Suburban Beach & Urban Licks

It's Sunday morning a bit too early to wake up, but Lee woke me up. He is on his way downstairs to meet the trainer and I am his next victim...How I wish I could go back to bed and watch reruns of the Barefoot Contessa and all my other favorite shows on Tivo.
Yesterday, I went on an adventure to the Jersey Shore with my friend, Corryn, and her boyfriend, Paulo. It was great to leave the city for the day and relax on a beach without the sounds of honking, screaming and emergency vehicles!

On the way to the beach, we picked up some salads. We ordered some orzo with roasted veggies. It reminded me of a Barefoot Contessa classic that is perfect for summer lunches and would make a great side dish for the Asian Grilled Salmon.

Orzo with Roasted Veggies

1 small eggplant, peeled and 3/4-inch diced
1 red bell pepper, 1-inch diced
1 yellow bell pepper, 1-inch diced
1 red onion, peeled 1-inch diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound orzo or rice-shaped pasta

For the dressing:
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/3 cup good olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To assemble:
4 scallions, minced (white and green parts)
1/4 cup pignolis (pine nuts), toasted
3/4 pound good feta, 1/2-inch diced (not crumbled) - I do not use this :)
15 fresh basil leaves, cut into julienne

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Toss the eggplant, bell peppers, onion, and garlic with the olive oil, salt, and pepper on a large sheet pan. Roast for 40 minutes, until browned, turning once with a spatula. I would suggest doing this ahead of time, you can even do it the day before !

Meanwhile, cook the orzo in boiling salted water for 7 to 9 minutes, until tender. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the roasted vegetables to the pasta, scraping all the liquid and seasonings from the roasting pan into the pasta bowl.

For the dressing, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper and pour on the pasta and vegetables.

Let cool to room temperature, then add the scallions, pignolis, feta, and basil. Check the seasonings, and serve at room temperature.

Enjoy! This tastes even better after a day or two, allowing the flavors to combine even more.

By the way, I have been MIA for over a week cause I have been lazy & traveling. While in Atlanta, I dined with my friend, Karen, at Two Urban Licks. I had seen the place in Conde Nast Traveler and on Rachael Ray's $40 a day. Even though Karen seemed to think the place was a bit too salty and too loud, she was accomodating to her guest in town and we went. 6.5/10 is my score. The salmon chips were weak...cooked salmon with capers & red onions on potato chips, it would have been better if it was salmon tartare with citrus juices! The crab stack with layers of avocado, crab and fried green tomato was super ! It did not look particularly attractive, but it tasted dynamite. It was my first time having a fried green tomato y'all ! For mains, we had mussels and a skirt steak with mashed potatoes. Mussels had zero flavor, leaving you wondering what the hell was in the broth anyway ? The skirt steak and mashed potatoes were tasty. For dessert, we had a pistachio ice cream bar sandwiched between 2 brownies. It was absolutely delicious, but secretly, I saw a peach cobbler and blueberry pot pie on the way out that would have enticed me more :)

I also got Lee to open himself up to Indian cuisine this week. He loved the chicken tikka masala from Tamarind (22nd Street & Park in NY's Gramercy Park)! Tamarind has awesome upscale Indian & is very geographically desirable for us. Last night, we ordered in from Bombay Talkie (9th Avenue in NY's Chelsea) , another great, but much more reasonable hip Indian restaurant. Who wouldn't love naan bread and cucumber raita ?

See you soon for more bites from Braude!