Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Ravioli

Good morning, readers! It's Friday Eve and I'm feeling the effects of the work week. This morning waking up was more difficult than usual. I almost considered skipping washing my hair to get an extra 10 minutes of sleep, but ultimately I dragged myself out of bed at 6:20 AM while Nate lay a-snooze.


Yesterday my office was a full house and this morning I spent roughly an hour and a half just cleaning and reorganizing the conference rooms. Is it 5:00 yet? Anyway, enough complaining, on to the recipe!


I got home last night after a spin class and took a look in my fridge to assess my dinner options. Since Nate has a class on Wednesday nights I'm on my own, so I took stock of what was on the verge of going bad and ended up with a pretty tasty meal that didn't take a lot of time to put together.


Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Ravioli

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
6-8 baby portabella mushrooms, diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 Tbsp capers
4 Tbsp jarred pimentos
5 C spinach
1 bag frozen cheese ravioli
2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 C parmesan cheese, for serving


In a deep skillet over medium heat, sauté garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Add in the mushrooms and bell peppers and cook until softened. Add in the capers, jarred pimentos and spinach. Allow the spinach to wilt and drop the heat to low and add in the butter.


Cook your ravioli according to package directions.


When your ravioli is cooked through, toss with your vegetable mixture (see why a deep skillet is important here?) Pour the balsamic vinegar over the mixture and toss.


Spoon yourself a bowl of ravioli mix and top with shredded parmesan!


This dinner had all the flavors I was craving! Briny from the capers, sweet from the pimento, tangy from the balsamic, fresh from the veggies and of course cheesey. It was awesome! I would totally make this accidental meal again. I was able to get a heaping bowl for myself, a plate for Nate and a storage container-full for Nate to take to lunch today.


Enjoy your Friday Jr., readers!

Eclipse Trip

Good afternoon, readers! Before you say anything, I know. I know I keep failing to fulfill my promise to keep you updated on my life and for that I apologize but I will reward you with an exciting tale about Nate and my weekend to my aunt's to view The Great American Eclipse.




A few months ago Nate approached me with the idea to go visit my aunt in Western North Carolina to view the eclipse because her town was directly in the path of totality, while Raleigh was only going to have about 93% coverage. Being the total astronomy dunce that I am, I had no idea what the big deal with the eclipse was. What's so exciting about the moon covering the sun? I'd seen a partial eclipse in 2012-ish in New Mexico and remembering being wholly unimpressed. WOW WAS I WRONG. But I'm getting ahead of myself, I guess I'll have to take you back to Friday first.

Friday

I skipped my lunch hour on Friday afternoon to leave work an hour early and get on the road. The trip to my aunt's takes roughly 6 hours so I was eager to get moving before the anticipated eclipse traffic. After some traffic getting out of Durham we were off and on our way! We ran into a little congestion near Winston-Salem but were mostly on schedule.

After 4 hours of driving Nate and I were getting a little grumbly in the tumbly so we decided to stop in Asheville and eat at the Village Wayside Bar and Grille (which I may or may not have researched earlier in the week). The Village Wayside Bar and Grille is located at 30 Lodge St, Asheville, NC 28803. The restaurant is housed in a historic train depot from the late 1800s (WOW) and serves up some great grub near the famed Biltmore Estate.

Décor: the décor itself isn't really anything to write home about. There is a large outdoor patio in the front and side of the restaurant and a small line of tables in the back facing the railroad tracks. The interior of the restaurant has 2 small front dining rooms, a small bar area and a very small strip of tables lining the front windows. All-in-all, the restaurant probably seats no more than 60 comfortably.

Food appearance: a level of care is taken when plating but this place is far from gourmet. I'd probably call it upscale pub food. High quality ingredients used in classic ways.

Food taste: their menu is surprisingly expansive! They have everything from burgers and sandwiches to brisket and Pad Thai. I settled on the Cold Hot Burger, made with a veggie patty, of course. The patty itself was most likely just your basic grain-based veggie burger but the toppings were excellent! The dollop of Cold Hot Dip (blend of cheeses mixed with diced hot peppers) added the perfect spice and bite while the fresh avocado cooled everything down. My only knock would've been that the veggie patty had too many grains for my taste, but I've always preferred black bean patties anyway. I ordered a side of Confetti Couscous and honestly I could've eaten a whole bowl of that by itself! It was a blend of Israeli couscous, carrots, celery, feta cheese, edamame and kalamata olives tossed in a vinegar-based sauce. Like I said, it was incredible.

Nate ordered the Meatball Sub. He said the meatballs were flavorful and moist. I tried the marinara sauce and it was wonderful! It was the perfect balance of sweet and tomato-y. I hate when tomato sauce is too sweet. He ordered the kettle cooked chips and ranch dressing. The chips were crisp and the ranch was creamy and tangy.

We also ordered a side of sweet potato sides but they didn't arrive until our meal was almost complete.

