Happy Columbus Day! I hope you're enjoying your long weekend, if you're so lucky to have one!
Last night I enjoyed another tapas meal at La Tasca with one of my college roommates. Whitney transferred to University of Texas after her sophomore year, but moved back to DC after graduation to start a job. It's been almost a year since we've seen each other, so we had a lot of catching up to do!
I forgot to snap a picture, so this will have to do--taken at my 24th birthday party last year. Whitney is on the right.
Anyhoo, back to dinner...Somehow, between our banter, we managed to select four tapas to share (and sangria, of course!).
Paella De Verduras: a miniature paella with assorted seasonal fresh vegetables
Esparragos Verdes A La Plancha grilled asparagus with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt
Brocheta De Pollo skewers of grilled chicken breast marinated in andalusian spices, with roasted red peppers
Vieiras Al Cava grilled scallops in a creamy sparkling wine sauce
All of these small plates were good, but nothing to write home about. The paella was well seasoned, but had a tomato base, which I wasn't expecting. Traditional paella rice is yellow because it's cooked with saffron---a version I think I prefer. The chicken was very flavorful, but a bit dry, and the scallops were well done, but quite rich! The asparagus, possibly my favorite of the four, was cooked simply: grilled with sea salt and olive oil!
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After running post-dinner errands, I returned home ready for "dessert"!
The other day a cookie jar arrived in the mail!
I was pretty excited because, since moving back to Washington DC (sans all my cooking supplies), I've had no place to store my baked goods, save for large ziploc bags and plastic tupperware.
This little jar will be perfect for storing holiday cookies!
As thrilled as I was about the cute jar, I was just as excited to sample what was inside.
A few weeks ago, Zone Perfect contacted me about trying their new line of cookie dough-inspired nutrition bars. I love cookie dough, and I've been a bit of a bar fiend for quite some time, so of course, I obliged! :-)
Fortunately I was able to coerce my roommate Brett into sampling the bars with me. As self-proclaimed "NON-healthfood junkie" who loves Popeye's fried chicken and Chinese takeout, I thought he'd be able to offer a slightly more discriminating point of view.
However, before trying the bars, I persuaded him to wet his palate with a Vosgues' Mo's Bacon Bar.
He was slightly skeptical...
The taste...
Success! He liked it! The Bacon Bar is becoming one of my own guilty indulgences, and I'm trying to get others to partake in the fun. :-p
I digress...back to those bars!
First up was the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.
Brett: "It's doughy."
Me: "Mmm, I like the texture contrast between the soft bar and the mini chocolate chips."
Next up: Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough
Brett: "This tastes more like an actual cookie than the chocolate chip version."
Me: "Agreed. This could almost pass for Peppridge Farm!"
The final flavor was Peanut Butter Cookie Dough.
Brett: "It tastes like peanut butter."
Me: "Yeah, I think it's supposed to."
Brett: "I mean, it has little pieces of real peanuts in it, which add to the peanutty taste."
Me: "Yeah, I'm a fan of real peanuts."
Overall, we both enjoyed all three bars. They're relatively small, but dense, so they fill you up. Each one contains 10 grams of protein, so they'd make a good snack when your sweet tooth comes knocking and you need something to hold you over till dinner. Even though oatmeal raisin cookies typically aren't my favorite, I found the Zone Perfect version tastier than the other two.
I asked Brett to rank them in order from most favorite to least favorite:
1. Oatmeal Raisin
2. Chocolate Chip
3. Peanut Butter
If you'd like to try the bars, look for them in your local grocery store, or check out www.facebook.com/zoneperfect every Thursday through November 1st for a month of "Cookie Doughlicious Surprises." You could win a free sample!
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I tried another new-to-me product this week...
Garden Lites Roasted Vegetable Souffle is definitely WAY too light for a meal, but it makes a wonderful snack!
If you try this, I highly recommend you split it open and top it with sharp cheddar like this:
Cheese always makes tasty foods TASTIER! :-p
I hope you're all enjoying beautiful fall weather in your neck of the woods! We had a gorgeous weekend in Washington, DC, and I'm crossing my fingers that the 70 degree temperatures will be sticking around awhile.
***HUGS***
What's your favorite cookie dough or cookie dough-inspired food?
Peanut butter chocolate chip cookie dough for me!
Any fun new food finds you'd like to share?
