Happy Caribbean Heritage Month!! Another restaurant week!! With the recent successes of restaurant weeks and restaurants months over the course of 30 plus years, Latin Restaurant Weeks starts on June 6th and will end on June 20th. Based on their website, Latin Restaurant Weeks started six years ago by “Karinn Chavarria and Warren Luckett, in order to help lend a voice to the aspiring and existing Hispanic entrepreneurs and professionals of the culinary industry”. To date, they are partnering up with Feed the Soul Foundation, which focuses on “empowering culinary entrepreneurs and students by providing the essential resources needed to flourish in the food industry”. 15 restaurants are participating throughout the five boroughs and their prix fixe and specials price vary, with lots to offer. Last year Sophie’s Cuban Cuisine participated and I ordered a take out meal which I believe was less than $20. This meal included: braised oxtails, sweet plantains and mixed vegetables with an empanada (forgot which flavor I got) and a passion fruit juice. This meal was enough to feed two people.
Latin Restaurant Week Meal to go
Realistically with my schedule, I’ll be lucky to dine one let alone two restaurants, however, below are my recommendations. To date, I’ve been able to review 12/14 restaurants.
Meal for One
La Palapa – $28 per person six course tasting menu to celebrate their 25th anniversary. For this price, count me in!!
Meal for Two
Canave Cocina y Bar – $40 per person three course prix fixe menu: (1) Nachos Con Queso/Hangar Steak/Flan (2) Mofonguito de Pollo/Camarones Enfiestados/Churros
Calle Dao (Bryant Park) – $45 per person three course prix fixe menu dinner: (1) Steamed Shrimp Wontons/Ropa Vieja Noodles/Tres Leches (2) Papas Rellenas/Chicken and Yellow Rice/Flan
Calle Dao (Bryant Park) – $30 per person three course prix fixe menu brunch: (1) Steamed Shrimp Wontons/Ropa Vieja Noodles (2) Papas Rellenas/Cuban Fried Rice
Calle Dao (Bryant Park) – $30 per person three course prix fixe menu lunch: (1) Steamed Shrimp Wontons/Ropa Vieja Noodles (2) Papas Rellenas/Chicken and Yellow Rice
Meal for Three
Cocotazo – $30 per person three course prix fixe menu: (1) Alcapurias/La Gallina/Flan (2) Relleno de Papa/Guava BBQ Ribs/Tres Leches (3) Pastelillios/Coki/Flan-Budin
Meal for Five
Palo Santo – $55 per person three course prix fixe menu – it appears that this restaurant is offering the entire menu but items are subject to change.
Personally, I’ve dined at Calle Dao in Bryant Park numerous times during the pandemic. From what I recall over five years ago was that they had a great happy hour menu and generous dinner entrees. Interestingly, I have not had the items on Calle Dao’s Latin Restaurant Week Menus so I’ll make an effort to try to dine there. I’ll be check their social media pages and hopefully I’ll be able to repost on my stories as my way of support small businesses and another restaurant week concept.
Happy Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month!! Another restaurant week!! With the recent successes of restaurant weeks and restaurants months over the course of 30 plus years, Chinatown Restaurant Week starts on May 19th and will end on May 24th. Based on their website, 18 restaurants are participating and their prix fixe price vary, with lots to offer, but there are stipulations. Reservations to 10 of the 18 participating restaurants are only available on Eventbrite, 9 of those 10 restaurants have a set price for a minimum of two people. This set price includes: tax, 18% gratuity and processing fees. After reading the information on their website, this dining experience will not be feasible because personally it’s already difficult to get another person to join for a time constraint meal with no substitutions. Therefore, these menus do not accommodate diners with dietary restrictions. In addition, since the reservation has to be made via Eventbrite, the diner will be required to pay up front just to make the reservation. In the long run, the restaurant week meal will no longer be cost effective. So in conclusion, I won’t be partaking in this occasion as I would have liked to. Nevertheless, I’ll provide the places that I may check out for Chinatown Restaurant Week. To date, I’ve been able to review 17/18 restaurants.
Lunch for one:
Mee Sum Cafe – $13 set meal – 2 pieces of dim sum (har gow & shumai), toisan style salted chicken rice box, and small lemon ginger drink. No reservations. Walk-ins only.
