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Miami Favorites

11 Nov

I have barely set foot in my house these last few months… you have “witnessed” from my posts from Mexico (Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3) to my whole series on Paris from a vegetarian perspective.  Right after returning from Paris, I went for a week to Miami to visit my family and to take care of some business at the same time…

I’ve been sooooooo many times to Miami that I never do any of the touristy stuff…  I rent a car and do regular stuff with my family and go through a list of places to go and things to do, usually shopping and eating at places not available in Puerto Rico. 

CRACKER BARREL

My sister took me the first time to a Cracker Barrel when she was living in Texas.  I looooooove breakfast foods.  I could eat breakfast foods at any time of the day every day.  Cracker Barrel is a restaurant that serves breakfast foods all day long. 

Every time I go to Miami/Ft. Lauderdale I make it a point to grab breakfast at least once there.  My mom, sister and brother-in-law are also fans.  We always order the same: Buttermilk pancakes, pecan pancakes, and our favorite Hash Brown Casserole.  This is a cheesy potato dish we ALL love… we may share in the pancakes, but we all order a personal serving of hash browns.  It’s that good…

Cracker Barrel

CB Breakfast

hash Browns

 

CHICHARRITAS DE PLÁTANO

I already talked to you about Chicharritas de Plátano… also called mariquitas or as we call them in Puerto Rico, platanutres.  But I wanted to show you how they serve them at the restaurants in Miami.  You will find them usually in the appetizer section, although my aunt usually considers them as a side dish or a snack.

CHicharritas Delicias

The best thing about ordering them in a restaurant… the garlic/lemon mojito they’re served with.  I used to go to this restaurant in Hialeah called Las Delicias, especially because they make their chicharritas super thin, but also because they served the mojito already on top the chicharritas.  Now, they serve the mojito on the side.  Oh well, it’s not the same thing but it’s still good…           

WHOLE FOODS                                                                                            

Every time I visit Miami, my mom and I need to make a pit stop at Whole Foods.  We wish we had one in Puerto Rico…  we usually buy stuff we have no access to here and to bring some treats to my sister’s house. 

Goat and Gruyere Cheeses

This time around my mom was craving a cheese she used to buy at Costco with cranberries inside… the closest thing I could find at the cheese counter was this goat cheese covered with almonds, walnuts and cranberries – excellent.  I also bought a small piece of gruyere to snack with these whole grain water crackers.  This was the first time my brother-in-law tasted gruyere… he liked it.

SHOP @ TARGET

We do not have Target stores in Puerto Rico YET (I hope the operative word in that statement is the YET). So every time I travel to where there’s a Target, we usually stop to at least walk the store.  We usually like to go by the house wares department to check out the kitchen and bath stuff and the FOOD/Supermarket section to buy my favorite risotto mixtures.  A new addition to my shopping cart – couscous mixes.  Really good when you’re hungry right NOW…

EATING PIZZA @ LINCOLN ROAD

I love eating pizza and in Lincoln Road there’s a pizzeria that makes pizza on whole wheat crust any time of day – Pizza Rustica.  In Puerto Rico, whole wheat crusts are not very common and the place we go to, only makes pizza on Friday nights.  So it’s a real treat for us to eat pizza for lunch when we travel.

Pizza Rustica

We ordered a whole pie divided into 2 flavors – Margherita (with fresh tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and basil leaves) and a roasted eggplant and goat cheese varieties.

pizza - margherita and eggplant

margherita   Orangina Miami

The pizza was delicious… but what surprised me the most was that 1) I could find Orangina on the menu 2) and that it was double the size as the ones I had had in Paris and at half the price.  I paid 5€ (which is about $7USD) for a 8ox Orangina at the Deux Maggots in Paris.  I know Lincoln Road is not Paris, but the difference was astounding…

Pizza Menu

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Tortilla Sandwich

12 Jul

It’s super typical to see on Spain lots of prepared sandwiches or “bocadillos” already made in the windows of bakeries and quick service shops.  They’re prepared daily for people to grab something quick for breakfast or lunch…

One of the most traditional and peculiar ones are the Bocadillos de Tortilla… which is as simple as it sounds – a piece or Spanish Tortilla in between 2 breads and eaten as a sandwich.  Where I first saw this on the menu was in the Spanish sandwich chain Pans & Company…  and carb-phobics might think this is too much carbs in one single bite, but let me tell you, it’s awesome…

