NomNom: Banana Ice Cream w/ Sweet and Salty Almonds

As soon as temperatures rise and humiditdy starts to kick in, I crave ice cold refreshing drinks or desserts. I was in NYC over the long holiday weekend and had a serious craving for froyo--specifically the one at 40 Carrots (inside Bloomingdales). The fact that I asked my sister to take me there for the sole purpose of feeding my craving and not care to shop around should be a huge testament that I think their froyo is really, really good.

About a week ago, we had a glimpse of summer in the DMV area and the first thing that came to mind was making this banana "ice-cream." Truth be told, I also felt slightly guilty after working out to indulge in ice-cream so I opted for the next best thing...and well, it's bathing suit season. Enough said.

Did I mention that an ice-cream maker is not needed for this quick and easy recipe?  Major bonus points for that. If you're like me and love banana flavored anything, I promise you'll love this take on ice-cream. The almonds give it that wonderful added layer of crunch which you'll find to be simply satisfying to round out the texture.

Guilt free for reals. Have a great weekend. Xo.


Ingredients (Adapted from It's All Good: by Gwyneth Paltrow) Yields: 4 servings

4 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
1/4 cup roasted almonds, finely chopped
2 tablespoons plus 2 tsp maple syrup, divided
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Procedure
1. Place banana slices in a single layer on a plate or tray lined with parchment or wax paper; freeze at least 3 hours.

2. In a bowl, combine almonds, 2 tsp syrup and salt. In a food processor, pulse frozen banana slices, milk, vanilla and remaining 2 tbsp syrup, scraping down the sides as necessary, until mixture is the texture of soft-serve ice cream.

3. Spoon into bowls; sprinkle with almond mixture.

NomNom: Asian Cucumber and Carrot Salad

It's been about three weeks since I got back from Japan and I've been going through major Japan withdrawal. I unexpectedly fell in love with that country and miss everything about it. The Japanese food I experienced was next level for me.

I went in thinking that I would be diving into the best ramen, sushi, and tonkatsu of my life (which happened) but I didn't expect to love all the various vegetable dishes (many pickled) that were executed so beautifully with great detail and simplicity.

That saying of 'eat with your eyes first' truly resonates in that country. The perfectly placed dishes are neat, colorful, and simply elegant to what makes you think you're looking at art.

I have a new found appreciation with vegetables after the trip and I've been experimenting in the kitchen to try and use only certain ingredients that only enhances the fresh taste of the vegetable. It's still a trial and error process but I'm slowly finding recipes that is pleasing to my palate, and today's recipe is a representation of what I'm referring to.

This humble salad reminds me a bit of Japan due to the Asian flavors it incorporates and the way it highlights the freshness of the veggies involved. It has been on constant rotation in my kitchen because not only does it taste like summer, but it's really, really good. Promise.

Hope you're enjoying your week so far. Xo.


Ingredients (Adapter from www.whiteonricecouple.com)
1 lb cucumber, sliced thin
1 large carrot, julienned
1 tablespoon grape seed oil (or other clean tasting oil)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Procedure
1. Combine the cucumbers and carrots in a bowl and set aside.

2, In another bowl, whisk together the grape seed oil, rice vinegar, sesame oil,

1 pound (455g) cucumbers, sliced thin

1 large carrot, julienned

1 tablespoon grape seed oil (or other clean tasting oil)

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sesame seed oil

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Read more at http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/cucumber-carrot-salad/#f5ogK3JDhDHycose.99

1 pound (455g) cucumbers, sliced thin

1 large carrot, julienned

1 tablespoon grape seed oil (or other clean tasting oil)

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sesame seed oil

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Read more at http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/cucumber-carrot-salad/#f5ogK3JDhDHycose.99

1 pound (455g) cucumbers, sliced thin

1 large carrot, julienned

1 tablespoon grape seed oil (or other clean tasting oil)