Tada – $20 set meal – 2 fried mandus, 3 pieces of Korean fried chicken (2 wings and 1 drumstick), small side of kimchi fried rice and 1 Korean drink. No reservations. Walk-ins only.
Lunch/Dinner for two:
The Original Buddha Bodai – $62.76 per person (includes tax, 18% tip and processing fees). To take advantage of the 5-course vegetarian meal (perfect for Meatless Monday), reservations for a minimum of two people are required. I would have loved to try the salt and pepper fried ribs because they are only served during dinner currently. I’ve personally have dined in the restaurant once but that was before COVID-19, which was over five years ago and their portion sizes serve 4 people. This restaurant is one of my go-to for lunch via Uber Eats and one time, I ordered their Vegetarian Shark Fin Congee Soup. The soup was huge and it served about four people. Below is a photo from my lunch/dinner delivery order from this restaurant, which cost under $30.
Wok Wok – $35.69 per person (includes tax, 18% tip and processing fees). Reservations for a minimum of two people are required and only one set menu was being promoted: roti canai, curry laksa noodles and housemade tea. Personally I don’t think this is a deal because even without the promotion the cost would have been the same maybe cheaper without the processing fees. Four years ago I dined at this restaurant during dinner out of curiosity because of all the YouTube videos I watched during COVID-19. I did order the roti canai, which I did enjoy especially that chicken curry. The chicken curry had the perfect amount of heat for this appetizer dish. It’s definitely worth ordering alone or a starter for a 3-4 course meal. In addition portion sizes are usually generous and definitely meant for sharing.
Roti Canai
Dinner for one – Reservation is required.
Phoenix Palace – $76.30 per person (includes tax, 18% tip and processing fees). When I clicked on this link, I discovered that I can make a reservation as a solo diner. Based on what this restaurant is offering for restaurant week, I would order the Olive Yaotiew/Salt & Pepper Cuttlefish/Duck Breast/Dessert. This is the sister restaurant of the Michelin Gourmand’s Potluck Club. I have yet to dine in either restaurant.
Since I am not far from the participating restaurants, I will make an effort to dine in one of the restaurants after work or during lunch. In the meantime, I’ll be sharing posts on social media from the participating restaurants to support small businesses.
Long Island Restaurant week began in 2006 as an annual fall promotion week long event. Five years later in April 2011, Spring Restaurant week launched and five years after in January 2016, Winter Restaurant week debuted due to popular customer and restauranteur’s demand.
Currently Long Island Restaurant week is celebrated three times a year. The goal is to promote businesses during slow periods and it literally last for eight days. Long Island Restaurant also includes Saturday participation but until 7pm. Long Island Restaurant Week started on April 27 and will end on May 4th. This post will be focused on my personal picks from participating restaurants in Nassau County. Based on their website, 84 restaurants are participating in Nassau County and their prix fixe prices are $29, $39 and $46 and to date I reviewed at least 25 restaurant week menus out of the first 28 restaurants listed. Below is a list of restaurants that I would go for lunch or dinner along with the dishes I would order.
Restaurants for meal for 1:
AG Steakhouse – Bar Menu ($29 pp) (1) Queijo Assado/Picanha/Chocolate Mousse Cake
Anchor Down Dockside – Dinner ($46 pp) (1) Mussels/Cod Oreganata/Key Lime Pie
Atlas New World Bistro – Lunch ($29 pp) (1) Caesar Salad/Wagyu Smash Burger/NY Cheesecake
Azerbaijan Grill – Dinner ($29 pp) each four course meal contains a choice of house salad or soup, soda, Persian tea or American coffee, and baklava; for the main entree here are my top 3 choices: lamb and beef stew, Mediterranean pasta or chicken adana. All three entree choices include a choice of either white rice or brown rice.
Cinco de Mayo Restaurant – Lunch ($24 pp) (1) 5 de Mayo Nachos/Salmon Veracruzana (2) Quesadilla Mexicana/Bistec Ensebollado (3) Homemade Chicken Salad/Bandeja Azteca
Joey’s Bold Flavors – Dinner ($46 pp) (1) Lobster Baked Clams/Boneless Short Ribs/Creme Brulee (2) Super Fine Antipasto Salad/Ginger Teriyaki Glazed Salmon/Pistachio Tartufo (3) Eggplant Meatballs/Shrimp Limoncello/Toasted Almond Tiramisu
Restaurants for meals for 4:
Azerbaijan Grill – Lunch ($24 pp) each four course meal contains a choice of house salad or soup, soda, Persian tea or American coffee, and baklava; for the main entree here are my top 4 choices: salmon shish kebab, shrimp kebab, falafel patter and vegan moussaka. All four main entree choices include a choice of either white rice or brown rice.
