More Than Oil Changes at Antique Garage

On a lovely spring day in New York City's lower SoHo, a threesome headed to lunch. Seeing an open window and an interesting menu, they wandered into this lively, bohemian haunt called the Antique Garage. With mismatched chandeliers dangling from the ceiling, mirrors, and framed old portraits everywhere, they felt like they were in gay Paris!

Lots of water and one bellini later, they sampled some great Middle Eastern treats:
Tzatziki with fresh warmed focaccia
Shepard's salad with crumbled feta
Turkish burger (lamb) with sliced fingerling potato "fries"
Veggie pizzete with roasted vegetables and cheese

Seated upstairs, they were directly over the kitchen and quite steamy (hence the "lots of water") but otherwise enjoyed themselves and felt perfectly sated to head out into the great city that is NY.

The end.

SoWa Open Market

Was in NYC this weekend and all the sidewalk merchants and vendors made me excited for the SoWa Open Market...even though I'm not a huge buyer of homemade goods, I still like perusing and especially the fresh produce. I still have dreams about these HUGE donut size blueberries. Amazing. Anyway, details below, start saving cash:
SoWa Open Market
5/17-5/18 Opening weekend
10am-4pm, every weekend (except holidays)
540 Harrison Avenue

See you there!

Another great pasta night, that's RIGHT!

So, armed with my Cooking Light, I was determined to make a delicious, healthy meal for C and I. We both were sorta undecided, having had Mexican and Latin cuisine all weekend, so we opted for this very spring-y, Italian dish and were glad we did...it was delicious:

Ingredients
3/4 pound broccoli rabe or broccolini, cut into 4-inch pieces (about 1 bunch)
8 ounces uncooked farfalle (bow tie pasta)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups thinly sliced leek (about 2 large)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 pound turkey Italian sausage (we used chicken sausage from Whole Foods - 1 sweet, 2 spicy)
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Steam broccoli rabe/broccolini 3 minutes or until wilted. Remove broccoli rabe, rinse under cold water; drain and reserve 3/4 cup cooking liquid. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and keep to the side (I did this part last so that it was still warm when I added it)

Heat oil in a large (and deep) nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add leek to pan; cook 2 minutes or until wilted, stirring occasionally. Stir in pepper and garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Increase heat to medium-high. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan; saute 4 minutes, stirring to crumble. Add 1/2 cup reserved cooking liquid; cook 5 minutes or until sausage is done. Add remaining 1/4 cup reserved cooking liquid, broccoli rabe, pasta, and rind to pan; toss to combine. Cook 3-5 minutes or until thoroughly heated and mixed. Remove from heat; stir in cheeses and salt.

Makes 8 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups) and is perfect for dinner parties or weekday lunches. The sauce is somehow creamy and light, salty but not overwhelming...the ratio of cheese was perfect. We served ours with a crusty baguette and butter...followed by a Thin Mint.

With the suggested serving size, the dish is only 285 calories and tastes like 500...mmmm.

Corn dog

So, what do you get when you cross a hot dog with an ear of corn? Yeah, that's right. The food of the frozen gods - I mean, who actually makes these from scratch except that former Top Chef contestant?

I'll tell you where we had the juiciest, crunchiest, most corn-a-licious corn dog - All Star Sandwich bar in Inman Square (Cambridge, to all you Bostonians). I read the menu, skimmed right over the dog and ordered my falafel burger on wheat, all the while C is salivating secretely over this corn dog. He conveniently orders the Beef on Weck, only to add the "...and also the corn dog" to his order. Eyebrows raised, I turn my head in question..."I just really want a bite of that"

"So, you ordered the whole meal?"

"It's a corn dog. When was the last time you had a corn dog?"

"Honestly? Never, I would only eat the corn and give the hotdog to my brother."

"Just wait, I just really want a bite of a corn dog."

So, I waited, and I LOVED IT. Delicious - crispy, and corn-y, and moist, yumminess. Impossible not to like, regardless of your previous experience. I gotta give C some snaps for that order.

Yeah, we are HERE where are YOU?

