Last Week: Tavern on Camac, Birthdays, Tietra Happy Hour, and Tamalex

This is has been a crazy birthday week in my life, since three of my best friends all had their birthday celebrations. I went out with one of my longtime best friends, Christy on Monday, to a cute Mexican place called Tamalex II which is honestly one of the most amazing Mexican restaurants I have ever tried in my life. I ordered a special there which was carnitas tacos with grilled cactus and I am still dreaming about how delicious the meal was. If that wasn’t enough of a reason to get you to go there, they give you huge cups of horchata for 3 dollars. Needless to say, I am obsessed and the service was incredible. I usually don’t review places I go to on Yelp, but I have decided to since the reviews have helped me so much in deciding where to go. The service was impeccable. I had a fabulous time with my two best friends there, and I cannot wait to go back. On Tuesday, after a really tough yoga session, I went to Slice with another friend because I am obsessed with their pizza. We tried their greek salad which was okay, but the best part was the amazing pizza. They do thin crust so well there. I also love that it is BYO even though I didn’t have wine to bring that night. We went to Sweet Ending after where I love the plain frozen yogurt with moshi pieces (rice cake) and coconut. On Thursday, I went to a happy hour with my boss for a community organization we work with. It was held at Tietra, which is a pretty nice bar with some awesome Mediterranean appetizers. Their hummus was amazing and fresh, as was their pita. The Chardonnay is pretty incredible as well. One of the key restaurants I went to last week was Tavern on Camac, where I met Mackenzie Hilton, the winner of Chopped and $10,000, who is now the executive chef at the Tavern at Camac. She is just as gorgeous and funny in person. Her grilled cheese with tomato soup, a comfort classic, is honestly the best grilled cheese I have ever tasted. I would go back in a a heartbeat. The deviled eggs with chive and sriracha were incredible. reasonably priced, and their house red is fabulously chocolatey. The fries were perfect and whatever was in their cheddar sauce for dipping is so addictive. iI cannot get over how fabulous of an experience it was. They did everything they could to accommodate our large party, and I was so happy that I got to go there. It is a restaurant on the bottom floor, a piano bar on the second, and a club on the third. The restaurant is open until 3am so feel free to get your late night eats on here!  I am not much of a club person but I love that this one had so many options. Hungry yet? Check it out if you are in Philadelphia!

xx

R

Summer Salad with Roasted Corn, Avocado, Black Beans and Tomato

Summer means put your ovens on as low as possible or even better, don’t put them on at all. This one is the best with roasted corn but if you feel like just popping in some fresh corn, no one would blame you. The lovely basil lemon vinaigrette is versatile, so you should make a huge batch of it for other salads for a quick, refreshing dressing. There is a lot of acidity due to the lemon juice and apple cider vinegar, which is my preference, but feel free to omit the vinegar or add a sweeter one like balsamic instead and more olive oil. This salad is a great source of plant based protein, and the combination keeps you full for hours. I have a habit of making this salad and keeping it for three or four days, mixed with some baby spinach at the last minute or with some gluten free pita bread. If you are planning to store this salad, add the avocado at the last minute as it will turn brown if you cut it up and add it before.

Ingredients for Salad

1 cup roasted corn (You can roast frozen corn by steaming it and adding a couple teaspoons of olive oil and putting it in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes)

1 avocado, diced

1 cup diced tomato

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro or 1 teaspoon dried cilantro

1 cup black or red kidney beans, washed 

Salt and peper, as desired

Nonfat feta, if desired or cheese of choice

Ingredients for Vinaigrette 

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup fresh basil, diced

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Directions

Mix all ingredients well and top with vinaigrette.

xx

R

**For extra protein add cooked quinoa.

Quinoa Polenta Pizza Bites

This is the fastest dinner for those days you just want to do something other than cook. From start to finish, these are ten minutes. Great with a kale massaged salad or spinach and some nice shavings of Parmesan Reggiano and tomatoes, with a touch of balsamic. These work better on a stove than baked, and most students have access to a kitchen in their dorms, so hopefully these let you do the whole easy eating on a budget and quickly thing. I feel the pain of the college student. As someone who loves to cook, it wasn’t very realistic for me to prep meals throughout the week, and using a meal plan quickly backfired. It was extremely difficult to find healthy choices. Even the salads were extremely processed and low quality. For someone who didn’t have  car, I had to rely on other people going to the grocery store to pick up something healthy, and even then the easiness of a green smoothie or a green juice in the morning wasn’t always realistic.

Cooking has been a learning process for me, and there have been many mistakes along the way. My tastebuds have changed throughout the years as well, which has inspired me to cook more with veggies I wouldn’t normally give a chance to. I am happy though that I had this revelation at a young age, rather than waiting till I was 42 and realizing I was giving my body, the only one I have, the worst treatment.

From the melty cheese to the tangy tomato sauce, to the precut quinoa polenta slices, these soak up all that cheesy pizza flavor that screams comfort and nostalgia. I don’t know what it is about pizza, but it is one of my favorite foods. Maybe it is because it is the perfect vessel to showcase beautiful veggies covered in a light blanket of awesome sauce, or maybe it is because it is a childhood staple, but these do not disappoint.

