#27 - P.Y.T.

My best friend since 9th grade was visiting for the weekend so I gave her the 101 List and asked her to let me know where she wanted to eat. PYT was at the top of her list specifically for the menu item: hand torn pasta with shishito peppers, cilantro, mint, and poblano cream. Which we ordered. And it was freaking delicious.

We had an 8:45 reservation and spent the evening chatting, drinking wine, and sharing some amazing dishes. We closed the place out. Such a cute little place it is too. And the super vegetable forward menu has me dying to go back for more.

Potato Chapati Bread with Argental-berbere cheese, turmeric yuzu butter, and Rancho Gordo bean hummus.

Roasted cauliflower (sorry, no longer on the menu online, so I can't remember all the ingredients.)

Hand torn pasta with shishito peppers, cilantro, mint, and poblano cream.

Gianduja mousse & rice pudding with chocolate shavings and hazelnut

Clean Eating Challenge: Day 10

In case you are just joining me, this is Day 10 of Buzzfeed's Clean Eating Challenge.  I've been eating clean for over a week now. This is not a stretch from how I normally eat, as eating fresh, organic produce has been crucial to me for quite a few years now.  I just did this as a challenge to myself, and because it was laid out really simply with grocery lists and a day to day recipe guide.  Despite eating healthy before doing this, this plan is teaching me some new simple ways of cooking and some great snack ideas that I will keep with me when it's over.

Breakfast: Cauliflower Hash with Fried Eggs
The hot sauce is a must.  I use Frank's Buffalo Sauce because it's awesome.

Lunch: Roasted Chickpea and Eggplant Arugula Salad
A great tasting salad.  I like this because it uses the ingredients from the other day in a very different way.

Snack 1: Red Pepper slices with Hummus
I almost didn't eat this, but I'm glad I did.  It fulfilled the sweet that I was craving and filled me up until dinner.

Dinner: Mushroom, Tofu, and Kale Bowl
I don't eat shrimp.  When I was trying to decide what protein would take the place of the shrimp, I looked at the other ingredients and it was obvious.  This is similar to a typical bowl that you would find in a vegan joint.  Danny really liked this dish too.

Snack 2: Chocolate and Tea
We went to see "Cold in July" at Sundance Sunset Theater.  I brought what we had left of our Garden Island Mint and Cacao Nib Chocolate Bar.  I also ordered a lemon ginger tea.

Clean Eating Challenge: Day "I took a break today"

Last week we found out that Danny was chosen for a Fellowship he has been wanting to apply for since he started his Ph.D.  He was out of town at the time and I was just beginning the clean eating challenge.  So we set aside tonight to celebrate his accomplishment with sushi from our favorite sushi chef at Hama.  It worked out perfectly because I was needing a break from all the eggs and steamed vegetables, as well as needing time to get to Trader Joe's.  So tomorrow will be Day 8 and I'll go from there.  In the meantime, here's what I ate on my day off.

Breakfast: Strawberry Smoothie
Normally I would have a strawberry banana smoothie, but all the bananas I have in the freezer are reserved for the next week of the challenge.  So I thought I would give a plain strawberry smoothie a try.  It was pretty good.  I put in a tablespoon of almond butter and a tablespoon of chia seed.  Nothing fancy, just simple, good food.

Lunch: Curry Pot Pie, a few bites of Raspberry Coconut Cream Pie, a tiny bite of Mexican Chocolate Pie, and about 1/3 a cup of black coffee from The Pie Hole
This was so good.  I savored every bite of it, saving most of the sweet pie for my night time snack.  The reason I got all of this was because it was FREE!!  That's right, thanks to Belly and the fact that Pie Hole is right between my home and my school, I racked up enough points for a free piece of savory and sweet pie and a coffee.  Score!

Snack 1: Raspberries.  Plain and simple.

Dinner: Hama Sushi
This is the best sushi place ever, especially because they discourage phone use and don't allow pictures. As much as I love taking pictures of my food, I appreciate situations like this more.  Here's what I had:
-albacore sashimi plate
-2 salmon
-1 eel
-1 halibut
-1 red snapper
-1 mackeral
-1 yellowtail
-about 1/2 a glass of Sapporo
-1 cups of green tea

Snack 2: 1/2 of the Coconut Raspberry Pie and a bite of Mexican Chocolate Pie
Thanks Scotty for the leftover piece of your pie!

