Chicken and Quinioa Lettuce wraps

This is such an easy, delicious and healthy dinner or lunch. Even my Italian pasta loving husband raved about it. It's just the right amount of spicy and sweet and has some yummy hidden flavors.

Ingredients:

• 2 Boneless chicken breasts chopped very small
• 1 cup of minced baby bello mushrooms
• 1/3 cup crushed sliced almonds (I used honey roasted)
• 1 small white onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• Crushed red pepper (to taste)
• Salt (to taste)
• 1/3 cup Honey
• 1 cup Trader Joe's Soy Ginger Vinaigrette
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce (separated into two 1/4 cup measurements)
• 2 tbs Olive oil
• 1 Cup Quinoa (See cooking directions at the end)

Directions:
In a ziplock bag toss the chopped chicken breast with the garlic, salt, crushed red pepper, honey, 1/4 cup soy sauce, and soy ginger vinaigrette. Let it sit for about 10 min. In a skillet heat the olive oil on medium, saute the onion till it turns clear. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the entire contents of the ziplock bag along with the left over 1/4 of soy sauce. When the chicken is almost done add the crushed almonds. Adjust with more pepper flakes, salt or soy sauce depending on taste. Serve warm over crisp lettuce leaves and top with warm cooked quinoa. Enjoy!

Quinoa cooking directions:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water

Bring two cups of water to a boil, add the quinoa and reduce temperature to a low simmer. Cook for 12-15 min. Remove from heat and let it sit for 5 min. For this recipe I added nothing I wanted it plain with the chicken, but you can add anything you like to quinioa, garlic, onions, black beans (my husbands favorite) you can even use it as rice for stir fry (my favorite!).

This weekend...

1. John and I discovered the absolute heaven of all ice creams. Ben and Jerry's Red Velvet cake. AMAZING!
2. We went to bloomindales to register. Although we did NOT register for this insanely amazing Swarovski encrusted gold china set I almost wish I could have...
3. My new Kate Spade nook cover came in the mail and its making reading time so much more fun and glamorous
4. We used our new slow cooker for the first time and our braised shortribs were incredible and slid right off the bone before they even made it to the plate! My home made sweet potatoes were also a hit!

Hope your weekends were fantastic! xo

Date night at LOKAL

Last week John and I were invited to try out dinner at one of our favorite brunch spots LOKAL in Greenpoint Brooklyn.  When I got the email I was thrilled, not only because I'm so obsessed with the brunch at Lokal and had not yet had the privilege of trying out their dinner, but my little blog and a little previous post I did about Lokal actually grabbed their attention!!

In my last post about Lokal I raved about how great their brunch was, in particular their french toast, so when we ventured there for dinner we expected no less. And after last weeks date night at Son Cubano being a total bust, we were due for a really enjoyable meal. We were SO NOT disappointed. Its was as expected, perfect!

We started with fried calamari....YUM

For dinner I had meatball casserole which I had never heard of before, but it was absolutely divine! Sorta like a meatball stew. So perfect for the chilly weather we've been having here in NY.

John had homemade ricotta ravioli. I was lucky enough to taste one (lucky because I swear he wolfed that down so fast I barely saw the dish) and they were smooth and buttery and amazing!

For dessert we had a chocolate soufflé. Totally worth the calories. Of course the service was fantastic as well. If you live anywhere near Brooklyn or the L train you should def grab a bite at Lokal!

This post wouldn't be complete without a shot of my "look" for the evening.

A little rayon romper from H&M with black tights

Lace up booties

Patent Chanel

It's great when you can find a place that you can call "your spot" and I think after finally trying the dinner John and I can officially call LOKAL "our spot". Interestingly enough, the first time we both expressed to each other that we were, in fact, IN LOVE, we had brunch there the next day, for the first time. SO really, it is our spot!! We'll be back for sure. Actually probably this Saturday, the day after my birthday for my favorite Brunch. :)

What's for dinner?

Broiled Salmon with white wine dijon dill sauce. MMMM Yummy!! Photo Credit: Shake it app for iphoneMade this for dinner last night and the consensus was, it turned out great! Here is the recipe I used from Real Simple. The asparagus I can't take credit for, but I believe they were just sauteed in olive oil with some sea salt and pepper for about 5-8 minutes.

Ingredients

• 4 6-ounce salmon fillets, skin removed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
• 1 small shallot, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh dill, plus more for garnishing
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Set broiler on high.
2. Place the salmon on a foil-lined broiler pan and season with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Broil until the salmon is the same color throughout and flakes easily, 7 to 10 minutes, depending on thickness.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, over medium-high heat, heat the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter until it melts. Add the shallot and cook until softened, about 1 minute. Add the wine and cook until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low and whisk in the mustard, dill, pepper, and the remaining salt. Remove from heat.
4. Cut the remaining butter into pieces, add to the sauce, and whisk until incorporated. Place the salmon on individual plates, spoon the sauce over the top, and sprinkle with additional dill.