Ingredients

Serves 2

1/2 package quinoa polenta, I found this prepackaged, which is why it is such a fast meal

1/2 cup tomato sauce, (I used a jar for this mostly because I don’t love anything drenched in tomato sauce, but please adjust according to your tastes)

1/2 cup low fat mozzarella, or regular shredded mozzarella (Get the block and shred yourself if you have the time, always tastes better)

1/2 teaspoon dried basil or 3 fresh basil leaves

Turkey bacon, optional

Sautéed mushrooms, optional

Turkey pepperoni, optional

Pineapple chunks, optional

Sliced sautéed ham, cold cuts, optional

Soy chorizo or turkey sausage, optional

Freshly cracked black pepper

Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions

Pan saute the quinoa polenta, sliced.If you don’t want to use oil to sauté them, feel free to wet sauté with some veggie or chicken broth. After you have a good sear on both sides, about three or four minutes on medium heat, top with warmed tomato sauce and your desired toppings. This can be really fun because you can make individual polenta pizzas and make this for a crowd if you want. Everyone is different about pizza, but if you ask me, the best way to have this is margarita style. But I am a mushroom fan as well and that also settles a craving like no other.

Enjoy!

xx

R

Pesto Scrambled Egg Whites

Personally, I like my eggs whole. I love that egg whites give you so much protein, but the yolk houses so many awesome benefits for you. However, I do understand that people want to lower their cholesterol and if you are eating your eggs from other sources like baked goods or breads, you may want to stick with some egg whites to give you the energy you crave in the morning rather than break two eggs. I buy the carton egg whites instead of using actual eggs in a carton because I don’t like to waste. I have read that egg yolk is called nature’s most delicious sauce, and I could not agree more. Avocado is nature’s butter. Look at nature giving you all the things you need. Go nature!

Pesto is amazing and adds so much flavor to everything. I will not like that it is one of the most addicting sauces. I prefer pesto to red tomato sauce any day. You can add the jarred kind, which is still delicious albeit a tad high in oil and sodium, but making your own is incredibly easy if you have basil, walnuts (cheaper than pine nuts), parmesan, pepper, and olive oil. Simply pulse 2 cups fresh basil leaves, or kale, or spinach (let’s get some nutrition in there), and add 1 cup walnuts and some parmesan and olive oil until it is a sauce like mixture. Keeps well in a glass jar for a week or two (if it ends up lasting that long)!

Here is the pesto recipe if you are interested! I used kale and garlic because I like that tangy taste and it was a tad too mild for me the first time around.

PESTO

5 leaves, dinosaur kale or flower kale, or any kale that is on sale (See what I did there?), stems removed and washed

2 tablespoons parmesan

Freshly cracked black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil, I used light olive oil because I like the taste a bit better, since it does not overpower the dish

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 lemon, freshly squeezed

Directions

Process in a food processor. I used a blender that is high powered and it did the same thing, and add more olive oil until you get the right consistency. This is more of an experiment than anything as well, and please feel free to use fresh basil leaves instead of the kale, I am just a kale addict.

Take the freshly prepared pesto and toss with egg whites (I used 2). Serve with whole wheat toast or your favorite bread with a side of avocado sprinkled with olive oil and sea salt if desired.

Breakfast of the gods, no?

xx

Avocado Egg White Omlette

I love avocados. I love their green, buttery goodness, and what is even better, I love that they taste like something indulgent, but they are so good for you. Sorry about the posts slowing down thee days, I am working fifty or more hours this week and life is getting ahead of me. It is tough in these situations to keep up with a blog much less sleep, but this is one of my favorite side projects and it means a lot that I have readers. I promise to do better! I need a couple days to do nothing but relax, and hopefully this weekend is the answer to my prayers but we will see. Anyway, egg whites are a great source of protein and this one is flavor packed, so feel free to serve it with two slices of whole grain toast and you are set until lunch!

 

Also, a tip: eat big breakfasts, they should be the biggest meal you eat all day.

Ingredients

1/4 avocado, cubed

1/4 cup egg whites, or one serving (I use egg whites from a carton because I don’t want to waste the whole egg)

Cilantro

Pepper

Spinach (notice by now that I add this superfood to almost everything?)

Basil

Directions

Add the egg whites to a warmed, small frying pan brushed with light olive oil or sprayed with PAM. Mix in herbs and spinach and top with avocado. Add pepper to taste!

Eat healthy my friends.

XX

R

Basil Avocado Pineapple Smoothie

Sounds like an interesting mix, but I promise it tastes delicious!

Ingredients

1/4 avocado, diced

3 or 4 basil leaves

2 pineapple rings, canned

1/2 almond milk

Filtered water, or two ice cubes

1/4 spinach

1/3 banana

Directions

Blend well and serve!

Watermelon Feta Basil Salad with Balsamic

I love this combination and even though summer is coming to a close, Labor Day is Monday which means that fall is almost here. Keep this summer favorite around though if you can because it is always a hit.

Ingredients

1 cup of watermelon, cubed

1/6 cup of nonfat feta

2 basil leaves, chopped

2 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar

Directions

Mix all together and enjoy! It is really pretty on the plate too!