Service: our server was friendly but wasn't very attentive. She didn't come back to check on us after our food was dropped off and we had to ask another person to track down our sweet potato fries. I guess it was 9:00 PM on a Friday night so I'll give her a little leeway.

Cleanliness: tables were turned over quickly and the bathroom was beautiful! It wasn't Angus Barn-level of beauty but it was decorated with tea lights, fancy soap dispensers and vintage-esque mirrors.

I would definitely return to Village Wayside Bar and Grill to try any of their fabulous (vegetarian) food options!

After a relaxing dinner we continued on to my aunt's.

Saturday

After a brunch of homemade vegetable quiche and grapes (thanks Aunt Bev!) we decided to wander Murphy, North Carolina. We went to the town's new art gallery (which would rival any gallery I've been to in Santa Fe), an antique store with a ton of hidden gems (like a 1994 shark Beanie Baby), and a stop at my childhood haunt: The Sweet Tooth, located at 658 Andrews Rd, Murphy, NC 28906.

The Sweet Tooth is a Murphy institution! I remember going here when I was toddling around and ordering cups of vanilla ice cream under mountains of maraschino cherries.

Décor: this place is walk-up and drive-thru service and cash only. There are a few wooden picnic tables set up around the building but I personally recommend taking your frozen bovine secretion to the nearby Konehete Park.

Food appearance: ice cream is served in Styrofoam cups with plastic spoons or sugar, cake or pretzel cones.

Food taste: their soft serve is creamy and delicious, the hot fudge is thick and rich and the cherry sauce tart. Everything is fresh and decadent. I ordered a "small" hot fudge sundae with cherry sauce. Their "small" is gigantic! I feel like I could've easily shared it with Nate and both of us would be plenty satisfied, but then I wouldn't have been able to steal some of his brownie sundae (it's called the "spouse-tax").

Service: ice cream is primarily served by teenagers and young 20-somethings but they're friendly and helpful enough.

Cleanliness: the small ice cream hut appears to be clean and orderly and the picnic tables are free of trash.

One food coma later, we were up and at it again going to a reunion of Doyle's at Cedar Hill, a restaurant my aunt frequented. Late last year, the restaurant suffered a fire and was a total loss. This "reunion" was a chance for regulars to catch up with their favorite staff members and fellow regular patrons with open bar and live music.

The event was held in the newly remodeled railroad depot and was absolutely breathtaking! The interior was "rustic chic" and I would love to get married (again) there. Hey Nate, wanna renew our vows anytime soon?

However, the acoustics of the building left much to be desired. The brick interior did not lend itself well to live music and as such, it all just sounded like a dull roar. The bad acoustics didn't stop my aunt from jumping on the dance floor with a few of her friends though!

Sunday

Sunday morning we met up with my Uncle Harry and Aunt Sue and all went to brunch at Brasstown Valley Resort and Spa, located at 6321 US-76, Young Harris, GA 30582. This resort is another childhood haunt of mine. I remember feeling so regal walking into the formal dining room in my Sunday best and eating brunch - well, truthfully I only ate champagne flute after champagne flute of chocolate mousse. I'm happy to report my palette is a bit more refined now. Their brunch is phenomenal! So many options!!! Anything from seafood salad and mini Belgian waffles to smoked salmon and bread pudding. I ate way too much and enjoyed every minute of it. I began with a mixed greens salad, Caesar salad and cheese and crackers, then quickly moved on to smoked salmon, mashed potatoes, peel-and-eat shrimp and red velvet cake with vanilla ice cream. It was heavenly and well worth the 2000+ calories I ingested.

After a walk around the picturesque resort grounds, we headed up to the top of Bell Mountain to take in the views above Hiawassee, Georgia and Lake Chatuge. The road up to the Bell Mountain lookout was harrowing and slow-going thanks to the red Honda that would unexpectedly slam on its brakes but the views were awesome! The Lake, for instance, was much larger than I even knew! The views were breath taking and, of course, selfie-worthy.

My aunt and I took a walk around her local forestry preserve and caught up. It was wonderful to spend one-on-one time with her as an adult and catch up on our lives.

Shockingly, we got hungry that night and (once again) over-indulged. Aunt Bev had found a recipe online for Lasagna-Stuffed Mushrooms and we thought it would be the perfect meal to make together!


Lasagna-Stuffed Mushrooms

4 large portabello mushroom caps, stems removed, cleaned and left whole (try to get ones with high edges)
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1/2 C tomato sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
4 C fresh spinach
1 1/2 C ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 C parmesan cheese
1 C mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


Using a spoon, carefully scrape out the mushroom ribs being careful not to tear the cap. Brush the top of each mushroom with 1 Tbsp olive oil and season the interior with salt and pepper. Spoon a little bit of tomato sauce in the interior of each cap and set aside.