 In Barcelona, they serve them with “pan con tomate” and the tortilla inside.  In Madrid, I saw them with just tortilla and a slather of mayonnaise on the bread.  Either way, I had to wait until reaching home to have my very own version.  The wait was well worth it…

 Bocadillo de Tortilla

 

TORTILLA SANDWICH

1 serving of Spanish Tortilla – cut to fit the bread
1 whole grain demi-baguette
Egg-less mayonnaise
2 slices of tomato, optional but highly recommended
Salt and Pepper to taste
Spanish Olive oil
 
  1. Toast the bread as you wish.  Slather both bread halves with eggless mayo.
  2. Place the pieces of tortilla on the bottom half of the sandwich.  Add the tomato slices, if using. 
  3. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper and add a small drizzle of olive oil.

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Antioxidant Shake

19 Sep

Berries are the fruits with one of the highest contents of antioxidants.  Antioxidants are the substances that  help our body fight the effects of aging.  So, if you want to stay young and pretty, we need to consume foods with a high antioxidant content.

According to various sources, the foods with the most antioxidant content are:

When I looked at the list I was pleased because I eat all of these foods on a pretty constant basis.  So I am well on my way to maintain my youthful appearance – hopefully!!

I want to share with you another one of my fruit smoothies that is chock-full of berries – perfect as a breakfast drink or as a late night treat too.

 

 

ANTIOXIDANT SHAKE

5-6 strawberries
2 handfuls of blueberries
8oz pomegranate juice
¼ cup of yogurt or kefir
2 tbs agave nectar
5-6 ice cubes
  1. Mix everything in a blender and enjoy.

 

I love the berry flavor of this shake.  I also make it sometimes with pineapple juice and the taste is just as good.  I do not strain it, as the seeds tend to go to the bottom of the glass, but I would strain it if you add raspberries – their seeds are just to big and they feel grainy when drinking.

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Ode to the Tropical Cream Supreme

24 Jul

When I was in high school, there was an Orange Julius in Isla Verde…  we would go every Sunday afternoon, after going to the beach the whole day, to cool off with a Tropical Cream Supreme.  This was THE BEST drink over at the Orange Julius.  It tasted like summer, sand and sun all rolled up into a delicious shake.   

I liked these shakes so much that my then boyfriend would buy and bring them to me almost every night when I was home-bound with the chicken pox.  I even bought once a Hawaiian Tropic suntan oil because it smelled just like a Tropical Cream Supreme.  It was almost an obsession… I know.

But that was then…  and suddenly, without even looking for it, I once again reunited with one of my high school loves – The Tropical Cream Supreme.  Let me show you how…

 

ODE TO THE TROPICAL CREAM SUPREME

1 banana
3 strawberries
1 cup orange juice
½ cup plain soymilk
3 tbs agave nectar
1 tbs bee pollen
3 ice cubes
 
  1. Mix everything in a blender and enjoy it watching the sunset after a hot day at the beach. (sigh!)

 

The bee pollen is something I added on my own.  It was not included in the original shake, however it added certain sweetness and energy-boosting qualities very much in tune with my current lifestyle.  Try it… it’s available at most natural food stores.

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SS Smoothie

10 Jul

As you may have noticed, I’ve been making myself a lot of fruit shakes and smoothies lately, especially during the preparations for my yoga retreats.  I need to go thru days of preparations where I eat only salads, fruits and juices.  So when we have to prepare, fruit shakes are a great way to go.  Plus, it’s more appealing to me than eating one fruit at a time.

So the BB Shake does not feel too lonely with the quirky name… here comes the SS Smoothie.  This one has strawberries and spinach.  And again, the fruit flavors are sooooo awesome; you can’t taste nor see the spinach in the final product.   This shake is also very good friends of the Stealth Shake.  As you can see, after two attempts of incorporating spinach into my shakes, none of them have turned out green yet.  

 

 

THE SS SMOOTHIE

3 strawberries, quartered
A handful of fresh baby spinach
1 cup of pomegranate juice
A big squirt of agave nectar
3 cubes of ice
A bit of water , if the smoothie is too thick

 

  1. Mix everything in your blender…  and enjoy.

Here’s a picture of the spinach and strawberries before blending – trying to give you proof that indeed there’s spinach in the mix and that I did not make it up.  Another lesson… Madelyn, needs to get a glass jar for the blender so the blog pictures can look better.  Same goes for the plastic cup I used to drink it.

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