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sesame seed oil

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Read more at http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/cucumber-carrot-salad/#f5ogK3JDhDHycose.99

1 pound (455g) cucumbers, sliced thin

1 large carrot, julienned

1 tablespoon grape seed oil (or other clean tasting oil)

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sesame seed oil

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Read more at http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/cucumber-carrot-salad/#f5ogK3JDhDHycose.99

Jeweled Tones

Photos courtesy of Sung Shin

Blouse-Joie

Skirt-H&M (old)

Shoes-Vera Wang Lavender Label (old)

Purse-Chanel

Sunglasses-Gap

Ring-Alexis Bittar

Pendant-David Yurman

There's nothing like the feeling of not having to put tights on while getting dressed in the morning because the weather is finally warm enough to do so. I was just telling a friend the other day how happy it makes me that shorts/summer dress weather is here to stay.

On another note, my apologies for the absence of posts as of late. Life has been unexpectedly busy after getting back from my trip so please be patient with me:)

Have a great week. Xo.

 

Weekend Snapshots

This weekend I….

1. Got lots of use from my new running sneakers I bought while in Japan. I've read that it's better to alternate between at least two running shoes and have been eyeing this brand, Mizuno prior to my trip after reading such great reviews on it. After finding out it was a Japanese brand, I put it on my shopping list for Japan. One of my favorite purchases from the trip!

2. Checked out TruckerooDC with Melanie, which is a once monthly food truck festival held from Apr-Oct with several participating Washington, DC food trucks. It's a great event if you want to sample several different foods from various food trucks all in the convenience of one shared area. I only wish there were more participating vendors (about 20 trucks were there). We later headed to Red Light, a new bar/dessert place that opened up in the past month that I've been wanting to check out. Nice concept with awesome drinks but they could curate the menu a bit better with the dessert section. I also overheard a waiter tell a nearby table that the kitchen was closed (at 8:30pm!) because they were backed up. I mean...

3. Went to one of my favorite wine bars in VA, called Screwtop Wine Bar. Work has been busy so unwinding with vino, cheese, and sliders after work was the prefect way to close out the night.

4. Had the opportunity to have my teeth whitened by Dr. Obeid, a cosmetic dentist who practices in the Chevy Chase, MD area. When you walk into the office, you immediately notice the extremely clean and contemporary decor of his practice which is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I had several questions for him since this was my first time getting my teeth whitened and he was so patient, informative, and very professional. The pros of this procedure are obviously your teeth looking white,  and the cons would be that it takes about 1-1.5 hr which can get uncomfortable at times while trying to lay still in the chair, and you can't drink coffee/tea/red wine for the next 48 hrs after the procedure. All of those apply to me, especially the coffee part so I was struggling the whole weekend with out my coffee. Oh the sacrifices you make for beauty;) Thanks again Dr. Obeid and your extremely gracious team. Please check out his lovely practice HERE.

5. Made coconut maple granola. Again. I've recently started using coconut oil in my cooking in place of canola/vegetable oil after reading the health benefits from it (even the check out lady at World Market kept raving about it as soon as she saw my purchase). Anyway, this new granola recipe is now dubbed as my go to granola recipe. It's so good as in borderline addicting. I made it last week and my stash has already depleted so I made it again this weekend. Will share the recipe soon!


How was your weekend?

Post Vacation

Photos courtesy of Sung Shin

Shirt-H&M (old)

Jacket-Elie Tahari

Jeans-Gap

 Necklace-J.Crew (old, but this year's style HERE)

Hi everyone! Just wanted to say a quick hello after being away from the blog for a couple of weeks while on vacation. I got back from Japan a couple of days ago and have been trying to adjust to getting over some major jet lag. I ended up sleeping for 17 hrs straight when I got back which is just crazy because I think that's only happened once in my life back during college. Anyway, the trip to Japan was truly amazing and I have so many pics to sort through and will hopefully get around to at least sharing the ones I have from my phone next week. 

Have a great weekend! Xo.