What I Ate in NYC - Part Three

I had such a fabulous time in New York with Zack, Cassandra, and Ben!

In the past, I've shared my eating adventures of the Big Apple (you can read Part 1 HERE, and Part 2 HERE).

And of course this time was no exception to the wonderful and delicious food that can be had in NYC. I enjoyed items from the following lovely establishments (sorry, forgot my camera and have no photos)!

• Caracas Arepa Bar - a yummy plantain, cheese, black bean, and red pepper arepa
• Crif Dogs - veggie dog with ketchup, mustard, and relish
• Green Apple - gelato (dark chocolate and cherry)
• Falai - arugula salad, amazing fennel bread, and gnocchi
• Blue Ribbon Sushi - assorted yummy rolls and seaweed salad
• Baoguette - vegetarian banh mi
• Zucco le French Diner - champagne and a lovely salad with spinach and goat cheese wrapped in phyllo dough

Really, the food in NYC cannot be beat! And while it appears that I ate huge quantities of take out food, really most of it was very veggie-filled and in small portions. Plus, I walked at least 10,000 miles so I needed the calories!

Not mentioned above is the barrels of wine that I consumed. That goes without saying, right?

I heart NY.

Turkey, Apple, Cheddar Sandwich

I often get pretty preachy about eating real foods. It's been the basis for the transformation in my health over the past year. Giving up (for the most part) processed and artificial foods has changed my outlook on food and I have never enjoyed meals more than I have in the past year.

However, there are a few pre-packaged items that I still love, and won't give up anytime soon. The first is the amazing Luna Bar. All the flavors are delicious and they are convenient for work, school, traveling, and every day life. Love Luna Bars.

The other is Quorn brand fake meats. Naked Chik'n Cutlets are awesome on a lunchtime salad. So simple to throw on top of some greens, craisins, sunflower seeds, feta, and balsamic vinaigrette. This is my standard go-to weekday work lunch, I can assemble it in about three minutes before I rush out the door each morning. I heat up the chik'n cutlet at work and it adds a great meaty and substantial texture to lunch that gets me through the afternoon without hunger pains.

What's in these Quorn thingies? I don't really know. The box says it's 58% mycoprotein, rehydrated egg white, and pea fiber. Mycoprotein is described as a type of fungus, like mushrooms. It's most likely created in a science lab and NOT grown in the earth, which I am generally against. However, I do stress moderation in everything...and these Quorn products are very high in fiber and protein while being super low in calories and fat...plus it tastes delicious and it's simple. That's why this processed food is on my safe list for now.

In anticipation of Thanksgiving flavors (that 4-day weekend is still a month away, but who's counting?), I baked up the Turk'y Roast.

Been craving sandwiches something fierce lately so I paired the turk'y with a granny smith apple and cheddar cheese on wheat bread slathered with yellow mustard.

I was too hungry to take a photo of my sandwich (and, I forgot) so no food porn today, sorry! Just a "before" shot of the ingredients.

This sandwich was the perfect fuel to get me through a 4 mile walk and an hour of raking and bagging wet leaves. The only improvement would have been a dollop of my grandma's cranberry sauce instead of the mustard.

And speaking of apples, I'm gearing up for another trip to the Big Apple on Monday - so no blogging until at least late next week!

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

"Oh my God, YUM." Those were my actual words after eating my first bite of this vegetarian lasagna. It was so delicious that I burnt the roof of my mouth because I couldn't stop eating it even though I knew it was scorching hot.

It took a bunch of brainstorming before I figured out a way to use up all that spaghetti squash I baked earlier this week. I recalled a recipe my mom gave me years ago for something called "spaghetti pie" which was cooked noodles in the bottom of a pie pan topped with meat, veggies, and cheese. This is pretty much the same thing, just substituting spaghetti squash for the actual noodles, so - heads up Angela - this is completely gluten-free!

It's also a nutritional powerhouse. Except for 1 egg and a little bit of cheese, every item in this beautiful entree is a vegetable (or fruit, in the case of the tomatoes)! You'd never know it by tasting it.

I kept trying to think of which veggies I wanted to pair with my spaghetti squash base, and since I LOVE mushrooms and kale and they are so abundant at the markets right now, I figured it was a match made in heaven. I was right. Adding to the fall flavors party was goat cheese, which just has the perfect flavor to offset those winter veggies. However, you can add whatever veggies (broccoli or zucchini?) or meat (ground turkey?) or cheese (mozzarella?) you want to make this yummy dish - you are only limited by your imagination on this one!

So, substitute all you want as you experiment with this recipe! But I'll give you the list of the ingredients I used.

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

spaghetti squash, cooked

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

2 packages mushrooms, sliced (I used one pkg button, one pkg crimini)

1 bunch kale, stems removed and chopped

splash of red wine

roasted tomato sauce (or store bought, if you must)

1 package goat cheese

sprinkle of freshly grated parmesan cheese

Mix the squash, egg, and parmesan with your hands and pat into the bottom of a greased baking dish (mine was 9x11).

In the meantime, saute your onion in a skillet with olive oil until translucent. Add the mushrooms and keep cooking until they are browned. Add the kale, a splash of red wine, salt, and pepper and cover and cook for approximately 3 minutes. Layer the mushrooms and kale over the squash base.

Top with a layer of tomato sauce, crumbled goat cheese, and a final sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese. Bake until hot and cheese is melty and browned.

Try to let it rest a little bit before digging in!

Spaghetti Squash

This is not a recipe, and it might be incredibly boring to you if you are familiar with this particular vegetable. But I just discovered it a year or two ago and I'm still a little smitten with the miracle of spaghetti squash.

Here's what it looks like when you bring it home from the grocery store or farmer's market.