In a skillet over medium heat, sauté garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Wilt all the spinach and season with salt and pepper. The original recipe called for frozen spinach but after my Lasagna, I decided that using fresh would be best.


In a large bowl, combine ricotta with egg, parmesan, wilted spinach and season with salt and pepper. Spoon some of the mixture on top of the tomato sauce and top with mozzarella cheese.


Bake the mushrooms for 20 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and golden.


Now, our mushrooms weren't deep enough for all the delicious filling and thus they collapsed on themselves, it didn't change the flavor at all but they were a little less-contained.


We served these mushrooms with linguini (topped with leftover lasagna-fixings), crusty bread to sop everything up, and a Robert Mondovi Red Blend to round out the meal. Aunt Bev was tickled by my decision to play "Italian Restaurant Classics" (thank you Spotify) while we ate.
 

Monday

After an entire weekend of over-indulgence, I decided to go on a run. I've become so accustomed to running on treadmills that I had forgotten how hard running up hills was! I ran a hilly mile and a half loop and, much to my surprise, my mile time was only affected by 30 seconds.

Since we were planning to watch the eclipse from Uncle Harry and Aunt Sue's boat, we decided to make deli sandwiches for everyone to munch. I put my Sandwich Artist skills from my first high school job to use and we ended up with 10 or so giant sub sandwiches for 5 people.

We spent the morning swimming in Lake Chatuge, listening to sun-themed songs and munching on junk food and beers until the eclipse began around 1:10 PM. I'll say this part of the eclipse wasn't very exciting. We donned our ISO approved glasses and stared at the sun to watch the small black circle make its journey. Nothing really got exciting until around 2:00 PM when the sun was around 75% covered.

At 2:00 PM we noticed that colors seemed less vibrant, the temperature began dropping and crickets began chirping. Hiawassee, Georgia began totality at 2:35 PM and everything happened very quickly. The sky was suddenly black, Venus was the brightest thing in the sky and the Sun looked like something out of a science fiction movie! I can't even fully comprehend or describe what the scene looked like other than nothing short of magnificent. Nate caught a picture of all our reactions.

Nate and I departed Hiawassee at around 3:00 PM to begin our journey back to Raleigh and that's when things got a little hairy. I had input our address into our GPS and was given an arrival time of 8:30 PM...we did not get home until 1:00 AM! Nate and I anticipated that traffic would be heavy due to all the signs on I-40 indicating the same but nothing quite prepared us for the gridlock we experienced on our way home Monday.

We had been driving for 4 hours and had not even reached Asheville, 90 miles from my Aunt's! It was a disaster! The eclipse was a wonderful once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I think I'll just stay home for the next one!

I hope you enjoyed the eclipse from where you were and did not sacrifice your retinas!

Nate's Welcome Home Meal

Good evening, readers! I am ecstatic to report that Nate is safe and sound here in Raleigh (he's currently trying to locate his cat, Pickles for forced snuggles). He arrived yesterday around 1:00 in the afternoon, much to my surprise. I wasn't expecting him until closer to 4:00 PM and as such I was in all my pajama'd glory baking and cooking away.

After a 30 hour drive from New Mexico to our second home, I decided Nate and Papa Hart could use some home cooking. Additionally, I've never cooked for my father-in-law and decided it was a good opportunity to prove to him his son is well fed. I challenged myself with this meal by making 4 dishes I've never made before: lasagna, rosemary focaccia bread, homemade tomato sauce, spiced cupcakes with cream cheese icing.

Let's get to it, shall we?!

I decided to bake the cupcakes on Friday night to give them plenty of time to cool.

Lager Spiced Cupcakes

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 Eggs
1 C brown sugar
4 oz buttermilk (or 1 C skim milk mixed with 2 Tbsp while vinegar)
6 oz lager beer (I used a Fosters)
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 C flour
1 Tsp baking soda
1 Tsp salt
1 Tsp cinnamon
1 Tsp ground coriander
1/2 Tsp ground ginger
1/2 Tsp cardamom
1/2 C spiced rum

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Add in milk, beer and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices. With your mixer on low, gradually add in the dry ingredients in batches until the batter is totally mixed.

Line a standard muffin tin with cupcake liners and fill each liner with 1/4 C of batter. Bake cakes for 20 minutes, rotating tray halfway through. Remove the cooked cakes to a wire rack. While the cakes are still warm, brush each cake with spiced rum and repeat with remaining batter. I was able to get 18 cakes using my 1/4 C ice cream scoop.

The cakes themselves resemble the texture of a carrot cake - meaning slightly sponge-y and dense but in the best way. My house smelled like fall and it was excellent! By the way, is anyone else ready for summer to be over? Cozy sweaters, boots, pumpkin spice EVERYTHING. 

Cream Cheese Icing

4 oz cream cheese, softened
4 oz unsalted butter, softened
1-2 C confectioners sugar
1 Tsp vanilla extract

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine all ingredients until stiff peaks form. I don't like my cream cheese frosting to be overly sweet, I like to taste the slightly tangy cream cheese flavor so I only used 1 C of confectioners sugar but this is just personal preference.