Clean Eating Challenge: Day 7. End of Week 1

I don't know about you, but I'm a bit tired of this whole challenge thing….but I must see it through to the end!  Though, I will admit that tomorrow I am taking one day off to celebrate Danny's fellowship with dinner at Hama sushi.  In case you are just now joining me, I have been doing Buzzfeed's Clean Eating Challenge and this is Day 7.

Also, it is worth noting that I have quite a few things leftover, possibly because my portioning was a little off at times, possibly because I had to buy a little more than was expected since I shopped at Trader Joes and things like the greens are sold in packages, not necessarily by the bunch….Anyway, I have the following leftover:
-Over half a thing of asparagus
-An entire bag of spinach
-almost half of a container of Greek yogurt
-The whole bag of collard greens (which went bad and I didn't even use, by the way)
-The lime vinaigrette from day 2
-about 1/2 cup roasted cauliflower
-a few scallions
-celery
-cucumbers and zucchini (because I had to buy more than just the one it called for)

Additionally, I may have cheated a little bit.  My friend brought me 3 starbursts: red, yellow, and orange.  I thought I would just sit them on my desk and have them in a little over a week.  Then I thought, "I'll just eat the red one since it's the best." Then I ate them all. Additionally, I may have had a tiny plate of vegetables at a talk at UCLA.  Very, very tiny, and I did not get a glass of wine, so I'm feeling pretty good about not giving in!

Breakfast: Poached Eggs and Asparagus
I like both of these things, and I like them together.  But it just seemed like a weird breakfast item to me.  Look at how weird one of my eggs turned out. When I tried to take it out of the water, the yolk just slipped through the slotted spoon, completely staying intact!  Also, I think I am terrible at poaching eggs…

Lunch: Black Bean Kale Salad
This was so yummy!  It reminded me of Veggie Grill's All Hale Kail Salad.  I could eat this quite often for lunch.  I subbed lemon for lime because I thought I was out of lime.  Turns out I have half a lime in the fridge.  I keep messing up on this whole thing.  Oh well, lemon and lime in this case are totally interchangeable!

Snack 1: One Clementine and two tablespoons of Almonds

Dinner: Tempeh Balls with Tomato Sauce over sautéed Kale and Spinach
I made a few changes here, obviously, given the title of the dish.  I don't eat meat, so instead of turkey, I used tempeh. They turned out rather nice, albeit dry.  Which would happen with the turkey too, I'm sure.  The tomato sauce helps, but it was still a bit tough to eat.  The collard greens had gone bad, but luckily I had kale and spinach leftover and sautéed those up for a lovely bed to place the balls and sauce on.

Snack 2: CHOCOLATE!!!
I love chocolate.  Since my chocolate farm tour and tasting, I can only eat good, dark chocolate.  Koa and Angela even recommended a few places to me for buying chocolate on the mainland: Taza from Boston and Askinosie from my home state of Missouri, both stone ground.  They also said that Trader Joe's has a good bar. Well, what do you think I had for my snack tonight?  That's right, Trader Joe's 85% cocoa Colombian bean bar.  My birthday is coming up, and I dropped a few hints to Danny as to what to get me (all of the above) as well as to finally go to Chocovivo and do their tasting and have hot chocolate.  I'm not obsessed or anything…

Clean Eating Challenge: Day 6

If you are just joining me, I am doing Buzzfeed's Clean Eating Challenge and this is Day 6. Check out my other days below.

Breakfast: Mango Chia Pudding
This has to be prepared the night before.  I am actually a pretty big fan of chia puddings.  I started making them last year and tend to make a chocolate one when I'm craving something super chocolatey but want to be healthy.  This one was particularly tasty to me after a 5 mile run.  My first 5 mile run ever by myself, and my first one in 5 years.

