RECIPE: Collards with Potatoes over Quinoa

So things have been a little crazy lately. I haven't had much time to make bento, nevertheless take any photos and post them! And truth be told, they've been kinda bland. Mostly stir fried things since that's usually what I make myself for dinner.

But tonight's dinner, oh ho, was not boring! I had gone to the local food co-operative and saw a box of quinoa at the checkout counter. I asked the cashier if someone was holding it, since I've wanted to cook with that for a while and never had. She said no, and was glad when I purchased it so she didn't need to go put it back! I got a reusable bag out of the deal, too. Go me!

So after playing around on Gojee for a while, I found a recipe that I'd adore. It's Chard with Potatoes and Tomatoes (you can see it here). I had most of the stuff on hand, but had to make a few substitutions. So in the end we have:

Collards with Potatoes and Tomatoes over Quinoa!
6 collard leaves, chopped
1/2 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced (I used my zester for this!)
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
Can of diced tomatoes (mine were garlic and oil flavored)
3 red potatoes, diced (I find these have more flavor)
2 tbps fresh parsley
Salt & Pepper
1 cup cooked quinoa


Toss the diced potatoes in a sautee pan with a spot of oil (or butter if you're all Paula Dean like that), S&P and let them get a bit browned. Once they're looking like proper hash-ready potatoes put them to the side and add more oil to the pan.
Cook the onion, garlic and jalapeno pepper until the onions are soft and have a bit of color on them. Toss in the collard greens and let them wilt down a little.
Once all that's done, add in the tomatoes and reaquaint the potatoes back into this sautee pan lovefest. Sprinkle the parsley on top and let the mixture cook for a bit to marry together, have weird babies and live happily ever after. Make sure you taste it a bit and adjust S&P levels.

Once the liquid from the tomatoes cooks down a bit, your food is ready! Toss it over the quinoa and nosh to your hearts content.

This is served beside a side of vodka, the best side dish there is.

I had plenty of leftovers, so I'll be making a lot of annoying quinoa-based dishes all week! Yum!

Bento: Stir fried fever

Alright so I may be going overboard with the stir fried stuff, but I'm currently heavily addicted to hoisen sauce so forgive me.
Onto the bento!
It's a simple one. I was tired. Hoisen chicken stir fried over vegetable fried rice. Next to it are baby red and orange bell peppers, a hard boiled egg and some grapes. Was simple and tasty!

BENTO: It's a rice world.

Greetings! It's been a while! I've been incredibly busy and haven't gotten to take any pictures of my lunches at all!

But this morning I had a bit of extra time and threw together a good lunch for my late night at work.

Sorry there's no pictures of it all as one, my camera is awful in the lighting of my kitchen.

Bottom tier is leftover rice patties made from a cookbook that my friend Renee got me for my birthday! They were a mix of hoisen sauce, soy sauce, rice, egg, scallions and a few other things. They were grand, though a bit of a chore to make. But Boyfriend and I seem to have had the method down by the end, so I hope we make it again!

I took the leftover patty mix and stir fried it with an egg and soy sauce and made the side rice.

Top tier is simple. Hard boiled egg, blanced asparagus, grapes, and a mix of potatoes, bell peppers and soyrizo. I needed something a bit more substantial in this bento since it has to last me til I get home at 8pm!

I hope everyone enjoys their day! (And lunch!)

BENTO: Leftover chorizo madness

Hi! Today's bento was very simple, as I just didn't feel up to cooking this weekend. I had made a fresh salmon filet on top of pasta, collard greens, and chorizo mixed with kidney beans. It was freaking delicious!

So of course I ate all of the plate, but had PLENTY of leftovers for bento fodder. I keep a container in my fridge of various leftovers to throw into bento during the week:

It really helps to have that on the mornings that I'm just too tired to throw anything together. Also makes for fast dinner!

So anyway, enough of the non-bento!

This one was easy to throw together last night. There's leftover chorizo with kidney beans over collard greens and pasta on the left. On the right, there's sliced kiwi, strawberries, apples, cucumber and some quickly fried red potato slices! There's so much green in this bento it reminded me of my friend Renee, whose favorite color is green!

Hope you enjoyed & everyone has a great start to the week =)

REVIEW: Tapeo29

I never knew much about brunch until I moved to Brooklyn. I had seen shows about it on the Food Network, and heard friends talk about having brunch here and there – but it never crossed my mind to go out on a Sunday morning for some food and drinks.

