Harmonious Chicken Taco Salad

Yesterday was just one of those really busy days, so much so I barely had time to make dinner and clearly unable to post a blog. But that doesn’t mean I forgot about it, it just means I’ve been simmering on a topic and waiting for time to open up to write it.


With life being so go-go-go, it’s quite hard to find time to cook in the kitchen. Between a full-time job, commuting, working out, hanging out with friends, visiting with family, spending quality and quantity time with my husband and writing my little piece of pleasure, this blog, cooking takes last place on the list. Why is that? Food is an essential part of the day, why is it that most young people with busy schedules do not cook for themselves on a regular basis. Possible reasons include but are not limited to: easier to eat out, social experience, time consuming, sandwiches get really boring quickly and I just don’t cook!

Harmonious chicken taco salad

Well here’s a little meal I pulled together in less than 20 minutes with very little cooking involved. Are you interested? My husband and I often buy the BBQ chicken at the grocery store; quite simply, it is easily makes 6 meals, that means 3 meals per person. The dollar goes a long way which is very important during these budget conscious times. It’s a twist on a chicken taco salad, low carb, full of protein, veggies and flavor. Again, a healthy meal that isn’t boring….very important!

I’m all about preparation; it makes your life easier and for faster cleanup. As Tim Duncan says “it’s all about the fundamentals” or was that Shaq making fun of Tim Duncan, I never remember. Normally, we consume about 1/3 of the chicken prior to me making a dish like this, so the remaining chicken (both dark and white meat) was shredded and put into a bowl. At this point, I prepared all the veggies I wanted to include, starting with the red onion. I diced the red onion up into small pieces and soaked them in lemon juice and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Why you might ask? It cuts the sharpness of the onion, displaces the water, allowing for the balsamic vinegar to be absorbed into the onion instead. I let that sit while I prepped the rest of the veggies; lettuce shredded into bite size pieces (whatever was in the house at the time), roma tomatoes (chopped), black olives (sliced) and finely chopped garlic. My cilantro-garlic-sour cream was next, which was used as the dressing. I placed the finely chopped garlic, a handful of cilantro and 2 dollops of light sour cream in my Magic Bullet and blended them together until a smooth texture was formed. After it was blended, I put the dressing in the fridge to solidify slightly.

Signature cilantro-garlic-sour cream dressing on chicken taco salad

As for the chicken, it was lightly sautéed in a frying pan, sprayed with PAM. Once the chicken had a chance to heat up, I sprinkled a few herbs and spices. The spices used this time were: basil, parsley, oregano, chili pepper, cumin and thyme.  I don’t normally measure out how much spice I put in, I go by taste. Around 2-3 minutes passed, the chicken was ready and it was time to compose the myriad of ingredients. I drained the red onions using a strainer and devised a make-shift pipette bag to dress the salad with the cilantro-garlic-sour cream.  The bowl was piled with lettuce, then chicken, Tex-Mex shredded cheese, red onions, olives, tomatoes and garnished with salsa and nachos. This quick, low calorie, healthy creation was artfully constructed, infused with a series of lively elements allowing for a memorable harmony with food.

The Token Filipino Partnership for Beer....Sisig!

By popular demand, I’m bringing to you an epic foodie experience of my life! What do I mean? Well have you ever eaten full meals, 5 times a day for a period of 7 days? And when I say full meals, I mean, rice, with multiple meat products, possibly a vegetable or 2, with a phenomenal dessert buffet. Now times that by 35 and see what you get! You get many, many, many food stories to tell. But, what I’ll do for you, I’ll break it down in parts. Don’t want to overwhelm you with too much good food in one sitting!

Where do you think I went to indulge in food at every waking moment? The Philippines of course! I’ll start with Sisig. Obviously, it is a Filipino dish. For those of you who are vegetarian and vegan, I advise you advert your eyes…now! Sisig is made from parts of a pigs head such as the ears and jowls. According to the Philippine Department of Tourism, Lucia Cunanan of Angeles City invented sisig in 1974 and declared Angeles City the “Sisig Capital of the Philippines”. Those parts of the pig may not sound appetizing, but it undergoes such an intense process of boiling, broiling and frying, that there are no remnants of pig head bits.

