Thai Basil

Chris and I feel very fortunate to live so close to good food in Collingswood and Haddonfield, NJ.  People have been mentioning Thai Basil to us for years, but we’ve never gone. I’m always a bit skeptical when it comes to Asian-American or Asian fusion restaurants, just because I feel as if I have a high standard due to my upbringing. I imagine it’s the way Italians feel about Italian-American food. It’s indicative of the correct region, but yet, not true in spirit.

Something about the word "Thai" and this kind of sign display just seems...incorrect.

Regardless, we visited Thai Basil for a Saturday late lunch. We arrived around 2:15 to an almost empty and very low-lit restaurant. (Throughout the course of our meal, only one other couple showed up to eat). The vibe is very chill, very relaxed, with large comfy booths sectioned off to create privacy. The music is lounge-y, with every other song in French.

Right off the bat, from looking at the menu, you can tell that the focus of this food is “flavor”. They have two of their specials engraved into the mirrors in the room to showcase the range of ingredients they use for staples such as tom yum and drunken noodles. They also proudly boast four types of curry- red, green, panang, and massaman.

I ordered the drunken noodles with mock duck after reading a favorable review of it on Yelp. It was priced at around $12 which seemed perfectly reasonable. On the menu, it has two stars indicating its spiciness. I ask for it to be reduced in spice, to which the server said “We can’t make it completely spice less, but we can make it mild”. “Great,” I said, “let’s make it mild”.

Our appetizers came out before our meals. We ordered the veggie curry puff- a whimsical dish reminiscent of an Asian-style Jamacian spicy beef patty or an empanada. Flaky and doughy at the same time with rich aromas, it was filled with potatoes, curry, and onion. It came with a sweet chili sauce that tasted like Vietnamese nuoc mam ngoc with a bit of duck sauce to thicken it up. Delicious, and left us craving more.

The best way I can express my main meal is: a labor of love. Presented well in an avant-garde tilted bowl, it smelled delicious with aromas of fish sauce, chili, garlic, and all other things that make life great. My ‘duck’ was pretty good imitation, although some pieces of the ‘skin’ fell short. I don’t really see how you could imitate the high level of fat (and eventual crispiness) that you would get from an animal. Noodles were delish, just the right amount of stickiness and starchiness.  This being said, I could not eat more than two bites in a row without taking a huge sip of water. The spice level was ridiculous almost to the point of being intolerable. This was better once the dish had some time to cool. I know that one shouldn’t go into a Thai restaurant and tell the kitchen that the food is too spicy, but when you’re told that something is coming to you “mild”, you expect a certain threshold to not be breached. The only other customers there actually were comped because their food ended up being too spicy to eat.

As for me, I was mostly happy with the entire meal. I ordered the Laad Na off of their "Meal in a Hot Pot" page of their menu. The Laad Na's description was simple enough. I had the choice of beef, chicken, or shrimp in a pot of sauteed vegetables and seared rice noodles with gravy poured on top. I went with the beef because I was curious to see if the beef would be prepared similarly to Pho that I've had in the past. When the meal came out I was immediately pleased with what I saw. The beef was front in center, the bowl was big and deep, and the vegetables had their color. It was beautiful. Sadly the beef was a tad over cooked and not as tender as I was hoping. However, it did bring in a lot of the flavor of the sauce. My favorite part of the dish was the broad, flat, rice noodles that were soaking up the gravy at the bottom of the pot. They were extremely tender and rich. The gravy reminded me of a Vietnamese oyster sauce. It was very savory, but it definitely had some sweet element to deepen its flavor profile. The worst part of the experience was that we were seated at a table that was next to an area of the carpet that looks as though it hasn't been washed in a few years. Hopefully by the time I go back they will have already shampoo'd their carpet.

I felt very conflicted about the food because it was delicious, but for the majority of it my tongue was maxed out and the spice detracted from the layers of salty, sweet, and sour.   

Such an awful experience, but over so soon! We’re gonna have to do this one over again. Perhaps it was a fluke?

