FAB RECIPE: SAUTÉED KALE

Photo by Jason L

I finally got some kale back in my life over the weekend, just in time to start monday morning off with a kale smoothie. While getting the kale ready and making it blender friendly I had some left over. I dont particulary like to eat kale raw, and even when its raw in my kale smoothies, I add a little agave to cut down the strong grass like flavor. But I do love kale when it is cooked. Absolutely! I could eat it for days by the bowl full, slightly crunchy, plain and simple sautéed with garlic and oil. So thats exactly what I did with my left over kale. A tip that I find helpful is to chop the kale in rather small pieces, versus leaving them in large clusters, which takes longer to saute. This quick and easy side dish, I made in under 10 minutes which is the best part... well, actually eating the sautéed kale was the best part! 


SAUTÉED KALE : 

Fresh kale, trimmed, washed and chopped 
fresh garlic cloves, peeled and smashed 
oil 
salt
pepper 

 In a large saute pan, heat oil over medium - high  heat. Add freshly cleaned and chopped kale, along with garlic cloves. Season kale with salt and pepper and toss kale in skillet, coating evenly with oil. Saute kale, just until cooked through about 5 minutes. 

FOODIE QUICKIE: CHARLIE'S PLACE

Spicy salmon and rainbow roll 

Let me start off by saying, I absolutely LOVE sushi... a various number of kinds, prepared different ways, I just love it and I want a lot of it. I also have this "thing" about sushi as well...  For me since sushi is so delicate and mostly...well raw, I always take into consideration the surrounding area of the sushi restaurant. I have my qualms about location, and neighborhood, etc. Lets face it, its RAW FISH. Would you, being the fabulous eater that you are, want to eat sushi in just any surroundings? No... I didnt think so. 

I actually kind of feel bad even writing this because I really did dog out Charlie's Place, a small restaurant on Madison Ave in Harlem. I had preconceived, stuck up..chef notions of this place and I didn't eat in here for a long time, YEARS....Until recently..and now Im addicted and I cant stop! 

Charlie's Place is a small Asian themed restaurant that covers the basics.. But the good basics. Bento box's, Katsu, tempura, sushi and more are all freshly made in this small seemingly popular neighborhood restaurant. There isn't a place like this on that side of Harlem, which is great because there are always people in there when I go to grab a spicy salmon roll. I work right around the corner from Charlie's so I have to keep my cool and not have lunch there every single day. I have had an assortment of rolls and a few of the appetizers, and each time I pop in to feed my sushi craving the food is always super fresh. I usually dine in when I have time, and sit at a table and patiently await for my rolls to be sat infront of me, but I have also got my sushi to go, and its equally a delicious experience

Its not a luxurious sushi place, but the fact that the food is fresh, affordable, and of great quality is all the more reason that I keep coming here. The restaurant provides little things and pays attention to little details, and the staff is very friendly,which I love.  I apologize for judging this book by its cover.... because as I type I want like 4 rolls on the menu... 

My recommendations: 
~Shrimp Shumai 
~Rock Shrimp 
~Spicy Salmon Roll 
~French Roll 
~Rainbow Roll 
~Hawaiian Roll 

Charlie's Place 
1960 Madison Ave (btwn 125th and 126th street) 
New York, N.Y. 10035 
212. 410. 0277 
646. 789. 8061 

FABULOUS ACCIDENT: BLACKBERRY LEMON FROZEN YOGURT (SORBET)

Photo by PG

I LOVE sweets.. I think I have stressed this before..time and time again. I dont keep a lot of sweet treats in my house because I will literally eat all of them in a couple of sittings. What the hell, I will eat them all in the same day. I especially love ice cream, and frozen yogurt, and sorbet, but like I said I dont know how to behave. 