Lunch: Mustardy Salmon Salad
Three cups of arugula is a little ridiculous.  That said, this salad is one of my favorite things from this eating plan so far.  I also still don't like the crunchy, almost raw, green beans, but still, this salad was amazing.  I was going to complain about the plan being wrong again because I didn't have half a lemon left, so I used my lime.  Turns out I did have lemon leftover though, in the fridge.  Whoops.  Anyway, the dressing tasted delicious and gave the salmon a nice Scandinavian flavor which worked well with the arugula too.

Snack 1: Carrots and Cucumber with hummus

Dinner: Vegetable Chili with Spicy Yogurt and Sautéed Zucchini
I didn't think I would like this since it doesn't have any chili powder and it looked a smelled like a boring vegetable stew.  But everything mixed together was amazing.  You have to have the yogurt with paprika in it on top of the chili, as well as the zucchini, because these two things make the dish what it is.  As far as making a full batch of the yogurt and freezing it?  That's dumb. It takes all of 20 seconds to whip up, just make it beforehand.

Snack 2: Pistachios and Blackberries
YUM!  What a great snack.  I will be eating more and more of this in the future.  Pre-shucked pistachios are a dream come true!

Clean Eating Challenge: Day 5

In case you are just joining me, I am doing Buzzfeed's Clean Eating Challenge, and this is Day 5.

Breakfast: Roasted Cauliflower Omelet
This was weird.  The cauliflower is much too big to be in an omelet.  It was good though, but I ate around 11:00 after running 2 miles and doing 30 minutes of cross training…so I could have just been starving.  Also, I didn't use all of the cauliflower because it was just too much!

Lunch: Roasted Fennel, Chickpea, Blueberry Salad
Mistake number 1: This called for 1/2 a cup of the quinoa made on day 1, but guess what?  That was used already for lunch on day two.  Hmmm…  So if you are planning to do this, make more quinoa!  This salad was really good though, the mint and pistachios really made it tasty!

Snack 1: Carrots and Hummus
I really didn't want this as a snack.  I really wanted chocolate, or candy coated nuts I bought in Hawaii, or anything but carrots!!!  But you know what?  They were delicious.  Which led me to the realization that kicking a sugar addiction is most mental.  Carrots are sweet, especially Heirloom, organic carrots.  Carrots can and should be a snack.  I will now eat more carrots! (as long as I can keep convincing myself of this)

Dinner: Roasted Salmon over Green Beans and Lentils
The green beans kind of ruined this meal.  Unfortunately I am not a big fan of super crunchy, super fresh green beans with no additional flavor.  Too bad.  Everything else was good though!

Snack 2: Almonds and Berries
I did half raspberries, half blueberries, where this recipe called for just blueberries.

Clean Eating Challenge: Day 2

Today was a bit more of a challenge than yesterday, mainly because of the lunch.
In case you just started following, I am doing Buzzfeed's 2 week Clean Eating Challenge.  This is Day 2.

Breakfast: Blueberry Chia Overnight Oats.  
I began my morning last night actually, by preparing these "overnight oats."  This is something I have made recently, only one other time.  The Oatmeal Artist is a blog where you will find every kind of oatmeal your stomach could ever desire. I made her french toast overnight oats, but I did so without the yogurt.  I recommend the same thing for these oats from this challenge.  The yogurt just makes this far too dense and, to me, too filling.  Also, I'm a little irked about the high amount of protein that this challenge imposes.  As a long time vegetarian, I have heard it all about how I need to make sure I am getting enough protein, blah, blah, blah…  I've also done my research.  I know that Americans eat too much protein, also check another article here, and if you still have your doubts, here it is straight from the NIH.  According to this, I am only supposed to have around 46 g of protein a day. (another trick for people of varying sizes, is to multiple your weight in pounds by .37, this is the amount of protein you should aim for daily) Yesterday, this challenge fed me 70, and today I am on track for about the same.  So yeah, I will make this again, sans yogurt.

Lunch: Shaved Fennel, Chickpea, Kale, Quinoa Salad
So crunchy, so hard to eat.  I definitely didn't eat too much of the fennel.  Too raw for my liking.

Snack 1: Basically a Poor Man's Caprese Salad
Here I subbed goat cheese when they called for feta, see yesterday's post to understand that there are vegetarian and non-vegetarian cheeses and how to check.  I love caprese, so this was a great pick-me-up after a not-so-amazing lunch. Sadly I forgot to take a picture of it, probably because I was so busy eating it.

