On the Road: My Kind of Town, Chicago is

Summer vacation took us to Chicago in August. The Second City, on the banks of Lake Michigan, has always been a favorite of mine. It's the perfect city for outdoor pursuits, first class museum and delicious food. You've got all the benefits of a major world city with a heaping side dish of good ol' Midwestern friendliness. Plus, some of my favorite people in the world live there, so I know Chicago and I will be a part of each others lives for many years to come. Some of my favorite eats this time around...

Mambo Grill

412 N. Clark St. (between Hubbard and Kinzie)

Chicago, IL 60610

(312) 467-9797

We stopped at Mambo Grill for a quick pre-theatre meal before Jersey Boys. The decor was a bit too dark and understated for a Latin American restaurant, but the food more than made up for it. Though known for their mojitos, we opted to sample the margaritas, which were tart and clearly homemade. For me, the highlight of a meal is often a delicious and fresh bread basket - a detail Mambo Grill definitely did not overlook. When we sat down, they brought a heaping basket of warm bread, lightly flavored with jalapenos and accompanied by an orange pepper butter. We enjoyed the Coconut-Curried Tilapia and the Guava Glazed Pollo for our entrees and were out the door just in time to make our show.

Chicago Bagel Authority

953 W. Armitage Ave.

Chicago, IL 60614

(773) 248-9606

Some of my fondest memories of college involve braving the 2am crowds at Bagel and Deli for a late night bagel sandwich to last the long (and by long I mean three block...this was before my city days!!) walk home from the bars. CBA opened in Lincoln Park in 1998 and is modeled after Miami University's famous Bagel and Deli. Like its Ohio counterpart, CBA specializes in creatively named steamed sandwiches. The bagels are sliced open and loaded up with cold cuts, cream cheese, vegetables and then - this is the key step - steamed for a few minutes. The result is hot and delicious and melty and yum yum yum. My favorites are the Tonya Harding Club and the Ben's Best, on sesame. Though I will forever maintain that these bagel sandwiches taste best at 2 in the morning in Oxford, Ohio, CBA is a pretty close second.

DC Cheap Eats: Adams Morgan

Adams Morgan gets a bad rep. It's usually associated with drunk college kids hopping (stumbling, crawling...) from one watering hole to the next, grasping for the elusive brass ring of cheap beer and attractive members of the opposite sex.

And while those views definitely have merit, it's not always like that. I'm in the neighborhood, so it's easy for me to pop over on a weeknight, when 18th street is, you know, kind of normal. No enduring sharp elbows to the side as people clamor for cheap jello shots or getting pushed off the sidewalk to make way for the throngs of stumbling bachelorette parties, teetering in their heels.

If you can look past the discarded beer cans and empty pizza plates featuring tell tale signs of last nights greasy Jumbo Slice, there are some good and affordable places to grab a bite in this part of town. Just be sure to get in and get out before another group of rowdy underage GW fraternity boys stagger down the street...

Astor
1829 Columbia Rd NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 745-7495

Around the corner from most of the action on 18th street, Astor is a little bit of an off the beaten track place to grab a quick bite to eat. The menu features a bunch of Middle Eastern specialties that you can carry out or eat on one of the tiny tables in the restaurant or right out front. The service is a bit slow, but worth the wait. You can't go wrong with any of the menu items, but personal favorites include a heaping (and I mean heaping!) Greek salad, velvety hummus, a tangy chicken schwarma sandwich and the vegetable pizza overflowing with fresh produce.

So's Your Mom
1831 Columbia Rd NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 462-3666

Nestled in between Astor and the snaking line for the Bank of America ATM is So's Your Mom, a tiny deli and gourmet food store that often gets lost in the shuffle of Adams Morgan. The petite space is filled with gourmet meats and cheeses, bottles of unique salad dressings and mustards, and fancy bakery pastries. In addition to the grocery offerings, you can get big fresh sandwiches made to order with Boar's Head cold cuts and New York-style bagels with a variety of cream cheeses. Head around the corner to Kalorama Park with a copy of the Washington Post, your So's Your Mom bagel and a cup of coffee and you have my preferred way to spend a lazy weekend morning!

Toledo Lounge
2435 18th St NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 986-5416

Toledo Lounge is a laid back, grungy oasis in the midst of the madness that is Adams Morgan. With its glaring orange neon sign and duct taped vinyl booths, the place won't win any awards for atmosphere, but the drinks are cheap, there are usually seats on the patio, and the service staff is prompt and attentive. They've got food specials throughout the week and on Wednesday night, they offer half-price grilled cheese. It isn't any fancier than Kraft singles on plain white bread with a heaping plate of fresh cut fries, but it's a cheesy, buttery comfort food hug. All for less than $10 bucks, including tax, tip and a few beers to help wash it all down.

