‘Asian’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Review: Taco Bao {Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey}

November 9, 2017 · Narrative

A new restaurant with Spanish Asian fusion street food and a casual vibe opened up nearby … one mention of Pork Belly Fries and I was there.

The kids are at this new stage in their life (read: growing up) where they can do fun things like offer to take me out for dinner for my birthday.

While them growing up is equal parts awesome and bittersweet, they’ll always be my babies.

When they let ME choose where we can go for a meal, I usually choose some place new and some place where they might possibly not like the food.

Because all the OTHER TIMES we go out, it’s to their favorite places.

If I can’t choose what I want on my birthday, there’s no hope!

A friend had mentioned a new restaurant, Taco Bao, had opened up nearby and that she and her family loved it. Once I heard her mention Pork Belly Fries, it was a done deal, so when the kids offered to treat me to dinner for my birthday at the end of the summer, I knew exactly where I wanted to go.

Being a good mom, I did scan the menu ahead of time, just to make sure they could find something they liked, because, after all, I wanted them to enjoy the meal just as much as I planned to.

Located in the quiet little suburb of Lake Hiawatha, the restaurant was easy to find, along with on-street parking. We grabbed a space right in front, but it was also a weeknight when we went, so on a busier weekend night, you might have to circle the block once or twice.

It’s a small, casual restaurant with just a few tables, and a steady take-out business. Any time you go to a new restaurant, the menu can be a little overwhelming, and this was no exception. The best way to alleviate that? Ask them what customers LOVE to order, and order that.

And so I did.

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Recipe: Asian Quinoa Salad

January 17, 2017 · Narrative

Light, healthy, and super easy to make, this Asian Quinoa Salad makes a delicious lunch or side dish.

Last week, I ran a kids’ workshop where we focused on Chinese New Year. We did two crafts (more details on those coming soon), and we made this Asian Quinoa Salad.

Any time I can get the kids shredding and chopping vegetables, they are happy campers, and feeding them a healthy, clean salad is most definitely a bonus at the end of the class.

This recipes makes a HUGE bowl, so safe to say it serves six as a salad, or me if I feast on it for the week. You can add grilled chicken or shrimp to it and really make it a more hearty meal, or keep it as is for a light salad, snack, or side item. It takes less than 25 minutes to make, which means it’s an easy weeknight choice, or make it on Sunday and keep the dressing on the side and you’ll have lunch for the week.

I love how colorful it is, and how guilt-free it is. It’s kind of like Spring on a plate, despite the gloomy grey skies we’ve been seeing out of our window lately, and it’s got a great crunch to it.

*That gorgeous plate comes from Suite One Studios, and the beautiful wood background comes courtesy of my Saturday morning dumpster diving adventures as seen on Snapchat (I’m cateomalley on snap).

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Recipe: Zucchini and Carrot Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce

December 7, 2016 · Narrative

It’s easy to rethink your definition of “fast food” when you know you can be eating this Zucchini and Carrot Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce dish within ten minutes.

One day last week, through some poor time management and back-to-back-to-back meetings, I ended up walking in my door at 4 pm, having not yet eaten breakfast or lunch.

Sometimes life happens.

And I was sorely tempted to hit a drive-thru on my way home.

Or raid the fridge for some junk to eat to just tide me over until dinner.

But I saw a stack of zucchini on the kitchen counter and pushed all those thoughts out of my head and got to work.

It wasn’t easy to silence those thoughts, because sometimes it’s way easier to stuff your mouth full of crap.

One of the biggest perks to making zucchini noodles is that it seriously takes just minutes. Whether you’re eating them cold or sauteeing them, seriously … minutes. So it’s hard to rationalize that “fast food” would be faster, right? That’s really just the emotional side of your brain talking.

I spiralized a carrot to add to this dish too, to give it a bit of extra color. Because, let’s face it, sometimes just zucchini noodles all the time can get a little boring.

Now the peanut sauce.

I’m a big fan of sesame noodles with peanut sauce. You know, the kind you can order from a Chinese food restaurant. This version is similar to that. Add a handful of pantry ingredients to a small pan, warm it up, mix it well, and heat it until it starts to thicken. Add it to your bowl with your spiralized zucchini (I used two) and carrot (one), and mix together. Add cooked chicken for a heartier meal. Some nuts for a little crunch. Diced scallions for a little extra pop of color. You can’t mess this one up.

Hungry for more zucchini noodle recipes?
This recipe for Zucchini Noodles with Avocado Cream Sauce is my number two favorite way to eat zucchini noodles.
And this recipe for Garlic Lovers Shrimp Over Zucchini Noodles is my Number One favorite zoodle recipe.

And tonight’s recipe? Firmly planted in between the above two recipes.

And my spiralizer? Currently using this one and loving it.

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