So, C and I ventured to Faneuil Hall this past weekend...we were willing the nice weather to come so we could walk around, watch street performers and eat. We only ate do to frigid temps and we were still on the tail end of our cleanse, so we chose Wagamama.

Wagamama is one of my faves - shut up haters - it's a fun concept with healthy food options and I enjoy their noodle dishes. I started going there whenever I traveled to London and the bond was formed. Anyway, so we get there, wait about 5 minutes and are seated.

Then nothing.

Still nothing.

I wave down an unsuspecting dude who isn't in the traditional uniform. Let him know that we've been waiting, haven't ordered drinks, etc. He starts writing on our placemats and I'm telling him water, green tea, #37 & #38. He leaves.

More nothing. The guy that was supposed to be our waiter is dropping checks and filling water, clearing the empty spots next to us...he glances over. I lift my eyebrows like "yeah, we are HERE where are YOU?"

He asks us if we're all set. These are the first words he says to us - isn't that ridiculous? Anyway, ultimately it takes forever for us to get a check, he clears our soup bowls on the table by POURING MY SOUP INTO C'S BOWL and then leaves. I have to wave down some other unsuspecting dude to run our check. I'm ready to tackle the server. Then, C leaves him like 18% and I am baffled. So, I wrote at the top of the check "very poor service". Ugh.

I get it, that's not nice. But it was necessary...if I were paying I am not sure that I would have tipped him at all. The only thing he did for us was take our plates. I would have preferred to slip the other guys a few bucks cash and call it a day. Is that wrong?

My friend Penne is back in town

Thank the heavens, I am finally allowed to eat pasta again. I thought we'd celebrate with some vodka cream sauce and crispy, parmesan chicken. The recipe for the sauce is below, thanks to Cookinglight.com. C and I threw in some peppers and grated cheeses at the end:

Ingredients
1/2 pound uncooked penne pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup vodka
1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup whipping cream
3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil

We started the water for the pasta, then dove into the sauce preparations:
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper, and garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add vodka; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes or until liquid is reduced by about half. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt, broth, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes. Place tomato mixture in a blender or Cuisinart - whatever you've got. Be careful though, it's super hot.
Process until smooth. Return tomato mixture to pan; stir in cream. Cook 2 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in cooked pasta, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and basil. Serve immediately.

This made us PLENTY of pasta, enough for C to eat dinner the next day. It's supposed to be 4 servings, with each serving being 1 cup. We split a 1/2 lb chicken breast and added some sauteed red and yellow peppers. Delicious. Definitely going to be part of our rotation.

AND, the kicker is that each serving of pasta and sauce is only 350 calories. Woohoo!

P.S. Sorry to my dad for being utterly distracted while chatting with him Tuesday...I was amid the more complex part of the recipe!

Cleansing, Part Due

Well, as I write this I am sucking down a homemade smoothie, after eating my flaxseed oatmeal and banana and taking the a.m.'s dose of fiber. Mmm, fiber. I have to tell you that my body is responding more to this cleanse than the last one (Sept '06) and I think it's a positive response. So far, I've dropped about 5 pounds - I was not using this as a weight-loss program by any means, but it's nice to get a jumpstart. Not sure about C, but I'll have him check into that.

By far the hardest parts are the weekends...we got through the first one by purchasing a delightful product - gourmet, wholegrain, jalapeno tortilla chips. They're unbelievably good and good FOR YOU. Check 'em out here. Not a minute too soon, either, since C was totally jonesing for some snack food.

To stand a cleanse, you are met with your fair share of temptation...we had it three-fold last Saturday. We went to the Revolution opening game (Go Revs!) and we had to:
A) Tailgate (no beer, no sausages, no steak tips, no chips, no cookies)
B) Keep warm in the 32' Boston wind (no beer)
C) Survive the vendors with all their treats walking up and down the aisle repeatedly (no hotdogs, no popcorn, no cotton candy, no licorice, no hot chocolate, no beer (again))

Chris was a champ and I owe him a big sausage at Fenway in the near future. Also, some beer and a pizza since he missed out on that last night...eeks. Sounds like a lot of catching up to do in the near future.

But hey, we still feel better!

*Interested in our cleanse? This is the product we are using - check it out HERE.