Tag Archives: Salad
When Your’re Feeling Low. . .
I was pretty down and out all last week , but having a night out with friends on Saturday gave me something fun to look forward to and definitely helped boost my spirits!
My husband and I met our two great friends, G and M, out for dinner at Kartabar, a Mediterranean-influenced hot spot literally up the street from where I live. Kartabar has been around for years– it turns into a club after about 11 or so on Friday and Saturday nights, and admittedly, I spent many a Friday and Saturday at Kartabar when I was in college!
Needless to say, we went for dinner way before the restaurant to club transition!
Kartabar has really good food, which is probably one of the reasons it has managed to stick around for so long. I ordered three of my staples: salad, pizza and fries!
The salad I had was a delicious poached pear salad with goat cheese, raisins, walnuts, fried onion rings and raspberry vinaigrette. I loved it because it has all the things I crave in a salad– fruit, nuts, cheese, greens, and a tasty dressing.
I ordered a margherita grilled pizza– it was pretty thin and crispy. It tasted great, but I prefer a less cracker-like crust.
And, to round out the meal, I had a mix of sweet potato and regular fries.
–
The meal was great and the company was even better– my bad mood lifted instantly.
On our walk home, our friends and I stopped by our local Froyo World. I really resisted getting froyo since I had a Crumbs cupcake sitting at home for me, but at my husband’s urging, we decided to just get a little cake batter froyo to share between the two of us without any toppings, so we would still have room for the cupcake. It was a delicious compromise.
Their cake batter froyo is truly amazing– so creamy! The flavor is right on too!
And, to top it all off, a red velvet Crumbs cupcake to conclude my foodie extravaganza! This is one of the best Crumbs cupcakes I have tried– the cream cheese frosting was so good!
Looking back, I realize just how well I ate on Saturday night. A bit indulgent, yes, but all worth it!
What’s your favorite froyo flavor?
What I Ate Wednesday: Our Having-Met Anniversary
This is a pretty special week for me– eight years ago, on May 6th, 2005, I met my husband for the first time. We actually met at a restaurant in the Federal Hill section of Providence called Zooma. I was hanging out there after chaperoning my school’s junior prom, and he came to hang out with one of his high school friends, who happened to be a teacher I was with. Three months later, we were engaged!
We celebrate our having-met anniversary by going back to Zooma each and every May 6th since we met. It is pretty lucky we met at a restaurant first that has the longevity to still exist so we can make our return visits, and second that has wonderful food. But before I show you what we ate at Zooma Monday night, let me first show you what I had for breakfast and lunch first! Thanks Jenn for hosting!
I ate my usual oatmeal bowl– except this time, it wasn’t oatmeal– it was oat bran! I picked some oat bran up at Trader Joe’s last week, and decided to bring it into my life, especially since it not only reminds me of my childhood favorite, Cream of Wheat, but also because it has more protein and fiber than oatmeal per serving! I cooked it in the microwave with ground flax, cinnamon, vanilla bean powder, and sea salt, and topped it off with a sliced banana, tahini, and unsweetened coconut flakes.
Whole Foods had my favorite massaged kale and avocado slaw as their prepared salad special the other day, so I bought a container (though I have gotten pretty good at making it myself!). For lunch, I had some of the kale salad, some raw Dr. Cow nut cheese, raw veggies and some raw crackers and zucchini chips. I haven’t had an all-raw lunch in a while, and it really hit the spot.
Now onto my Monday night anniversary dinner. An 8 o’clock dinner reservation awaited– we always request to sit at the table we actually met at!
They were aware of our anniversary story, so we were greeted with free champagne! I don’t drink, but it was a sweet gesture.
All of the food at Zooma is so fresh, including their crusty bread. I enjoyed two chunks dipped in peppery olive oil.
My husband and I split a margherita pizza. I swear, I can’t go more than a week without eating this kind of pizza.
I also had a few bites of my husband’s red wine infused goat cheese tortellini. It looks horrid but tasted divine. It was house-made too!
I also devoured a tasty escarole salad with fresh mozzarella cheese and a red wine vinaigrette.
I think our dessert though was the best part– tiramisu for the anniversary win! I forget how much I love this creamy dessert– I need to get it more often.
