Eat Like a Rabbit

Back to catching up on the restaurant reviews from New York back in December. . .(luckily, we're pretty sure these popular places haven't closed)! I can't recall where we learned about Lombardi's, but it didn't take us long to understand why it was so popular. I will give a warning here: The wait for a late lunch was one and a half hours. The problem is, I hear there's always a wait. I am willing to bet that comes with living in a big city, but that also comes with wanting some really good food.

I've heard people say that some restaurants make you wait so the food tastes better--cause you're too hungry to care. Just like with our favorite pizza haunt in Rome, this is not the case. The wait is just that long because the food is just that good.

The encouragement: the staff is very efficient in order to minimize wait time. We were very impressed at how quickly a bus-boy cleaned off a table and reset it very smoothly. Also, it seemed the wait staff was always on top of things to make sure you had the drinks you wanted and to provide you with your food very quickly. I assure you, the time you are inside the restaurant eating is considerably less than the time you are outside the restaurant waiting. But who cares!

I got my November Gourmet Magazine this week. The fact that I found this edition meeting my vegetarian creativity needs head-on makes the receipt of this last issue of the famed 60-year-old magazine more distressing.

For the first time, I came across a vegan dish-Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake. There's even a complete menu for a vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner. I'm intrigued by the carrot and beet soup that is made with water instead of chicken stock "so it's a delicious alternative to your vegetarian guests." And totally unrelated to Thanksgiving is the tempting pizza topped with yellow potatoes, yellow onions, and rosemary.

The November Gourmet will find itself being used often over the holidays and likely for many winters to follow. Might I suggest either researching some of the recipes on Gourmet.com or actually acquiring a copy of the mag at the newsstand? Keep in mind not all the recipes in the magazine are available online, and I am not sure I've seen all online recipes in the magazine. Do your research now as the website may not be available someday.

So long, Gourmet. What a fabulous finale!

Here is the spinach pesto I made to serve on pizza with fresh tomatoes instead of a marinara sauce. The rosemary bread at $5 for two loaves from Costco makes the pizza easy and tasty because it adds lots of flavor leaving only a need for a little salt and pepper on the tomatoes.

You can find the recipe for my spinach pesto from my post last year. Plus, you can search for other recipes I use the spinach pesto with, like spaghetti squash or butternut squash lasagna, which will be made again this year. I will tell you I passed on the Parmesan and sprinkled a little olive oil in the food processor as I was stirring up and dishing out the pesto. Also, be careful with the garlic. All I had were large cloves left, and it was very potent for the amount I made! Unfortunately, my basil needs more care than I have been giving it; so, I didn't have as many leaves as I am used to or wish for. That's the beauty of the spinach in the pesto. It eliminates the need for so much basil, but still allows for fantastic and healthy flavor.

Well, my goal for putting that pound of spinach away in a week was not a success. Paul says my problem was that I never put enough spinach in the dishes. I also contribute part of the problem to not being home for two nights and running out of time in the mornings to make my smoothies the last four or five days. So, I'll be making myself a smoothie for breakfast in the morning and trying to come up with other ways to use the spinach up as quickly as possible because I know it's good for me, and I don't want it to go to waste. Stay tuned for photographs and recipes to go with my spinach creations for the week.

The sauteed spinach photographed was served with my butternut squash soup, which I was very proud of. You can tell that even though the pan was filled with raw spinach, it cooks down a lot. If you're serving a large number of guests, get a big skillet.

We went to Big Louie's Pizzeria on recommendation and were happy for the edible meal because the beach had made us hungry. We had passed up a number of restaurants with tempting menus on Las Olas Blvd.--including one or two that were Zagat rated. However, they did seem rather expensive. Too late, we learned that most restaurants had the same range of prices. Perhaps we would have reconsidered Noodles or Mancini's had we known. But, that's life.

Big Louie's has a good reputation and seemed rather busy. They offer gluten-free and whole wheat alternatives for additional cost. The salad was superb. The vegetables were clearly fresh, and I especially loved the creamy Italian dressing. I would go back again just for the salad. That being said, I would also opt for tasting the pasta, which did look yummy at other tables, instead of ordering another pizza. Paul had the basic margherita. He really enjoyed it because the sauce was divine. I just didn't like how greasy it was. His pizza also had a thicker crust that made the meal much better.

A couple weeks ago, the office ordered lunch for us courtesy of a patient because our nurse practitioner, Shani, is moving away. That's a story in and of itself cause we've bonded so much, and I'll miss her terribly. Anyway, not realizing feta is considered a "soft" cheese and is off my diet, the girls were quite proud that they had ordered this delicious looking Pacific Veggie pizza for myself and Shani (who is a pescatarian). Also, not realizing that the pizza had feta on it, I dove in because it looked so fabulous. It was only after I had a slice that I found an advertisement attached to the top of a box with the ingredient list. I was so disappointed because I was really surprised how yummy it tasted. I'm a girl rather stuck on making pizza at home, but have found lately in my pregnant-always-sick-cooking-makes-me. . .you know. . .state, I've been eating out more and experiencing even pizza from outside of my kitchen. This is one of those pizzas I would love to eat again after the baby or even sooner if they'll hold the feta cheese, which would be sad because it was crunchy and had a nice little bite to it. I'm also not sure that the provolone used vegetarian enzymes as my research says provolone is one of the cheeses that uses calf rennet most often.