Aysee Sisig, variation on original sisg recipe, with fried egg

Sisig is typically seasoned with onions, calamansi (fruit widely grown in the Philippines) and chili pepper, giving it a nice spicy flavor to go along with the crispy crunchy texture. The flavoring is close to bacon, but totally kicked up a notch! It is in small pieces, browned like burned bacon with the appearance of ground beef, sprinkled with red or white onion, with red chili peppers sneakily hidden amongst the pile of meat. It is way too easy to eat with a spoon. There have been variations over the years for example adding a fried egg, chicharon (pork rinds) or pork liver. Out of the 3 sisig dishes, my favorite was the one from Aysee Sisig, a restaurant beside the neighborhood bar, the Oyster Boy located in Greenhills Shopping Center on the G-Strip, in Pasig City, Manila. My husband and I were lucky enough to experience sisig 3 times on our trip, including 2 variations and 1 original recipe; all while enjoying subzero San Miguel beer. Here, in Vancouver, we prefer nachos and fries while drinking beer, but for Filipinos, sisig is the most perfect partnering with beer. It is often considered the Filipino pulutan (beer match).  

PinPin Restaurant sisg dish

Where can you get sisig in Vancouver? If you’re Filipino, you probably have a Tita (Aunt) or Tito (Uncle) who makes it for family gatherings. If not, there a multitude of Filipino restaurants spanning East Vancouver in such streets as Fraser, Main and Broadway. One of my favorite Filipino restaurants to eat at is PinPin Restaurant on Fraser Street in Vancouver. This past weekend, we gathered with some friends, and enjoyed many dishes, one of them being sisig. It was undeniably addicting, bursting with flavor, just all around bite sized goodness. If you love pork, are craving some quintessential sisig or are looking to try something new; why not go to PinPin for a taste of the Philippines here in Vancouver.

The Answer to Your Need for Low-Carb, High Protein...Quinoa

Sorry to my readers as I was unable to get any posts up this weekend. Surprisingly, I was very busy and lazy at the same time. With lots going on in life, it really does make you burn both ends of a candle stick quite quickly. This weekend was full of authentic ethnic food, ranging from Filipino to Iranian dishes and when I say dishes, I mean a minimum of 5 per person. That means I consumed a lot of rice, fried meat and stews. Though they are among my favorite meals to consume, I often feel tired, heavy and in need of a nap.

Quinoa bag from Costco. Picture credit: Maral Artang

With all the richness of the ethnic food, I felt the need to eat healthier. That brings me to a grain that has become all the rage in North America, Quinoa. According to Wikipedia, Quinoa is an ancient grain that is regularly grown and eaten in South America and has been for the last 3,000-4,000 years. The Incas believed it to be a sacred crop, referring to it as the ‘mother of all grains’. It has a full nutritional work up, being high in protein and low in carbohydrates, it can be substituted for rice, pasta and oats. Quinoa is considered to be gluten-free and quite easily digested. Thus, no feelings of tiredness arise, therefore, no need for a nap!

I scanned the internet for recipes including quinoa, and stumbled across one with tuna. Briefly reading it, I decided to use it but of course, I never truly follow a recipe unless it is absolutely imperative I need to produce the exact dish. So, following the instructions on the quinoa bag for 1 cup of quinoa, I began to construct the rest of the meal. I used 2 cans of tuna (drained the water), half of a red onion (chopped), 1 whole green pepper (chopped), 1 bag of edamame beans (from Costco, remove the pods), and roma tomatoes (chopped; remove the seeds). For sauce, as I love sauce, I used some rice wine vinegar, lemon juice, a dash of sesame oil, light mayo, dash of Chinese 5 spice and pepper. All these are to taste, as everyone prefers a different flavor, it is up to you how much you put in. I mixed everything together (not the quinoa), when the quinoa was ready, I fluffed it with a fork and let it cool down in a serving dish. Once it had cooled down, I placed all of the tuna mixture on top of the quinoa, garnished with red hot peppers and black olives.

Quinoa tuna salad, Gastronomical Adventurer kitchen creation

After completing the construction of the dish, it came out quite colorful. Enticing the eyes with its beauty and tantalizing the palate with its Asian flare, the quinoa tuna salad was a success! Full of protein, nutritional goodness and dressed with fantastic flavor, I will be making this again. The versatility of an ingredient can ensure many meals and in an economy like ours, it’s always important to get as much bang for your buck.

