New Mexico Trip #2/Lemon-Asparagus Alfredo with Salmon and Roasted Squash

Good morning readers! Now I know what you're thinking, "what's the deal, Lindsey? You haven't posted in 2 weeks. You're a lazy bum." To which I answer, yes. I am a bum. I had every intention of spending the 12 days I was in Raleigh between trips home cooking but it turns out I actually had 12 days' worth of leftovers in my freezer from my last cooking excursion. Funny how that works out, isn't it? Anyway, I ate all my leftovers and went on my trip without fear of throwing away rotten food. Go me!

I was all scheduled and ready to leave for Burque on Thursday afternoon. I went to the airport 3 hours early only to find my flight was delayed 20 minutes. Huh, oh well, no biggie, I'll grab a drink at the only full-service bar in RDU's terminal 2. Side note: I made a new friend! She and I struck up a conversation and it turns out she frequents the sushi bar I used to manage and she was a very friendly person. We exchanged phone numbers and are planning to get together sometime in the next few weeks! If only everyone at airports had such a great disposition. Anyway, so 2 beers in and I hear someone a few barstools away mention that their flight was canceled and they were being rebooked to another flight at 9:00 PM. I thought, huh, it's 5:20, guess I'll check my flight status. Lo-and-behold! My flight to Baltimore was canceled. I attempted to use the app to rebook to no avail and had to get in the long, snaking line to the disgruntled and stressed Southwest employees. I was a tad annoyed that Southwest neglected to send me any notification regarding my change in flight status and instead left me to my own devices. The earliest I was going to get into Albuquerque was going to be 9:35 AM the following day. Oh well, I would take it since it was my only option.

Friday

Dark and early on Friday morning (2:30 AM to be exact), I woke up, repacked my car and drove back to the airport I had left only hours earlier. Luckily, I was able to get out of Raleigh and head to Albuquerque on time. After Nate picked me up from the airport he asked me the first thing I wanted to do and my answer, of course, was eat.

We stopped at Weck's (read original review here), and I couldn't be more happy that we did! Weck's motto is "a full-belly tradition" and there is definitely truth in advertising! I ordered a vegetable burrito with Christmas, that's red and green chile for you non-New Mexicans. This burrito was the size of my head and stuffed with eggs, peppers, mushrooms, onions, chile and served with a side of hash browns the exact same size as the burrito! Not bad for under $10. For you curious folks, no, I didn't finish it. Nate ordered a papa plate, which is literally a plate of potatoes, chile, cheese and meat served with a fresh tortilla. Needless to say we weren't very hungry for awhile after that.

After breakfast we stopped by my old law firm to say hello to my former employer. It was great seeing him and catching up, and he offered me my old job back several times. You know I'd come back in a heartbeat, Vaughn!

Then came the thrilling drive to Los Alamos. If you've never done the drive before, which I assume most of you haven't, it can be very beautiful but also very dull. There's a whole lotta nothing between Albuquerque and Santa Fe and even less nothing between Santa Fe and Los Alamos. Pretty sure I fell asleep at one point.

Friday afternoon Nate and I decided to do the Natural Arches hike off of Mitchell Trail by his current residence. The hike itself was sort of strenuous with several sections being almost completely vertical but the reward was immense. From the arch we could see for miles! It was breathtaking, and not just because we were still panting from the hike. My only complaint would be we went hiking at 3:00 in the afternoon in around 90 degree heat and very little shade. It was no bueno. But we were able to nestle ourselves in the grooves of the arch for a water break.


*Note, this picture WAS NOT taken by me, I found it on Google Image (https://www.flickr.com/photos/archseeker/15843340758)

Friday night we returned to Bathtub Row Brewing Co-Op and drank a few beers and a glass of wine before making our way over to the free concert in the park. Los Alamos excels in community events! The free concert at Ashley Pond Park was complete with food and craft vendors and lots of lush grass to settle down in. The band was good too! An interesting note about Los Alamos is there is no open container law so a lot of concert goers were cracking open the growlers they had just gotten filled at Bathtub Row and toasting to a chilly June night.

Saturday

There are limited dining options in Los Alamos so when you find a good spot you tend to become a regular. Recently Nate discovered Morning Glory.

Moring Glory, located at 1377 Diamond Dr, Los Alamos, NM 87544, is an adorable and unassuming breakfast/lunch counter in a strip mall. Based on the line nearly out the door at 9:00 AM on a Saturday, I had a feeling I was in for a treat.

Décor: the space itself is outdated. Bright orange booths, mismatched chairs, kitschy decorations on the walls.

Food appearance: pastries are served in paper bags so not a whole lot of finesse. The hot food looked absolutely divine. Especially the giant stack of pancakes a table next to us ordered.

Food taste: Nate and I stuck with pastries. I got a maple-sprinkle doughnut and a Morning Glory muffin. The doughnut was cakey, slightly sweet and let's face it, everything is better with sprinkles. The muffin though!!! The muffin was everything a muffin should be. Chock-full of chunks of fruit, shreds of carrot, chunks of walnuts - slightly sweet and deliciously moist.

Service: every employee I encountered was friendly and helpful. Behind the cash register an elderly man even recommended we get small coffees instead of larges because there were free refills anyway! It was very sweet and pretty unheard of in today's business world to have an employee (possibly he was the owner) intentionally save the customer money. Since we only ordered pastries there was no wait but even hot food seemed to come out fresh and steaming in just a matter of minutes.

Cleanliness: as I previously stated, the space itself is older but everything was clean and orderly. Even down to the bathrooms.