Sometimes, the photos of a meal go up on flickr before I get around to posting the story behind it. Our dear friend, Brent, had the kids by himself over the weekend while Lisa, his wife, was away with her family. Brent saw our picture of the Mexican Pizza, guessed how to make it, and made one for the kids. He said Kyle liked it, and he loved it. Apparently, Elena wasn't so sure about it. Therefore, I can actually post the opinions of this dish beyond our household. The first photo was from our dinner and the second is from Brent and the kids' dinner. Notice that Brent had mushrooms and bell pepper on the top of his pizza. The options are endless!

Recipe for Mexican Pizza

• 2 Burrito-sized Flour Tortillas
• 1/8 onion, sliced
• 1/4 small bell pepper, sliced
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives
• 1/3 can Fire Roasted Tomatoes
• 1/3 can Refried Beans
• 1/2 cup (more or less) cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place one flour tortilla in the center of a jelly roll pan (I like a pan with edges so juices don't run). Spread refried beans over the tortilla. Lay the onions, bell peppers, and black olives around over the beans and top with one layer of cheese (optional). Place second tortilla over the toppings (like a quesadilla), and top with the tomatoes and additional cheese. Bake in oven 7 minutes or until edges are brown and cheese is bubbling.

Exactly a week ago, we attended a wedding at the Omni Resort in Champions Gate, Florida. We loved the wedding and are so happy for Sarah and John, but more importantly, we enjoyed this (see photo) particular menu item so much that the efforts of a duplication will likely be part of our menu this week.

I have fallen off the wagon of my menu plan to eliminate unnecessary stress in my life the last couple of weeks due to friends and family visiting, which throws off my schedule a bit. (I'm a creature of habit.) But, I'm back on this week!

Menu for Week of June 1

• Cold Wild Rice with fruit and nuts salad, veggie-meat
• Open-faced grilled cheese with aged white cheddar on dark wheat bread and mixed green salad
• Pizza on Flatbread with veggie-chicken spinach, and zucchini
• Cereal or Smoothies and Sandwiches
• Corn(?) and. . .

I have purchased fresh corn on sale at differing grocery stores for the last two weeks. It's a great summer treat and so inspiring because the fresh flavors make you want to do something just as fresh to go with it. We've already eaten this week's supply of corn, and I hope to acquire more on Thursday or Friday when I do my big bi-weekly grocery shopping.

Before Jeremy came a

Last week we were still recovering from our fabulous trip to Seattle, including Mort the Cat happily resting in the middle of the laundry pile. I put little thought into meals for the week and was also lacking energy to go grocery shopping. So, we pretty much ate what was in the cabinets and freezer as the fridge was empty. At least I've learned we won't starve!

This week will be very busy. Monday will be dinner with an old friend (whom I hope will also be available Tuesday night.) Wednesday through Saturday night, we will be staying at my parents' house with my grandmother while my folks are at my dad's high school class reunion in New Harmony, Indiana. I have a few items I'd love to cook remembering that the meals have to be soft for my grandmother to chew.

I finally found a successful and delicious pizza recipe. I referenced it a month ago in my menu plan.

Last week's menu plan went really well. The only thing I never got around to was the Dutch Boy. Sadly, I still won't get around to it this week because we're out of eggs and there will be no grocery shopping until we return from a long Easter weekend with Paul's family.

These are pictures of our lunch visit with Tim and Magally Putt to Ethos Vegan Kitchen. Paul and I shared the vegetable lasagna and a 10" pizza. Tim and Magally shared the vegetable lasagna and a black bean burger. Tim said the sandwich was twice the size of the lasagna but half the price.

Last week, I posted a menu for what I planned to fix for dinners for the week. It went much better than the first menu I planned went. Strange, this is the end of March and I've only fulfilled this New Year's Resolution twice? How sad.

Sunday, I made Mexican Couscous for us as well as for my dad who came over to entertain himself as my mother is out of town. Only, I didn't serve it with cornbread because I only had two slices leftover and didn't want to make a whole other batch. We had nachos instead (horrible trade off, I know), and Paul took the cornbread for lunch.

Although we didn't participate in what looks like a fun job of delivering pizzas in Paris, I am now in a position to need to start planning dinner menus again before we end up ordering out not because we don't have the food, but because I haven't been well organized. This week I only have ideas for meals, but don't have a set schedule on which days I plan on serving them. Perhaps this may be a bad idea, but I don't always know what my next week's schedule is going to look like.

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