My Lunch for the Past Three Months

Ok, so I'm not normally a person to go on a certain foods kick. I like variety. It's the spice of life, you know. I'll think about what I have in the fridge and concoct a meal from there. Usually it involves what's been sitting for a while and needs to be used up.

But lately, this summer, I've been eating these wraps for lunch, nearly every day. Something about the sweet, crunchy carrots and the soft tortilla emit a siren song that I can't ignore.

This wrap is similar to this one but without the cabbage and other fancy vegetables. Today, my wrap had julienned carrots (they must be cut in this shape so there's a little sweet, crunchy carrot in each bite. Carrot coins would be right out!), julienned cucumbers, pickled jalapenos, black olives, turkey bacon, roasted red pepper hummus and red pepper strips. The fillings vary from day to day, depending on the produce we have, as well as the wrap (most of the time it's a whole wheat tortilla) but it's been pretty much this wrap for the past three months. I think it's because the crunchy vegetables are cold, the wrap is soft and the hummus is creamy—also, the temperature this summer averaged approximately 500 degrees each day, and this involves no cooking.

On the side, I finished off this bag of chips, which was really just a bunch of chip dust at the end of the bag.

And three meatless meatballs for protein. I considered stuffing them into the wrap, but then I wouldn't have been able to dip them in my two different condiments: dijon mustard and ketchup mixed, and BBQ sauce and ranch mixed. (Side note: I love condiments. There are approximately seventy two different condiments in my refrigerator door at this precise moment.)

It's a quick and easy lunch to throw together using whatever you have in the produce drawer. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.

Boston Restaurant Week Lunch

Cookie Monster and I recently ventured to Boston for a long weekend. While there, we did plenty of eating. But also plenty of walking. So it evened out.

On our last day, we took advantage of Boston's Restaurant Week and had a two-course lunch at Henrietta's Table in Cambridge for $15.10 each. It was a stellar deal and great food.

Here is my first course: Spinach Salad, Native Blackberries, Westfield Farm's Goat Cheese, Spicy Maple Pecan Vinaigrette

Wow. This was so simple yet so delicious. The goat cheese was mild and creamy, the berries were bright and incredibly fresh, and the candied pecans were sweet and nutty. 

The dressing (which I ordered on the side) had more whole pecans in it. The maple flavor was pretty subtle, and really, it was not all that exciting. But the salad was so good, it didn't really need anything extra.

The meal came with a bread basked with myriad flavors of bread: there was cranberry walnut (which I tried but gave most of to Cookie Monsters, since walnuts and my tongue do not get along), some kind of molasses-y bread, and a plain roll.

Perusing their cocktail menu, I saw this cocktail, and since it was my last day of vacation, I said to hell with it and ordered a cocktail at lunch. It was a very good call.

This would be the Sangria Sorbet Martini: A Scoop of Sangria Sorbet topped with Ketel One Vodka

Um, wow. The sorbet was full of  fresh fruit flavor, though I did have to heed the waitress' warning to stir it all together, lest I just be drinking straight-up vodka.

For my entree, I ordered the Assorted Grilled Vegetable Sandwich on Seven Grain Bread, Olive Relish, Creamy Cole Slaw.

Honestly, the sandwich was just ok. It came with lots of tasty grilled vegetables, but the strong olive tapenade flavor sortof took over the sandwich and muted the flavor of the vegetables. Also, it was a bit greasy. Maybe less butter on the bread and the addition of basil and goat cheese would've made it great. And the coleslaw was completely forgettable. It was quite heavy on the mayo, so I only took a few bites. I typically don't like coleslaw, and while I thought Henrietta's version could make me a convert, alas, it did not.

Here are Cookie Monster's two courses.

That would be the Cornmeal Crusted Monkfish Sandwich, House-made Tartar Sauce, Lettuce and Tomato.

 Oh yes, and the Henrietta's World Famous Chocolate Bread Pudding with Rum Caramelized Bananas, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. It was pretty much amazing. The caramel with the bananas and ice cream was an amazing combination, and the chocolate added a little somethin' extra to the bread pudding.

The stars of this meal were easily the salad and the bread pudding. An interesting dichotomy, but a tasty one.

I really liked Henrietta's pledge to use local, seasonal ingredients. Here's what they say about that:

Henrietta's Table prides itself on "Fresh from the Farm and Honest to Goodness Home Cooking." Chef Davis and his staff are committed to finding the best regional and organically grown produce, not only to support the local farmers and community, but to bring award-winning dishes to our guests.

That's definitely something I can get behind.Well, that and bread pudding.