something light after eating 1,345,462,098 calories

after binge eating at mozza yesterday, i decided to make something really light for dinner. i had been wanting to try this recipe i found in the NYT: couscous salad with spinach and a creamy lemon chive dressing. i didn't really think about the fact that anything with "cream" would not be as "light" as i wanted...but it still turned out really nice. pretty simple too. we even broke out tstar's old food processor which she so graciously donated for causes such as these.

basically you cook about 1.5 cups of couscous with some salt. then, blend 2 cups parsley, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp lemon juice and some salt to taste. mix with couscous. chop 5 oz spinach into chiffonade. to make the dressing, mix 1 cup of light cream (i used half and half?) with 2 tbsp lemon juice, salt, and 1/3 cup minced chives (shake this in a container). then toss with the spinach and mix everything with the couscous. (thanks NYT!) it was very delicious and actually pretty light!

current obsession: mozza

sunday afternoon, destructor and i took and my family to pizzeria mozza for my father's belated birthday lunch. this was my second time here and i was so excited to try something new. when we arrived, the people at "our" table were still there nursing their drinks so we didn't get seated for awhile. but! totally worth the wait.

first, i started off with a nice refreshing glass of beer (moretti on tap). normally i'd be drinking wine (red) but since this was 2pm in the afternoon, i didn't want to sit through a lecture from my parents! anyway, here comes the food.

one of our appetizers: roasted pepper with tuna. this was absolutely delicious and i would order it again. it was kind of like a fancy tuna salad on top of roasted red peppers.

cauliflower gratinate! this was creamy and yummy; i love cauliflower. however, it wasn't completely amazing - i think maybe because it was a little bland.

my favorite! we had this last time too. it's the to-die-for white bean bruschetta. see the little indentations filled with olive oil? it drips down your hand as you bite into this tasty combo of pureed white beans and crunchy bread. i could probably eat 10 of these in one sitting!

guess what this is? free! this is the pureed chickpea with mint bruschetta, which we actually tried to order but was told that they were out. apparently they were making more so our server just brought it out to us anyway (she was initially very negligent and also spilled bread crumbs all over destructor. poor destructor. one time at joan's on third our server spilled an entire cornish hen on him. so anyway, this helped her earn back her 20% tip). this was really delicious but i have to say the previously mentioned white bean bruschetta is still my absolute favorite.

ok, we are finally past the appetizers. are you ready for the pizze??

fennel sausage pizza! there was so much hype about this one we had to get it. plus my father demanded "meat!". i took a bite of this one, and it was the best little bite of pizza ever. the fennel adds a really amazing flavor and of course the whole thing was covered in delicious olive oil. one note i have to make is about their crust. it's perfect because it's bubbly and airy, not all dough-y. they also sprinkle a little bit of salt on it...mmmmm! i usually don't even eat crust but i do here!


this is the squash blossom pizza, which i've been wanting to try ever since last time. the big glob of burrata on top is what got me. plus, it looks pretty. although this was good, i sort of have an issue with this one. when you bite into it, the entire layer of squash blossoms come off so that after your first bite, you are left with the shell of the pizza.

personally, i feel that this one is not as exciting. we got this for my mother because she doesn't really like cheese. it's just the plain tomato and oregano pizza, which i'm sure is very good. i didn't eat this because i was saving all my calories for everything else!

ah, the dependable proscuitto pizza. how can you go wrong with this one?

ok - longest post ever! i will end here. yes, we did have dessert but by then i was too lazy to take pictures. i am in love with pizzeria mozza. i even doodled pictures of their food and a smiley face on their feedback card (also bumped into someone from work here who walked by and saw my doodles and joked that maybe i could make it in the creative department. ha). everyone should eat here. tstar, did you go this weekend?

hello halo-halo

today we went to the lotus festival. i had never been before but this was mainly to entertain the family. it was a nice day but echo park was so crowded. of course there was the typical festival food (roasted corn, yum!), but the highlight was definitely the halo-halo from the filipino restaurant. i was so excited to eat it that i completely forgot to take a picture before obliterating it. hence, i had to rip some random one off the internet. halo-halo is basically a very popular filipino dessert consisting of shaved ice covered with various toppings such as taro, coconut, cream, beans, etc! see a more detailed description here.

poor nicole richie

falling into the trap of the hollywood baby boom. how will she drive the opposite way on the 134 now? how will she go clubbing at Hyde? sad face.

garlicky tofu stir-fry

tonight destructor made tofu stir fried in sesame oil with garlic, scallions and soy sauce for my whole family. this is one of our staples. it's so easy to make and is very tasty. just heat up some sesame oil, add chopped tofu on medium-high heat and cook. when it's nearly done (a little crispy and brown on the outside), add soy sauce to taste, scallions, and tons of chopped garlic. serve over rice. i tried a variation tonight by adding hot chili sauce to mine but it was too overwhelming!