Harley American Grille – Dinner ($46pp) (1) Bang Bang Shrimp/Branzino/NY Cheesecake (2) Chicken Dumplings/Chicken Paillard/Chocolate Gelato (3) Ribeye Egg Roll/Berkshire Pork Chop/Vanilla Gelato (4) French Onion Soup/Shrimp Risotto/Lemon Sorbet
Restaurants for meals for 5:
Azerbaijan Grill – Dinner ($39 pp without an alcoholic beverage and $46 pp with an alcoholic beverage) each four course meal contains a choice of house salad or soup, soda, Persian tea or American coffee, and two baklavas; for the main entree here are my top 5 choices: Persian steak, Lamb Shish Kebab, Brook Trout, White Fish and Salmon Filet. All the main entree choices include a choice of either white rice or brown rice.
Chef’s Table – Dinner ($39 pp) (1) Polpette Di Melanzine/Salamone al Genovese/Tiramisu (2) Fried Artichoke Hearts/Flounder Oreganata/Cannoli (3) Insalata Caesar/Pollo Amalfi/Pistachio Gelato (4) Mozzarella alla Caprese/Chicken Parmagiana/Chocolate Gelato (5) Insalata Misti/Rigatoni Cara Mia/Vanilla Gelato
Personally we have dined in Luigi’s Restaurant for lunch and dinner. The Meatball Parm Hero is one of the options that will be sold during restaurant week lunch. Meanwhile the fried calamari, eggplant polpette and salmon peperonata will be sold during the restaurant week dinner.
Realistically it will be difficult for me to dine in any of these restaurants due to my current work schedule and commute. In the meantime, I’ll be check their social media pages and hopefully I’ll be able to repost on my stories as my way of support small businesses and another restaurant week concept.
Happy Easter!! Another restaurant week!! With the recent successes restaurant weeks and restaurants months over the course of 30 years, Sunnyside Restaurant Week is back again!! Sunnyside Restaurant Week starts on April 22 and will end on May 4th. Based on their website, 49 restaurants are participating and their prix fixe price is $35 and/or other deals/discounts. This restaurant week actually will last two weeks, below is my best bang for your buck list of places I’d like to go.
Personally I have dined in three restuarants listed for Sunnyside Restaurant week on different occasions. I’ve had the grilled tuna belly from Tito Rad’s and it was very good. It’s actually one of my go to dishes if I dined in this restaurant. I’ve also ate at Cardamom which is listed on Michelin’s Bib Gourmand list but the dishes I had in this restaurant are not participating in this restaurant week. More recently I’ve dined in Bar 43 for brunch and their pretzel bites will be sold during this restaurant week.
Realistically I don’t know if I’ll be able to dine in one any of the restaurants listed above due to my current work schedule. In the meantime, I’ll be check their social media pages and hopefully I’ll be able to repost on my stories as my way of support small businesses and another restaurant week concept.
Happy April Fools Day!! Another restaurant week!! Actually not kidding haha. Recently there have been emergences of restaurant weeks and resturants months, which is inspired by the successes of NYC restaurant week. During my routine daily scrolls on Instagram, I came across the It’s In Queens account stories of the day and they promoted Astoria Ditmars Restaurant Week. Astoria Ditmars Restaurant Week starts on April 2 and will end on April 8th. Based on their website, 26 restaurants are participating and their prix fixe price either is $25, $35 or $45. Since I gave up alcohol for Lent (40 days), I was already able to narrow down my personal picks. In addition, this restaurant week actually lasts a week, I will have a best bang for your buck list, which may include alcoholic options and another list to accommodate people who gave up alcohol and/or red meat for Lent. Personally I have never dined in any of these restaurants so there will be a first time for everything. To date, I was only able to review 16 of the 26 participating restaurants.
