Start the Day Off Right

I am a big believer in eating a good breakfast.  Study after study has shown that people who eat breakfast, and a hearty one at that, consistently perform better at work and school, and are usually thinner than those who don't.  All of that would already be enough to convince me, but to be honest, I'm also into breakfast because I'm always starving when I wake up in the morning, and waiting until lunch is just not an option.  During the week, I usually rotate between eggs or some sort of hot cereal, but recently I found two new recipes on Pinterest that were just the thing I needed to shake up the ole' routine, and I made up a third that I can't get enough of.  If you need some new, healthy breakfast inspiration in the form of dishes that can be made in 10 minutes or less, then read on.  First up, Peanut Butter Banana Quesadillas.  What could be more fun than having a quesadilla for breakfast?  Plus you get some potassium from the banana, protein from the peanut butter (which will keep you fuller longer), and .....well...chocolate from the chocolate.  All you need is a whole wheat wrap, peanut butter, a banana, and some chocolate chips.  Take the wrap and cover it with a generous schmear of peanut butter.
Then slice up a banana and put it over half of the area covered with peanut butter.
Sprinkle some chocolate chips on top and fold the other side of the wrap over the top.

Plop the quesadilla into a pan that's been warming on the stove and cook over medium heat for a few minutes, flipping it over once the bottom gets a little brown.

Take it off the heat once the other side is seared to your liking and the chocolate chips have gotten a bit melty.  Put it on a plate, cut into three wedges, and dig in!  You've got yourself a super quick and easy breakfast that's also healthy and really filling. 

If you're more into apples than bananas, then maybe the second recipe that I have for you, Apple Pie Oatmeal, will be more of your cup of tea.  To make one serving, you will need one chopped apple, 1/2 cup of quick-cooking oats, 1 cup water, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg.  First, bring your water to a boil in a small saucepan and then add all the other ingredients.


Stir for about 2-3 minutes until the oatmeal is cooked and the apples soften just a bit.  
Then just pour into a bowl and enjoy, stirring in a little milk and brown sugar if you'd like.

This recipe couldn't be any easier, but it tastes like decadent comfort food and puts you in a good mood instantly.

If you prefer a a mix of savory and sweet for breakfast, then my last option, Tropical Egg Scramble, may be perfect for you.  Here's what you'll need:  three large eggs, milk, grated cheese, salt, pepper, and a few pineapple chunks (fresh or from a can).  Crack three eggs into a bowl and beat them for a few seconds with a whisk or a fork.

Add a splash of milk and then pour eggs into a pan that's been warming over medium heat.
Let them set up for just a few seconds and then start stirring.

When your eggs are mostly set, but not completely cooked through, take them off the heat and transfer them to a plate.  (My favorite blog, The Londoner, introduced me to this technique for making scrambled eggs.  It may seem a little weird, but, believe me, it makes the eggs taste creamier and SO MUCH BETTER.  I'll never go back to fully cooked scrambles again.)

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and the grated cheese of your choice.  I usually do Parmesan and Romano but I've also done feta a few times to mix it up.

 Add your pineapple to the plate and you're done!

Grab a fork and dig in.  If you close your eyes while taking a bite of the juicy pineapple, you might even be able to imagine that you're having breakfast on a white sand beach with a beautiful ocean view in front of you. Sadly, when you've cleaned your plate, you will probably remember that you now have to go to work or school, but at least you'll have energy for the day ahead and be in a better mood than when you woke up, I promise.  Now, you just have to promise me that you'll never skip breakfast again, okay?

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Foodie Friday

This is the start of what I hope will become a new weekly post here at Kensington Gold, in which I share snaps of gorgeous food that was seen or had during the week, in a sort of Instagramish roundup.  What better way to end the week than with a little food porn?  I can't devote entire posts to all of these treats, but I still want to share the goodness and tell you how to track it down on your own.  Hopefully it won't make you too hungry......enjoy and let me know what you think!

 Scallops with wild mushroom and truffle oil risotto and seared greens from West Side Lounge (yes, I went back again)

 Passionfruit mojito from The Painted Burro.  Ammmmaaaazzzing.  But it made me want to be lounging on a beach even more than the cold weather already has.

