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Archive for January 2011

Quantum Heat

Earlier this evening, I met my good friend Jillian for dinner at Quantum Leap, one of my favorite vegetarian restaurants in the city.

Though at most restaurants I’m a creature of habit and tend to order the same thing over and over, at Quantum Leap I’m more adventurous and have yet to repeat a meal there! Tonight I ordered the vegetarian curry stew dinner, which came with a green starter salad (please pardon the poorly lit photos!):

The curry stew itself was a melange of seasonal vegetables and tofu slowly simmered in Southeast Asian curry spices.

There were two options for this dish: mild or spicy. I immediately went for spicy, and whew! It was on fire. The broth was actually too hot for me to eat by itself, but fortunately the piles of veggies and tofu helped to tone it down a bit.

On the side, I was given a portion of basmati-lentil rice. Good as far as rice goes, but I always think that it’s a rather boring grain!

Of course, I broke out my favorite dessert the second I got home :)

An apple with my last block of Baker’s chocolate. Perfection.

I must say that I’m excited to start the week ahead. I don’t want to “wish my life away,” but each week that passes brings us that much closer to warm weather! Enjoy your evening!

When you eat at your favorite restaurants, do you tend to always order the same things, or do you switch things up?

Categories dinner, Quantum Leap NYC
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Pasta, Pasta!

It’s been awhile since Mike and I have cooked a meal together, so when he told me last night that he wanted to cook a pasta dinner for me, I was game!

He purchased fresh-cut homemade pasta from Borgatti’s pasta shop in the Little Italy area of the Bronx. It was doughy, thick and delicious enough to eat raw.

(I just realized while Googling “fresh cut handmade pasta” that it most likely was made with egg. Oops…does anyone know if that’s usually the case?)

To top our pasta, we had a classic marinara sauce spiced up with lots of red peppers and fresh basil. I’m glad I’m dating a fellow spicy-food fan!

The noodles plumped up to twice their size and were full of flavor- beats boxed pasta any day! I loved that you could find some crimped edges within the pile of carbs. Between the two of us, we polished off all but one serving from the 1lb portion.

For dessert, we split some dark chocolate.

And then I went to town on a massive bag of pistachios while watching House.

By went to town, I mean that I probably ate 3-4 servings’ worth. Pistachios are one of my favorite nuts :)

* * *
For breakfast this morning, I wasn’t feeling the usual cereal, so I whipped up a bowl of oat bran with a new ingredient:
Special Dark cocoa powder? Yes, please! I added a tablespoonful to 1/2 c oat bran, 1 c almond milk, a sliced banana and a spoonful of almond butter.
I’m never going back to regular cocoa powder again. The richness of this stuff was unbelievable- instead of tasting cocoa-ey, it tasted completely chocolatey and decadent. Total dessert for breakfast.
Lots to do today- time to get cracking. Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!
Have you ever had homemade pasta? Better yet, have you ever made it yourself?
Categories breakfast, dinner
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Larabar Giveaway

Who wants to win some Larabars?!

In the midst of dreary winter days, I love to snack on something summery and fresh. Key lime pie Larabars are one of my favorite bars in general, mainly because eating one is like a little taste of the tropics.
Thanks to the kind folks at Larabar, one of my readers will win a tropical-themed prize pack containing:
 - five Key Lime Pie bars
 - five Coconut Cream Pie bars
 - five Tropical Fruit Tart bars
 - a Larabar t-shirt
It’s like a little Caribbean party in your mouth :) There are three ways to enter:
 1. Leave a comment telling me your favorite flavor of Larabar, or the flavor you’d most like to try.
 3. Tweet about this giveaway: “@uneviesaine is giving away tropical @Larabar: http://tinyurl.com/4teh4cw ”
Please leave a separate comment for each entry. The contest ends on Monday, January 31 at 8pm EST. I’ll chose a winner at random and announce it that evening. 
Good luck!
Categories giveaway
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