Portuguese Nommin'

Just a few days ago I returned from a family vacation in Portugal, where I was fortunate enough to have some of their fresh, simple, and delicious food! The Portuguese are known for a few specialties: the fish, the bread, and the pastelerias (pastry shops), where they sell the infamous pastry, "Pastel de Nata". While most nights we cooked our own food, there were a few dishes I could not get enough of... 

This simple salad was called the "Portuguese salad" and was the first meal I had in Portugal. Certainly a great way to start the trip! 

This is the gazpacho they served at our hotel. I probably had this for lunch 3 or 4 times...it was served with prawns (shrimp) and a drizzle of olive oil on top. It was simply the most delicious thing ever, especially with some of that delicious Portuguese bread dipped in!

simple chicken kabobs with a mango sauce

To the left is a dish I ordered while dining at a traditional "Fado" restaurant; whilst we ate, different Fado singers came up and sang gloomy songs for about 10 minutes. It was actually a bit annoying because all movement stopped in the restaurant in order to avert all attention to the singer. So it took a lot longer for us to be served...

But I ended up ordering the black pepper grilled pork served atop a chestnut puree (the best part!) and grilled zucchini. As you can see, they served me a lot more pork than I'd bargained for. It was certainly enough for three people! The chestnut puree was delicious; I ate all of it. The pork? I was only able to finish 1/3 of! 

Another night we ate at a very traditional seafood restaurant overlooking the ocean. To order, we had to get up and go to the butcher himself behind the counter of fish and tell him what we wanted. All the starters and entrees were on display (in their raw state), and we had to scramble to tell the impatient Portuguese man what we wanted. He was a tad snappy, but I thought it was more authentic that way. 

For a starter, I ordered the Prawn salad (top left). It was probably the most delicious thing ever. It was so incredibly simple too! It consisted of cooked prawns, sliced onion, tomato, green peppers, basil, shredded carrots, and dressed lightly with olive oil and vinegar. 

I ordered the grilled salmon for my entree, and I personally loved how simple it all was. It was served with just steamed veggies and two cooked potatoes, no extra spices or flavorings. All the focus was kept on the fish. 

The last night, we went to this amazing restaurant called "Flavours". I ordered the Cataplaina, which was served in a giant pot. The waiter brought the pot out and served you some of the stew onto a plate for you. They also brought out a plate of rice that you could help yourself to. 

The dish itself was a chicken version (traditionally it's a seafood medley), which included chicken, sausage, bacon, potatoes, and an amazing sauce. I loved it. It was like Portuguese comfort food! Once again, it was so simple, yet so satisfying and tasty. 

We've definitely been inspired by many of the dishes from Portugal! you can expect some homemade Portuguese dishes to come in the future.

Not Your Average Salad

As typical as this may seem, given the fact that I'm a teenage girl, I love salad.
This is something I am proud to admit...Not because I come off as "dainty" or "healthy" or "lady-like" when I eat them, but because they are so versatile. Salads don't have to be limited to lettuce and cucumbers!! You can put almost ANYTHING in them.
Take for example, The Blue Barn Cafe on Chestnut street. They are known for their creative and colossal salads, which defy the standards of your average salad. The menu consists of 11 different salad options, plus a seasonal one, which include anything and everything from ahi tuna, soba noodles, pita chips, blanched asparagus, crumbled egg, niman bacon or even pomegranate---and much more. 
They give you the option of ordering one of the salads on the menu or you can create your own. You can add things to your salad from each and every category (greens, crunch, sweet, salty, etc), even a "protein", which includes chicken, falafel, quinoa, steak, etc...


Two of my personal favorites from Blue Barn are the Fattoush salad and the Spicy Tuna salad. The Fattoush is a greek-style salad, and is composed of romaine, chicory chop, cherry tomatoes, red onions, cucumber, scallions, chickpeas, nicoise olives, herbs, crispy pita, feta cheese and a champagne-sumac vinaigrette. It's even better if you add avocado or grilled chicken; or both!

The Spicy Tuna salad (pictured above) includes mixed greens, chicory chop, spicy ahi tuna, avocado, mango, snow peas, cucumber, scallions, sesame seeds, soba noodles, and a miso-ginger vinaigrette. 
Blue Barn is notorious for having salads so big that people are simply unable to finish them. I've seen some pretty big guys who aren't even able to finish them! 
But let's be honest folks....the only reason they can't finish them is because people are simply shocked at how full they are from just a salad, and therefore "cannot" finish them. Pretty lame if you ask me.
Because I've never not finished one of these salads. Sure, initially it may feel as if you're really full, but that feeling immediately goes away once you remember how delicious it is. 
So please, get yourself over to Blue Barn and try one of these salads. And finish it.