Restaurants that includealcohol:
Alba’s Pizza and Restaurant – $25 lunch
Bar Parioli – $45 dinner for at least two even three people with glass of wine for at least 2-3 people
Restaurants that accommodate to Lent (alcohol free)
Porto 23 – $45 dinner for one
Queen’s Room – $45 dinner for at least two
Rivercrest – $35 dinner for one
Spanglish – $25 lunch for two
The Bonnie – $35 dinner for one
YAAR – $25 dinner for two
Acento Latin Kitchen – $45 dinner for one
Telly’s Taverna – $35 lunch for two
The Pomerboy – $45 dinner for two
Realistically I don’t know if I’ll be able to dine in one any of the restaurants listed above due to my current work schedule. In the meantime, I’ll be check their social media pages and hopefully I’ll be able to repost on my stories as my way of support small businesses and another restaurant week concept.
NYC Winter Restaurant Week is back! Starting from 01/21/25 to 02/09/25, 597 restaurants have signed up to participate in this dining promotion that started 33 years ago. What I can’t believe was that I didn’t blog a NYC Restaurant Week game plan since becoming a mom; my last game plan post for NYC Restaurant Week was in 2022 right before I became a mom. Since I returned to work, I’ve taken advantage of dining in restaurants during lunch and early dinner to avoid eating late due to the long commute. The price points for this season are $30, $45 and $60 for lunch/brunch and/or dinner depending on the restaurant. Below is a list of restaurants I’ve dined in the last two years:
January 2023 – I dined in Malibu Farm for dinner after work where I had their Helene’s Long Island Fluke Ceviche paired with their Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Then I had their seared Faroe Island Salmon, which was generous (I recall eating half and taking the other half home for the hubby/baby to consume). Finally I ended dinner with chocolate cake and I just ate the ice cream and took the cake home. Malibu Farm is also participating in this season’s Restaurant Week but their menu has not been posted. In the meantime, the ceviche is still on their regular menu. The salmon that is currently on their menu is roasted and contains different vegetable. The chocolate cake is not on their current menu, but may appear in the restaurant week menu.
Helene’s Long Island Fluke CevicheSeared Faroe Island SalmonChocolate Cake
The following day I dined in The Fulton for lunch. This was a three course lunch so I had the Yellowfin Tuna Tartare and Ume Sesame Crusted Salmon with a yuzu mocktail. Service was slow and the main entree was the perfect lunch portion, which I devoured. I had to take my Whiskey Pecan Ice Cream and Coconut Sorbet to go because I had to head back to work. By the time I got home, both desserts were melting so I had to refreeze it to consume it. The Fulton will be participating for dinner only in this season’s restaurant week.
I also dined in Carne Mare for restaurant week lunch. This was another three course menu. I started my lunch with the Arnold Palmer along with the Brooklyn Burrata Con Pana. I recall loving the burrata and pesto but not the bread. Portions were generous. I was starting to get full after finishing the appetizer. Once the main entree came, I was able to only eat half of the Mezzi Rigatoni and took the rest home to be devoured by my husband who approved this dish. When the dessert came, I was way too full to even attempt eating it, but I did consume all the fruit, which was refreshing. Unfortunately, this dish is not ideal to take to go. Carne Mare is also participating for lunch and brunch for this season’s restaurant week and they are offering the same dishes I ate this time around.
Arnold PalmerBrooklyn Burrata Con PanoMezzi RigatoniPanna Cotta
February 2023 – I had a girls night dinner on the last day of restaurant week two years ago at Bar Boulud. We ordered a bottle of the 2021 L’effet papillion IGP Cotes Catalanes Pinot Noir red wine, which was the sommelier’s choice for Restaurant Week. For appetizers we ordered the Pate en Croute and Escargots Persillade, I recalled enjoying the pate and my friend enjoyed her escargots, but had better version of the French dish at other French Restaurants. For the entrees, we ordered the Coq Au Vin and Rainbow Trout, portions were perfect. The trout was the better entree of the two because the sauce had so much alcohol in it (not all of the alcohol burned off) that someone who does not drink will get drunk off this dish. We ended the dining experience with the Passionfruit Cheesecake which was beautifully presented and Gateau Basque. Both dishes were delicious, I personally liked the cheesecake slightly better than the Gateau Basque. Bar Boulud is also participating for lunch and dinner for this season’s restaurant week. Bar Boulud will be offering a variation of the trout and gateau basque along with the escargots.