Home-made, Local, Healthy Fast-Food

 I don’t know about you but it is hard to find genuine people in today’s society. That is quite the bold statement and I’m well aware. It feels Vancouver has become a city with a bit of a foodie attitude. What do I mean? Vancouver was known as a city with great food and great customer service and it has slowly evolved to great food, it speaks for itself, and therefore screw the customer service. Just think of an experience you’ve just recently had, where the food was outstanding but the person serving it to you, was absolutely dreadful and you were debating on whether to leave a tip but justified it for the food. This happens to everyone more often than not, yet, there are those few places that maintain the charm and sincerity much needed in our city.

Signing on the outside of The Dish

The Dish: Fabulous Nourishments, this is one of those places. Unsuspecting to the eye, this low key diner really knows what the people want. I felt like eating healthy today as you’ve seen from the last few blogs, its been a bit of a calorie intake this week! Lucky me, I met up with my husband for lunch again today, which was perfect as he’s never eaten at The Dish. It is located on Davie Street in Vancouver, established in 1991; the owner, Andrew Parker, has made it a point to serve healthy fast food. Everything that is served to a customer is served fresh and home-made, politely handed over to you with friendly smiles and kind eyes. The people behind the counter aren’t afraid to engage in conversation, make you laugh and add a bit of cheer to your day. You think with healthy food it can get a tad bit boring but not here, some of my co-workers go to The Dish every day, order something new, and keep on going back.

Each day is also different at The Dish, they have a specialty feature per day, one famous one is their Turkey dinner. They roast their own turkey, they peel every potato and mash it by hand, and the gravy is made from the drippings of the roast turkey not from a package bought at the grocery store. I will definitely be returning on that day for a bite!

Half of The Dish's Indonesian Wrap

What we had today, was my favorite item on the menu, the Indonesia Wrap. Why my favorite? It has peanut sauce. First, I love sauce. Second, I’m half Filipino, and we have our own peanut sauce dish called Kare Kare (oxtail in peanut sauce) which is my all-time absolute favorite meal ever. So naturally, a healthy chicken wrap with vegetables covered in peanut sauce hits the top of the list. The wrap is nice and soft with a proper amount of elasticity to hold all the ingredients. The cabbage and lettuce are fresh and crunchy, the chicken is moist, the brown rice is cooked to the ideal texture, not too soft but not too hard and the peanut sauce is sweet and spicy. Combined this wrap is exploding with flavor, with the right amount of sauce, I can always go for more sauce, that it doesn’t make the wrap soggy. Yummy, yummy , yummy!

Half of The Dish's Brazilian Wrap

We also had the speciality wrap of the day the Brazilian Chicken wrap. Oh so refreshing! I loved the chunks of pineapple that surprised my taste buds, hidden in between the crisp vegetables and chicken, covered in this delectable creamy sauce with a bit of a kick.  Biting into this wrap was like having a party erupt on my tongue, awakening the taste belt spectra of sweet, sour, spicy with a hint of salty, but not too much! 

The Dish has everything you need on its plate, superb food, excellent service and honest character. I’ll be visiting again real soon J

Everyday Places for Everyday People

I’m a huge fan of local restaurants, mom and pop shops and independent food trucks just like every other foodie out there. However, we can’t ignore the big chains nor can we neglect the ones that have become staples in society.  Everyday places that allow everyday people to enjoy budget friendly meals with good quality food, they exist. For lunch, my husband and I dined at the other end of the spectrum to a massive food chain that spans North America: Red Robin Gourmet Burgers.

Gastronomical Adventurer devouring Red Robin's memorable items

When I told my Mom, she looked at me quizzically, posing the question, why would you put Red Robin’s in your blog? That combination of that look and question is exactly why I’ve blogged about it! In a foodie city like Vancouver, we’ve forgotten about these chains that were the go-to places in the 60’s, 70’s and part of the 80s. That famous quote from the movie When Harry Met Sally, “restaurants are to people in the 80’s what theatres were to people in the 60’s”, has continued to this very day. But these big chains like Red Robin’s are no longer considered a big deal; we do not Facebook, twitter or blog these types of restaurants. 