Homemade Tomato Sauce

1/2 C olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 32 oz cans crushed tomatoes
2 dried bay leaves
4 Tbsp unsalted butter (optional)

I followed Giada De Laurentiis' recipe because who better to teach me how to make tomato sauce than a woman who randomly throws in Italian accents whilst narrating what she's doing?

In a large dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat and saute onion and garlic until soft and translucent, roughly 10 minutes.

Add in the celery and carrots, salt and pepper and cook for about 10 minutes. Drop the heat to low and add in the cans of tomato and bay leaves. Simmer for 1 hour.

After the hour is up, remove the bay leaves and check the seasonings. If the sauce is too acidic, add in the unsalted butter 1 Tbsp at a time until the sauce is balanced.

In a blender or food processor, puree 1-2 C of sauce at a time until smooth. I used my blender for this because I didn't feel like moving my food processor from it's designated spot on top of my refrigerator. I used a coffee mug to transfer the sauce to the blender (a trick I learned while watching Rachel Ray's talk show this week) and then poured the pureed sauce into 2 mason jars for storage. The sauce will keep in the freezer up to 6 months!

I highly recommend making your own tomato sauce at least once in your life! It's definitely worth it! I'm not going to lie to you, it's a pain in the ass and takes a chunk of time to prepare but you will be rewarded with a velvety and flavorful sauce that you prepared yourself.

Rosemary Focaccia Bread

1 Tsp active dry yeast
1 Tsp sugar
1/2 C warm water
1 Tbsp olive oil, plus more for brushing
1 Tbsp dried rosemary
1/4 Tsp salt
1 1/4 C flour
1/4 Tbsp kosher salt
Fresh cracked pepper

In a liquid measuring cup, microwave 1/2 C water for 30 minutes. Stir in 1 Tsp active dry yeast and 1 Tsp sugar and let sit for 5 minutes or until foamy. In your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine oil, rosemary, salt, flour and yeast mixture. Mix until a dough ball forms around the dough hook.

On a floured surface, knead dough for 5 minutes. Coat a medium-sized bowl with olive oil, place dough inside, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until the dough ball has doubled in size.

After the hour, remove the dough from the ball, knead for an additional minute and form into a loaf. Place loaf on a parchment paper or silicone mat lined baking sheet and allow to rise uncovered for an additional 1-2 hours or until the loaf has doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake the loaf for 20 minutes. Halfway through the baking, remove the bread, brush with olive oil and rotate pan.

The focaccia had the perfect crunchy exterior and light and airy interior with the rosemary flavor shining through. It was delicious and perfect for soaking up all the great lasagna sauce and homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

Spinach Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

4 C spinach
6 large strawberries, sliced into rounds
1/2 log goat cheese, cut into chunks
1/2 C slivered almonds
1/2 C Balsamic Vinaigrette (recipe below)

In a large salad bowl, toss all ingredients to combine.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1/4 C balsamic vinigar
1/2 C olive oil
1/2 Tsp salt
Fresh cracked black pepper
1 Tsp Herbs de Provence

Combine all ingredients in a squeeze bottle and taste check. Adjust seasonings accordingly.

Now for the piece de resistance: the lasagna.

Once again, this was adapted from Giada because the girl knows her stuff.

Classic Italian Lasagna

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground turkey
3 oz baby portabello mushrooms, sliced and stems removed
Bechamel Sauce (recipe to follow)
1 lb lasagna sheets, prepared
15 oz whole milk ricotta cheese
2 eggs, beaten
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 packages frozen spinach, thawed and dried
3 C shredded mozzarella
1/2 C shredded Parmesan cheese

Cook turkey over medium heat until no longer pink and drain off excess fat. Allow to cool completely. Set aside.

Prepare lasagna sheets according to package instructions and allow to cool completely. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine ricotta cheese, eggs and seasoning. Set aside.

Thaw spinach and drain excess liquid. *Note: if I make this again, I'm using fresh spinach. The frozen spinach had an unpleasant stringy quality and the flavor tasted like...freezer. I would saute the spinach with a clove of garlic.

Preheat oven to 375.

Pour 3 C of bechamel sauce in the bottom of a 9X13 casserole dish. Cover bechamel with overlapped pasta sheets. Add all the spinach in a single layer. Top with all the ricotta mixture. Make another layer of overlapping lasagna sheets. Next place all the turkey on HALF of the lasagna. As some of you may recall, I am a vegetarian, therefore I made half of the lasagna with a layer of fresh mushrooms.

Cover with another layer of overlapping lasagna sheets and another 3 C of bechamel sauce. Top with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place casserole dish on prepared baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes uncovered. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes.

The lasagna was cheesy, hearty and oh-so-delicious. As I said, my only change would be to use fresh spinach in place of frozen.

