Home-made Vodka Shrimp Spaghetti and Sauteed Kale and Chickpeas

Dan and I were down to some of our last food ingredients, but ended up making a great dinner of shrimp spaghetti in vodka sauce plus sauteed kale with roasted chickpeas.  There was a nice balance of flavors and textures and we felt somewhat healthy eating it.  P.S. Oven-roasted chickpeas are the best.  There's no reason why this should not be regularly incorporated into weekly cooking.  So easy and so good for you

Oven-roasted chickpeas with sauteed kale

Shrimp over spaghetti in vodka sauce.  And lots of parmesan cheese :)

Dinner at Tick Tock Diner in Clifton, NJ

Finally some decent fish and chips in NJ!  Apparently the chef at Tick Tock Diner is British, like actually from England.  So of course the fish and chips was amazing.  Thick nuggets of cod in a perfect batter, plus thick cut fries (a.k.a. chips) and onion rings.  A little gross to eat so much friedness but I showed restraint on the chips.  Very good and on par with fish and chips I've had in the UK.

Home-made gluten-free thai chicken peanut stir-fry

Found some gluten-free thai peanut sauce at Whole Foods and decided to use it for my chicken and veggie stir fry.  The sauce was SPICY.  Like, it was hard to finish my plate spicy.  The sauce itself could've been more sweet/peanut-y but for jarred sauce it wasn't bad.  One day I'll make my own from peanut butter but had to cut down on time after a long day of work.  A very healthy and filling meal.

Chicken, carrot, cabbage, and pepper stir-fry with Thai peanut sauce over jasmine rice

Home-made gluten-free gnocchi with bolognese sauce

We found some gluten-free gnocchi at Whole Foods so Dan decided to make a bolognese sauce to go with it.  It was so so good.  The gnocchi itself was tender with great potato flavor and the bolognese sauce was even better.  It was so flavorful and meaty that we could've just eaten it on its own.  The bit of basil on top made it perfect.  And Dan got to use the knife-cutting chiffonade skills we learned from our cooking class.

Home-made Braised Chicken with Veggies

Dan and I bought some chicken thighs after being inspired by one of Rachael Ray's cooking shows.  He decided to braise the chicken in oil, chicken stock and white wine and cooked it with carrots, spinach, and mushrooms.  And of course there was lots of garlic.  In the end it was a delicious, garlicky, and comforting mix of chicken with some amazing sauce to dip the potato wedges in. 

Dinner at Empire Steak House in NYC

Had a lovely day at the Newark museum then a delicious meaty dinner w/Nicole, Andrew and Tracy.  In honor of Restaurant Week had some $38 three-course steak meals.  While the service was a little awkward and the restaurant itself a little old-school for my taste, the food was pretty good and definitely worth the money.

Sizzling Canadian Bacon - nice and thick and a perfect amount of salt and fat

Fried Calamari - nice crunchiness and not too greasy

Fresh Tomato and Mozzarella - a little lacking in flavor

Prime New York Sirloin with broccoli and mashed potatoes - my stick was cooked perfectly and it was a filling yet manageable size.  Nice sides too. 

Tiramisu

Cheesecake

Vanilla Ice Cream - can't go wrong although couldn't eat all of it

Lunch at Margaritas Mexican Restaurant in Langhorne, PA

Dan and I happened to be driving in PA when I suddenly saw a very familiar site - a Margaritas restaurant!  I haven't been to or seen once since my college days in NH.  Actually I don't remember if the Margaritas was in NH or VT, but regardless I have never seen one outside of that area.  At first we drove by and I was just really nostalgic but after some TJs/Homegoods shopping, we stopped for lunch and I was one happy panda.  Honestly, for a chain, the food is very good.  A great value and of course, excellent margaritas.  A little strong for lunch haha but I had to.  PLUS it turned out it was National Margarita Day, which I didn't figure out til later in the day.  A successful trip overall!

Outside of the restaurant

The famous musicians :)

Complimentary chips and salsa.  Dangerous

Original margarita on the rocks.  More dangerous

Tomato Garlic Nachos - hand cup chips, tomatoes, garlic, cheese, onion and cilantro.  Even with the big chunks of onion (which I removed) it was DELICIOUSLY garlicy and cheesy.  I honestly could've just eaten this the whole time

Can't remember what this was called as it was a special, but it reminded me a little of mofongo.  Mashed plaintain with shredded beef, salsa and avocado.  Delish

From the Sea Combo (L to R) : (1) Fish Taco del Mar - beer-battered fish, cilantro, onion, orange slaw, three-pepper sauce, and avocado (2) Original fish taco - tortilla encrusted fish, roasted corn salsa, shredded red cabbage, and chipotle aioli, and (3) Shrimp Taco - fried shrimp, salsa fresca, roasted corn salsa, and lettuce with picante, hacienda and crema sauces.  The Original Fish Taco was amazinggg and by far the best.  Then the Fish then the Shrimp.  The Original Fish was just so crunchy and everything worked perfectly together.  The roasted corn salsa was the best and I loved the cabbage and chipotle flavors.  The shrimp was a little tough and also unnecessarily spicy.  The Fish Taco was fine but not that memorable.