Red Robin Towering Onion Rings

So here it is, a blog post about a chain that initially started in the 1940’s called Sam’s Tavern near the University of Washington in the United States. In 1969, this tavern transformed into Red Robin restaurant and eventually in 1985, made its way to Canada in our very own province in Burnaby, BC. Definitely known for their variety of burgers, bottomless steak fries and singing Happy Birthday servers, this place has some memorable items on their menu. Let’s start with the infamous appetizer the Towering Onion Rings. Like many others, I crave greasy food but it has to be good. I can’t be wasting my time on empty calories that are tasteless. This tower starts at the bottom and works its way to the top from largest to smallest ring. It is visually stimulating as I felt my mouth begin to water, looking forward to the first bite!  I believe I counted 13 rings; each one was breaded and fresh fried to perfection. When I took that first bite into the ring, I was able to hear the crunch, taste the flavor and I didn’t pull the entire onion out and leave the breading behind.  I feel these 3 qualities are musts for a successful onion ring. I have to say, I’ve eaten many onion rings in my day and still consider these one of the best.

Red Robin Prime ChopHouse Burger

We chose the new burger that was introduced to the menu, the Prime ChopHouse Burger. The buns are onion buns that are surprisingly soft on the inside and lightly toasted on the outside. Filled with a good piece of meat, cooked all the way through (important since there is currently a red meat scare, again) covered in horseradish sautéed mushrooms, provolone cheese and onion straws. Now that I have your attention, imagine that bite….can you taste all those ingredients combined in one place? I thought it was ingenious. The hint of spice, the crispiness of the onion straws and the melted gooey provolone cheese surrounded by this soft onion bun was delish!

Big chains exist, they may have multiple locations which take away from their uniqueness but they still have little things to offer. As my sister says, don’t forget about the little things because they are the big things.

Comfort Food in a Truck

The last couple days have been jam-packed full with blog worthy events and thus I haven’t had the ability to reveal the decision behind my chosen name: Gastronomical Adventurer. You might be wondering why that name? It’s quite the mouth full, and more recently it has been brought to my attention, it has the word ‘gas’ in it, thus possibly not making it very marketable. I’ll break it down for you. Gastronomy is defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary as “the art or science of good eating”. That’s exactly what it is! The art is the ability of food to stir emotions, memories and excite the senses. The science, the facts are solid biological ingredients that meld together to form the perfect concoction.  Gastronomy allows for the discovery of food for what it truly is, what it’s meant to be and the emotional connection between every unique dish. Adventurer is the all-encompassing word that describes my travels around the world, first attempts at new recipes and remarkable experiences in restaurants. 

So there it is, the meaning behind the name. The picture of me, well that I will claim as my trademark. I have countless pictures like that, biting into a new food experience. This one is one of my favorites because it is one of my favorite North American comfort foods, a grilled cheese sandwich.  It is the epitome of comfort food.  It is the go to meal for those cold blistering rainy days (that happens often here in Vancouver), when you’re rendered ill because of a nasty cold or you’re just too lazy to cook yourself a multi-ingredient meal. Either way, the grilled cheese has come a long way from your mom’s kitchen. Chefs alike have been revamping these simple basics of bread and cheese.  Those grilled cheese sandwiches I’m holding in that picture come from a local food truck: Mom’s Grilled Cheese Truck on Howe Street in Vancouver by the Art Gallery. 

Mom's Grilled Cheese Truck in action

In the right hand I’m holding The Jackson 3. A phenomenal sandwich stacked with 3 layers of gargantuan sized fresh sourdough bread and between the layers, a trio of rich, gooey and luxuriously melted Brie, Boursin and Gruyere. I was really excited about this sandwich because I love all those cheeses but I just love cheese and to me this was an epic sandwich. I mean every bite was absolutely perfect. The crunch of the bread and the creaminess of the combined cheeses made for an unadulterated experience! Please don’t hold back, go line up with the businessmen, lawyers, hipsters and families, everyone deserves to indulge in this legendary sandwich at least once.  But I promise you, you will never forget The Jackson 3!

In the left hand is one of Mom’s Classics. With Mom’s Classics, you choose the type of bread, cheese and whether you would like to add on another ingredient. I chose the marbled rye, cheddar and sliced red onions. It definitely was a classic. The marbled rye had its own vibrant flavor that perfectly gelled with the sharpness of the melted cheddar and the sweetness of the red onions harmonized the entire sandwich. 