Bechamel Sauce

5 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 C all purpose flour
4 C whole milk
Pinch nutmeg
2 C tomato sauce

In a large pot over medium heat, melt the butter completely. Whisk in the flour and gradually pour in the milk, whisking constantly until smooth. Simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes until thick. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.

Remove from heat and whisk in nutmeg and tomato sauce until combine. Allow to cool completely before use.

This meal was decadent, hearty and (hopefully) reminded Nate what he was missing while he was gone for the last 3 months. It also paired well with the Cabernet Sauvignon that Papa Hart brought over.

Stay tuned for more fantastic recipes!

Green Monster Pesto with Zoodles and Roasted Salmon

Ok, ok, I am awful at keeping you updated. I know...I apologize. I've been eating Vegetarian Pizza and leftover Mediterranean Chopped Salad Sandwiches for the last week so not much to report there. However, tomorrow I'm having a cooking extravaganza for Nate's (and Papa Hart's) arrival in Raleigh! What's on the menu?


Homemade rosemary bread! Spinach salad with goat cheese and strawberries! Lasagna!




BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! And lager spiced cupcakes with cream cheese frosting!




You wish you were married to me right now, don't you? Sorry boys (and girls) but I've been off the market for 5 years.




But before I can make you jealous with pictures and descriptions of the (hopefully) beautiful food I produce, you have to suffer through last night and tonight's dinners. Sorry, I'm not sorry.




After a full day of work, a 3 mile run (uh...hello 9 minute miles), and a work-related trip to Costco, I was pretty desperate for food. I battled an internal struggle to order the $1.99 Costco pizza (seriously, it's sublime), and had there been samples, I may have tackled an employee. Things were getting desperate to say the least but I stuck to my guns and did not give into the gooey-cheesy-saucy-crunchy-borderline-religious experience that is Costco pizza. I instead decided to make Green Monster Pesto with Zoodles and Roasted Salmon.




This pesto is so versatile and fun fact: YOU CAN FREEZE IT! During all my traveling this summer I learned you can actually freeze a wide variety of things - cheese, cooked potatoes, pesto, bread! There's a whole world of freezer-capable foods and I had no idea! Anyway, so after letting it thaw for a day, I added in about 1 tsp of olive oil and bam! Delicious kale pesto.




Green Monster Pesto with Zoodles and Roasted Salmon

2 Tbsp Green Monster Pesto
1 small zucchini, spiralized
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
Non-stick cooking spray
1 3 oz salmon fillet (get on that Aldi frozen seafood train, y'all)
2 Tbsp olive oil, plus more for reconstituting your frozen pesto
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pinch garlic powder


2 Tsp seafood seasoning (I used Chesapeake Bay seasoning from Penzeys Spices)


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.




Liberally spray a piece of foil with nonstick spray. Coat your salmon with 1 Tbsp olive oil per side and season both sides of the fish. Roast for 15-20 minutes or until flaky and cooked through.




When your salmon has about 10 minutes remaining, spray a deep skillet with non-stick spray and turn on the burner to medium-high heat. Throw in your garlic and bell pepper and cook until the peppers begin to blister. This took me about 5 minutes.




Create your zoodles using your spiralizer and be careful not to cut yourself trying to finish off the zucchini (I did this...it hurt. I bled. Thankfully not into my food.) Now, if you read my previous zoodle blog you'll recall that I warned zoodles are very easy to overcook! So only cook them for about 5 minutes or less. Throw the zucchini into the pan with 2 Tbsp of pesto and toss together with the bell peppers. By now, your salmon should be pink and delicious!




Plate your zoodles and salmon and dig in!




Since I am currently "Hart, Party of 1", this meal was only 1 serving but could easily be doubled, tripled, quadrupled and so on to accommodate larger parties.




Stay tuned for tonight's dinner! I'm thinking something with mushrooms...oh! And happy Friday!

Vegetable Breakfast Scramble and Vegetarian Pizza

Good evening, readers! I know I said I was going to do better at posting more regularly and haven't really fulfilled that promise but I have an excellent excuse! This week was hectic and I ended up eating a lot of leftovers of things I've already blogged about.

Anywho, I thought that I'd hit you guys with two posts back-to-back! My breakfast and my dinner for today! Lucky you!

This morning I actually slept in (for the first time in about a month) and woke up with a growling stomach. After trying to determine if I wanted cereal, a pancake, or something a little more substantial, I took a look at all the beautiful veggies in my kitchen and settled on a vegetable scramble with leftover pita bread.

Vegetable Breakfast Scramble

1 garlic clove, minced
2 green bell pepper rings, chopped
3 baby portabella mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 C spinach
6 Kalamata olives, finely chopped
3 banana peppers, diced
2 eggs
1 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pinch red chile powder (or cayenne)

Spray a skillet with non-stick spray and set over medium heat. Saute garlic, bell peppers and mushrooms in until softened.