Dark, moody, and minimalistic

Extra notes:

Free soursop hard candies when you leave and it looks like they  might own a new place called Fusion Bay next door that offers similar taste profiles but in a casual dining atmosphere.

Vic's (Fremont, Nebraska)

Vic’s is a hidden gem in a sleep section of town in Fremont, Nebraska (about 40 minutes outside of Omaha). The place from the outside looks unimpressive at best, almost sketchy, with its storage space exterior and lack of windows. However, inside, a solid and creative breakfast awaits. 

It’s bigger and (much) cleaner than you may think when compared to some of the diners back home in New Jersey. The atmosphere here is simple and uncomplicated, with large tables and furniture that don’t quite match anything, but are comfortable and sturdy. The walls are decorated with various Lincoln Highway and Huskers paraphernalia. The mugs for our drinks were all mismatched, as if the owners/staff have been collecting them for years. My only complaint would have to be about the prep refrigerator that was occasionally left open for all to see the backup food and premixed sauces.  It was right under the television!

There was one waitress who sat us, took our orders, and even helped prep food in the kitchen. She was a Super Waitress who knew the menu, could make recommendations, as well as bus tables and refill coffee without being asked to do so.

For my meal, I ordered the veggie scramble. Finally, a legitimate vegetarian breakfast dish that doesn’t seem like a forced alternative to appear sensitive to non-meat eaters!  It was $7.95 for a scramble of broccoli, peppers, onion, mushrooms, and cheese topped with 2 eggs however you’d like it. I asked for mine to be fried to over-medium. And of course, I asked for hashbrowns to be thrown in for an extra $.60.

It’s a hearty breakfast and not for those on a diet, but not so fatty that you feel awful about yourself after. The cheese was not overdone (as I feared) and the veggies tasted fresh and almost sweet against the salt that was present. Hashbrowns were thin and crisped all the way through (think Waffle House-style). It came out hot with the eggs cooked properly. It reminded me a bit of an American-style bibimbap Korean dish) without the rice. My wheat toast was yummy and they didn’t skip on the butter which made me happy. However, the butter was unsalted, which was strange at first but eventually became a nice change. Overall, it was a unique breakfast with just enough indulgence and excess you’d expect from a dive-y establishment. This meal gets bonus points for keeping me full for most of the day and for not giving me a stomachache when I visited the zoo later that day. Chris went in a different direction for his breakfast:

I'm apparently in the middle of a biscuits and gravy phase at the moment, and thankfully, Vic's carried it on their menu. I would have loved to go with the one of the Husker Skillets, but they were both already ordered by others at the table. Their biscuits and gravy had components that ranged from mediocre to great. Let's start with the aspects that did not shine. The gravy itself was so-so. It congealed very quickly and looked and felt like a paste more than a smooth, rich gravy. The flavor of the gravy was good and I'm sure a lot of that came from the delicious bits of bacon scattered throughout. The biscuits were a step up from the gravy. Even through the mountain of sausage gravy that they were covered in, you could still tell they were fresh, soft and flaky. On the second plate that came out I got two eggs over medium and two sausage patties. The eggs were cooked perfectly. They were also fresh, lightly salted and just tasted like a great egg (maybe my mind is biased from being in Nebraska and thinking everything must come straight from the farm). The sausages were by far the highlight of the meal for me. The amount of fat in these two morsels was out of this world. Each patty was so incredible juicy and tender. The meat wasn't over worked and spiciness that was incorporated was incredible. Vic's sausages were hot but not uncomfortable. Next time I'm in Fremont, I will make it a point to go back to Vic's to get their sausage and eggs, and hopefully a Husker Skillet.

Additional notes:

Rachel Ray’s cooking show was playing on the TV, to which Chris’s dad said, “Why?” Wouldn’t that create an unconscious need to compare your food to the glamorized meals on the screen? Perhaps it works because Vic’s doesn’t pretend to be more than it is- neither pompous high-class food nor low-class campy. If you’re just a little bit country, you’ll fit right in.