Tropical Egg Scramble (will post recipe next week)

Happy Weekend!

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Tequila Sunrise

S's birthday was last weekend, and to celebrate, we went out for dinner at Lolita, a cocina and tequila bar right off of Newbury Street in Boston.  It doesn't look like much from the street, but once you go in the door and down the stairs, you find yourself in what looks like a funky Gothic crypt, flooded in red light.

We settled into our table and our waiter arrived, bearing a mysterious bowl shrouded in mist.  He explained that it was tequila granita and was meant to be cleanse the palate before our meal.  He had us at "tequila granita" and we dug right in.

After that delightfully icy starter, we each ordered a different cocktail and then passed them around the table so that we could try a bit of everything.
I went for the spicy cucumber margarita with don julio blanco, serrano chiles, combier liqueur, and muddled cucumber.  So refreshing, with just the tiniest amount of heat.  Went down like water...very dangerous.

 

The birthday girl went for the diablo margarita:  lunazul rep, combier, serrano chiles, blood oranges, pineapple & strawberry.  Also good, but I preferred the cucumber, although I was a bit jealous of the sparkly red rim.
Along with the granita, Lolita also gives you complementary tortilla chips and a trio of sauces with your meal (roasted tomato salsa, spicy queso, and tomatillo salsa).

We decided to go all out and ordered the guacamole sampler for the chips as well.
Picante (avocado, tomato, serrano, onion, and cilantro), Especial (crab, lobster, and garlic-wine butter drizzle), and Bacon (applewood smoked bacon, adobo chile, and pico de gallo).  The bacon guac was demolished immediately, followed closely by the Especial.  Luckily, our mains soon arrived to make up for the loss.

I went for the ancho chicken quesadilla with pulled chicken, black beans, fire roasted  corn, applewood smoked bacon and Mexican cheese.

S got the blackened mahi mahi tacos with cabbage slaw, chipotle crema, guacamole, and pepitas.  I didn't actually think that the mains were that impressive....sadly, they weren't as flavorful and exciting as I had expected, but we also got these delicious little buggers, which more than made up for it:

 

Crispy spiced potatoes with caramelized onions and cotija cheese.   We ordered them for the entire table to share, but I'm pretty sure that S and I polished off most of them.

After another round of drinks, we were too stuffed to order dessert (a tragedy, I know), but Lolita had one more surprise in store for us.  Our waiter whisked away our plates and then brought us a huge spool of cotton candy.

Random?  Definitely, but also really fun.  I've never been a big cotton candy person....not into the texture.  But I found that I couldn't stop eating this.  It had a nice, watermelon flavor and the sweetness was soothing after all the spiciness.  And they even added a candle in honor of our birthday girl.

When we were ready to hit the road, our waiter dropped off our check, along with Lolita tattoos.  The fun freebies just kept coming!  Already in touch with our inner five-year-olds after eating too much cotton candy, S and I couldn't resist putting them on immediately.

Overall, I really liked Lolita.  As I said, I wasn't too impressed by the main dishes, but I would definitely go back for the cool atmosphere, fun extras (free cotton candy, tequila granita, and a Goodbye-thanks-for-coming-tattoo?  How can you pass that up?), margaritas, and guacamole.  I think that next time, I would just order a few of the apps or sides and maybe get that dessert.  If you want to go for dinner, make a reservation here, especially if you go on the weekend.  

After leaving Lolita, we had more than a few calories to burn, so we headed over to The Estate to dance the night away. I think that the bouncers could tell that we were a ridiculously fun group (or that we had had too much sugar and tequila) because they showered us with glowstick necklaces and batons.

It felt a bit like being at a rave in the 90s, but we went with it. 

We danced into the early hours of the morning and then headed off into the night.  And slept through the rest of the weekend.  These birthdays are starting to take their toll....

  

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West Side Story

I have a confession to make.  As someone who craves variety, I feel a bit guilty in admitting that I've eaten at West Side Lounge twice in the past week.  It's not because I've fallen into a diet rut or that I've gotten lazy and don't want to leave Cambridge in search of food farther afield.  No, the reason is much more exciting than that.  Just in time for Valentine's Day, I've fallen in love.  What's he like, you ask?  Well, he isn't tall, dark, and handsome, as you might expect.  Instead, he's actually a bit short and round......but he's also very hot and a little spicy too.  Take a look and just see if you don't swoon.....