Add in the spinach leaves and cook until wilted. Add in the olives and banana peppers and cook for 2 more minutes.

In a small bowl, beat eggs with heavy cream and seasonings. Pour the eggs into the pan and cook until light and fluffy and scrambled egg-y. Enjoy this delicious and filling scramble with some leftover pita bread of a piece of toast.

I spent the morning being a bum. I am always very late on the "what's trending" front of television and movies (seriously, I started watching The Walking Dead just last year), anyway, I decided to give Stranger Things a try and it's safe to say I'm hooked now. I spent the morning binge watching and the afternoon shopping for house essentials, purging old things throughout my apartment and cleaning.

This evening I decided to make myself a vegetarian pizza inspired by my favorite take-and-bake pizza establishment.

Vegetarian Pizza

1 (Finally) Perfect Pizza Crust
1 C garlic sauce (recipe to follow)
1 can artichoke heart quarters, drained
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 C spinach
2 Roma tomatoes, sliced into rounds
1 zucchini, sliced into rounds
1/2 C Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/2 C - 3/4 C mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spread pizza dough onto a baking sheet and poke holes using a fork.

Spread sauce in an even layer and top with vegetables and cheeses. Season with some fresh cracked pepper.

Bake for 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly and delicious.

Garlic Sauce

3/4 C light ranch dressing
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tsp garlic powder
1 Tsp salt
Fresh cracked red pepper, to taste
1 scallion (green parts only), finely diced
1/4 C Parmesan cheese, shredded

Mix everything together in a bowl until well combined.

The crust was the perfect combination of crunchy and chewy, the sauce was garlic-y and flavorful, the vegetables were soft but not mushy, the toppings were all held in place by the cheese - basically it was a marvelous pie. The one plus side to being temporarily husband-less is that I have 9 out of 10 slices to eat for the rest of the week! Score for me!

Enjoy what remains of your weekend, readers! I think I'm going to crack open a beer and watch a movie with my kittens. Stay tuned for more recipes!

New Mexico Trip #4

Good morning, readers! Happy Tuesday! I know I've been awful at posting lately and have literally no excuse other than I'm far too lazy to cook. My Vegetarian Enchiladas lasted me the entire 9 days between making them and leaving for my trip on 7/26. Safe to say I'm not going to eat enchiladas for awhile. Anyway, I know you're just dying to hear about my final trip to Nuevo Mexico so on to the post!

Wednesday

I flew into the Albuquerque International Sunport at 10:40 PM Wednesday evening and was greeted by my father. He drove me to my hotel but the night was still young so we decided to grab a beer at nearby Stone Face Tavern, 8201 San Pedro Dr NE, Albuquerque, NM 27113. I have been to Stone Face once before with some girl friends of mine and recalled their delicious green chile cheese fries (YUMMY) and could think of absolutely nothing that sounded finer at 11:30 at night to go with my La Cumbre Elevated IPA.

Décor: The tavern is your average sports-themed bar. TV's, memorabilia, billiards and darts, volleyball courts, and beer posters.

Food taste: Unfortunately for me, we arrived too late to partake in the glory that is green chile cheese fries so we settled for the fried sampler platter. It was your average fried delights: fried zucchini, fried mushrooms and mozzarella sticks with marinara and ranch dressing for dippers. It was ok, nothing to rave about. Maybe I'm just a little salty about the lack of green chile cheese fries.

Food appearance: As with the taste, the appearance wasn't anything special - red plastic boat lined with wax paper and plastic sauce cups.

Service: our waitress was less than attentive...or friendly. The bar was far from busy yet she seemed very keen on spending as little time as possible with us. We had to stop her several times from running off while we were still giving our orders. I guess a middle-aged man and his daughter aren't nearly as fascinating as the group of younger men a few tables down. We also happened to be visiting the bar on Bikini Top Wednesday. There's just something inherently uncomfortable about being served by scantily clad women when you're with your parents.

Cleanliness: everything looked reasonably clean, didn't pay too much attention to be honest though. After the 6 hours I spent traveling preceded by the 7 hour workday I endured, the cleanliness of this bar was the last thing on my mind.

I would recommend heading to Stone Face during their food-serving hours and eat a plate of green chile cheese fries in my honor, or head there for a beer if food isn't your fancy. The Tavern has a great selection of New Mexican beers for pretty reasonable prices.

Thursday

Thursday morning I woke up bright-eyed and bushy tailed at 6:00 AM. I had slept about 4 hours but just couldn't sleep anymore so I decided to check out the hotel's gym. Of course I had forgotten my running shoes so I opted for a 30 minute elliptical workout followed by 15 minutes of squats/core exercises. After I showered and got ready for the day, I met my "big sister" Monica for breakfast. It was lovely to catch up with her after so long! We went to Weck's because I just couldn't stand the thought of not eating a delicious meal made from potatoes, chile and cheese for at least another year.

