Crispy Rice Recipe

I could eat crispy rice for days! It’s a top tier food and I could eat hundreds but unfortunately when you order them out at a restaurant, you’re only given around 5 and usually at high price. So I decide to make them at home 🤗 But disclaimer, this one might be worth the splurge out because this recipe was not for the faint of heart. PLEASE do not try frying the rice in hot oil yourself if you’re an amateur, LAWD you’ve been warned. Air fry them in order to avoid facial 3rd degree burns. Any who, recipe down below.

First Make The Crispy Rice 🍚

  • Rinse sushi rice well under water
  • Cook rice by adding to a pot of water and place on the stove over medium to high heat. Once water is boiling, reduce the heat to low/medium and place the lid on to cook for 15 minutes then remove from the heat, leave the lid on and allow it to steam for 5 minutes.
  • Transfer the cooked sushi rice to a bowl using a wooden paddle or spatula
  • In a small ramekin add sugar, rine wine vinegar and a pinch of salt. Pour over the rice and mix in gently using a wooden paddle or spatula.
  • Line a tray or container with cling wrap and transfer the rice and flatten with the back of the spoon. Rice should be level, nice and compact. Place in the fridge to set for at least 3 hours
  • Once set, cut the rice with a sharp knife into even rectangles or squares
  • You can pan fry the rice squares in oil but it can be hella dangerous. I recommend an air fryer for an easier and safer method. Fry until they’re golden brown
  • Then The Spicy Tuna 🍣
  • Slice the tuna into small cubes using a sharp knife and add to a bowl
  • Add kewpie mayonnaise (or regular if that’s all you have) sriracha, soy sauce and sesame oil and mix together so it’s nice and creamy
  • Assemble by adding a spoon of the spicy tuna to a square of crispy rice and top with a slice of jalapeño
  • Side of gyoza sauce or soy sauce if ya wanna dip and enjoy your lil bites of yum

Smoked Salmon Cucumber Cracker

My favorite snack at the moment… Smoked salmon and cucumber cracker! This snack feels really sofishticated 😉 but it’s really super simple and easy to make. It makes a great appetizer but honestly I eat this as a meal because it’s DELICIOUS and I could eat a hundred. This recipe is gluten free because I used the crackers from Schar’s. They are nice and crispy which is exactly how I like my crackers.

Ingredients:
Gluten free crackers
Mascarpone
Cucumber
Smoked salmon
Black pepper
Fresh dill

Directions:

  1. Spread mascarpone onto Schar gluten-free crackers
  2. Add sliced cumber and smoked salmon
  3. Sprinkle ground black pepper and fresh dill.

Olive Oil Pumpkin Muffins with Chocolate Chips

Im feeling gourd about these… I made Olive Oil Pumpkin Bread in fun fall shapes 🎃🍁 By using the pan that I did, they turned out more like muffins. So that’s what I’m calling them. I usually look at recipes as a guideline. To be a bit healthier, I lightened up on the sugar, but then decided to get a lil crazy and add chocolate chips. You could also add nuts if that’s your cup of tea, feel free to follow your heart.

Ingredients:
1 can of pumpkin puree
1 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/ 2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon Watkins Organic Ground Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Watkins Organic Ground Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Watkins Organic Ground Cloves
1/ 2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/ 2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Butter or parchment a 9×5 inch loaf pan, or in my case fun fall shaped pan.
  2. In a large bowl, blend pumpkin puree, eggs and sugar with a mixer until well combined. Add olive oil and mix until fully incorporated.
  3. Add nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, salt, flour, and baking soda to a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
  4. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and stir with a spoon until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes, it’s always a good idea to do the toothpick check. Allow to cool completely.

Bahamas

Who doesn’t love a tropical paradise? Sun, seafood, and serenity. If you’re headed to the Bahamas, here are some of my favorite activities and experiences from the Paradise Island.

The resort that I stayed at was Atlantis. Atlantis is made up of three different buildings, and I was at the Cove. It has beautiful, large rooms and the resort had a good amount of activities you can do, without ever leaving. Being a foodie, I do have to mention that some of the food was less than ideal. During the day when lounging by the pool, I would order off their limited poolside menu. Over the course of the week, I eventually ended up trying everything and only really enjoyed ONE thing, the burger. And if Im ordering a $45 lobster quesadilla, I expect it to be delicious. Yes, that was really on the menu, and yes, I didn’t exactly love it. For dinner, we would leave the resort and that’s where I was really able to eat good. Some of my favorite restaurants in the Bahamas were….

Graycliff

A historic, colonial style building with fine dining. There is a lot of history in this unique hotel/restaurant spot. They had a live muscician, who really knew how to play them keys.

Nobu

Basic but always a good time. The sleek Japanese spot is located inside of the casino, making it a convenient place to have dinner then hit the slots after.

Seafire Grill

A steakhouse with delicious steaks, seafood, and starters.

Carmines

A family style restaurant with Southern Italian Cuisine.

The best vacations are sometimes the ones when you do the least. Other than eating great food at dinner, the rest of the time I mostly relaxed by the pool or beach at the resort. At the resort they have activities that can be fun for you and the fam. These include a river rapid, waterslides, and swimming with dolphins. I enjoyed the shark watching and relaxing inside the comfort of a beach cabana, which you can rent for the day.

Nola Seafood – Flushing, Queens

Being from the South and living in New York, obviously I get excited when places claim to have southern style type food. When I was invited to Nola Seafood, I HAD to go. Plus I am a seafood fiend.

My favorite thing was the lobster rolls by farrrr. I got my broil with spicy garlic sauce which was great on the sausage, shrimp, and corn. I even dipped the fries into it, it was so good. I however, was not a fan of the blue crab. Maybe it was just me, but I couldn’t seem to get any meat out of it. Did make for a fun pic though!