When you cut it open, it looks just like any other squash or pumpkin - orange and goopy. The miracle happens after you bake it. All you need to do to enjoy is cut it in half, remove the guts, douse with olive oil and salt/pepper, and place cut side down on a sheet pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Here is the COOL part, take a fork and scrape the flesh and it turns into spaghetti!

Speaking of freaky vegetables, have you ever seen Brussels sprouts on the stalk? It reminds me of Jack and the Beanstalk or something. It's like a scary but delicious alien vegetable.

Here is my final simple dinner of salmon, Brussels sprouts, and spaghetti squash...and it just occurred to me that I cooked each piece exactly the same...douse each olive oil, salt, and pepper and bake until done. I did add a final splash from a half a lemon to the sprouts and fish.

Peanut Butter Energy Balls

Lots of people I have talked to lately have agreed with me that the season change has caused a big increase in appetite. I'm glad to know I'm not alone in this, because I seem to be hungry all the time lately!

These energy balls are a tasty way to give you enough oomph to get through the rest of your work day, your commute home from work, a walk around a lake, a Pilates class, grocery shopping, making dinner, or whatever else you need to get accomplished. This is one of a few great recipes I got from Pam Jones, I'm hoping she won't mind that I tweaked the recipe a bit and am sharing it here.

They're not overly sweet like candy so you won't get stuck eating a bunch of them. And while they are probably pretty high in fat, they are so packed full of protein that one or two will give you absolute protection against any further hunger attacks and you won't overeat bad snacks later.

Peanut Butter Energy Balls

2/3 cup peanut butter

4 Tbsp wheat germ

2 Tbsp honey

1 cup powdered milk

Mix first 3 ingredients together and add powdered milk a little at a time until you get a good consistency - you may not need the full cup. Form into balls and roll in more wheat germ OR shredded coconut. Keep refrigerated.

Pumpkin Muffins with Pecans and Chocolate Chips

I might as well fess up right away...the title of this post is so misleading. There is no pumpkin whatsoever in this recipe. It's a total lie and I feel like a fraud. But I just can't eat all of my roasted buttercup squash fast enough - it's been made into a huge pot of soup, and a lovely fall salad, and I still had a big tupperware full of squash in my fridge. I needed a new way to use it up.

After racking my brain, a lightbulb finally went off. I thought I was so clever in mashing it up and substituting it for pumpkin in a muffin recipe. Because everyone has heard of zucchini bread or muffins, right? And what is zucchini...but simply a summer squash! Pumpkin is also in the squash family - so I felt pretty safe in my substitution. However, Squash Muffins just don't sound very appealing to me, hence the lie in the title. You can call them whatever you want to, because once you pop these little babies in your oven and your house starts to smell all spicy and sweet, all you will care about is eating them!

The batter is pretty thick and the finished muffins are super moist due to the olive oil. This is the first baking recipe I've ever improvised on - I usually follow instructions to the T but things just weren't looking right so I added a few things here and there to a recipe I found online for pumpkin bread.

The final product is sweet, but not overly sweet like dessert. It's the perfect muffin to go with coffee in the morning or to bring somewhere for a brunch with mimosas. And, despite the sugar, it's still got loads of nutrition from all that beautiful squash so you won't feel guilty for starting your day with a few chocolate chips.

Pumpkin (or Squash) Muffins with Pecans and Chocolate Chips

1 1/2 cups flour (I use whole wheat flour)

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Whisk these dry ingredients together and set aside.

3 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup olive oil

2 cups cooked and pureed squash or pumpkin (or 1 can pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling!)

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix wet ingredients together. Fold in dry ingredients. Add nuts and chocolate chips last.

Pour into greased muffin or loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees (30 minutes for muffins, 45-50 minutes for loaf - or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean).

Fall Salad with Baked Goat Cheese

Last night I was chatting with my fave Manhattan girl Cassandra and we both mentioned how we haven't eaten salads in a long time, due to the chilly weather and switch to soup-based meal planning. Reverse psychology works, I guess, because after that discussion, a salad was all I could think to eat tonight. I crammed just about every autumn flavor I could find into this gorgeous supper salad and I topped it with some show-stopping baked goat cheese medallions.

I have made a similar version of this baked cheese before with fresh mozzarella, trying to make a lighter version of restaurant mozzarella sticks. It would also be a great way to use up more of that roasted tomato sauce I have so much of for dipping! It's a pretty classy appetizer if you're entertaining.

The first thing you need to do is prepare your cheese. If using fresh mozzarella, use those balls that are the size of cherry tomatoes, or slice some off one of those big logs. For goat cheese, which is quite a bit more delicate, I used dental floss to slice off a couple pieces.

Then you put some breadcrumbs into the bottom of a muffin pan and drizzle with a little olive oil. Place your cheese on the breadcrumbs and press lightly so the crumbs stick. Top with more breadcrumbs and oil. Bake until cheese is hot and melty and breadcrumbs are golden brown.

I put these yummy medallions of hot gooey goat cheese on top of some leaf lettuce, dried cranberries, roasted buttercup squash, and toasted pumpkin seeds. This was a fabulous way to re-introduce myself to salads. I've missed them!

Fall Salad with Baked Goat Cheese

leaf lettuce

dried cranberries (mine were from the co-op and sweetened with apple cider instead of sugar)

roasted buttercup squash (leftover from my soup)

pumpkin seeds (pepitas), toasted

goat cheese, sliced

breadcrumbs

Place breadcrumbs in bottom of muffin pan and drizzle with olive oil, add sliced cheese, top with more breadcrumbs and oil. Layer all ingredients on a plate, top with baked goat cheese, salt and pepper. Serve with a freshly made balsamic vinaigrette and, of course, wine.