san diego

I forgot about these photos from a few weeks back when I took a little trip down to SD…

A happy calorie-filled day  in the Whale’s Vagina.

First stop:

Vallarta’s
4277 Genesee Ave
(between Balboa Ave & Mount Etna Dr)
San Diego, CA 92117
Neighborhood: Clairemont

I like Lolita's carne asada fries better, but Vallarta's had some great burritos.

Breakfast of Champions!

A little dessert afterwards…

Lighthouse Ice Cream & Yogurt
5059 Newport Ave
Ste 102
(between Bacon St & Abbott St)
San Diego, CA 92107
Neighborhoods: Point Loma, Ocean Beach

hot waffle ice cream sandwich... genius!

I love California!

ocean beach

oh.yeah.

Mid-day snack as I feel my blood sugar starting to dip…

sweet potato tater tots.. washed down with some Dogfish Head IPA

Drove over to Coronado Island for some crazy nightly running around on the beach.

hotel del coronado

We can’t all be classy like Marilyn.

beautiful.

And no San Diego trip is complete with a stop at Phil’s BBQ. I love this place. I’d eat beef ribs every freakin day if it were next to my house.

Phil’s BBQ
3750 Sports Arena Blvd
(at Hancock St)
San Diego, CA 92110
Neighborhood: Midway

are you drooling yet?

lazy

I did NOT feel like cooking yesterday, but I thought I’d post up last night’s dinner because I enjoyed it so much.

I toasted some Italian bread, slathered ricotta cheese on it, sliced up about 5 or 6 sundried tomatoes, and cut up an avocado and layered it all on top of my toast. Sprinkle with some kosher salt (truffle salt in my case. Sorry for those who don’t have it…) and…

Deliciousness in 60 seconds.

Off to Wednesday Hump Day! Ho hum.

big sisters deserve chocolate

So, it’s a little bit belated, but it’s my sister’s birthday! Isn’t she pretty? :)

My big sis is my best friend… If you have a sister, I think you’ll understand… But when sisters are around each other, there’s a sudden transformation. No matter how cool you used to be. Well. All of a sudden, you are total dorks. The fattiest food freaks. The most maniacal laughs. The pinnacle of dweeb-dom. The lamest jokes. The meanest you can be to someone without them getting PO’d. Total judgment and total acceptance. To know someone is your other half but be amazed at how completely opposite you are.

She is a beautiful, amazing, smart lady and she has always been there for me for the past twenty-something years of my life after we decided to stop trying to tear each other’s hair out.

Celebrating our birthdays together :)

Twinsies! ;)

Keepin it real since '89.

We were cute babies, I know. What makes babies this happy I wonder? What are we even laughing about?

I considered baking my big sister a German chocolate cake as an inside joke… ;) But I decided against it since I personally don’t like coconut and since I’ve never actually tasted one, I didn’t think I’d be able to do it much justice.

She still deserves chocolate cake on her birthday though! Like any self-respecting classy lady. And homegirl loves chocolate.

I went with chocolate and roses…. Chocolate rose cupcakes?

We’re SO ROMANTICAL! I think it was a good choice.

I used this tutorial for making a rose cake as inspiration, but I figured it would be much to difficult to slice a birthday cake in a dive bar, so I went with individual cupcakes instead. Hopefully I can make the cake someday! It looks gorgeous. :) The cupcakes were made from the easiest chocolate cake recipe in the world! Just one bowl! Love it. I hate doing dishes.

My sister celebrates her birthday with a few of her college roommates who are all March babies so I took it to a big group last night. Hope they enjoyed it and someone go take them soup today. They’re probably somewhat hungover.

Chocolate Cupcakes
Serving: 24 cupcakes
Adapted from one-bowl chocolate cake

2 cups white sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place cupcake papers in a muffin tin.In a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Stir in the boiling water last. Batter will be thin. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. (Wait until COMPLETELY COOL before frosting!)

Cream Cheese Frosting
Enough to frost 24 cupcakes
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use. (I added a little bit of Wilton’s pastel pink gel.)

I used a 1M frosting tip to make the roses! Using the iambaker tutorial will probably explain how to make the roses a lot better than I can. But think of starting in the middle of the cupcake and swooping around. Kind of the opposite of how you would normally frost a cupcake!

roasted vegetables and ricotta cheese

I’m not much of a birthday planner.