I was up late considering it was a school night– I didn’t get to bed until 10! I know, I know, for an average person that’s not late at all, but for an old lady teacher like me, that’s super late, considering I usually fall asleep before 9!
It is fun to do something a little different on a school night though. . . and I wasn’t even tired the next day!
Do you like dining out on work nights? I tend to prefer to stay home when I know I have to get up early.
On The Water In Providence at the Waterman Grille
This past weekend was a triple threat in terms of foodie fun. We went out with K and J Friday to one of my favorite restaurants, Blaze; on Saturday, we went out with more friends, both old and new; and on Sunday, my husband and I took the moms out for dinner. I already recapped Friday night’s meal, so let’s move on to Saturday’s delicious dinner.
My husband and I had plans with our friends M and G, who then invited another couple along that we had not yet met. Then, another new friend joined in on the festivities and before we knew it we had a table of 7! We made reservations at the Waterman Grille in Providence, an amazing, but often forgotten about restaurant, located along the water. Its location is a bit isolated, which is why my husband and I tend to forget about it. Once we spotted it on Opentable though we remembered how delicious it is and immediately made reservations. Originally, we made a reservation for 6, but they were quite willing to accommodate us for 7 at the last minute.
You have probably noticed that whenever I have the opportunity to order the pizza/salad/fries trinity of perfection, I do. Waterman Grille’s version of all three were pretty tasty!
I actually started with a few slices of fluffy Italian bread with butter that I gobbled so fast, they failed to make it to my camera. I ordered my salad, pizza and fries to come all at once for my dinner.
The salad was a spinach salad with poached pears, what I think was gorgonzola cheese and walnuts. It was good, but small! The pear pieces were miniscule and sparse, as were the walnuts.
Fortunately, their margherita pizza was a bit bigger. The tomato sauce was the best part– it was really fresh. The pizza was tasty, but the crust was a tad too thin, leaving it to get a bit soggy.
The fries came in the cutest little kettle. They were the best element of my meal for sure– nice and crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and salty! Unfortunately their pot o’ ketchup was way too small!
I don’t know why I am so obsessed with the pizza/salad/fry combo but I always have been. I avoided pizza while I was avoiding gluten, and now that I am reintroducing it into my diet, pizza is constantly on my mind! I guess that’s what happens when you deprive yourself of doughy, cheesy goodness for over a year!
We really had a great time at Waterman Grille. It’s always fun to meet new people in Providence– for such a small city, there are so many fun and interesting young people around! Even though we had a blast on Saturday, we weren’t done with our weekend foodie shenanigans yet– stay tuned for my report on the new-to-me pizza restaurant we tried with our moms on Sunday. . .
What was the best thing you ate all weekend? Do you like to pair your pizza with salad?
Change of Plans
This past Friday nights, my husband and I had plans with our two great friends, K and J, to try a new vegetarian restaurant here in Providence called The Grange. Having just opened in the last week or so, The Grange seemed like a perfect hot spot for us all to gather at for some new-to-us vegetarian eats.
Just as my husband and I were about to leave our house to meet our friends, our phone rang, and it was J. She basically told us the wait would be an hour and a half. No surprise there though– we sort of expected a wait would be a problem since the restaurant just opened and it doesn’t take reservations. Since we were all hungry and not in the mood for a long delay until we could fill our bellies, we opted for Plan B, which was obviously to go elsewhere. After a quick consult with the husband plus a call to the restaurant to see if there was a wait there, we decided to go to an old favorite, Blaze.
I have written about Blaze a few times on the blog, so I will just skip to the eats! All you do need to know about Blaze is the food is awesome comfort food with a Cajun Creole twist. Blaze serves up plenty of meat, but the great thing about Blaze too is that they have a special vegetarian/vegan menu with a ton of options!
I always get the same sort of thing at Blaze (well, not when I avoided gluten and dairy I guess!). I ordered, not one, not two, but three of my favorite things on the menu!
First, I started with their apple and arugula salad. Since the ran out of arugula, they offered me either spinach or mixed greens, of which I went with the mixed greens. Besides the greens, the salad consisted of sliced apples, walnut crusted goat cheese truffles and a yummy vinaigrette. It was pretty large so I only ate half!