The Crab Shack

Located on the tiny (but touristy) island of Brigantine, NJ is the Crab Shack. The crab shack has a store front where it sells its fresh seafood proudly on display and a back room converted into a small dining area with about 8 tables. Ask if they’re serving and someone will take you behind the normally closed door what looks to be like your seriously beach-obsessed grandmother’s dining room.

We’ve actually been here once before about a year ago, and the waitress who took care of us then took care of us this time. The menu is noticeably extensive for the restaurant seeming to be a side-business the store front. Clean and quiet, it’s a great place to get away if you’ve been surrounded by shoobies and their crazy children all day on a crowded beach. The biggest downside? Flies.

We started off with the hush puppies ($5.99). They came out blazing hot (Chris burned himself) but with no plates for us to eat on. We precariously picked from the basket. The little balls of deliciousness were well-seasoned with onion, salt, etc. with a crunchy outside (cornmeal?) and a soft, almost gooey inside. These are not your Red Lobster hush puppies. I loved that they were flavorful but not overly salty. 

For my entre I ordered the fresh caught tuna-steak (medium rare) with wasabi ($16.99) with a side of baked potato and corn on the cob (from an option of about5/6 sides). Chris ordered their 1lb lobster roll which they’re famous for.

I got a big ol’ hunk of tuna steak with what looked to be some sort of house seasoning sprinkled on it. The seasoning tasted like it was based off an Old Bay-esque seasoning with notes of oregano/thyme. The steak itself was delicious even though it was much closer to well-done than medium rare, but I wish it wasn’t so timidly seasoned just on the top. I will say that the wasabi dipping sauce was a nice addition, very strong, but helped cleansed the palate for pure tuna tastes. My potato came still wrapped in foil which I didn’t like, but I DID like how moist it was. Sometimes you get potatoes that have been neglected in the oven or on a heating plate that are dried up and not flaky. I gave my corn to Chris.

I actually had the lobster roll a year ago when this blog first got under way. I'm glad we finally came back. I've known about the Crab Shack for a few years since one of my best friends used to man the front of the store every summer, but it was only my third time eating their food. The lobster roll at the Crab Shack is pretty impressive. It is served on a large doughy kaiser roll with crisp iceberg lettuce. The bread itself is nice and stretchy and the bread hinge that is created by cutting the roll does not rip. I believe this makes their lobster roll that much better. Because the roll stays together, the fresh giant lumps of lobster don't fall out the back when you bite into the sandwich. The lobster is tossed in a light mayonnaise sauce and then it is hit with some Old Bay seasoning. The simplicity lets the fresh seafood shine through.

The lobster roll was served with fries and coleslaw.  The fries were pretty good, freshly made, crispy and already salted (once again, not over salted).  The slaw was more interesting. I think the Crab Shack throws some sweet pickle into their slaw. Their slaw had a certain bite that only comes with a fresh pickle and their slaw ended up having a relish element to it. Delicious. The corn was corn, unfortunately their was nothing special to it. It did taste fresh though. 

It’s worth the trip off the glitzy restaurant bubble that is Atlantic City, and is not much more expensive than a casino buffet. It’s quiet and quirky with charming pieces of hardware and knickknacks that you’d expect from a place just two blocks from the beach. Perhaps not the most romantic place for a date, but if you’re already settled and just want a (tasty) change of paste, head on over to the Crab Shack. 

Broad Street Diner

Sunday morning breakfast is traditionally one of the most delicious meals of the week. Second perhaps only to the Sunday night dinner.

It was a quick breakfast. Here are the quick facts:

The place smelled delicious when we walked in. Some diners smell damp or just greasy, but this one smelled like sugar and spice and everything nice.

This diner is CHEAP! If you're looking for a bargain meal and you are in the Central Jersey area, you have got to stop by. Omelette breakfasts (made from three eggs, with toast and home fries) started at just $4.50! The rest of menu was similarly reasonably priced with the expected diner breakfast selections. The only thing more exciting than normal was the appearance of blintzes, which I have yet to try. Also, only two choices for your toast- white or wheat. Sorry, fans of rye.