And then my good friend Bob suggested that we have brunch in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Bob's been a large influence in my newfound foodieness – most of the new foods I've tried have been with him! He's a great friend and amusingly we met each other at my old job. He was one of our regular customers and we kept in touch when I switched jobs.

So it was decided that on this particular Sunday we'd go to Tapeo29 – a nice restaurant in the Lower East Side on Clinton Street.

This place looks amazing. The large bar dominates most of the restaurant, but there's plenty of seating on the side next to the open walls, so it's fresh and sunny as well! The crowd wasn't large and everyone seemed in good spirits, including the staff.

Their brunch special includes a large array of items, served with home fries or salad and two drinks of your choice (screwdriver, mimosa or bloody mary).

I'm a chorizo addict – I admit it. I had never tried them or cooked with them before about a year ago, and once I did I was hooked! The taste of it is just perfect with eggs, on pizza, mixed with anything! I could go on and on about chorizo...but this is a review and not a chorizo-induced rant.

So Chorizo al Vino was ordered – that's chorizo glazed in a red wine sauce. It was delicious! I could just eat them all day. The wine sauce had a hint of cinnamon in it that played perfectly with the spiciness of the chorizo. It was the perfect size to share between two people – even chorizo lovers like us!

Next up was the main event of brunch: omelettes! I always have the most difficult time ordering these because I generally don't like cheese. And I especially don't like cheese with my eggs. Luckily they have three egg omelettes with two add-ons of your choice, which can include: spinach, scallions, bell peppers, sausage, sun-dried tomatoes, bacon, an array of cheeses and a few more things. This was right up my alley, so I ordered one with sausage and bell peppers.

The eggs were cooked perfectly – not runny like I've gotten far too many times at other places. I ordered crispy home fries on the side. Needless to say, my plate was cleaned off in a small amount of time.

Afterwards we sat around, chit chatting and having $5 pitchers of screwdrivers! $5! I know!

The bartender knew how to make a great strong drink that wasn't too strong for it being so early in the day. The wait staff was incredibly friendly and were very prompt with whatever we needed.

Also, and this really is worth mentioning, their bathroom is swank. I mean when I say swank, it's swank. Incredibly clean and well-kept, it really has it's own mood. Behind a black curtain and through a door is a darkly painted oasis with beautiful sinks and candles as the sole source of lighting. It's amazing.

All in all we had a great time here. The place was easy to get to (from Brooklyn), there was a good crowd and in general it was just a lovely atmosphere. The food was delicious, and I can't wait to try a tapas the next time we go!

And now I'm hungry for chorizo. Yum!

BENTO: Connecticut bound and back again!

Hi! This past Friday I got the opportunity to see some lovely friends of mine in Connecticut! I was really excited to go, and packed a lunch to eat during the day and of course a lunch to eat on the train up there. I didn't get to eat the bento on the train, unfortunately, because it was all over the place! So I saved it and ate it a bit later.

This lunch was a big one for during the day Friday. It's pretty simple: veggie noodle soup, asparagus, tuna salad sandwiches, grapes, hard boiled egg & some kiwi!

I love the LunchBots box that I got at Ohayo Bento! Please check out her store if you're looking for great quality items for not a great amount of money ;) The sandwiches are just tuna with mayo between Jamaican hard dough bread.

My second box was for eating on the train, which was just not in the cards for me at all. That's okay, because it was still delicious!

More soup! I'm souped out.

The bottom was simple. More tuna wraps with kiwi, asparagus and grapes on a bed of lettuce. I'll be cooking more exciting things, I swear. I'm pretty sick of the same thing every day!

I had a great time in CT! I got a tan playing four square, had breakfast with new friends and old friends, took a capoeria lesson (and my muscles STILL hurt), played war, went to a brewery and watched quite possibly the saddest movie in existence. It is so sad, I will not mention it here. But the weekend was GREAT and thanks to everyone who spent it with me!

Until next time, enjoy!

GUEST: Caitlin's Crabby Patties!

So my lovely friend Caitlin can bake. To be completely honest, I can't bake to save my life. Seriously, don't ask me to make anything beyond snickerdoodles. There's a reason everything I make involves a sautee pan.

With her permission, I'm posting the pictures she sent me of her adorable cupcakes! They're in the shape of crabby patties from Spongebob!

In the fridge!

Without the "tops" on

Seriously, Caitlin is awesome. When I trick someone into marrying me, she's making my cake.
Note from Caitlin: If anyone needs to recipe, let me know and I'll let her know! :)


[Note: Will be writing up my Connecticut trip tomorrow - work has been *insane!*]

Hope everyone is doing well!