Each sandwich comes with a pickle and homemade chips. The portions are worth every penny and the people at Mom’s Grilled Cheese Truck are amazingly friendly! They attempt to get to know you in the short time you interact with them.  You can’t miss this truck, its turquoise green in colour, with an image of a mom handing you a grilled cheese sandwich with a pickle on top! Go out; get your comfort food, go to Mom’s Grilled Cheese Truck.

"le Macaron" of Paris in Vancouver

Today is Macaron Day in Vancouver! Thanks to a tweet by Vancouver Picks, I stopped off at Thierry Chocolaterie Pâtisserie Café on Alberni Street in Vancouver for a taste of the brightly shaped discs also known as macarons. We picked up 3 flavours: lime, lemon and vanilla. The colors of the lime and lemon macarons were vibrant and enticing filling me with memories of Paris.

3 Thierry macarons: vanilla, lime and lemon

Pyramid Laduree macarons on Champs-Elysee in Paris

In Paris, we were lucky enough to experience a national treasure “le Macaron” at Ladurée. Ladurée began in 1862 and creatively survived and expanded to such famous locations such as the one we dined at on the Champs-Elysées.  The ornate building flagged with hints of modernism demonstrated the prestigious macaron. At the entrance, display cases lined the walkway with pyramids of stacked macarons with the decorative gift boxes. Immediately, I was overwhelmed with the beauty of this place and the smell of freshly baked pastries. I was more excited about trying these famous macarons then eating the main meal. 

4 Laduree macarons: pistachio, strawberry, vanilla, chocolate

We ordered 4 flavours, strawberry, pistachio, chocolate and vanilla. These macarons are the best in the world, there has been none I know have or have tried that can beat the uncompromising flavors, textures and pure perfection of the Ladurée macaron. The two round cakes are smooth on the outside, with a light crispy texture and when they entered my mouth, they melted as if evaporating into thin air. The creamy filling, was smooth, not grainy nor too sweet, just the right amount of flavour to match the cake. When the creamery middle is combined with the light airy cake, it creates a unique experience, hard to put into words. It’s almost a chewiness but not in a bad way, it leaves you wanting more, almost like an addictive filling that can only happen when those ingredients all culminate together as one, in each bite!

Gastonomical Adventurer enjoying the lime macaron from Thierry

It seems today, I was able to experience a little bit of Paris in Vancouver. The macarons today are the closest I’ve had since Paris. They were light, airy and creamy. Each macaron was the right size, shape and texture. The citrus flavours of lemon and lime were not overpowering, they had just enough to resemble the fruits they mimic. The vanilla macaron contained real vanilla bean in the two round cakes providing a sincerity behind the product. 

If you miss Paris, you’ve never been to Paris or you’re on your way there, stop by Thierry Chocolaterie Pâtisserie Café. Relive a memory as I did, keep a dream alive or just indulge in this magnificent treat. You definitely will not be disappointed!

Not Just an Ordinary Birthday Cake

Today also marks a big milestone for my little brother, he turned 25. Ok, not so little anymore, if anything his 6’1” height overshadows my 5’4’’ drastically. My brother absolutely loves my signature New York style cheesecake, much like many others, but he also loves rich decadent chocolate cake. He will always compare the chocolate cake he had at Heaven on Earth in Portland, Oregan many, many years ago to every chocolate cake he eats. So I thought to myself, how will I combine these 2 together to create something so magnificent that it marks a quarter of a century old celebration with a certain landmark type treat?  A secret recipe from the Cheesecake Factory. The Hershey Chocolate Bar Cheesecake. The recipe can be found here:

http://www.recipesecrets.net/blog/recipes/cheesecake-factory/the-cheesecake-factory-hersheys-chocolate-bar-cheesecake/

Though I made a few tweaks of my own, it went off without a hitch. I know I still need to work on my presentation for baked goods but the quality of this dessert was absolutely divine. To witness family members reactions, to hear the breathless ssounds of ‘mmmmm…soooo good’ and to receive images of other family members enjoying this light, moist  and fluffy treasure from another location, just felt like the time and effort was worth it. Each cake layer was light and fluffy but not at all dry. The cheesecake part is always my biggest fear, is it too dry? Did I over bake it? Under bake it? This time it was airy and creamy, the texture was smooth on the palate and not at all rich. The frosting was almost perfect, not too sweet but the most ideal accompaniment to the entire creation. A brilliant recipe, with rave reviews. If you love to bake, I highly recommend this recipe. I’d whip it all together again in a heart beat!