Pieces of You

While I live in Washington, D.C., my boyfriend is in his third year of law school in our home state of Kansas. This arrangement has contributed to many many high cell phone bills, frequent airport trips (I am a whiz at getting through security!) and his leading a quasi-nomadic existence for the past two years, spending the school year in Kansas and the summers with me in D.C. He left a few weeks ago for his final (hallelujah!) year of school and even though he is physically gone, reminders of his presence are everywhere. I'm finding little pieces of him scattered around the apartment - a random can of shaving cream on the bathroom shelf, a stray pair of dress socks behind the laundry basket and a partially used carton of half-and-half in the fridge.

It's partially used because I'm not a coffee drinker. And Andrew is. Religiously. And when he left for the semester, the half-and-half consumption in the apartment decreased dramatically. I don't like to waste food, if I can help it, so I searched for a recipe where I could use up the last few drops of half-and-half that were no longer earmarked for a morning cup of coffee.

My September issue of Cooking Light featured the big winner. Ziti with Cherry Tomatoes and Spinach in a Gorgonzola Cream Sauce got the nod because I had most of the ingredients on hand, including seasonally abundant cherry tomatoes. Plus, I'm a sucker for a creamy pasta sauce.

Gorgonzola is a member of the blue cheese family, and has a strong, tangy flavor. While the flavor of the cheese mellows considerably during cooking, add in the red pepper flakes and you've got a sauce that packs a punch! This recipe makes about two generous portions and put a big dent in my significant others abandoned groceries. Now if I could just find a creative use for his orphaned dress socks...

Ziti with Cherry Tomatoes and Spinach in a Gorgonzola Cream Sauce
From Cooking Light

4 ounces uncooked ziti
1/2 t. olive oil
1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. crushed red pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
6 T half-and-half
3 T Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1 c. fresh spinach

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add cherry tomatoes, salt, crushed red pepper, and minced garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Stir in half-and-half and Gorgonzola cheese; cook 4 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Stir in spinach and pasta; cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts, tossing occasionally.

Farmer's Market Friday: Bell Peppers

With their crunchy texture and sharp flavor, bell peppers lend themselves to many excellent recipes as well as raw snacking. These brightly hued jewels of the farmer's market will be available in full force this weekend and for a few weeks to come, so pick some up while you can!

Though a rainbow of peppers will likely be available at your neighborhood market this weekend; red peppers, lighter and sweeter than their green and yellow siblings, are the best choice for the recipe below. Caribbean Shrimp Packets are a great pick for an easy September dinner - the weather is getting colder and you can feel just a hint of fall in the air - this will take you right back to your tropical vacation on the beach!

Caribbean Shrimp Packets

1 (15 oz.) can pineapple chunks

1 1/2 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 red pepper, diced

1 T. ginger

1 T. seafood seasoning

1/2 c. butter

1/4 c. brown sugar

1 1/2 T. lemon juice

Hot cooked rice

Preheat oven to 450. Tear off four pieces of aluminum foil, slightly larger than a sheet of notebook paper. Divide pineapple chunks into four equal portions and center on each sheet. Arrange divided shrimp over pineapple. Combine peppers, ginger, and seafood seasoning in a small bowl, then sprinkle over shrimp and pineapple. Top each foil sheet with butter and brown sugar, drizzle with lemon juice.

Bring up foil sides to seal packet, leaving room for heat to circulate during cooking. Place foil packets on a cookie sheet and slide into the oven, baking for 12-14 minutes. Serve each portion over hot cooked rice.

Gooey Bars

There's one in every office. No matter how small or large, it seems that every office has the designated treat person. The person who provides the goodies for office celebrations, brings in themed desserts around the holidays and, if you're lucky, may bring in fresh chocolate chip cookies "just because". It's a love-hate relationship with the treat person. There are always the moans of diets thrown off track or healthy lunches ruined while hands reach for just one more brownie.

I am unabashedly the treat person in my office. I love testing out new baked good recipes, but it just isn't practical to eat all those tasty goodies myself...so I share. And while my coworkers occasionally outwardly balk , I know it wouldn't be my job performance skills they would miss if I left the office...