Dinner: What I'm calling "Sorta Fish Tacos"
So this was a big change up.  These are supposed to be chicken wraps with cabbage leaves as the wrap. Well, Trader Joes' wasn't selling any heads of cabbage, so I got a bag of shredded cabbage instead.  Also, I don't eat chicken…so I used cod again.  Mixed up with the mango, avocado, and tomato, served atop shredded cabbage, with a nice lime vinaigrette?  Yeah, It's basically a fish taco without the corn tortillas.  This was my favorite dish of the day!

Snack 2: Two Clementines
Seriously?!  I thought this was going to be an awful snack…but I must admit that I am quite enjoying it right now.  Maybe by the end of this I won't crave sugar anymore!  Must…suppress…chocolate….cravings…

super simple summer caprese salad

I love caprese anything, but all that cheese just makes something so yummy seem so unhealthy.  Last night I got my Farm Fresh to You box** and it was full of tomatoes!  Seriously, 2.5 lbs of heirlooms and a box of cherry tomatoes.  Look forward to a recipe using the heirlooms, but this is one with the sweet cherry tomatoes.
I love bulgar, it makes great tabbouleh salad and is packed full of protein and fiber, with none of the fat.  I love the nutty flavor and now the simple cooking of it, thanks to Trader Joe's 10 minute bulgar.  Tonight I combined these two loves to make this yummy, healthier take on a typical caprese salad.  It's super simple and delicious.

Super Simple Summer Caprese Salad
(serves 2-4)

1 c. bulgar, cooked and cooled
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T balsamic vinegar
1/4 c fresh basil, chopped into small pieces
1 c cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 bocconcini mozzarella ball, cut into small pieces*

1. Mix together olive oil, vinegar, and basil in a medium bowl.
2. Toss cherry tomatoes and bulgar with the oil mixture.
3. Add the mozzarella right before you serve.  Season with salt and pepper to desired taste.
4. Serve over a bed of fresh baby spinach.
*make it vegan by changing the cheese to chickpeas or tofu.

I told you that was simple.

**If you live in a part of California that supports Farm Fresh to You delivery and you are thinking of starting it, use Promo Code 6164 and share my name "Taryn Bone" as the referral.  You get $10 off and so do I!  Thank you in advance!

home-made burrito bowl

I received so many goodies in my Farm Fresh to You CSA delivery this week and I'm feeling more creative.  This recipe, though simple, was 100% me.  I was inspired by Chipotle's burrito bowls, of which I am a fan.  As I assumed from a quick search online, Chipotle's veggie burrito bowl will cost you well over 500 calories, if you add on just about anything yummy.  My recipe will be less than 500, and if you skip the avocado because yours is not ripe enough to eat yet, which was the only reason I skipped it, this meal will be under 400 calories.

Potato and Gypsy Fajita Bowl
makes 4-6 servings


rice
cooked brown rice
juice from 1-2 lemons, depending on how much rice you use
1 t thyme**
fajitas
1 T olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
1 clove garlic
2 t cumin
1 t seasoned salt
1 t thyme
1/4-1/2 t cayenne
4 gypsy peppers, sliced
2 c fingerling potatoes, sliced into small rounds
beans
15 oz can white beans
1 T sriacha
1 t onion powder
1 t basalmic vinegar
toppings
lettuce, scallions, greek yogurt*, tomatoes, salsa, avocado, guacamole, whatever your heart desires...

1. heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat, add the onions and cook until tender, then add the garlic, cumin, seasoned salt, thyme, and cayenne.  mix thoroughly and cook a minute more.
2. add the gypsy peppers and mix thoroughly, cook another minute.
3. add the potatoes and stir to mix well, add about 1/4-1/2 cup of water and put a lid on it.  Stir occasionally for the next 5-10 minutes, or until water is soaked up and potatoes are cooked. Remove from heat
4. Rinse the beans well and put them in a bowl.  Begin mashing the beans as you add the rest of the ingredients.  You can mash these as much, or as little as you want.  I was going for the "refried" bean texture.
5. Add the lemon juice and thyme to the rice, as well as salt and pepper to taste.
6. Scoop about 1/2 cup of rice into a bowl. Spoon a few tablespoons of the beans mixture on top of the rice.  Place approximately 1/2 c of the fajitas mixture on top of the beans and rice, then finish with toppings of your choice.  I went with lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and Greek yogurt.  I would highly recommend avocado, but mine were not yet ripe enough.