After breakfast my father and I decided to take a trip to the Albuquerque Museum near Old Town. The museum hosts 7 galleries with especial rotating exhibits and New Mexican and Native American art. I wanted to go because they are currently showing an exhibit about the New Mexican film and television industry. Did you know New Mexico has been used as a filming location since the '40s?! I can't even count how many old Westerns were filmed in my beautifully diverse home state! More recently, however, it has been used for a variety of projects, and no I'm not just talking about Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul!

New Mexico has been used as a stand-in location for Afghanistan and Iraq, for alien planets and Mexico. Now if you don't find that impressive than I don't know what will impress you. Ever heard of Transformers? How about 3:10 to Yuma? Maybe the Avengers? Yep, my state has been featured in all of these films along with around 800 others. This exhibition features movie posters, actual props and costumes and scripts complete with edits!

You may be asking yourself, "Lindsey, if there is all these great things at this exhibit, why didn't you take pictures?" Well, let me tell you, I took exactly 1 picture at this exhibit of some recognizable Breaking Bad objects and no sooner as I had pressed the center button on my iPhone's camera had a very diligent security guard approached me and told me to "delete that picture along with any others immediately". In my defense, there were no signs I saw that indicated picture-taking wasn't allowed but I followed the rent-a-cop's orders. There you have it, my brush with the law.

We also saw an exhibit about tuberculosis and New Mexico; now if that doesn't just thrill ya'!

After 2 hours of museum we decided to go to lunch and just happened to pass by a restaurant I'd been wanting to try for years: Golden Crown Panaderia!

The Panaderia, located at 1103 Mountain Rd NW, Albuquerque, NM 27102, is an adorable little building with a bright and sunny patio and you can unfortunately easily miss it if you're not watching closely.

Décor: everything is funky and homey. The chairs and tables don't match and there are wind-catchers on the patio.

Food appearance: everything looked and smelled divine! The Panaderia is foremost a bakery. They make gigantic loaves of bread, biscochitos, polvorones (Mexican Wedding Cookies), and conchas in addition to pizza dough and empanadas.

 

Food taste:  I ordered the Avocado Wonder Sandwich on Famous New Mexico Green Chile Bread and it was just incredible! The bread was smoky and spicy and perfectly paired with the creamy avocado. My sandwich was accompanied by tortilla chips, spicy queso and a pickle (side note: I hate pickles). My dad ordered the Golden Crown's Combination pizza (pepperoni, sausage, black olives, red onions, bell peppers and mozzarella cheese) on Famous New Mexico Green Chile Crust and while I only tasted the crust, I knew it must've been marvelous. Our meals were also served with biscochitos. These, for you non-New Mexicans, are traditionally eaten during Christmas-time and are crisp and flavored with cinnamon and anise.

Service: the ordering process involves ordering at a window, taking a number and then having your food served to you. The staff was friendly and patient with us while we read the chalkboard menu. We were even treated to 2 free biscochitos before we even ordered!

Cleanliness: the restaurant was clean and free of dirty tables.

I would definitely recommend a trip to Golden Crown Panaderia! They have apparently been in business for 25 years (though, truthfully I hadn't heard of them until maybe 4-5 years ago). Definitely go and grab yourself a giant loaf of Famous New Mexico Green Chile Bread and stay for a pizza and a few biscochitos.

After lunch we had some time to kill so we took a trip to Green Jeans Farmery. This is a small collection of restaurants and shops at the intersection of Carlisle and I-25 and constructed out of shipping containers. It a very interesting concept but could definitely have a better location. We grabbed a beer at the Santa Fe Brewing taproom and sat on their rooftop patio and got a 360 degree view of cars exiting the interstate, the neighboring hotel, and the traffic jam forming on Carlisle.

Then came the time I was waiting for: FINALLY SEEING MY HUSBAND! We met up at the Don Quixote tasting room at 18057 US 84/285, Santa Fe, NM 27506. You may or may not recall that we attempted to visit their Los Alamos tasting room on my previous trip. I bought a bottle of blue corn vodka to tide me over for the next year (vodka is my drink of choice).

We were invited to dinner by Nate's advisor at North Carolina State University that night. We decided to go to Gabriel's of Santa Fe. Nate had eaten here before but I had not so I was anxious to see how they stacked up to my New Mexican standby's.

Décor: everything was very traditionally "New Mexican" meaning adobe walls, carved wood chairs, Georgia O'Keefe-style paintings on the walls, and a large patio.

Food appearance: everything was presented well. It's hard to make New Mexican food look gourmet because it doesn't really need to. Let's face it: anything "smothered" isn't going to look pretty but it's going to taste excellent and that's what matters.

Food taste: we began with the Guacamole Especial, which was amazing! I love guacamole and would consider myself somewhat of an authority on the subject so when I say their's was good, best believe it was great.