Our waitress was fast and friendly, taking our order without a pen or pad and able to repeat it back to us. If that wasn't cool enough, less than five minutes later, barely after our first sip of coffee, our food was out to us!

The Good (the food):
Solid diner food (at least during breakfast) from a well-oiled machine (restaurant). The best part was the home fries that came out as a combo of crispy, slightly burnt on the ends, and creamy in the middle without me asking for my usual "well done, please". Mmh starch at its best.

My omelette was cooked/presented in a different way than others I have had. It was more like a fritatta, laid out very, very thin and then folded over several times to create its shape.Mushrooms were sliced so that cooking it that way was possible. I wonder what would have happened if there were bulkier ingredients. Perhaps this is why the Broad Street Diner doesn't offer a multi-vegetable breakfast.

The Eh:
The toast. Very forgettable with inconsistent buttering.
The decor/atmosphere. Everything was clean where we were sat (a step up from the last diner) but overall it was very loud which I wouldn't mind if it was because of the patrons, but I do mind when it's attributed to the staff. There were waitresses indulging the nearby booths about the details of the personal life drama.

The Bad:
The attentive, intelligent waitress turned negligent and somewhat snappish. As the meal went on, there was less personal attention and then a check that was thrown onto our table with a dismissive "Thanks guys" after we had asked for it twice. It took us only 10-15 minutes to have coffee and food, but about 20 minutes waiting and tapping our foot.

I'll use the above model for my meal as well since my two eggs with sausage and home fries had its peaks and valleys as well. Firstly the eggs were done pretty darn well. I ordered them over medium, and to my delight I had no runny whites and the yolks were perfectly creamy and rich. This was made even more impressive by the speed that the kitchen must have worked at to get our food out to us. I have to agree with Chi, too. The potatoes were some of the best I've ever had. A lot of diners struggle with making home fries that are crispy on the outside and light through the rest of the potato. I suspect that the chefs cook their potatoes (until fork tender) before they slice them to be fried up.

My sausage was the "eh" part of my meal. The three jumbo link sausage were definitely good, but I suppose I wasn't suspecting them to be so different in an establishment where their pricing looked liked the 1990s. The mean was tender, juicy, and a little salty, but the casing needed more bite for some more texture. After the initial bite, everything becomes mush (delicious mush).

Same complaint as above, but to put a cherry on top, as Chi and I walked back to our car and I spotted our waitress taking a personal call behind the restaurant while smoking a cigarette. Now, I don't want to rip the woman completely, there might be some unknown circumstances. What if someone in her family is sick? I just think it was bad form to present yourself like that right next to the parking lot where every patron coming in and leaving can see you.


Note: This is the Broad Street Diner on South Broad Street in Trenton, NJ. Please do NOT confuse it with the diner that is also probably on Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA.

Americana Diner

Ahh, the Americana Diner. With its “look at me” almost satirical mod/funky exterior of various colors, it appeals to many tourists (or lost families) as they drive by on the major US highway that cuts through Windsor, NJ. It contains a more traditional dining hall were we ate, and a lounge where I can only imagine the coolest diners gain access.

Fresh from a good result at competition in New Brunswick, Chris and I decided to stop by on our way home.

There are definitely times when you feel as if there’s a clear generational gap when you enter a diner- whether it’s because you're not from the small town, or because you’re under 60. Sometimes stepping into a diner makes you feel as if you’ve gone back in time, as people and their fashion/mannerisms seem to have regressed.

ipads! 

This is not the case at Americana Diner. Don’t let the name fool you into expecting some nostalgic “real” good ol' America-lore. The hostesses here wear the latest fashions (one was wearing a leopard print cardigan that I also own), have their makeup fully done, and seat people using iPads. People I can only assume were management (or family of management) walked around in nice argyle sweaters (remember it was abnormally cold this weekend) and pressed slacks. The vibe is very modern and upscale (for a diner) with the senior citizens and family brunchers dressed up a bit more than usual. Some were even in heels!

