This weekend was probably one of the worst to have a potluck, for me at least. I had my wisdom teeth taken out Thursday and spent the weekend sleepy, puffy, and sipping soup. That being said, I would never miss a date when this crew gets together and cooks. So, I nibbled my way through most of the dishes, appreciating the mouth-friendly orzo, chocolate mousse, and melt-in-your-mouth tuna the most. Everything was delicious though. Thanks to everyone for coming! It was so much fun. Next time, we’ll do a better job of snapping everyone’s picture, but it’s so hard when it’s time to eat!
Nick & Caitlin – Organic sweet potato orzo with pecans and parmesan; local pan-sauteed okra with lemon (pictured top left)
Michael – Golden brown chorizo empanadas (black bean version on hand for the vegetarians) (pictured top right)
Brian – Pasta shells stuffed with creamy ricotta and parmesan chessse, choped parsley, spinach, and sweet Italian sausage. Cooked in a spicy arrabbiata sauce (sausage-free version for the vegetarians!)
Andrea – Chocolate-topped toffee bars (which surprisingly did not contain toffee)
Mark & Kendall – Chocolate pudding with a crispy, nutty crust, topped with whipped cream
Michelle & Jen – Chocolate mousse
Jen – Spicy tandoori chicken with a tomato. onion, and Serrano jam, topped with creamy herbed yogurt, served atop pita bread (pictured bottom left)
Matt – Seared tuna slices with a mixed citrus, bell pepper, and red onion salsa, drizzled with a red wine vinaigrette (pictured bottom right)
So, of course the little dish is about really good food. But it’s also about being real. And you know what’s real? People, I work in a cube! And when you’re trying to make your living in a box with no lid*, sometimes food comes down to a matter of sustenance. For lunches at work, I want something that’s low-fat and good for me, simple, and relatively inexpensive. These guidelines rule out a lot of restaurant options, so I’ve started trying to bring my lunch more often.
This is usually a great plan, but sometimes when I snooze too long, it’s very sad. With no time to pack a lunch, I tend to fall back on a plan B that’s not so wonderful. Happy meal, anyone?
So this brings me to Healthy Choice’s NEW line of all-natural TV dinners. Yes, companies like Amy’s have been doing the all-natural thing already, even going one step further and making it organic. However, their price point is a tad high for a microwave lunch that’s most likely going to be eaten in front of a computer screen. (No offense, love your food!)
Healthy Choice’s new dinners were intriguing to me because:
a.) They are all-natural (no gross, weird TV dinner preservatives etc.)
b.) They are really inexpensive. We’re talking under $2.00 a piece
c. ) The flavors sounded really tasty.
d.) All of the above.
I’m not going to give the answer away, because I think you all know what it is and I don’t want to insult your intelligence. Healthy Choice’s new meals are awesome… in theory. But how are they for real? Amazingly, not a disappointment. They’re pretty good! I had the Portabella Spinach Parmesan (9 grain penne with baby portabella mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, and parmesan cheese). It’s tasty, in fact, one of the best TV dinners I can recall. And at 270 cal. with 7 g. of fat, it’s essentially everything I need. Unless you see some sort of major retraction after I try the rest of the meals (I bought one of each), I’m a fan.
(Oh, and since everyone talks about salt all the time when frozen food comes up, I thought I’d mention that there was 600 mg in the meal that I ate. Sounds like a LOT, but apparently that’s only 25% of your recommended daily amount? Interesting.)
*I don’t want to seem overly down on cubes. They’re not that bad. Mine’s really cute, actually…
Amusing myself on the laptop while the boys all watch the basketball game (NCAA Championship, very big deal). I thought it’d be nice to pick up some pizza for the game, so I went to nearby ZuRoma Sicilian Kitchen. The Monday night special just so happens to be buy one large pizza, get one free. Score! I decided to go with two specialty pizzas (The Supreme and The Greek) and just a pepperoni/olives one, because choosing all the toppings sometimes gets overwhelming.
Owned by a relative of the locally famed Campisi family, ZuRoma’s is a cute, quaint neighborhood place located in a stripmall. They have a full seating area for dining in and a little bar, but they also do pickup and delivery. It’s not a beautiful location per se, but there’s something nice about its casual, mid-cities vibe.
But seriously, forget about atmosphere though, because it’s irrelevant. Their pizza is awesome. I’d eat it off the back of a bus. Their thin-crust is reminiscent of Campisi’s, but we’re partial to ZuRoma’s because of the delicious sauce and uber-fresh toppings. I think we’ve said it like ten times tonight: “This pizza is goooood!” And with the deal that they have on Mondays, you can’t really go wrong…Now back to catching up on blogs and pretending to watch basketball.