Planning elaborate, creative parties for myself makes me cranky and stressed out to the max. I love planning things for other people but something about picking a venue, inviting people who mesh well together, organizing carpool, parking, where to go afterwards, dinner only, dinner + drinks, just drinks, what to wear, who to tell, making a dumb Facebook event where 90% of the people reply “maybe” all for myself seems a little pretentious… I don’t know.

Here I am recovering after my birthday. Thank god we had leftover pizza.

I’ve been having a lot of cake, wine, sushi, cocktails, whiskey, cookies, beer, red meat, and Mexican food. A whole lotta food vices and gluttony for my birthday. Which I don’t even really enjoy celebrating to begin with.

So, I decided to KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid. Invited the girls over and made them dinner as a little appreciation for having them be there for me throughout my college years – here are some pictures of my pizzas and the lovely little gifts that I received.

blooming onion appetizer

Carbs!

mushroom & caramelized onion pizza

I’ve been on a cooking binge recently. I caramelized about 15 onions last week. It took me two hours. I was drenched in onion juice for like two days and have been eating caramelized onions non-stop. They taste amazing on everything by the way. Grilled cheese… Omelets… Pizza…. Sandwiches…. Pasta….. Mmmmm..

sweet Italian sausage & pepper pizza

And look! Presents!

Black truffle in grey Baltic sea salt! From N.

Food Rules! From the roomie, S. <3 Michael Pollan.

Camelbak bottle for hiking from the big sis!

Started working out this week after last week’s binge. The water bottle is very handy.

Gorgeous set of cheese plates from E.

Cake!!!

So, after all this binge eating, I’ve decided to detox the body. Been avoiding red meat (kind of paired with that study that came out this week about how 3 ounces of red meat a day increases your chances of death by 13%) and eating a lot of vegetables. I regressed last night by having some red wine and a bit of Scotch, but I’ve been doing relatively well this week.

I’ve gotten into using the oven for something other than sugary buttery desserts. Roasted vegetables! Woohoo!

I was just sitting at work, chugging through some spreadsheets and eating a grilled vegetable salad that I ordered for lunch yesterday when I felt PANGS OF NOSTALGIA. The slightly charred, caramelized zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, bell peppers… It just took me back to one of my favorite meals in New York last September. Funny how things you eat transport you back to a lot of your fondest memories. Or I’m just a fatass who remembers everything I consume, but anyway.

I remembered sitting in East Harlem with one of my friends at a little Italian place called Pisticci. The sun was starting to set, so we were outdoors on the sidewalk cafe with a slight breeze and the outdoor string of bulbs had just been lit. I had a summer roasted vegetable rigatoni topped with ricotta cheese; the roasted zucchini, mushrooms, and eggplant meshed so perfectly everything. Al dente rigatoni. Soft, creamy ricotta cheese. The sharp, spicy scent of basil. The crisp, sweet air you only smell when summer starts winding down into autumn.

That special meal inspired this UBER SIMPLE meal. I decided to roast my own medley of “summer” vegetables. I’ve been missing summer because the weather’s had a strange turn to Cali winter this week and there’s a storm brewing for the coming weekend; but I had a nice summer nostalgic moment cooking and smelling the roasting veggies in the oven. I can’t wait for it to really get warm! I’m so stoked for summer to get here. :) I’ve booked tickets to a far away place!

A lot of these ingredients were leftover from my pizza night so if you happen to have tomatoes, basil, and some cheese in your fridge, you’re pretty much good to go – Roasted Vegetable Pasta and Ricotta Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes!

Roasted Vegetable Pasta
Serves 2

1/2 pound pasta (I used whole wheat fusilli)
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 large Roma tomato
1 bell pepper, diced
1 eggplant, diced
1 banana squash or zucchini, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
olive oil
salt & pepper
Ricotta cheese
Parmesan cheese
Handful basil, chopped

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place vegetables and garlic in a large roasting pan and coat with about 3 tablespoons olive oil. Toss to cover vegetables. Salt and pepper to taste. Roast in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, stirring once halfway through. Cook until caramelized and starting to brown. Remove from oven and set aside.