This recipe is easy. Really easy. Sure, it isn't gourmet, but it tastes really good and always pleases a crowd. Plus, you probably have most of the ingredients on hand. So, whip up a pan and show your coworkers a little baked good love.

Gooey Bars

1 pkg. yellow cake mix
2 eggs
1 stick of butter, softened
1 (1 lb.) package powdered sugar
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 t. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 x 13 inch baking pan. In medium sized bowl, combine yellow cake mix, eggs, and butter; mix well. Using your hands, press the mixture into the greased baking pan. Combine confectioners sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla and beat until creamy and smooth. Spread over cake mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.

Farmer's Market Friday: Tomatoes

Farmer's Market tomatoes are kind of like the thunderstorms of late summer. Towards the end of July, you start seeing a few of them trickle onto the tables of your market purveyors. A week later, the tomatoes get a little bigger and redder, the piles of vegetables a little larger. Then, instantly, a thunderclap of tomatoes rains down on the market. Come late August and early September, everyone is practically drowning in tomatoes.

Which isn't such a bad thing, considering the tomatoes you can buy this time of year are infinatently better than their winter counterparts - juicy and lush and bursting with fresh flavor. But, like a refreshing summer thunderstorm, the tomato season comes on quickly - and is gone before you know it. So enjoy these beauties while you can!

The recipe below is an easy way to use up some of the larger tomatoes you may have sitting around the house.

Greek Stuffed Tomatoes

4 large tomatoes
2 T. scallions, finely chopped
2 T. fresh parsley, finely chopped
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 c. breadcrumbs
2 T. olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut off the very top of the tomatoes. Using a spoon or ice cream scoop, carefully scoop out pulp and seeds. Discard seeds. Coarsely chop pulp and place in a small bowl. Add scallions, parsley, feta, bread crumbs, and olive oil; stirring to combine. Spoon mixture into the hollowed out tomatoes. Place tomatoes right side up in a 8x8 baking dish and bake for 15 minutes. Serve steaming hot.

You Had Me at Hello

As with most trends, the cupcake craze took a while to travel from NYC to D.C. While I am sure New Yorkers have moved on to the latest and greatest dessert treat, D.C.'s love affair with cupcakes has only just begun.

A few weeks ago, Hello Cupcake opened in Dupont Circle to long lines and rave reviews. I popped by last night to pick up a few cupcakes for a work celebration and couldn't resist sampling some of the offerings. The selection varies by day and was a bit limited yesterday, but I did visit the shop right before they were slated to shut down for the night. I tried an "HC Original" - classic yellow cake with chocolate frosting, a "24 Carrot" - carrot cake with cream cheese icing, and a "Triple Coconut" - coconut cake, coconut cream cheese icing and toasted coconut topping. (The bakery also offers vegan and gluten free selections - see website for more details!)

YUM.

The HC Original was just kind of meh...the cake was slightly dry and the chocolate icing tasted like it was made with chocolate flavoring as opposed to actual chocolate, but the other two cakes blew me away. The cakes were moist and dense and the icing was creamy and rich. And piled on thick!

The treats were sugary sweet and might be a little too much for some, but for this dessert lover, Hello Cupcake made me never want to say Goodbye...

Hello Cupcake
1351 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Hours
Mon-Thurs 10-7
Fri-Sat 10-9
Closed Sunday

Prices
Individual cupcakes: $3
Box of 4: $12
Box of 6: $18
Box of 12: $33

Brown Bagging It

I try to bring my lunch to work most days. It saves money, it saves calories, and honestly, most things I make at home taste a lot better than the things available downstairs in a cafeteria that serves thousands of Capitol Hill staffers and tourists every day. Most days, I just throw together a yogurt, some crackers, fruit and a granola bar and call it a day, but there are other times I want to upgrade my brown bag lunch a bit.

I've been trying to eat more protein during lunch as I find it gives me more energy and I don't have the midafternoon food crash that leaves me sprinting for the vending machine or looking around for the office candy jar. I threw together the recipe below to use up a few spare chicken breasts. It is tasty and healthy, and can easily be made ahead and toted to work in a plastic container.

Fancy Chicken Salad
Clipped and saved from the Kansas City Star in 1997, way back in the internet dark ages ;)

4 c. chicken breast, cooked and diced
1 c. red grapes
3/4 c. sliced almonds
1 c. mandarin oranges
1 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1 t. mustard
1/4 T. lemon juice

In a large bowl, combine first five ingredients. In a smaller bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients to make a dressing. Pour dressing over chicken mixture and fold together to combine. Serve immediately or chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.