go to Grimaldi’s. I don’t know what took me so long, but Tom and I had gone to Amorino (on Vanderbilt) for dinner on Saturday night and I satiated my lust and craving for anchovies (Tom hates them and opted for the white pizza special with onions, ricotta, sausage and basil). Mine was super salty with the fish, capers and olives. His eggplant caponata was nothing special so I won’t even bother discussing it. Apparently this little pizzeria is Zagat rated and he said if I liked this crust (thin, a little chewy) then I’d really love Grimaldi’s, so we finally made a date to go yesterday (Sunday). I also wanted to bring him to Eataly which I will talk about in a bit.
We got to Grimaldi’s in the dreary cloudy weather and of course there was a long line outside. This pizza better be good. They are very efficient in getting people in and out so we didn’t have to wait longer than half an hour but it is very cramped. We had this Asian guy behind us who kept trying to get Tom to tell the guy we were together with his wife/gf in case they called a table of 4. Turns out they were seated next to us anyway as he pointed out… For future reference: Please don’t talk to me when I’m about to eat and don’t appear too clingy.

We ordered a large margherita with half ricotta and Italian sausage. Delicioso! We actually managed to eat the entire pie between the two of us. I can now check off this NYC institution off my list with rave remarks.

After we paid the bill, we trekked off to Eataly in Chelsea. If you love Italian food, this market brought to NYC by Mario Batalli is the gastronomical paradise you’ve always dreamed of. It is very reminiscent of the indoor Italian markets in Italy which is where Batalli got the idea from. However, it is a complete zoo inside. I thought it was going to be more like Chelsea Market where it has one long corridor spanning across one block with various restaurants and shops along it. Eataly is just one massive maze of gelato, pastries, espresso, artisanal breads, chocolates, restaurants, cured meats, cheeses, seafood, pasta, paninis, and beverages; also kind of like Harrod’s of London if you’ve ever been. But it’s kind of great seeing people walk around with their European-inspired basket-shopping carts and a glass of wine in hand. The restaurants are literally in the middle of aisles and there are seating areas all over the place; really neat atmosphere. We ended up getting a tiramisu and a gelato to share. Both hitting the spot, but what I really had my eye on was the pastas, meats and cheeses. Unfortunately the crowd was a turn-off as was the long line to purchase items so we walked away empty-handed. I will have to give it another try during the week when it hopefully won’t be as busy.

Healthy Eats

Yes, I remember that the original purpose of this food blog was to chronicle healthy eating which somehow turned into how much bacon and fried chicken I was eating.

Well as I've announced before, I'm trying to start a new diet that is full of protein with less meat. My coworker and I somehow got on this health-kick with discovering kale and quinoa. My coworker T (who is vegetarian/pescatarian) has been bringing in a different Quinoa salad every week. First week had chickpeas and lemon juice. Second week was red quinoa with green beans, dried cranberries and walnuts. This week was red quinoa with apples and curry powder. Delish. I need to stock up pronto.

This was one of my lunches last week:

Can you guess what each thing is?

I also made a big batch of lentil soup (and sneaked in pancetta) which will be very welcoming to eat once it gets colder.

My goal by Sept 27 is to be able to run the 5K I booked in Disney World. Right now, I can probably do 2 easy. Hopefully eating healthier and losing some extra pounds will get me through the 3 miles. I believe I can do it, as last year when I tried to start running, I barely made half a mile without getting out of breath. Now, I wake up at 7 (sometimes) and run 1.2 miles. Wish me luck! Share any recipes in the comments as well.

Weekend Feast

So much to update! As some of you may have heard, I lost my wallet (with years and years worth of irreplaceable things amongst the cash, credit cards and gift cards). I am trying to cope, but it is really hard to think all of that is gone.

But in better news: a BIG congratulations to Alice and Matt who got married this past weekend. I ate terribly and terribly well. Thursday, Tom and I drove down at 5:30am to get to Bowling Green, KY by 9pm their time. Kind of amazing and it was all Tom. The nice thing about driving on interstates is that you kind of HAVE to eat fast food since it's really all they offer. So naturally we got Wendy's. On Friday we got breakfast at Cracker Barrel. FINALLY. I've heard things from my southern folk and just the smell of Yankee candles in the "General Store" got me excited. I decided to go all out and get the southern fried chicken with grits, eggs, biscuits and lotsa gravy. I couldn't even finish my 2nd biscuit! Tom opted for the "healthier" option (yogurt, eggs, bran muffin) which was actually pretty delicious as well.

Then I finally got to see my best and oldest friend Alice at her then-fiance's family's home which was gorgeous. They had a 168 lb (gutted) pig roasting and Alice's adorable parents were busy burying delicious sweet potatoes underground. Seriously too spoiled. Saturday, we joined them at 8:30am for a yoga session in the backyard. Gorgeous day. Had breakfast there and then Tom and I got lunch at Sonic Burger- the drive-IN spot. I always saw the commercials and never really though much about them eating in their car. Little did I know that eating in your car was their schtick!
Love it. I got a cheeseburger and onion rings and an iced tea that was not what I ordered (the pains of ordering via intercom, I guess). The cheeseburger and onion rings were divine though. The batter for the onions was reminscent of zeppoles so if you can only imagine!

Saturday night was the wedding; a beautiful one at that. I got a little teary eyed when I finally hugged them post-vows. They are a cute couple and his family is so much fun and great hosts! Dinner included Korean beef (they forgot to serve our table but my grumbling stomach was not going to let us miss out on it). The servers also handed us a spring roll with peanut sauce. My only complaint was that it was actually a summer roll with fish sauce. Nevertheless, it was good... as was the perfectly-cooked medium rare steak.

Before our long drive home Sunday morning, we got breakfast at Waffle House- a dingy little place with a delicious Apple Oat Cinnamon waffle (Apparently we caught the first day of "National Waffle Week") and hashbrowns. Yay. We got Wendy's for lunch/dinner. Mmm Chili.

Because of my lack of funds now, I need to get creative with what I have in the pantry which is mostly carbs (rice and pasta) but I suppose that is better than nothing. Next post will be about the healthy attempts at eating my coworker and I are experimenting with!