Heirloom Tomato & Avocado Toast with Fried Egg

This Saturday my mom came to stay with me for a "Moms Night Out." My friend Alanna invited her mom and we went out to an unconventional dinner. There were cocktails, transvestite dance performances, Asian tapas and a few body shots (that we witnessed, not participated in). It was a blast, and I highly recommend AsiaSF if you're in the bachelorette and/or birthday party planning game. 

Sunday morning we went for a walk by the water, grabbed coffee and I made an impulse-buy at the Fort Mason farmer's market. One fat, yellow, good-bye-summer tomato. Our meal was then centered around this tomato. 

Let's be real, it's always better with Sriracha.

Heirloom Tomato & Avocado Toast with Fried Egg
2 slices sourdough bread
2 slices havarti cheese
1 heirloom tomato, sliced
1/2 avocado, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 eggs
sea salt and pepper
Sriracha 

Toast bread in an oven, adding cheese at the end to melt. Fry or poach eggs until preferred doneness. Stack tomato, avocado and eggs on top of toast. Sprinkle with course salt and pepper. Add Sriracha for the win. 

Spaghetti Squash with Chickpeas, Feta & Arugula

Here's an example of how not to ease into the week: Invite work to dinner and engage in lengthy conversations about furniture placement, budgets and timelines. Regardless of how dry our conversation sounds, I enjoyed every bite of the meal we shared. 

I've embraced spaghetti squash in a big way this season. It's so easy, you get to eat pasta without eating pasta and you can put any darn thing in it. The trick to quicker cooking is to slice the squash in half before roasting. Plus, if you roast it whole, you will likely get blasted with molten steam when you slice into it. 

 If you, too, were debating inviting work over for dinner, I'd discourage it. I got hardly any compliments and he stuck around way too long after dessert. 
Rude. 

Spaghetti Squash with Chickpeas, Feta & Arugula
1 spaghetti squash, halved
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4 cup cooked chickpeas, rinsed
handful of arugula 
sprinkle feta and/or parmesan (both in my case)
1/2 cup marinara
red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 400. Drizzle oil over squash halves and season with salt and pepper. Place on cooking sheet and roast for 35-40 minutes, or until soft enough to pull flesh away easily with a fork. Allow to cool slightly before shredding the inside of the squash with a fork. Place squash flesh in a bowl and stir in chickpeas, arugula and cheese. Toss with marinara sauce and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. Zap in the microwave for a minute to heat up all ingredients. 

SND ~ Chicken Tortilla Soup

Sunday night dinners have been an important ritual in my life since senior year of college. The tradition was first instituted when my long distance boyfriend would visit me in Chapel Hill, and my Sunday anxiety would creep up and take over in the hours before he had to drive back to DC. I needed a little Sunday somethin' to look forward to. Up until this point, cooking was not something I took seriously. (I could throw a rock from my living room door and hit Panera, so cooking was not necessary). 
Image of said college house below for reference.

I still remember the first meal I made: Ina Garten's Herbed goat cheese stuffed chicken. After a few dinners, I got hooked. I started spending tons of my free time on Google Reader, watching Barefoot Contessa, and planning for the next one. 

Yadda, yadda, yadda... I have a four year old cooking blog. 

So, bringing us back to this Sunday Night Dinner. My roommate, Lauren treated me and our friends Peter and Caroline to a big crock pot full of chicken tortilla soup. It's important to ease yourself back into the hamster wheel. Friends and tortilla chips help. (*Image cred: Skinny Taste). 

Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
32 oz low sodium chicken broth
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can black beans
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can corn
1 small white onion, diced
1-2 tbsp chili pepper
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 lime, juiced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Toppings:
grated cheese
avocado
Greek yogurt
hot sauce
cilantro
tortilla chips

Throw in all ingredients above into your crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4 (check if chicken is cooked through before shredding, as different crock pots cook at different speeds). Once chicken is cooked through, pull out breasts and shred with a fork. Place chicken back in the crock pot and keep on "warm" until ready to serve. Serve with any or all of the suggested toppings above. 