Fast forward a year later or rather a year ago, January 2024 – I had a work reunion dinner at Vallata Unfortunately I don’t have the photos for this dinner, but I did write a review on Yelp about the dinner and experience. This restaurant will also be participating for restaurant week dinner. For an extra charge, Vallata will be offering the foccacia, chickpea salad, skirt steak and cannoli bombolone.
February 2024 – I did two restaurant week lunches because they were on the Michelin list. The first spot I dined in was Gramercy Tavern. I got the first reservation of that day and I took a long lunch break (2 hours) to dine in this restaurant. The dining room area is only used for dinner service. So for restaurant week, the restaurant week menu for lunch was only served. The restaurant week menu showcased dishes that are usually served on their dinner tasting menu. To start, I received a complementary bite along with a sweet potato roll, both items were amazing. The complementary bite set my palate for the three dishes that I ordered. The sweet potato roll and butter were amazing. I don’t usually eat rolls before my meal because it is filling, but I definitely devoured this roll. The restaurant week portions are smaller than what would you get if you were to dine here on a normal night. For the appetizer, I ordered the sweet potato agnolotti, which was amazing from the texture of the freshly made agnolotti to the butter sauce. I made sure that every piece of agnolotti was drowned in the sauce, so the plate would be perfectly cleaned. For the entree of the roasted duck and it was a perfect portion. The duck was cooked medium, and it was lean. I still enjoyed that agnolotti dish. For dessert, I had the Meyer lemon tart, which was a perfect ending to my amazing lunch experience. This was one of the best overall meals I’ve had for restaurant week. Everything was to die for. Gramercy Tavern will be participating for lunch only during this season’s restaurant week. The menu is completely different and it appears that there are more options offered on this menu. The marinated scallops, golden tilefish, butternut squash lumache (lasagna for dinner), roasted duck breast and bacon, apple & quince tart and dark chocolate cake will be part of this season’s restaurant week lunch.
Complementary bite and sweet potato rollSweet potato agnolottiRoasted DuckMeyer Lemon Tart
For another restaurant week lunch, I went to Le Jardinier, which had a one-star Michelin rating during the time I was there. I was running late and the staff was very accommodating as I arrived towards the very tail end of their lunch menu. I recall their portions were huge that I ate half of both my appetizer and entree and took the rest home for dinner. I ordered the chicory salad with green apples and pine nuts as my appetizer and for the entree I had to get the infamous Carolina gold rice risotto with mushroom and cheese. The risotto was too pretty to consume and one scoop of all the components together was to die for. Unfortunately, both dishes are no longer listed on their current menu and they are not participating in this season’s restaurant week.
Chicory SaladCarolina Rice Risotto
On the last day of last year’s winter restaurant week, I had a girls night dinner at The Consulate Midtown. The restaurant was very pretty. I started with the Ginger Optional Cocktail, which was refreshing. We ordered a variety of dishes such as the blood orange salad, octopus carpaccio, burrata, cauliflower and parsnip soup. The appetizers were good. The entrees could be better, I think the dishes that were served were rushed because there were components that were undercooked. The steak frites had more fries than the steak, rabbit tagliatelle was good, scallops and risotto (risotto was undercooked), salmon with bernaise sauce. I enjoyed the salmon dish. The desserts of bread pudding and blueberry panna cotta were good but not memorable. The Consulate will be participating in this season’s restaurant week. They will be offering the octopus carpaccio and both desserts.
Ginger OptionalOctopus CarpaccioBlood Orange SaladCauliflower and Parsnip SoupBurrataSteak FritesScallops and RisottoSalmon with Bernaise SauceRabbit TagliatelleBread PuddingBlueberry Panna Cotta
During my commute since 01/07/25, I’ve developed a bucket list of restaurants I want to dine and support new restaurants especially the ones with the best deals. Unfortunately, I won’t be participating as much as I would have liked due to the upcoming Lunar New Year, Long Island Restaurant Week, life and priorities. Here’s the my wish list for this season’s restaurant week:
Al Fiori
Delmonico’s
Jiang Nan
Lincoln Ristorante
House of Red Pearl
Great Jones Distilling
Metropolis
Hav & Mar
David Burke Tavern
Luigi’s
I may hit up other restaurants in Queens because it’s more convenient and definitely worth exploring. I’ll definitely be hitting up at least three of the restaurants on this list. Stay tuned.
