Yummy Things I Ate Last Week
Ah, what a weekend. It was everything a weekend should be. Relatively low-key, by our standards. We went out to an AMAZING dinner and cocktails on Friday night (keep on reading). We hit up our favorite brewery and grilled out on Sunday. We did a double at the gym on Saturday and a long-ish bike ride on Sunday (and my first time riding outside in clip-ins!) We ate amazing food, drank delicious beers, and most importantly got to hang out with some of our favorite people!
Here’s a little sneak peak of the delicious things we ate last week:
Roasted Eggplant & Pickled Beet Sandwich
I had a couple eggplants leftover from my Hungry Harvest the previous week, and this recipe had been on my to do list for quite some time. And honestly, it was freakin’ phenomenal. I did make quite a few modifications to make this something I felt good about eating throughout the week. First, a big one, I subbed a whole wheat pita for the focaccia. Second, I subbed fat free Greek yogurt for the mayo. And third, I added homemade pickled red onion. Make-again-ability: Definitely.
This Sichuan hot pot spot (that’s a mouthful) has been on my radar for quite some time, but let’s be honest: I rarely venture to Virginia for dinner. This week I had an orientation at the Arlington Pacers for Back On My Feet (check them out, they’re an awesome org. with teams across the country that combat homelessness with the power of running, community support, and essential employment and housing resources), and it just so happens to be a few blocks from Mala Tang. So Courtney laced up his running shoes and met me there. We shared too hot pots, both with the spicy mala broth. I went with the milk marinated beef (amaze-balls) and Chinese veggies and for Courtney’s “we” ordered a la cart: quail eggs, pork dumplings (get them!), lobster balls (I didn’t know lobsters had balls?) and a few of his favorite veggies. The good thing about coming to Virginia is it’s damn cheap. We impulsively ordered way more food than we needed, as we tend to do, but we never let it go to waste: this was an entire second dinner for both of us – and we paid less than $75 with tip (that’s cheap for D.C. standards). Go-Again-Ability: Definitely.
This recipe is squarely up my alley. I was feeling charitable, so I made it for dinner so Courtney could enjoy it – and then brought the leftovers to work the next couple days. Modifications: I used a full bag of Trader Joe’s quick cook farro, 1.5 lb of salmon, dried cherries in place of craisins and almonds in place of pecans. Make-again-ability: Maybe.
Spaghetti Squash Bowl with Beets and Smoky Waffled Tofu
This is another one I’ve had pinned forever but had yet to get around to making. I had a couple of spaghetti squash left over from Hungry Harvest, plus this was a really good fit with the sandwich I just told you about because I used the same pickled beets and onions (actually, I used Trader Joe’s beets in vinaigrette and made the pickled onions using the recipe for the beets). The waffled tofu works really well using Trader Joe’s high protein tofu because it’s SUPER firm so it holds together well. My only qualm was that the tofu didn’t soak up much of the smoky umami marinade. Make-again-ability: Maybe. This would be a lot of components if you weren’t making some of them anyway.
I don’t buy lunch often, but Honeyfish is definitely in the rotation when I do. Last week, the Ritual app was offering $1 lunch deals on a number of local restaurants *and* gave me $5 for signing up – so this was actually free! I do the brown rice and kale mix with spicy tuna, Hawaiian salmon, avocado, most of the veggies, and a few sauces on the side. It never disappoints. Go-back-again-ability: Definitely.
Last but definitely not least! Spoken English was highly anticipated as I have loved my experience at both the other two restaurants in the Line Hotel. So I was super excited when Ally snagged us a Friday night reservation. I was even more excited when I found out that there were six of us, because it meant we could get the duck tacos and still try most of the menu! It’s a tiny space and standing room only (unless you just had surgery and have a boot on your foot, in which case they’ll make an exception). We also had the blood cakes, the gizzards, the mushroom and the beets. Everything was amazing, but the duck tacos were definitely the star of the show! Go-back-ability: Yep. That’s 3/3 at the Line, and I usually only say I’d go back to about 25% of places I eat.