Sonoma Saturday

It's amazing how much life you can pack into the two most sacred days of the week. These are the days when memories are made, friends are seen and fun is had. There's no better place to spend these free hours than at Scribe. I've posted about it before, and I'm sure I will again...but here is a peak into the November Pick-up Party. 

The visiting restaurant this time was A 16. I highly recommend this restaurant if you're in the marina and looking for a nice dinner. The menu at Scribe:

~ Salad with farro, almonds, winter squash and herbed salt

~ Marinated trumpet mushrooms over mixed greens

~ Smoked trout mousse crostini with radishes

 The food was paired with a light Pinot Noir. I was all just terrible, let me tell you. 

 It also didn't hurt that it was 80 degrees on November 8th. 

Until next time, Sonoma.

The Big and Small Things

It's funny how things come full circle. The only constant in life is that things change. I used to think that sucked. You work hard, you think you've figured something out, you check the box... and things change. I've taken a new stance: change keeps things interesting, it makes you grow, it shouldn't be feared. 

No matter how much I think I like yogurt with fruit for breakfast everyday, I'll inevitably go through another oatmeal phase... Or another major life-shift like that. 

For now, I'm enjoying the yogurt. Maybe I'll throw in a soft boiled egg, if I think I can handle it. 

PS. Another full circle moment: I had a computer for a few years. It broke. I didn't have a computer for a year. Then I bought one on Saturday. 

Welcome back, ma petite plaque. xo

Yogurt & Fruit

1/2 cup 0% fat Greek yogurt

frozen pineapple

frozen mixed berries with cherries

chia seeds

almond butter

dash cinnamon

Put frozen fruit in microwave bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds until thawed. Scoop yogurt and almond butter, sprinkle with chia and cinnamon. Serve with a hot cup of coffee in your favorite mug. 

A Love Note & Beet Toast

Oh long lost blog of mine, don’t be mad at me. I didn’t forget about you. We’ve had hurdles to overcome and I still don’t know if we’re really ready to get back together. First, my computer died which really made seeing each other difficult. Then I moved, moved in with my boyfriend, took over 2 people’s jobs at work… and we really lost touch.

But every time I put the extra effort into a unique dinner or indulgent dessert, I think of you. So here I am with a glimpse at lunch from this Saturday.

 

With love,

China

Beet Avocado Toast with Goat Cheese

1 slice sourdough bread
1 golden beet
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt/pepper/cayenne
1/2 avocado
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 ounce goat cheese

Preheat oven to 400. Slice beet into 1/4” slices and spread onto a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Roast for 12-15 minutes, until tender.

Meanwhile, toast sourdough bread until desired crunchiness. Mash avocado with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Spread onto toast, top with sliced beets and sprinkle goat cheese. Serve immediately.

Almond Butter, Strawberry Jelly & Banana Omelet

Oh, hello 2014. How did you sneak up on me like this? One minute I’m making Friendsgiving dinner, then I turn around and Bachelor is back and I have to buy a new calendar. Why not kick off the new year on The Plate with a horrifying, albeit delicious meal: pb&j&b omelet.

I can’t take full creative credit for this idea. The bar tender at Bin 38 (adorbs wine bar in the marina) was going on and on about a peanut butter and jelly omelet his brother-in-law (maybe?) makes him. So, for Juan Pablo’s big night, Alanna brought the wine and I made these omelets. We both loved them.

Don’t be scared. Try new things. It’s a new year, after all.

Almond Butter, Strawberry Jelly & Banana Omelet

2 eggs
splash milk or water
dash of salt
2-3 tablespoons crunchy almond butter (or peanut butter)
2-3 tablespoons strawberry jelly
banana slices

Heat a well greased medium non-stick pan. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and salt. Pour eggs into pan and let cook, swirling the eggs to the edge of the pan to coat the bottom and cook through. Once the eggs have cooked through, remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Fold over and eat immediately.