**for more traditional flavor, use lime and cilantro.  I normally would have but I didn't have either available at the time of cooking, but the lemon and thyme work well with this dish too!
*I love me some Greek yogurt and have been using it in place of sour cream for years now (even my niece who loves sour cream and is super picky had no idea it was something else).  This is a substitute I recommend to everyone because it is so much more nutritious and if you go with the 0% one, like I do, it has no fat either.  If you are vegan or just want to eat even healthier, I recommend you replace the "sour cream" with this delicious cashew cheese recipe from "Clean Food" by Terry Walters.

Cashew Cheese
1/2 c cashew pieces
1/4 c nutritional yeast
1 T canola oil

1. In a food processor, grind cashews to a fine meal.
2. Add nutritional yeast and process briefly to combine.
3. Add oil and process until a moist meal forms, do not over process or it will become doughy.

current in my kitchen

It's been a while since I've posted any recipes. I got into a bit of a funk where I wasn't cooking, but was eating out constantly.  With my budget and desire to stay fit, I have finally gotten back into the kitchen. Here's what I made yesterday:

I've never had sticky toffee pudding before, but I wanted to make something with dates, so I went to one of my favorite blogs, Oh She Glows, and searched for sweet recipes using dates.  Angela, the writer of Oh She Glows is the one who turned me onto dates in the first place with her delicious riff on vegan twix, which I have made multiple times.

So this recipe intrigued me due to it's claim to be "sinless."  Though it is vegan, I can assure you that it is anything but sinless.  I counted up the calories with my ingredients, and the whole thing is nearly 4000 calories, which means I had to cut it into 12 squares in order for each to be what I would consider acceptable, calorie-wise for a dessert.  Twelve is small, but it is rich and I think this size of serving is probably for the best!  If I made this again, I would probably omit the brown sugar, as it is high in calories and I think the dates provide enough sweetness.

Super Sinful Sticky Toffee Pudding
(recipe adapted from Angela's sinless sticky toffee pecan pudding)
Makes 12 servings

cake:
1 1/4 c. dates (chopped)
1 1/2 c. almond milk
1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 c oat flour
1/4 c Earth Balance (softened)
1/2 c brown sugar
3/4 c toasted pecans
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt

sauce:
3 T maple syrup
3 T brown sugar
3 T Earth Balance
1 T vanilla

1. Toast the pecans in a preheated oven, 325 degrees for about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, make your oat flour by blending oatmeal in a blender until you get 1 1/2 cups of flour (will probably take about 2 cups of oats)*
3. After pecans are toasted, change oven temperature to 375 degrees and grease an 8x8 square pan.
4. Bring almond milk to a simmer and add the dates.  Lower the heat and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly.
5. Remove dates and milk from heat and add baking soda.
6. Mix together the Earth Balance and brown sugar in a separate bowl.  Once completely mixed, add to date mix and mix well.
7. Add the oat flour, 1/2 cup of pecans, cinnamon, and salt to the date mixture.  Do not over mix!
8. Pour mixture into greased pan and place in the oven for 28 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, make the sauce by bringing the four ingredients to a simmer over medium heat.  Reduce to low and whisk constantly for a few minutes.
10. Once cake is done, let it sit for a few minutes before poking it a lot with a fork.  Poke it all over, really stab that cake.
11. Pour sauce all over the top, allowing it to soak into the cake.  Sprinkle remaining 1/4 c pecans on top.  Serve.
*I like to use Country Choice Organic Hot Cereal, Multigrain. It is a mix of rye, barley, oats, and wheat and you can find it at Trader Joes.

I also made this take on a bubble and squeak, which I wouldn't actually call that, but it was really delicious.  I plan to modify this recipe more and have another go at it, then I will post the recipe.  Until then, enjoy the photo of it, and check out the recipe here.