2140 Hall-Johnson Rd. #118 | Grapevine, TX 76051
817.442.1616
Okonomiyaki, sushi, inari-zushi, soba: these are some of my very favorite meals. My Japanese heritage comes from my dad’s side of the family. Growing up, my Obachan (grandma) cooked delicious, authentic dishes that inspired my life-long love of Japanese food. When the new Japanese eatery Tei-An recently opened in the One Arts Plaza boasting handmade buckwheat soba noodles, I made it a must to check it out. What could be more enticing than a perfect bowl of soba?
Though there are other offerings (sushi, rices boxes, etc.), soba is the star at Tei-An. The noodles are served in the traditional style: plain with sauces for dunking. I chose the soba sampler to maximize my sauce options. While the noodles are traditional, the sauces certainly aren’t. Local southern inspirations have woven into the menu with sauces like Texas pecan, walnut, and creamy yam. These were served side-by-side more traditional flavors like black sesame and tentsuyu tempura. The sauces were flavorful, well-balanced, unexpectedly thick, and coated the noodles well.
The noodles themselves were perfect canvases. They were firm, but not in the same al dente sort of sense that other noodles are. Making pasta by hand is a labor of love, and in this case it was certainly appreciated.
At the end of my meal, the waitress showed me how traditional Japanese diners finish their soba meals with a teapot of steaming water. You pour the hot water into each of the little sauce cups and then drink the liquid like a soup. Soba-yu: lovely (and resourceful)!
So far, I’ve only had nice things to say about Tei-An. But to be fair, there are a couple things I need to mention. I said that soba is the star on the menu and I recommend that you stick to it. My mom tried a crab rice box that was really flavorless and disappointing. Strike one. Also not working in Tei-An’s favor is their portion sizes. I NEVER finish my meals. I actually hate it when I eat out and get a plate larger than my face filled with food. But at Tei-An, as I finished my entire serving of noodles, my eyes were already roaming to other plates at my table. Unfortunately, theirs were almost empty too 
For the price, you should at least leave feeling like you had an all-around satisfying experience. Strike two.
Fortunately, there’s no strike three. Despite the hiccups, I had a good time at Tei-An. It’s not the best soba that I’ve had but the sauces were innovative, the noodles delicious, and the service ridiculously kind. (See the card they left on the table they reserved for us.) Also, I want to add that their decor is very chic. It’s modern and earthy and the same time with exposed concrete walls, a slate fountain, etc. Try it at least once. And then get dessert on your way home…
Price: $14
One Arts Plaza
1722 Routh Street | Dallas, TX 75201
214.220.2828
Calling this dish a “salad” seems a little like cheating. Yes, the cornucopia of ingredients is laid upon a bed of spring mixed greens. And yes, there are three types of salads involved: tuna, chicken, and pasta. However, this is hardly the kind of salad I think my trainer was talking about. No matter. The calorie splurge is definitely worth it. The three salads are seriously delicious. The chicken salad was creamy and very flavorful without being mayonnaisey.
The pasta salad consisted of shells tossed in an olive oil and pesto dressing. It was was perfectly al dente and very tasty. As far as the tuna is concerned, I was surprised. I’m not usually interested in tuna that is a.) no longer pink and b.) pulverized. However, wonder of wonders, I really liked this! It was fresh, not overly salty, and avoided the same pitfall as the chicken by not tasting like it was drenched in mayonnaise. Between the three, I couldn’t pick a favorite but I really enjoyed going back and forth between them trying to decide.
The salad is dressed with a creamy parmesan dressing, sprinkled with pinenuts, glazed pecans, and finished off with a couple of Kalamata olives and grape tomatoes. It’s a lot of flavors going on, but they all really work together well. No flavor overwhelms the other. Health food salad? Not quite. Perfect for a sunny afternoon lunch on their patio? Definitely. And if you’re an iced tea fan, you must get their black currant iced tea. It is light years beyond the usual restaurant tea. (I’ve stopped in just to get a tea to-go.)
Price: $8.79
Cafe Express
5307 E. Mockingbird Ln. | Dallas, TX 75206
Other locations in Dallas, Plano, and Southlake
The french dip is probably one of my top five favorite sandwiches of all time. Other members of this exclusive group include the philly cheesesteak and the monte cristo, but we’ll get to those another time. A french dip isn’t made of a whole lot–you basically have some bread, meat and cheese. Maybe a bit of onion strings depending on the establishment, so there isn’t a lot to go wrong with, but if you mess up on any of those–bad times. Luckily, La Madeline uses delicious roast beef, crunchy crusted bread, perfectly salted au jus sauce, and a mild cheese that blends perfectly into a mouthwatering, though a tad undersized, french dip sandwich. I say undersized because I always get the half-sand/half-soup combo, and while I always leave La Madaline filled to the brim, the half french dip always seems a little scrawny when it’s first presented to me. Anyone else? I’ll have to try and just order the sandwich next time, but I’ll be honest, if they just multiply the half by 2, I’ll be sorely disappointed and have to resort to the free bread/jam/butter to fill my emptiness (not a bad alternative actually).