With a wait of about 10 minutes, the place is comfortably packed on a Saturday afternoon at 2PM. Turns out that at 2 they switch from their brunch menu to their dinner menu. Personally, I think 2 PM is too early for a diner to start their dinner service, especially because I believe that diners should serve breakfast all day long. However, they try to ease their way into it with a front page of entrees (fancier than your average choices) and a back page of sandwiches and burgers. Note that the menu was just a one-pager, with a good half of the front page being dedicated to their wine and beer menu which was a respectable size, even for a larger non-chain establishment.

Their motto is "Our Effort is Our Distinction" and indeed, service must be something they drill into their employees, because it was clear that there was much more attention being paid to us than usual. Our waitress was pleasant with an quiet, almost meek friendliness and always quick to re-fill our water, even getting us larger glasses than other tables because we were sipping so often. A separate person brought our bread- an artisan baguette proudly served in their custom-made sleeve (“we here at Americana Hospitality Group are proud to present you with this fresh-baked…”) filled with sesame seeds and raisins and butter sprinkled with sea salt. The bread was sweet, which was an interesting contrast to most places that provide you with plain bread. This being said, we were seated to a table left with bits of broccoli from the last person, and other food particles on Chris’s side of the booth.

Food came out FAST. Before we knew it, mango and raspberry iced teas ($2.50 each and made from fruit puree) and our $8 fried calamari came out. It was quite a generous portion for the calamari, laid out on a large lettuce leaf with two dipping sauces- a lemon caper aioli-esque sauce and a marinara. The freshness of the calamari and general treatment of the squid was superb and equal in tenderness to that of any top-notch Italian restaurant. However, the batter quickly became soggy due to the excess oil that built up in a pool on the plate as you kept eating. Sauces were tasty and well-balanced in tanginess and saltiness, and the caper sauce especially was creamy with a nice kick of spice/chipotle.

Both Chris and I came across hard pieces of indiscernible plastic or maybe shell in our calamari, which was unfortunate. Like the dirty table that undercut the excellent service, this too cast a shadow.

piled high! 

As for entrees, Chris and I picked opposites to see how they execute their wide-ranged dinner menu. My soft shell crab on a bed of julienned veggies was a steal at $14 dollars. Piled high on a base of garlic butter sauce, my veggies (peppers/carrots/zucchini/etc.) sliced very evenly, well-cooked with the slight snap that you expect. My tiny crab was laid on top and garnished with aggressively fried leeks/onion bits (just how I like it!) Crab was generously flavored and sautéed and very easy to eat, but because its size, had very little substance. Not necessarily a healthy dish, despite the mound of veggies, due to lots of oil like the calamari before it. I would definitely order it again for the price value and hope that I receive a more generous portion of protein next time. Compared to the last time I ordered seafood at a diner (see our Silver Coin Diner review) this was leaps and bounds better in taste.

Chris had a somewhat worse experience with his dinner (lunch):

cheap chic 

For $9 I decided to go with a cheese-steak. They had a good list of sandwiches that included pastrami and a classic Reuben, but I wanted to go with something I was more familiar with. I've had plenty of cheese-steaks growing up (living only minutes from Philly) and almost every pizza shop in the Cherry Hill area has a cheese-steak on the menu. I've tried the classics in Philly, Pat's, Geno's and Jim's and those three are still the gold standard for me. The cheese-steak at the Americana was good. It consisted of a standard roll and steak and the fixings were fried onion, mushroom, and provolone. The one problem was that everything was standard. None of the ingredients added a wow factor that made the Americana's cheese-steak better than the rest. The cheese was a little overpowering, the roll did not help out with any stability (making it a mess to eat), the mushrooms and onions were absent in the flavor profile, and I swear they barely seasoned the steak if they did season it at all. Was it a good cheese-steak? Yes. Was it worth $9? Probably not. If I could give two tips, I would recommend using a baguette style roll (nice and crisp with every bite) and I would use a little salt.

and we leave you with an image of chocolate!