I would definitely recommend a trip to Morning Glory for a quick bite to eat! Grab a Morning Glory muffin for me, ok?

In 2015, Meow Wolf: House of Eternal Return opened up in Santa Fe and recently has been gaining steam as a tourist spot. After jealously watching my fellow New Mexicans social media posts, Nate and I decided to go check it out.  I won't ruin it for you but I'll let you know that it is one of the most unique things I've ever experienced in my entire life and I loved every minute of it. Oh and wear comfy clothes because you're going to be crawling around a lot.

After an exciting morning at Meow Wolf, we decided to walk around the Santa Fe Plaza and grab lunch at one of our favorite spots: The Santa Fe Teahouse. We ordered our standard scone with clotted cream and lemon curd (because what is a scone but a vessel for tasty toppings?). We decided to get two paninos (singular of panini?) and since they were both vegetarian, we just swapped halves. I ordered the Roasted Eggplant and Goat Cheese and it was absolutely magnificent! The eggplant was tender and almost smoky, the arugula peppery, the goat cheese tangy and creamy - and it went wonderfully with the mixed greens salad. Nate ordered the Honey Pear and Goat Cheese and that one had to have been my favorite out of the two we ate. The pear was sweet and almost meaty and the goat cheese made the perfect glue to hold it all together. We love the Santa Fe Teahouse and try to make a trip there whenever we're in the area.

Lemon-Asparagus Alfredo with Salmon and Roasted Squash

10 oz whole wheat pasta

1 bunch asparagus

2 Tbsp butter

Juice of 1 lemon

3/4 C heavy whipping cream

1/2 C finely shredded pecorino Romano cheese, plus more for serving

2 4 oz salmon fillets

1 yellow squash

3 Tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 Tsp Garlic powder

1 Tsp Chili powder

Since I'm sure Nate has been eating so well while he's been bachelor-ing (yeah, right) I decided to make him a home cooked meal while I was there. The result was great, the process? Not so much.

You always take for granted your own things until you find yourself in someone else's house and at the mercy of their horrifically ill-equipped kitchen. Sauce pans were scarce, colanders were not to be found and finding a decent knife turned out to be quite the task in of itself. However, despite mishaps, I think I made a pretty solid meal.

Remove hard bottoms from asparagus and cut into 1 inch pieces. Boil pasta according to package directions adding in the asparagus pieces 3 minutes before end of cooking time. Reserve 1/4 C of pasta water and drain the rest. Set the pasta aside.

Now make your delicious Alfredo sauce. In a different sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat and add in the lemon juice and heavy cream. Season with fresh cracked pepper and stir until the sauce is thick enough that it can coat the back of a spoon. Now add in your glorious cheese and stir. Keep on low until you're ready to toss your pasta. Add in a little of the pasta water if the sauce becomes too thick.

Preheat your oven to 400, line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.

Cut your squash in half and then cut again to 1/2 inch thick half-moons. Toss in a bowl with 1 Tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and chili powder and arrange on half of the baking sheet.

Season both sides of your salmon fillets with salt, pepper, garlic powder and chili powder and drizzle 1/2 Tbsp olive oil on each side. Gently rub in the seasoning into the fish.

Bake for 12 minutes or until salmon is cooked through but still tender.

Immediately before plating, toss pasta in the sauce and top each portion with more freshly grated cheese.

This recipe yielded about 4 servings.

The pasta was cheesy, rich and citrusy, the salmon was tender and juicy and the squash was just squash. But it was still very good! We enjoyed this dinner with a bottle of St Clair Mimbres Pink that my "Big" gave us for our anniversary earlier this month. 

Sunday

After a stop at Ruby K's Bagels for one final green chile cheddar bagel and a quick walk around the neighborhood it was time, once again, to take the eventful hour and a half trip to Albuquerque.

We met up with my former neighbors (hi neighbor-mom!) at Owl Café. The Owl Café, located at 800 Eubank Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87123 has been an Albuquerque institution since 1986 and it's clear why: no fuss or fills, just good cheap food.

Décor: in true diner theme, there are classic rock n' roll mementos, table-top jukeboxes and a wrap-around bar in the middle of the diner.

Food appearance: food is greasy spoon at it's best. No fancy plating here.

Food taste: We began with one of their stellar shakes - The Holy Grail. Peanut butter and chunks of Oreos. Is there any better combo? The shake was so think you had to eat it with a spoon but that was fine by me! I ordered the Albuquerque Patty Melt with a Veggie Burger and it was delightful! The bread was grilled and buttery, the onions caramelized, the cheese melty, the chile hot. What's not to love?

Service: service was a little lackluster. Our server was inattentive and I saw her eating food several feet from us at various times throughout our meal.

Cleanliness: also a little lackluster. Not that it looked dirty or anything just you could tell the servers didn't take a lot of pride in their jobs...and that carried over to the cleanliness of the restaurant.

I would recommend Owl Café for their shakes and food taste, but don't expect anything gourmet or fancy.

After lunch Nate and I had about 2 hours to kill so we headed over to our favorite New Mexican brewery: La Cumbre, taproom located at 3313 Girard Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87107. La Cumbre is well known for their high-ABV beers. Their flagship beer is their Elevated IPA boasting a host of awards, 7.2% ABV per 16 oz pour and bitter and hoppy flavor. I brought home a 4-pack that I'm proud to announce did not explode in my suitcase.

Until next time, Albuquerque! And readers stay tuned for some great recipes! I went shopping last night and bought a whole mess of veggies that I can't wait to make into food!