San Diego Weekend

The first time I ever went to San Diego was a turning point in my life.  I was a 6 year old little girl from Doniphan, Missouri and I immediately declared that I would live in California when I was grown up.  My Aunt and cousin's houses were like something out of a movie: big, just miles from the beach, with their own community pools!!!  There was fresh fruit galore, the food we ate was like nothing else I had ever had, I tried Chinese food for the first time as well as Sunchips (in 1996 Sunchips were the healthy alternative to regular chips) I was in heaven.  I knew that the day to day life of San Diegians was like a vacation and I wanted to be part of that lifestyle.

This past weekend we went back to where all of my dreams began.  I finally got to experience Kahn's Salk Institute, we drank absinth for the second time from the same restaurant where we tried it the first time 4 years ago, Currant American Brasserie, and we got to experience everything with Napoleon, because San Diego is the most dog-friendly city on the planet.

The Food and The Dog Friendliness:

Currant was great for happy hour.  We happened to be there on a Friday, so we also took advantage of the $8 Lucid Absinth Friday deal (normally $15)  We could barely get it down.  Why is absinth so gross?  It's like licorice, but worse.  Ah, but I just love the process.  The waitress lights the sugar cube on fire.  The sugar cube is cradled above the absinth and when the flame goes out you begin slowly dripping ice water over the sugar until it has completely dissolved into the liquid below, turning the once green drink into a cloudy white.  Oh Chemistry.  We also munched on the garlic and chive tots which came overflowing in a giant bowl with two scrumptious dipping sauces: chive buttermilk ranch, habanero ketchup.  All for the happy hour price of $4.75.  After all that, we still had quite some time before our dinner reservation, so I ordered the house red wine which came to me in a large glass with enough wine for two people.  Best. happy. hour. ever.  But, the greatest part of all?  Napoleon was welcome to join us on the patio.  That's right LA, ON the patio, not tied up outside the patio on the sidewalk next  to our table, but at our table, on the nice patio.  The waitress brought him water.  Take note LA restaurants, you will have happier customers if you would allow this more.  (Earlier in the day we had a quick lunch at a random Thai place in the Gaslamp District and they allowed this as well.)

For dinner we went to Salvatore's Cucina Italiana.  The maitre de was very pleased to have us and promptly took us to our corner window seat.  We saw that if you checked in on yelp, you got a free glass of Prosecco, so that was our plan! (Danny even got the app just for this reason)  Before we got the chance to do so, the manager greeted us and asked how found out about the establishment to which we replied "yelp."  Then he told us he was going to bring us each a glass of Prosecco because "we love our yelpers!"  The bread, balsamic, and olive oil were all amazing, probably the best white bread I've ever had.  I ordered a salad and Danny a spinach ricotta ravioli, both were delicious and filling, but you know we had to leave room for dessert!  I had the tiramisu, he had the creme brûlée.  Best creme brûlée ever.  Really really good tiramisu.  Oh, did I forget to mention that they filled up our glasses with Prosecco again, on the house?  Love this place forever.

The hotel:

We stayed at the Westin Gaslamp and I normally would stay at the W, but this time they were being dicks and said we would have to pay $25 extra a night and a one time $100 cleaning fee for Napoleon to join us.  That is bs and they should take a lesson from their sister (another starwood hotel) the Westin, who does not charge you a thing for your little one to stay with you.  They also provide a dog bed (as if Napoleon would ever sleep there) and food and water bowls.  They only ask that you not leave your dog alone in the room and you will have to pay if you do that and your dog disturbs others.  Napoleon is an angel, we had no such problems, therefore: free dog stay!  The "heavenly bed" at the Westin makes me want to throw my mattress out the window.  I seriously can't sleep well since we've returned.  Luckily you can buy everything they use to make the "heavenly bed" online, for a pretty penny.  Oh well, I suppose I will have to continue to sleep terribly until I return to the Westin.