I also ordered their margherita pizza on wheat crust, half of which was “kicked up” with jalapeno. I love their grilled pizza in general, so this of course did not disappoint! I had two pieces of this pizza perfection.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a trip to Blaze without ordering their “best sweet potato fries evah!” Their fries are truly the best sweet potato fries I have ever eaten since they’re so soft inside but coated with a delicious cajun-y crispy batter. Dipped in ketchup and creole sauce is the way to go!
My husband and K ordered calamari and a burger respectively so I didn’t snap a pic, but J ordered pumpkin bisque and a brie salad, which are totally appropriate dishes to feature here on the blog! The bisque looked amazing. . .
and the salad literally had an enormous brie wedge of proportions I have never seen on a salad!
Of course, the company was just as good as the food! K and J are two of my favorite people in the world, and going out to eat with them is always a blast because we all enjoy food and trying out places so much. In fact, we’ll be seeing them in a few weeks so we can explore the culinary scene out in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, which is a town I have probably been to only three times in my life. I can’t wait– in fact, over the course of the upcoming months, we are doing a culinary tour of all random Rhode Island towns that we rarely visit!
What are your favorite kinds of salads? Clearly mine are those that feature nuts, cheese and fruit!
Girls Night Out At Papa Razzi
You don’t often catch me here on the blog “hanging out with the girls.” That’s probably because some of my best girl friends are my coworkers, so I see them nearly everyday! When you see your crew every day, it’s easy to not actually plan other, outside of work, outings because again, it’s not like we don’t hang out all the time! Still, we do try every once in a while to get together for a girls night out so we can really let loose and relax! This past Thursday night, me and my teacher besties (there’s five of us all together!) finally got together to chat over good food and wine (well, none of that for me!). Our night out was just what we needed– it’s much easier to gossip about work when we’re not actually at work!
We went to one of my favorite Italian restaurants called Papa Razzi. Papa Razzi is a small Boston-based chain and there’s only one in Rhode Island, which makes it quite a popular spot. It’s casual but classy, but most importantly, the food is consistently delicious. It was the obvious choice for us since it’s pretty centrally located and is a great spot to have a nice three-hour dinner and bonding sesh!
When I mentioned Papa Razzi when we were deciding where to go, my friend L immediately began gushing about their breads. Truly, their bread is reason enough to eat there. As soon as we sat down, our awesome waiter brought over to us this basket of thin, crispy breadsticks, and I immediately devoured two. They’re not flavored per se, but despite their simplicity, they taste amazing.
Even better though than their breadsticks is their fresh, warm focaccia. Dipped in their spicy olive oil, it is heaven on a plate. I also downed two pieces of that doughy goodness.
We all decided to start with either soup or salad, so I went with a half portion of my favorite salad their– the insalata di campo. The salad consisted of greens, gorgonzola cheese, tomatoes, and dried cranberries. I always get this salad at Papa Razzi, and I especially love it because they toss the greens with their tangy balsamic dressing rather than just drizzle it on top or serve it on the side, which ensures every leaf is coated in yumminess.
I was going to either order their gnocchi in pink sauce or their bruschetta with mozzarella, but when I saw their pizza at another table, I immediately changed my mind. Margherita pizza it was!
The pizza was so delicious! The crust was nice and light but still quite flavorful, and the tomato sauce was so fresh-tasting. I only ate two pieces though because I wanted to be a good wife and take some home to my husband.
A funny story about out night– the waiter noticed one of my friends didn’t eat much of her meal. He asked if she didn’t like it, but she said she did. He then insisted it wasn’t cooked right and that’s why she didn’t like it, although, again, she said it was just fine– she just wasn’t that hungry! Our waiter continued to claim the food was not prepared right and said he wasn’t going to charge us for it. Then the manager came over and offered her another meal! Talk about customer service– my friend never even complained about the food once!
Anyway, we had an awesome night. I love my work friends so much– they truly are my sisters and even though we see each other nearly every day, it is still so special when we get to go out on the town!
Do you have coworkers you are close with? Do you manage to make time to see them outside of work?