Included with this meal is a surprisingly awesome pasta salad too. It’s full of all kinds of little bits of vegetables and deliciousness. Sometimes it comes out a little oily, which I think happens later in the day. On all my trips to La Madeline it seems that I only get oily pasta salad in the evening. Weird I know, but something to be aware of. Other than that, this pasta salad is one of the best I have ever had the pleasure of eating and I keep telling myself it’s good for me too. It has vegetables in it — what’s more healthy than vegetables drowned in an oily delight?
UPDATE: I ate at a different LM between the time of this review and me posting it, and guess what? The pasta salad that came with my meal was completely different. WTF mate? Does this happen all the time? I guess I wouldn’t be surprised if consistent quality was an issue between different LM locations, what with all the griping and dissatisfaction I have been reading about from the food bloggers/commenters in the area. Maybe there is something to their complaints. Either way, the location on Collins in Arlington has never done me wrong, so I’ll stand by them for the time being.
La Madeline
Locations Nationwide
If I told you that the city’s best pad thai doesn’t come from a small, authentic, family-owned and semi-unpronounceable restaurant, you’d probably be really surprised. If I went even further and told you that it’s made in some trendy West Village joint, you’d be shocked. Well, get ready. As potentially controversial as it is to throw around the term “best”, I feel pretty confidant when I declare that Tom Tom Asian Grill’s pad thai is the best in Dallas.
I love pad thai. It’s a dish that I’ll order anywhere that serves it. I’ve had it pretty great at some places (Asian Mint) and even good at fast-eating places (Pei Wei). I’ve eaten it in weird strip malls, little asian marts, and even out of a box. I have to say though that no one I’ve come across does it as good as Tom Tom does. The base of noodles tossed in spicy sauce has a fantastic flavor. I order mine with tofu which is always firm and browned around the edges. The vegetables (finely-shaved carrots and bean sprouts) are served fresh, not sauteed, which I think is one of the reasons why this pad thai excels. The crisp veggies make it fresh and add a lovely texture. On top lies delicate ribbons of egg, crumbled peanuts, chili slices, and the traditional wedge or two of lime. I actually feel sad as I get full when I’m eating this because I don’t want my meal to end. My only (and I really mean only) complaint is the heat. It can be so inconsistent. Sometimes, it can be really, really spicy. This particular occasion, it was child’s play. If they could work out some sort of medium between the two, it’s perfection.
My hairstylist came here from Thailand and while he was cutting my hair, I thought it’d be a great time to ask him where to find some good authentic pad thai. Expecting to hear about some hole-in-the-wall (as described in the beginning of this post), I was surprised when he laughed and said that believe it or not, it’s around the corner at Tom Tom. So affirmed by his answer, I can still trust my taste buds for now because it seems they’re leading me in the right direction…
If you can think of a pad thai that can rival it, please let me know! Either I’m right, or I’m wrong and have a new favorite dish. Either way, I win!
Price: $10.95
Tom Tom Asian Grill
West Village
3699 McKinney Ave. | Dallas, TX 75204
214.522.9866
Lately Maggiano’s has been my new hang out. Possibly because I was given a hefty little gift card to the joint, or maybe just because it’s a cool place to be, who knows? On my visits I usually get something to eat and (since I love the Italian food) it works out quite nicely. Usually I’m quite skeptical of the chain-style Italian restaurant, (Olive Garden and Johnny Carino’s to name a few), but Maggiano’s falls in the mid-level acceptable group along with Macaroni Grill and Buca di Beppo.
Anyway, on this day I decided to try the Ravioli with a pesto cream sauce and a touch of marinara—it ended up being the best decision I made all day. Being half Italian, I’ve learned a couple secrets about Italian cooking. 40% of it is the quality of sauce. If you can make a killer sauce, you’re almost halfway to making delicious Italian food. Another 40% is the quality of cheeses and anyone can go down to the deli and spend some money on quality cheese. So with just the sauce and cheese you’ve got 80% of perfection, leaving 20% for everything else. If you can get the sauces and the cheese right, I’ll eat your food and so will lots of other people. Well, Maggiano’s delivered on both accounts: the sauce was a rich but not overpowering alfredo mixed with a bit of pesto. Delightful. There was also a marinara sauce that was lightly added down the center of the dish; it’s slightly tangy taste was a nice contrast to the pesto-cream. The dish was topped with a grated blend of cheeses that were toasted to a beautiful brown crispy goodness in the oven before serving.
This was definitely one of the better Ravioli dishes I have tried and I can’t recommend it enough. Make sure to order some garlic bread too, so you can sop up all that excess sauce. It would be a crime to waste.
Price: $9 (lunch portion)
Locations Nationwide
