Finding new recipes is really easy with the internet, but I still like sharing some of the really good ones that I find. My latest finds are a spicy roasted broccolini quinoa salad and cowboy mashed potatoes. The broccolini quinoa salad was sent to me by my friend Aaron after he read my last entry on broccolini. After preparing his recipes (full directions at the bottom of the post) I have to admit that his is much better than my last attempt. I especially like that goat cheese addition to the quinoa.

I discovered the recipe for cowboy mashed potatoes after realizing that I had some unused red potatoes along with some Yukon gold too. This recipe combines both potato varieties with some other vegetables to make a rather unique dish. I wouldn’t say that I liked them better than the garlic mashed potatoes that I usually prepare, but they were still good.

Dinner Plate

Spicy Roasted Broccolini Quinoa Salad

Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 30 mins | Servings: 1 serving | Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch broccolini, stalks trimmed
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1–2 tbsp crumbled goat cheese
• 1 handful cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Cut the broccolini into bite-sized pieces, about 1 1/2 inches.

3. Place broccolini on a parchment-lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Squeeze the lemon over the raw broccolini and season with salt, pepper and the red pepper flakes. Toss to make sure each piece is coated.

4. Roast for 15 to 18 minutes in the pre-heated oven, until stalks are tender and the heads of the broccolini are just lightly browned. Remove from oven and set aside.

5. In a medium-sized pot, combine the quinoa and vegetable stock. Bring the liquid to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Let the quinoa cook until all the liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.

6. Once the quinoa is fully cooked, fluff with a fork, and toss in the roasted broccolini, crumbled goat cheese and cherry tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

This past Saturday night was a date night for my wife and I. We had a party to attend later in the evening, so we took advantage of my in-laws watching our son and headed out to dinner, just the two of us. Originally I had wanted to try something downtown that I wouldn’t want to drag our son to, but with a Reds game that night most of the places I had in mind were quickly filling up. Instead we headed over the river to Covington to see what we could find.

Outside Chez Nora

Once we hit the historic MainStrasse Village with all the outdoor dining we parked the car and wandered over to Chez Nora. An employee inside the restaurant told us we were welcome to select our own table outside, so we sat at a table right on Main Street where we could hear the music that was being played on the plaza across the street. Our server arrived before long and took our drink order. Despite not being very knowledgeable about their beer selections, he was very familiar with the food menu.

Bread Basket

After placing our orders, a basket of fresh and warm bread was dropped off. We were told that it did have pistachios in it, which was great for us, but also would probably be beneficial to anyone with a food allergy. The bread was great, and our server offered to get us a second basket, but we were trying to save room for our meals.

Dinner Salad

My entrée included a side and I chose the dinner salad, which did not cost extra. It’s always frustrating when a restaurant tries to charge extra for a side salad instead of another side dish. The mix of greens was fresh, but otherwise the salad was very standard.

Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya

For dinner I chose the chicken and sausage jambalaya ($13 with a side). It arrived before I could even finish eating my salad and was very hot! The amount of meat in the dish was excellent, as it appeared nearly an entire Andouille sausage was included in addition to a whole chicken breast. The portion was large and the chicken was very tender. Unfortunately I could have used a little more spice. A bottle of Tabasco was provided, but I would have preferred to have the heat already packed inside. With that said the flavor combination was good and I ate nearly the entire dish.

Crab Cake Appetizer

My wife went with the signature crab cake appetizer ($14) – a delicious blend of jumbo lump and claw crab meat, served with their rémoulade sauce. I don’t eat much seafood so I did not have a bite of her dish but she made several remarks to just how good the crab cakes were. The crab cake dinner is also available for $21 and includes two sides. I’m not sure if the dinner is two or more crab cakes, but my guess is two.

Overall we had a great dining experience at Chez Nora. The food was good to great, service was quick and friendly, and the outdoor tables in the neighborhood are hard to beat.

The Little Miami Trail is the longest paved trail in the US at 78 miles long. I’ve spent years on the sections of the trail around my childhood home of Loveland and have often wondered about any historical significance of the old railway that the trail now covers. I’ve also recently spent some time around the current endpoint of the trail in Newtown, which is the closest point to my current house.