 

Allow me to introduce my new love:  one of West Side Lounge's seasonal offerings:  hot mulled wine (please excuse the slightly blurry shot.  My eyes were tearing up with happiness).  A wonderful mix of mulled red wine, fruit, spices, vodka, and brandy.  Velvety smooth, deliciously sweet, and warms you up from the inside out.   Can you blame me for falling for him?  

But anyway, let me tell you about the food as well, which is also pretty darn good.  My first meal of the week here was had with E, in a belated celebration of her birthday.  We chose West Side for its fun, artsy vibe and eclectic food menu as well as its extensive and fun cocktail offerings.

In a fun touch (I'm guessing for Valentine's Day), the ceiling had been strung with roses.

 

However, our attention was soon stolen away from the ceiling by the arrival of this bucket of glory.

 

Parmesan truffle fries.  They started out good and then got more truffle-y and delicious as you went down. We made short work of them and then, as if on cue, our mains arrived.   For me, it was "Our Favorite Chicken Ever" (gotta love a name like that).

Pan seared chicken nestled on top of whipped goat cheese mashed potatoes, with artichoke and a wild mushroom sauce.  The chicken itself wasn't mind blowing but I would like to personally thank the person who thought of adding goat cheese to mashed potatoes.  Comfort food at its finest.  And the combination of the artichoke and mushroom sauce was an interesting and really tasty complement.  E ordered two appetizers in place of a main:  the blackened shrimp tacos and one of the night's specials:  dates stuffed with chorizo and goat cheese with a spicy sauce.

Once those plates had been cleared away, we were rather stuffed, but since it was a birthday celebration (and since we're professionals), we decided that we could find room for dessert.  West Side Lounge always has a creme brulee of the day and on that day, the flavor was caramel, which we thought sounded promising.

We were right, as it was delightfully sweet and caramelly with an easily cracked crust and a perfect creamy texture.  It was the just the right way to end the meal.  We got up to leave but I knew in my heart that I would have to return soon to my newly found love......I couldn't stay away for long.  So, with tales of a mysterious beverage that would wrap you in a warm embrace on a cold winter's day and melt even the coldest of hearts, I convinced GK to go to brunch over the weekend.  However, the mulled wine was playing a bit hard to get, so we started with a more civilized, bubbly brunch cocktail:  the pomimosa---basically a mimosa with the addition of pomegranate juice.

Being a big eggs benedict fan, I was excited to see that there were three options for the dish on the menu:  one featured prosciutto, another was heavier on the veggies, and the third included smoked salmon.  I was feeling adventurous and went for the smoked salmon.

 

I was so glad that I did.  The smoked salmon added a deliciously rich layer between the English muffin and the perfectly poached eggs, while the hollandaise sauce was wonderfully flavorful and zesty.

I was pretty focused on these babies, but I did manage to tear myself away for a moment in order to taste GK's California omelet, which had avocado, tomato, feta, and scallions.

I love me some avocado in an omelet, but surprisingly, the scallions were what gave this one an intriguing flavor snap that held your attention and tied all the other flavors together.  By the time we finished our eggs and our bubbles, the lovely bartender was heating up the mulled wine and, at long last, we were reunited.  Cue the romantical music.

 We gazed at each other and everyone else in the restaurant seemed to fade away......

until GK intentionally coughed and ruined the moment.  I think that she was getting a bit jealous because she seemed to quickly become besotted as well.

 

Thank goodness that there was enough to go around for the both of us.  And, while I usually don't like to share, I'm willing to spread the love to you as well.  If you'd like to go for dinner or brunch, I'd recommend making a reservation through West Side's website, because they seem to fill up quickly and it's not a large place.  I'd also try to get there soon, before winter turns to spring and they change their seasonal cocktail menu and take away the gorgeous man in red.  Just remember to take things slow.  Or you could end up like me and find yourself, in the immortal words of Beyonce, drunk in love.

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