Boil water and cook pasta according to directions on package.

When pasta is al dente, drain and toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Toss with vegetables and basil. Plate and top with ricotta cheese and grate Parmesan cheese on top. Garnish with extra basil.

Ricotta Stuffed Tomatoes

2 Roma tomatoes
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 cloves garlic
1 small bunch basil, chopped
olive oil
truffle salt (or sea salt)
(I imagine Italian parsley would be really good, too)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice Roma tomatoes in half. Scoop out flesh and set aside shells upside down on paper towel. Mix ricotta with basil and garlic and salt to taste (be generous as ricotta is usually not salted). Place filling into tomatoes and place right side up on pan. Roast in oven for 20-30 minutes until cheese is cooked and slightly bubbling.

Voila!

Enjoy with wine. :)

vegan dips

I’m in a dippy sort of mood.

Like a chip and dip mood.

I cannot resist dipping chips into dip when they’re in front of me.

My two favorite kinds of dip (they’re vegan and raw +2 points for me): guacamole and salsa. They’re actually pretty healthy as long as you choose your ingredients wisely and salt it to your personal preference. Guacamole gets a bad rep for its high calories but the omega 3 fats in avocado are the kind of good fats that you find in fish and nuts. Good for your brain and your skin. :) Just don’t go overboard on the tortilla chips and you’ll be good to go. I like to just eat it with a spoon, sans chip.

This isn’t really a recipe, because I believe for guacamole and salsa is that you really just can throw anything together and it’ll taste delicious. It’s pretty dang hard to screw up some avocados. Like really. You have to try really freakin hard to mess up. The salsa recipe is a popular recipe in our house. Pretty much essential for when there are tortilla chips in the house.

The guacamole is more of a new development. But we just happened to have avocados so I figured most of the ingredients are the same (tomatoes, onion..) so I might as well give it a go at both while I was chopping away on the cutting board.

Guacamole on some tortillas with some fresh lettuce gives you delicious vegan tacos. :) Perfect with an ice-cold beer on a crazy day like today. IT WAS 85 DEGREES IN LOS ANGELES TODAY! Can you believe it? Amazing.

I love the colors that go in salsa. Kind of Christmas-like. Mexican food is so colorful! With so many vegetables, too. I like to think of salsa as similar to kimchi haha. More than a condiment but not quite it’s own dish. A necessary vegetable that goes with every single food in that cuisine and tastes better after you let it sit in the fridge after a while.

I freakin love cilantro.

Salsa. Really not that hard to make at home. And it tastes 10000000x better than the stuff out of a jar from the store. The key is letting it sit for at least 3 hours in the fridge so all the flavors marinate together. FOOD!

Happy Monday.

Guacamole

2-4 servings

3 avocados
1 clove garlic
1 small tomato
1/4 yellow or red onion
salt
hot sauce

Slice avocados in half, toss the pit, and scoop out into a medium bowl. Mince garlic. Mash avocados and garlic together with a fork until creamy consistency. Dice tomatoes and onion. Drain tomatoes of juice until most of the water is gone (important! If you just throw it in, it makes your avocados watery. Yuck.) Mix into avocado mixture.

Season with salt and hot sauce to taste. (My sister threw in some corn and jalapeno to half of it for her own personal preference. I do not like corn so whatever works. Which would be anything. It’s avocado for goodness sake. You’d have to spray it with mace onto it to make it inedible.)

Salsa
6-8 servings

4 large tomatoes
1 yellow onion
1 bunch cilantro
1 large jalapeno
1 lime
salt
hot sauce

Chop tomatoes into small pieces and dice onion. Chop cilantro finely (fold all the leaves together like you would basil or any other spriggy herb, and then slice thinly with a nice sharp knife.) Dice jalapeno into very small pieces. If you like the heat, you can leave them larger, but dicing them into tiny pieces moderates the heat.

Mix all ingredients with the juice of one lime and season with sauce and hot sauce to taste. I used about 1-2 teaspoons of salt and used Cholula and Tabasco hot sauce. Heat heat heat!

Best if refrigerated overnight. I bought some quinoa and black bean chips from Trader Joe’s that I’m excited to try this with. :)