Festive Fiesta Spicy Fish Soft Tacos

Who’s ready for cinco de mayo?! I know I’m ready. Thats because because I have Mission’s super soft flour tortillas. They are a must have and are so versatile for so many recipes. I made spicy fish soft tacos with a spicy chipotle ranch sauce utilizing fresh ingredients whose colors correspond with the Mexican flag. Not only are they pretty, but they are delicious. Olé!

Check out my recipe down below.

Ingredients

Cod, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, chile lime, tomato, onion, jalapeno, lime, (spicy) mayo, tabasco, ranch,

Directions

Season white cod with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and chile lime seasoning. Cook for 3 minutes on on side in a pan with olive oil on medium high heat then add butter while cooking an additional 4 minutes on the other side. While that cooks, dice tomato, onion, and jalapeño. To make the sauce, combine spicy mayonnaise, Tabasco, ranch, chili lime powder, and lime juice. Slice cooked fish, put into tortilla, and top with onion, tomato, jalapeno, cilantro, drizzle sauce and squeeze fresh lime juice. BOOM! Yummy high quality, festive tacos.

Spicy Vegan Mushroom Tacos

I’ve been increasingly trying to limit my meat intake by substituting my usual beef, chicken, or fish for veggies or soy products. Just cuz ya know good for the planet, good for us, and good to shake things up a bit. This recipe is perfect for Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, or any day you feel like. The mushrooms are filling and make for a good, flavorful substitute. Plus, it’s super easy and delicious!

Ingredients

  • Mushrooms
  • Tomato
  • Onion
  • Arugula
  • Lemon & lime
  • Cilantro
  • Olive oil
  • Garlic & Onion Powder
  • Salt, Pepper, & Red Pepper Flakes
  • Oyster Sauce
  • Sriracha

Directions

Cut the mushrooms in fairly small slices. Put them into a bowl and dress with olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and oyster sauce. Add butter to pan on medium high heat then add the mushroom mixture. While that cooks, dice the tomato and onion and put the tortilla on medium heat. When it’s just warm and a little crispy (or crispy to your liking), take it off and plate it. Lay arugula onto the tortilla, add cooked mushrooms, onion, tomato, cilantro, sriracha, lime juice.

AND BOOM. Delicious, healthy and easy spicy vegan mushroom tacos!

When you’re Running Low on Food in the Fridge Pasta

~Yes, now THIS is what I call this homemade pasta. ~ Because sometimes it happens, you get busy and you forget to buy groceries. Instead of ordering delivery, ya girl is on a budget, or going to the grocery store, ya girl was feelin’ lazy, I decided to get creative. Glad I did, because this actually turned out yum so I thought I’d share.

Ingredients

  • Onion
  • Olive Oil
  • Butter
  • Garlic
  • Salt/Pepper
  • Red Pepper Flakes
  • Pasta
  • Oyster Sauce
  • Lime
  • Cilantro

Cook chopped onions in olive oil, add red pepper flakes, salt, pepper. While the onions cook, boil water and cook dry pasta. Then add oyster sauce to cooked onions. Add cooked pasta to onions, add butter and lime juice. Mix then put into a bowl and top with more lime juice and cilantro. Or nah to cilantro if you’re not feelin it. I know some of y’all haters out there think it tastes like soap. To each its own but I like cilantro and it was in my fridge.

Truffle Mac and Cheese

I am a truffle FIEND. This recipe is so easy, delicious, and is made in under 20 minutes. All you need is macaroni, butter, all purpose flour, sea salt, truffle salt, garlic powder, whole milk, Greek yogurt, and cheese. For cheese i used both cheddar and truffle cheese. While boiling pasta, mix 2 tbs of flour, salt, and garlic ingredients together, while melting 2 TBS butter in saucepan. Then add dry ingredients to melted butter. Cook until slightly brown, then add a cup of milk and 1/4 cup of yogurt, whisking until smooth. Cook until thickened but don’t let boil. Once it’s thick, add 2-4 cups of shredded cheese until melted and smooth. Add cooked pasta to cheese sauce and BOOM, creamy, delicious Mac and cheese

Ingredients

  • 16 oz macaroni, cooked (or any other tubular pasta your heart desires, I used TX shaped)
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 5 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbs flour
  • 1 cup of milk
  • 1/4 cup greek yogurt
  • 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded
  • 2 cups of truffle cheese shredded
  • salt, pepper, truffle salt, garlic to taste
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese shredded

Bar Verde in the East Village – Carnivore Girl Loves Vegan Food

I once was “keto”, if you haven’t seen this diet fad trending all over the internet, I’ll inform you. I’m no expert but the keto diet is basically a high fat, low carb diet. A huge staple in this diet is meat. So yeah, bacon, sure that’s keto. And from someone who once did the keto diet, meaning I ate a shiii ton of meat, probably more than the average woman should, I can personally tell you that VEGAN FOOD IS GOOD.

I recently made a reservation at Bar Verde in NYC, not aware it was ALL vegan. After finding out, I decided not to change the reservation (more like I was unable to). My prime time reservation was one of the last in the area. Due to limited outdoor dining capacity because of Covid on this bright and sunny NYC day in February, the claws were out when it came to locking down a reservation. So figured, I’d give this vegan Mexican spot a try. Atmosphere was on point and looked like a god vibe.

I was not expecting the food to be SO GREAT. From their nachos with butternut squash cheese to their quesadillas with cashew cheese, and trust me I love cheese, I thoroughly enjoyed this faux fromage. Everything left me feeling light and energized, yet full, and ready to take on the rest of the sunny NYC day. And even though I won’t be going vegan, I am definitely more inclined to swap out some of my animal based eats for plant.