FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Olivia

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Dinner tonight was unusually disorganized, but turned out surprisingly spectacular.  I cancelled our reservation at Swift’s Attic so we could walk over to the newly opened Clark’s Oyster Bar, only to find out that they were completely booked for the night.  No biggs (except for I felt like it was biggs at the moment), we’d just head somewhere else.  After a bit of calling around to see who could fit us in, we landed at Olivia.

Olivia has been on my list for quite some time, so really the only setback was a seven minute drive.  My mom and I both had our stomachs set on oysters, so we ordered a couple and the roasted turnip soup to start while we browsed the menu.

I first ordered the branzino and, thankfully, our waitress warned us that it was a whole fish, head attached, and we’d have to pick around bones.  Ehhh…  No thanks.  So we took a few more minutes and went with the beet salad, beef carpaccio, and mussels.

The beef carpaccio was hands down the best thing of the night.  Flash fried capers, finely sliced shallots, arugula, and parmesan.  Ho-ly cow.   The mussels were also innovative and delish.  I’ve had mussels with chorizo before, but not with Brooklyn lager broth.  The smoky toast and Brooklyn broth were a cozy combination.  The beet salad was adorable and also very tasty, but I wish there would have been more beet balls.  Or more cheese balls.  Either ball, I would have taken more.  The oysters were oysters, I loved them cause they were oysters.  And the roasted turnip soup was a bit salty for my taste, but I totally dug the calamari topper.

And then, because I’m a compulsive checker-in-er, my friend Skylar texted me that she was across the street having a glass of wine and that my mom and I should stop by and say hey, so we did just that.  Somehow my planned night that became unplanned quickly became planned again, and I was oh so thankful for that!

FoodFash Mom

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FoodFash Mom is in Austin!  I left work a bit early to pick her up from the airport.  We lounged on the couch for a sec, changed into some comfy shoes, and walked on over to Whole Foods.  We have a weekend of eating ahead of us and I wanted to make sure we had at least one feel-good meal in us before the festivities begin.

I texted her early this morning asking if she was in the mood for spaghetti squash with turkey meatballs and homemade sauce.  She responded with a “sure!”.  And, like any normal person would, I assumed that meant she was excited.  I later found out that “sure!” was an exemplary display of mom poker face.

“This is actually really good, Kris!”, is what came out of her mouth as she was eating.  Umm what do you mean this is acutally really good?  Were you expecting it to be really bad?  Have we been apart too long for you to remember that I get the kitchen and the kitchen gets me?  It turns out, the few experiences she’s had with spaghetti squash hadn’t been that impressive (phew!).  She noted the goodness a few more times and went back for seconds.  And I did too because it was, in fact, really good.

FoodFash Turkey Meatballs

1 lb ground turkey

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup shredded zucchini

1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley

1 egg

salt to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a medium sized bowl, use your hands to mix ground turkey, onions, zucchini, parsley, and salt together.  Add the egg and mix some more.  Roll one inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes or until meat is all the way cooked through.

Fall Inspired Chicken Salad

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Until tonight, I always thought of chicken salad as a spring/summer thing. A thing filled with cool, crisp veggies that begs to be paired with sunshine and lemonade. A thing that you replace with chili during the cooler months.

But tonight, even though it’s been a tad on the cool side here in Austin, I wasn’t quite ready to trade in chicken salad for chili. In fact, I was fully prepared to make the summeriest of salads. It was then that I stared into my box of bites and came up with a combo that was way more fall appropriate than anything I would have come up with on my own.

I chopped up two chicken breasts (that I had boiled the night before) and a handful of pistachios and dried cherries. I mixed them together with a tablespoon or two of Vegenaise. And then I added a little bit of fall magic in the form of ground nutmeg (about 1/2 teaspoon).

To top it off, I placed a few scoops of the chicken salad in a roasted and cooled acorn squash half and sealed the fall flavor deal. The nutmeg tied the flavors of the pistachios, cherries, and squash together in a way that made so much sense. And best of all, this salad was hearty without being heavy, which left me feeling the good kind of full.

 

October #FoodiePenpal

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Having a box of goodies waiting for you when you get back into town is nothing short of wonderful. It makes home seem ten times more homey. It makes you feel like you did something worthy of a prize. It makes you feel missed. Signing up for Foodie Penpals guarantees all of these good feelings, all at once, at least once a month. And for that reason alone, I’m happy to have signed up.

This month my package came from Katie of Katie Without Restrictions, who assured me that she’d send me some local-to-her goods free of dairy temptation. When I opened the package, I was pleased to see that she sent me a box full of bites. And more often than not, I love bites more than meals. The Popchips lasted no longer than a minute. Next went the sesame bar.

And then I realized how boring of a post this would be if all I did was document the order in which I ate my bites. I took a break from the box and re-opened it a few days later when I was feeling less hungry and more inspired. The dried cherries and pistachios jumped out at me as a berry/nut combo that would work so well with chicken salad (recipe up tomorrow!).

A huge thank you to Katie for the big box of bites and meal inspiration!