More Dog-Friendliness:

There are many dog beaches in San Diego, compared to the one I know of in Los Angeles, plus maybe one other in Malibu?  Come on LA, step up your game!  We took Napoleon to a really popular and huge one called Ocean Beach Dog Beach and he loved it!  It was overcast, June Gloom never ceases to amaze me at how it knows it is June 1st...  Napoleon enjoyed frolicking in the sand and didn't just stand by Danny and I the entire time, which is what he always does at a regular dog park. I think this guy was made to be at the beach.

San Diego, you are a great get-away.  Could I live there?  Maybe, but realisitically I don't think there is much in the way of jobs and things to do like there is in Los Angeles, but you are beautiful and I love you still the same.

what a handsome eggslut!

Los Angeles has a food truck for everything.  Eggslut is probably the best one I have found.  Breakfast/Brunch is my favorite meal, which I often eat for dinner as well.  I love eggs, as I think I made clear in this post.

Every Saturday and Sunday, thee eggslut parks itself in front of Handsome Coffee Roasters.  Handsome knows how to do coffee.  Unfortunately, because I don't drink cow's milk, I can only have their black coffee, which is really really great, strong, delicious coffee.  However, they should really carry soy or almond milk, especially being in the Arts District.

Not in the mood for coffee?  Yesterday I was not, it is summer after all, so I just helped myself to a lovely juice from Press Brothers Juicery.  All of their juices are great, but my personal fave is "drop acid" which contains: Apple, cucumber, arugula, lemon, parsley, cilantro, ginger, and habanero!  So spicy, so delicious.

I've had two different items from the eggslut.  The first I ever tried was "thee slut" which is an egg, soft baked in a small mason jar, over potatoes, sprinkled with salt and chives, served with three pieces of toast.  It was really really tasty, but a bit too small for its price.  So the next time I decided to give "the Fairfax" a try, and I have been sold ever since!  The Fairfax is soft scrambled eggs (very tough to do) on brioche with caramelized onions and spicy mayo.  Might I recommend adding tomato and avocado? I always do.

The great thing about this set-up is ordering your eggslut, going inside to order your coffee and grab a seat, then getting eggslut and just hanging out at Handsome with your friends.

You can find eggslut at Handsome Coffee Roasters Sat-Sun 9-1, as well as (I just found this out!) M-F 12-4!!  So i guess one can have her eggs for lunch or dinner if she so wishes...

Big shout out to Jordan Squires for introducing me to the slut!

i made quiche!

I don't know why I've spent my adult life thinking that quiche was something difficult, like macarons or soufflé.  I guess I just assumed all French cooking was a task.  Quiche is not.

Perhaps I was also shying away from an attempt at quiche because I'm not a fan of pie crust...  In walks hash brown crusted quiche.  Yes please!

Check out my favorite quiche reference here.  And support marriage equality, because quiche is a brunch item, and no one does brunch better than the gays.

T-Bone's Farm Fresh Hash Brown Crusted Quiche 
(makes 6 servings)

Ingredients:
3 c of shredded hash browns (thawed if frozen)
1/3 c melted butter or oil
1 fennel
1 clove of garlic
1 bunch of maitake mushrooms (or whatever mushrooms you like)
2 eggs
1/2 c almond milk
handful of fennel leaves
salt and pepper
handful of cherry tomatoes, cut in half

Preparation:
1. preheat oven to 425
2. get as much moisture out of the hash browns as you can by squeezing with paper towels. (I am always so bad about this because I lack the patience to do it properly, but if you do it right, you will have a crispier crust)
3. press hash browns into bottom and sides of a 9" pie pan
4. pour butter or oil evenly over hash browns
5. bake for 20-25 minutes, or until hash browns begin to brown
6. in the meantime, chop the fennel and garlic and sauté in a bit of olive oil until soft
7. chop the mushrooms and add to the fennel mixture, continue to sauté for a few minutes until the flavors meld
8. in a small bowl, combine the eggs and milk and whisk together well
9. add salt, pepper, and chopped fennel leaves to taste
10. when hash brown crust is done, spread fennel mixture evenly on top, then pour egg mixture on top of that
11. place tomato pieces evenly throughout the quiche
12. reduce oven to 350 and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until egg is cooked to your desired level
13. wait 10 minutes, then cut into six pie slices and serve with a salad