This place has a clearer vision than other diners, and seems to be experiencing success in an iffy-at-best economy. This could be due to its financial support (it seems to be part of a restaurant group that owns 3 other places) and to the fact that it clearly has hired an experienced chef who can dish out more just eggs and toast.  Don’t take a family here thinking that you can get away with a wearing sweatpants and leave with a bill under $40. However, if you’re looking for a fancier evening, this could be the place for you.

Legacy Diner

The Legacy Diner rests on the White Horse Pike in Audubon, NJ. The building looks relatively modern for a diner, and from the outside everything looked like it would be neat and tidy. Eating here was a coin flip between the Legacy and Oaklyn diner, so hopefully we'll check out the latter very soon.

The inside of the building was warm and clean and it got my hopes up for a warm, comforting meal. After we were apathetically seated by the hostess, we were waited on by another woman who seemed to be in a hurry. Chi and I both felt rushed when we were asked "what will you have this morning?" less than a minute after we had picked up the menus. Granted, I'm sure there are locals that don't need the menu, but I'm here to be thorough. We told her we needed another few minutes two more times after the first time, and she finally gave us some peace and quiet to decide on our breakfasts.

Legacy Sampler

To be dramatic, my breakfast was tumultuous. I didn't suffer any injury or anything like that, but I was confused about what had just happened when I picked up the check. The eggs were very in between over medium and over easy. I ordered over medium and the whites came out to perfection; however, the yolks were extraordinarily runny and hardly warm. Despite the cool eggs, they tasted very fresh and had great flavor, so I don't want to complain too much there. The bacon was cheap and lean. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say a high fat content in bacon comes with the territory of being high quality. The lack of fat on the bacon left them a little bland difficult to cook. Impressively, though, they rendered what fat was there into chewy deliciousness that countered the crispy strips quite well. I chalk the bacon up as a success. The real let down of the breakfast was the sausage. The Legacy is an establishment that favors the fat links, and I've had some pretty good fat links. They Legacy's links were mushy, oily, had a thin casing, they were bland, and they were boring. I hate to be so harsh, but I struggled to eat them. The gold medal winner on my plate was the pancakes. I saved them for last and my first bite was full of bliss. They were both salty and sweet. They were light yet doughy, and they were cooked to a perfect golden, brown color. Some of the best pancakes I've ever eaten. If you go, get the pancakes.

----

Readers of Two Spoons will know that I tend to be very skeptical of diners that have epic names that imply some sort of superiority. Obviously, diners can’t be named “The Mediocre Diner” or “The 32^nd best Diner in this County”. Sometimes, I feel as if they lose sight of what they were in their prime. Most diners are family opened/operated, but as reins are passed through generations, does the passion get diluted?

Le Bakery

For starters, the Legacy Diner is a little difficult to get to. It’s easily findable on Google Maps or a GPS, but once you get there parking is a little bit difficult (and dangerous) as the diner pours directly into/from the White Horse Pike. I imagine that this is good for business with the White Horse Pike being the important thoroughfare that it is, and I feel that the fast and furious customer is what the staff at the Legacy Diner have come to expect. The crew was decidedly angsty as we weren’t greeted immediately or enthusiastically when we entered and the lady who seated us just dropped our menus at the table instead of handing us our menus after we sat. The busser was still cleaning when we were seated, and the 6 dollar tip from the table before us still lay glaringly awkward back at us.

It seems to be a new diner, clean with modern appliances and a more open-dining feel.  Upon looking at their website, I’ve discovered that they’ve been open for a little over 20 years- which in my eyes, for a NJ Diner, is pretty young. (Side Note: They do seem to have a nice, functioning, and well-maintained website!) The bakery was small, but well stocked with the typical oversized pastries, cookies, and Sesame-themed cupcakes- a phenomenon that I still don’t understand. There were even long-stemmed chocolate-covered strawberries offered.