Happy New Year! 2024 was a busy year as new challenges and adjustments were at the forefront. I’ve been active on Yelp writing restaurant reviews and hitting up hard to get into restaurants. I’m still struggling with Meta, which consists of Facebook and Instagram. This time it’s spammers who wanted to steal my content. I know it’s a very competitive market out there. So, if anyone out there can provide input to help improve this account, that would be great.
Since this is the middle of the week, I began the game plan last night on New Years Eve 2024 with my traditional lucky foods menu. Thanks to Whole Foods and Lidl, I was able to achieve that. To start, I had my traditional 12 fruits, which I was able to obtain:
Oranges, blueberries, avocado, apple, pear, strawberries, grapes, raspberries, Kiwi, mango, lemon, and lime. That turned out I had 13, well, to be fair. I had 12 pairs of fruits and 1 banana.
For my meals, I search recipes online to find inspiration with the ingredients I had to work with. So I made the following:
Cornbread with bacon and swiss cheese,
Biko – glutinous sweet sticky rice with brown sugar, coconut milk and vanilla
Sauteed collard greens in bacon fat
Honey Chili Crunch Salmon
Boiled Soba Noodles
Madras lentils
Today, the celebration continues with consuming leftovers and cooking the remaining soba noodles with mushroom and kale.
Check out my posts on Instagram at @tablespoonsandteaspoons. Stay tuned for an exciting 2025.
Wow, is it already past two months since my post?! We are officially 36 days away from the end of 2024. My mom has been introducing me to the world of chayote because she and her neighbors has been growing their own crop within the last two years. My mom makes great braised sauteed versions of chayote, which I have yet to master because handling this type of vegetable with bare hands especially peeling the skin is equivalent to handling a prickly pear and cactus. I give my mom a lot of credit for getting rid of the peel from the chayote she used. I’ve been roasting chayote because it was the best way to introduce the vegetable to the my other half who is not person of color (although he has Native American blood in him through his grandfather who was part Cherokee). So what is chayote?
Chayote (Sechium edule) is a type of squash that originated in the Aztec period and it spread throughout Central America, Europe and Asia thanks to colonialism. This squash is part of the Cucurbitaceae plant family, which includes pumpkins, melons and cucumbers. Consumption of this crop has numerous health benefits. Chayote contains fiber which helps with blood sugar issues especially for people who have diabetes. The crop also contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory biomarkers that play a role in metabolic syndrome. The contents of this crop is still being investigated further.
Personally, I’ve been roasting chayote squash with parmesan in the oven by slicing the crop into thin slices and mixing the slices with olive oil, salt, pepper and bake for about 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven. After 30 minute add the parmesan cheese and cook for another 10 minutes.
Recently, I roasted chayote with red onion at 400 degrees except I waited 10 minutes after the oven was at 400 degrees to place the chayote and red onion mixed with olive oil, salt and pepper in the oven.
Roasted Chayote tasted very good and healthy. I’d like to explore different cooking methods of chayote and even try chayote dishes at various restaurants.
Wow! It’s been awhile since my last post, which was my game plan for French Restaurant Week in June. There are officially 99 days left in 2024! I’ve been cooking a lot and replicating recipes using techniques rather than ingredients because I had to work with what I had. Over the summer, two months ago, I came home early enough to utilize the ingredients that are in the refrigerator before they went bad. After surveying the content at that time, I had leftover vegan cream cheese, spinach and unopened mushrooms that needed to be cooked or it would have been a waste. Therefore, after my child went to bed, I did a basic search on dishes containing cream cheese, mushrooms and spinach. The first thing that popped up on my search engine was the recipe from RiceSelect. After reviewing this recipe, I discovered I had all the ingredients: cooked rice, walnuts, butter, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. I gathered up what I had and here is what I had to work with:
See these ingredients I realized that I have a healthy comforting vegetarian dish in the works.
Butter from grass fed cows have good sources of Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, chromium, copper, iodine, manganese, and zinc. For this recipe I used Vital Farms Unsalted Butter, has been labeled as on the best butters according to taste tests from Serious Eats and and Healthline. Personally I like using grass fed unsalted butter because it makes dishes taste a little richer while consuming the fat soluble vitamins essential for bone health. For this dish, I melted less than 5 tablespoons of unsalted butter.
Then after the butter is melted, I added the mushrooms and let it cook for approximately 4 minutes.