I  had a sweet tooth while doing some blogging and the cauliflower and carrots I have in my fridge were just not going to cut it! See, this is what happens when your desperate for a sweet treat fab eaters.. You put your creative/chef/thinking cap and and you start to conjure up all the things you can do with a fridge full of items that absolutely DO NOT MATCH. I am still continuing with my smoothies and I also have a new NINJA blender that I recently received. I recall from the infomercial that the blender made some form of frozen soft serve. With frozen blackberries in hand, and some vanilla yogurt, I whipped up some blackberry lemon frozen yogurt.. or sorbet. I dont know exactly what it is, especially since I completely came up with this recipe by accident.. But I do know that it was the perfect ending for my sweet tooth! 

**As always please feel free to alter the amounts of these ingredients how ever you like. I mixed according to my personal taste and texture. And remember to achieve that frozen texture your fruit must be completely frozen** 


Blackberry Lemon Frozen Yogurt 

handful of frozen blackberries 
2 heaping Tablespoons vanilla yogurt 
1/4c. vanilla soy milk 
a squeeze of fresh lemon juice 
squeeze of agave  
dash of salt 

Add all ingredients into a blender, food processor, or a single serve attachment for a blender. Puree until smooth. Adjust taste and texture to liking. Pour out into a freezable bowl, and freeze until set. 

FAB RECIPE: DYI RAMEN

A few key dilemmas came up this weekend... All of them being food, dinner, and what to do with it. What to make? I dont feel like cooking! We dont have food! Im on a budget! were all spoken words this weekend. I didn't feel like making a entire meal and my chicken I took out to unthaw was still frozen from the night before..so I had to think otherwise... Staring into my fridge with both doors open, I remembered I had stashed some fresh ramen noodles in the freezer from a previous work event, and I had a slight cold this week so I had some broth left over. I always keep a supply of eggs on hand and I had some fresh spinach left from my smoothies. Also, I randomly had some frozen chicken wontons in the freezer as well... Voila! Ramen noodle bowl!

Fresh ramen noodles (not the cakey powdery stuff) can be found in Asian markets. I used chicken broth but feel free to use which ever broth you have on hand. All of these ingredients can be found in your super market and be magically made fabulously with random ingredients in your home.You can add meat, veggies, herbs, oils, and any other flavors you enjoy. I threw some fresh garlic cloves and thyme sprigs in the broth as it was heating up to add more flavor [ and also a pat of butter ]. This DYI ramen is perfect for a quick and easy dinner during the week or on the weekend laying on the couch watching Scandal on Netflix! 

DYI Ramen Noodle Bowl 

1 pkg fresh ramen noodles
4 garlic cloves, peeled and trimmed 
4 fresh thyme sprigs  
broth 
fresh spinach leaves, trimmed and washed 
1pk. frozen dumplings or wontons 
5-minute egg (recipe as follows) 

In a small pot, boil water and cook fresh ramen as described on package. Place garlic cloves and thyme in a large pot, along with broth and bring to a low boil. When boiling add butter, season as desired and add frozen dumplings. Place cooked ramen in a bowl, pour hot broth over ramen and garnish with fresh spinach, dumplings and 5 minute egg (and all your other desirables). 

5- minute egg: 
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Slowly submerg eggs into boiling water and set timer for 4 minutes. At the 4 minute mark, turn off fire and allow eggs to sit for 1 minute. After 1 minute, run eggs under cold. Peel eggs and slice down the middle. Season with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. 

8 FAB PLACES FOR DATE NIGHT!

So as I was on a late dinner date recently with my boyfriend, we were eating fab and having a great time. We dined at The Meatball Shop over in Brooklyn, and had a romantic evening of pork and veal meatballs, ice cream sandwiches and writing in marker on our menus...like the big kids that we are. I truly believe in date nights and how they help keep the relationship going! Anything from hot dogs on a park bench to a 7 course tasting menu, date nights with your boo should be a fab time. After our lemon shortbread and parsley ice cream sandwiches (DELISH by the way! ) my mind started racing on places to go on next weeks date night! Check out my 8 places you should try on your next fab date night with your honey! 

•  Delicatessan  
•  Yerba Buena 
• New Wonjo 
• Kittichai

• Bills Bar and Burger 
• LandMarc 
• Mark Burger 
• Rice to Riches