Archive | April, 2010

City Crab & Seafood Co.

9 Apr

 

Going a bit out of order here… this was pre- Weight Watchers.

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Thanks to Groupon, I had a $100 coupon for City Crab (on Park Ave at 19th Street) that I bought for $50.  It was nearly expired, so Mike and I went after work one day.  I’ll spare the suspense here, as my drink was certainly my favorite thing that evening.  It was a toasted coconut martini with pineapple juice, coconut rum, something else, and shavings of toasted coconut on top.  It was SOOO good.

Mike and I split the crab, spinach, and artichoke dip.  It was good but not much more than good.  It wasn’t quite crabby or artichokey enough.  I wanted more.  Bigger chunks of the good stuff.

Mike chose the baked stuffed shrimp imperial.  I couldn’t try them because of the peppers, but he seemed to enjoy them, though without much enthusiasm.

I chose the Down East Lobster Bake which had mussels, clams, corn, and steamed new potatoes.  I guess the best I could say is that it was good, but bland.  I can honestly count just two times I’ve had lobster that was really GOOD outside of Maine.  I guess I was just spoiled in that respect.  I’m used to my lobsters being pulled right out of the ocean for me.   The mussels and the clams weren’t all that better, and even the corn just didn’t have the great sweetness I expected.  It was disappointing, but not bad.  Just… nothing special.

 

Blurry zoom-in:

For dessert, we split an oreo mousse cake of some sort… it was good, but… again… bland. 

Overall, City Crab was just wholly under-whelming.  Nothing was bad, per se, but nothing was even noteworthy enough to make me come back, besides the drink. 

Total Nom Points: 5 out of 10

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Weight Watchers Cooking Take 2: Zero Point Soup

9 Apr

I was told that there was a mysterious “Zero Point” soup recipe out there… and I figured “hey… I like soup. And I like making soup. And I really like the idea of eating meals that I don’t have to count towards my points!” So I went in pursuit of zero point soup.  Turns out there are several, but the “Italian Veggie” sounded best to me so I set to it.

It’s so easy and quick to make. Lots of fresh veggies. 

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RECIPE
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This is the original recipe as I found it:

Italian-Inspired Zero POINTS Value Soup
Makes 12 servings

POINTS® value | 0 per serving

Ingredients

  • 2 cups escarole, chopped (I used cabbage instead)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup onions, chopped
  • 2 cups baby spinach
  • 2 small zucchini, cubed
  • 1 medium red pepper, chopped (for allergy reasons, I ommitted this)
  • 2 cups fennel bulb, thinly sliced (one bulb)
  • 6 cups vegetable broth (I used fat free chicken broth)
  • 28 oz canned diced tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (ommitted for obvious reasons)
  • 2 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp fresh oregano, finely chopped (I used dry)
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (I went dry due to available ingredients)
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil

Instructions
Put escarole, garlic, onions, spinach, zucchini, red pepper, fennel bulb, vegetable broth, diced tomatoes, red pepper flakes, thyme and oregano into a large soup pot; stir to combine. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, partly covered, for about 10 minutes.

Stir in salt, black pepper, parsley and basil. Serve.

Serving size: about 1 cup

Variations:
They used the POINTS Tracker to calculate the following additions to an individual 1-cup serving:
1 1/2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese, POINTS value: 1
2 oz cooked chicken sausage, POINTS value: 3
2 Tbsp cooked chickpeas, POINTS value: 0.5
2 Tbsp cooked orzo, POINTS value: 0.5
2 small, store-bought turkey meatballs, POINTS value: 2

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Korean Lunch Near Union Square

7 Apr

Still going out of order… this was obviously PRE Weight Watchers. =)

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Anyone who knows me, knows that I love Korean food (thank you to the amazing Esther)!  When I found out that there was a well liked Korean lunch spot right near my office, I was pretty excited. DoSirak (on East 13th near University Place) is small but not cramped. 

Their menu, as most Korean menus I have seen, is not too easily read by those not fluent in Korean.  So on this,  you’ll have to trust me… get the Bibimbop. The base of this dish is rice and it’s served in a hot stone bowl that crisps up the rice to a near burnt but still delicious texture.  Then there are sauteed veggies on top, usually some sort of meat (or tofu), and a fried egg.  The whole thing is mixed together into an absolutely delicious assortment. And DoSirak tasted incredibly fresh and the portion was HUGE. Plenty for two meals.

I prefer the bulgogi version as the sweet marinade for the beef brings joy to my heart.  If you love spicy, I hear the ones with kimchi (spicy pickled veggies) there are delicious.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

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