Nate ordered the Cochinita Pibil, which was pork so I didn't try it but he said it was good. Meanwhile I ordered the Veggie Taco Salad, which I probably wouldn't do again. The restaurant has an entire vegetarian menu but I was trying to eat light and made a mistake.

The salad itself was ho hum, but the presentation was weird. I thought it was just going to be a mix of veggies put into a salad but it was a mix of steamed veggies put on top of a layer of rice and mixed greens. Let's do some thinking here, shall we? Fresh greens + steamed veggies = wilted salad. Maybe we should rethink that one Gabriel's...

Friday

Friday began with breakfast burritos and non-disappoint-muffins at Morning Glory. I was beyond thrilled to finally eat my Morning Glory muffin. It was incredible.

After breakfast Nate and I took the exciting hour and a half drive to Albuquerque where we were rear-ended in Santa Fe. It was extremely minor, zero visible damage to the Jeep and the GMC that hit us had a small dent from the impact. Still an inconvenience regardless.

Once in Albuquerque, we took a trip to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History (601 Eubank, Albuquerque, NM 27123). This museum is right up my husband's alley and fun fact: the first place he visited when he visited New Mexico before college (how adorable!). The Museum is filled with information about the Manhattan Project, the Cold War, and the nuclear industry today. It's a great little museum for science or history buffs. The back of the museum is also home to several airplanes, jets and rockets in various states of repair. Some are far nicer than others.

After the museum, Nate and I went to one of our college haunts: Gyros.

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I adore Mediterranean food. It's just so great! It's fresh, it's tangy, it's full of flavor! ALL THE BEST THINGS! I also appreciate how well it lends itself to vegetarianism.

Nate and I used to go to lunch at Gyros weekly when we began dating (5 years ago). Actually, I think we ate there before we took our engagement pictures as well.

Décor: the restaurant has a collection of 10 tables in the front, and a narrow hallway of tables near the back. The restaurant has a large painted map of the Mediterranean region on one wall and that's about it as far as décor goes.

Food appearance: food is served on brightly colored plastic plates but there is some attention to detail made. But once again, the taste is key here, right?

Food taste: we began our meal with Saganaki (flaming cheese). If you haven't eaten this delightful delicacy, you're not really living. The cheese is melty, gooey, cheesy, citrusy from the fresh squeeze of lemon juice used to extinguish the flame and let's face it - cheese is just good. My main dish was the Spanakopita salad. I adore spanakopita - the layers of flaky pastry, the delicious spinach and feta mixture and, when topped with a small drizzle of Gyros' house made Greek dressing, damn near heavenly! I have no idea what they do to this dressing but it's so good I'd drink it.

Service: similarly to Gold Crown, you walk up to place an order and then it is brought to your table. The staff is friendly and efficient. Everything is served quickly and hot and tables are cleaned with such speed you hardly even knew they were dirty.

Cleanliness: very clean even during lunch rushes.
 

I would recommend Gyros. It's a cozy spot with cheap food (all dishes under $10) and good service. Nothing is gourmet or too fancy but you're going to leave full and with a smile.

We came to Albuquerque for my "twin" Stephanie's birthday party and decided it was a good idea to stay at a hotel for the night to avoid driving back too late. Hotel Parq Central was the obvious choice. I love this hotel and will shamelessly promote it whenever I have the opportunity. STAY AT THIS HOTEL IMMEDIATELY.
Also for funsies, here's a picture of Nate and I and my cephalopod travel friend (I'm basically 5, so judge me).

Saturday

After a delicious breakfast at the hotel and a dip in the hot tub, Nate and I went to the Rio Grande Zoo. I love the zoo, I always have! Zoos and aquariums are my favorite places to visit! I love seeing all the animals, imagining what it'd be like to own an ocelot as a pet (they're just big kitties, right?), and watching all the little kids experience so much joy and excitement!

They've recently updated a few of the exhibits too so it was nice to come back to the zoo and have it be slightly different than when we left. They did however get rid of the chameleons, major disappointment!

After returning to Los Alamos, Nate and I walked to Papa Murphy's pizza and picked up dinner. The evening was spent eating pizza and watching movies. It was lovely to just spend time enjoying each other's company. Oh and drinking beers. Look at this super cool beer from Santa Fe Brewing. Delicious blonde ale with a pretty dope label.

Sunday

We wanted to delay the down time in Albuquerque so we spent the majority of the day in Los Alamos. There is very little to do in Los Alamos on a Sunday morning. We went on a long walk around the town and Fuller Lodge, had breakfast at Ruby K's Bagel Shop (snagged myself a couple bagels to take back to Raleigh) and then just lounged around until it was time to head to 'Burque and the airport.

I hope you enjoyed the recount of my trip! Albuquerque will forever be my home and my heart and I will always love visiting, but I'm glad that all my traveling this summer is over and my husband will be back in Raleigh in a few short weeks! I promise I'll do better at posting more regularly!

Until next time!