One cup of mushrooms contain multiple cancer fighting antioxidants such as “polyphenols, polysaccharides, ergothioneine, glutathione, selenium, and vitamin C”, These antioxidants fight off oxidative stress, and prevent tumors. The presence of polysaccharides in mushrooms help regular blood sugar and insulin production. Mushrooms also contain a specific type of polysaccharide called beta-glucans. Beta-glucans has been shown to activate macrophages and natural killer cells to stimulate the immune system, which will inhibit further tumor growth, reduce proliferation and metastasis. In addition to the prevention of tumor production, beta-glucans in its soluble form is capable of forming a “gel on the mucosal surface of the bowel”, which will reduce cholesterol levels. The presence of glutathione and ergothioneine in white mushrooms display their respective roles in getting rid of potentially harmful substances and keeping the DNA safe from oxidative damage. Ergothioneine acts as a bioactive agent to prevent plaque development, which reduces the risk of early cardiovascular disease. The presence of Vitamin C and selenium also adds another layer of anticancer properties by respectively blocking specific enzymes responsible for spreading cancer and prevent cancer development. Finally, white button mushrooms have prebiotics, which is beneficial for intestinal health and gut health.
After the mushrooms are cooked, add the vegan cream cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted and reduce the heat temperature to medium-low.
Vegan Cream Cheese
Add cooked brown rice (leftover brown rice – a day old), stir to blend and heat with the mushroom cream cheese mixture (3-4 minutes).
Brown rice has been advertised and promoted as a healthy carbohydrate ingredient because it is considered a whole grain. Four years ago, a three prospective cohort study covering self-reporting, follow-up questionnaire with supplemental questionnaires covering a period of 33 years (1984-2017) was published. The results from this cohort study showed that higher consumption of whole grains, which includes brown rice was associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes among the “158,259 women and 36,525 men who did not have type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer at baseline”. However, in 2023, there was an article that was published revealing that there is more arsenic found in brown rice versus white rice. The article addressed that arsenic is considered an environmental pollutant that has contributed to higher risk of arsenic-induced metabolic syndrome whose symptoms include “a large waistline, high blood pressure, elevated fasting blood sugar, high triglyceride level, and low HDL cholesterol”. These symptoms often lead to cardiovascular disease in the long term. Ultimately, based on these two studies, more studies and research need to be completed to validate the health benefits of brown rice. In the meantime, we should limit food and products containing arsenic due to more consistent findings.
Add spinach to the rice mixture and stir until wilted.
Spinach is one of my favorite vegetable because of its versatility but more importantly this vegetable contains a large amount of health benefits. I have shared recipes in past blog posts containing spinach:
Recent research reveals another another component that is found in spinach called Betaine. Betaine has been known to help regulate homocysteine levels in the blood, which may contribute towards disease prevention such as heart disease, and stroke, Betaine has also been shown to with endurance, reduce fatigue and improve muscle power and strength.
After the spinach is wilted, remove pan from heat and add walnuts. Walnuts usually adds another layer of flavor and texture. They are great for garnishes. I personally like to include them when baking banana bread or incorporating them in a salad. There have been recent research showing that walnuts are beneficial for improving cognition and reducing the risk and/or progression of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. In additions the properties found in walnuts may provide protection against neuroinflammation.
Happy National Rice Month! I hope to continue to blog more successful dishes before the year ends!!
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Starting tomorrow, it’s Bastille week. Bastille Day is a national holiday in France that is celebrated on July 14th. The holiday commemorates the start of the French Revolution in 1789. Traditions that usually take place on this holiday start off with a military parade followed by food and wine with fireworks ending the night.
Usually pastries, wine, and champagne are consumed on this special occasion. In New York City, Bastille week is celebrated with French Restaurant week. This year French Restaurant week will take place starting from July 1st thru July 14th. There are 12 restaurants participating. Not all the restaurant have published their menu for the French Restaurant week yet. It is $46 for lunch and $60 dinner for a three-course prix fixe.
Out of the 9 menus I reviewed to date, I developed a wish list of restaurants I would go to for dinner, but priorities have changed, therefore, it is highly likely that I won’t end up going.
Le Tout Va Bien
Gaby Brasserie Francaise
Supper Club
I’ve had the privilege to dine and participate in French Restaurant Week in the past. I’ve dined in:
2022
La Sirene Soho: all these dishes below except possibly dessert will be served during this year’s restaurant week
Tablespoons and Teaspoons 