Mediterranean Omelette

Our waitress was rush-y, and I ended up settling the Mediterranean Omelette- just adventurous enough to see if I could taste the “fresh ingredients” that they so proudly tote. Immediately, I could taste that there was too much olive presence, which I feared, but didn’t realize to what extent it would be actualized. The amount of olives was generous, but it was more the overwhelming smell/flavor of olive that transferred through the whole omelette that took away from the experience of the spinach, tomato and onions that were actually well-cooked and did, in fact, taste fresh.  The home fries that came with it were well-cooked (with lots of butter?) but poorly seasoned with large chunks of burnt potato. When will diners realize that there is a standard of quality that should be expected with a potato, even if it’s just thrown on the grill and served as a side-dish? Overall, I would say that the best part of the meal was that it came out fast and hot-which I suppose means that their impression of ‘get them in, get them out’ stays intact. Also, it was relatively cheap.

What is the legacy of the Legacy Diner with this type of business model? Or, did we just catch them on an off day? 

Summery Quinoa with Shrimp and Broccoli

Quinoa may be my new favorite grain of the moment. I can add it to my repertoire of go-to dish staples that include rice, risotto-y dishes, pasta, and couscous (more about couscous later). After watching it being used on the Food Network for years and struggling over how to properly pronounce it in public, Chris’s mother got some for us from the local grocery store and we finally had a chance to experiment with it.

Here’s a quick, fun, and light dish with ingredients that can easily be exchanged to make it unique to your taste preference. As a main dish it would serve approximately 4 people. The best part of this meal? Serve hot OR cold! (When cold it functions almost like a pasta salad). 15 min prep; 25 min cooking time


Quinoa- 2 cups (red or white will do)

Cucumber/Onion- approximately 1 ½ full cups once combined. Easily add your favorite no-non-sense veggies, like carrots, celery, etc.

Shrimp- 1 cup of raw, uncooked shrimp (ours started off as the frozen but ez-peel kind). As you see, ours is generally larger- aesthetically it looked more appealing. Also, as the quinoa was the focus of this meal, we kept our protein limited to 1 cup between the 2 of us, but your mileage may vary.

Oil or butter – (minimal) to cook the shrimp.

Summery Zest- We used orange zest as well as lime to help bring out the clean flavors of the veggies and the grain.

Herbs to garnish- We picked Thyme, but anything that could be grown backyard in a garden should evoke the same outdoorsy nostalgia. Rosemary would probably be great (especially if you substitute the shrimp with some lamb or chicken).

4 cups of water- See ratio of water to quinoa below.

Chicken stock- in our case, we used chicken bouillon because we had run out of stock. Read the instructions on how many cubes to put in. Ours was 1 per every 2 cups.

Seasonings- Minimal as to not obstruct natural flavors. Salt/Garlic salt and pepper to taste.

This meal was created in the middle of winter. Granted, it’s not like this winter has been particularly cold or devastating…but in a season filled with overeating and being cooped indoors, this meal left us feeling full but amazingly light.  Great for dieters who still want a satisfying meal.



Add four cups of water to a medium sized sauce pan and turn the heat on high.



Add two cubes of your favorite chicken bouillon to the heating (boiling) water.

Feel free to make as much Quinoa as you please, we decided on two cups (Quinoa to water ratio should be 1:2). Add once water/chicken stock is boiling, and keep an eye on it. Took us twenty minutes to cook. You can tell the quinoa will be done when it becomes clear and you can kind of see the germ within.  

Chop up 2-3 cups of your favorite vegetables, we had onion and cucumber. Mmm.

Make sure to buy raw shrimp! Thaw, peel, and pat them dry before cooking.

We only needed a little bit of oil for flavor. Lay the shrimp in the hot
pan away from you so none of the hot oil splashes at you!

You only need to cook the shrimp for a couple minutes on each side
with medium-high heat. Feel free to season them to taste.

Your Quinoa should be done by now! start layering your fresh veggies on top.

Lay your shrimp on top of everything and start seasoning. We used some fresh orange zest.

We were feeling crazy so we added some lime juice to the equation.

The final product was crazy awesome. Light, fresh, summery, and easy!

Sometimes nothing is better than blanched broccoli. Go ahead, let loose. We had broccoli on the side, but it would be a great addition to the actual meal as well.

By the way, you can pronounce quinoa two ways: KEEN-WAH or KEEN-OH-WAH. So there you go.