taking myself out for lunch

Tags

cannoli, Da Mimmo, Dublin, eating, food, Italian, Italian food, pasta, photography, photos

The grey weather isn’t budging, whenever i look out the window it really looks grim so to cheer myself up I took myself out for some lunch.

There is a wonderful little Italian down the road called Da Mimmo – great food, wonderful service and only a few minutes walk away. And since they have a great lunch menu I grabbed my book and took a stroll across the road.

Da Mimmo’s recently opened up their new venue, a few doors down from their original home, so it was the perfect time to try it out. The food is still as tasty as ever, but I have to admit I missed the cluttered old-fashioned look they sacrificed for more of a  ‘hipster-feel’.

I had bruschetta for starters (comes with the lunch deal), and I have to say I have never had better, the fresh bread laden with tomatoes and herbs had me licking my fingers. Then I had the pasta of the day, yummy and creamy, the perfect comfort food for such a miserable day, and I treated myself to some cannoli and coffee. And while the mixture of cream cheese (I think it’s goats and ricotta), pistachios and pastry was truly define, I was too full to eat both … so I took one home with me – a treat for tomorrow!

waiting for my lunch

yummy pasta

mmmhh – a rare treat, Cannoli

creating kale chips

Tags

baking, carb-free, cheat, cooking, eating, food, healthy eating, kale, kale chips, vitamins

Even the busiest person has to eat and since eating alone can been alone can be a little lonely I decided to invite my wonderful artist friend Dragana over for dinner last night.

A roast chicken and some salad was the obvious choice for me. After all, while the chicken happily cooks in the oven you can do other things, only a bit of basting now and then. As a salad lover (and knowing that Dragana always loves my homemade dressing) chopping up, dicing and mixing whatever salady stuff I find in my fridge into a concoction of healthyness is something I do most nights anyway.

However my guest has decided to go carb-free for a while, so any rice, pasta, potato or even carrot side serving was out. Not wanting to give up on something a little crispy I decided to make some kale chips, something I haven’t done in a while but always find yummy.

An additional bonus – kale is one of those super foods that is high in vitamin K, A & C followed by lots of manganese, fiber, calcium and a whole slue of other healthy qualities. And while of course it’s always best to steam vegetables, drizzling them with oil, salt and spices and letting them bake in the oven isn’t a bad option either.

So, if you want to try it yourself, just make sure you tear up the kale leaves into manageable sizes (cooks more evenly), get rid of any big stems (they end up tasting like sticks) and wash them. Once dry (I lie them out on a towel and dab to make sure all the water is gone), sprinkle with oil and spice (I put oil, about a tablespoon full, into my hand and massage the oil into the leaves, I do the same with the spices), put into the oven for about 10 at 150 degrees, toss once, back in for another 5-10 minutes.

The results are crispy, not burnt and really yummy!

before the oven

yummy crispiness after the oven