Earlier today my dad forwarded a link to the Little Miami Scenic Trail Guide. I’ve read through most of it and have found the historical entries to be pretty fascinating. I pass by the Peters Cartridge Company on days when I head into the office and it was great to read all about the history of the company and the abandonment of the old factory. Other cool stories involve Morgan’s Raid and Camp Dennison.

It would be a good idea to take this guide on any future rides on the trail to get a better picture of the history surrounding it.

Outside Hyde Park Pizzeria

This past Friday evening my wife and I were in the mood for a walk with our 16 month old son. We decided to take a stroll down to East Hyde Park and to stop in at the Hyde Park Pizzeria on Erie Avenue. We get coupons for their pizza fairly regularly in the mail, but had never given it a try. I was originally thinking of getting a pizza to go, but they do have a few tables inside so we decided to dine in. There are no alcoholic beverages for sale, just bottled and canned drinks along with a water cooler.

Time To Draw

The woman at the counter was staying plenty busy taking down delivery orders, which seemed to happen at least once every few minutes. However after taking our order she did find the time to track down some dry erase markers and allowed our son to draw all over the menu wall while we waited for our food to be cooked. Our choice was a large Hawaiian with the standard pineapple and ham, along with extra sauce and extra cheese ($16.75).

Hawaiian Pizza

Our pizza arrived steaming hot from the kitchen fairly quickly. We had to let it cool down for several minutes as it must have been just pulled out of the oven. The appearance was great and there was plenty of pineapple, though it could have used a little more ham. The cheese and crust were well cooked. Unfortunately once I was able to taste the pizza I thought the sauce was really bland and dry. The toppings all tasted good, but I think the crust was again a little plain.

I really wanted to like this pizza but it was just okay, I would eat it again but only if I was already in the neighborhood. There are other places close to home that I would rather order from. However our service was wonderful! And the menu is really large (both in number of items offered and the amount of space it takes up on the inside wall) so I would likely try something like a hoagie or calzone on a future visit to see how it compares with the pizza.

It occurred to  me last night while eating a paella dish prepared with both black and green olives that a year ago I wouldn’t have dreamt of eating such a thing. Up until recently I avoided olives like the plague. Though I still haven’t eaten them whole on their own (who does that?), they are no longer a must avoid ingredient.

It was at this time that I realized that pizza is a gateway food. If it weren’t for so many veggie topper pizzas I probably would have never tried olives. The same reasoning can be applied to my mushroom eating habits. Years ago I never touched them. Now I don’t mind eating a dish of sautéed mushrooms. And this all started as trying them on a pizza. I wonder what else pizza will trick me into trying next?

Mascot Race

This past weekend was the Flying Pig Marathon. Months ago Kim signed Trey up for the Flying Piglet Kid’s Fun Run which took place on Saturday. Since there was no real age category defined for his age, we bumped him up to run with the 2 and 3 year olds on the 25 yard course. The event was scheduled to start sometime around 1:15. Unfortunately Trey did not get a nap in before the start of his race. When it was time to run he quickly became overwhelmed and started to cry. The starting area was pretty chaotic for the kids event, so I just picked him and carried him to the finish where he was given a finishers medal.

Nick, Trey, and Camden

Prior to Trey’s race, Kim’s brother Nick also had a big event he was participating in, the Kids’ Marathon. Participants from schools around the area run 25 miles leading up to a big 1 mile run with all participants. So many kids take place in this event that they actually have to use a wave start system. From what I could gather it was a well put together and fun run for all the participants. Nick had a personal best by running the course in “two minutes.”

Race Finishers

Sunday was the full marathon as well as the half and relay. My dad ran the full marathon for the 14th time! Kim, Trey, and I met up with my mom early in the morning to watch him run through Hyde Park (just a block from our house!). We also saw some other runners that we knew as they sprinted through the square. From there we moved down to Linwood to see many of the same runners, including my dad. We were hoping to see my brother’s girlfriend finish her leg of the relay, but it turns out that their group was running slower than expected due to a missed turn prior in the relay.

Dad running through Lindwood

We ended up missing everyone at the finish line since we were in Linwood for so long. Fortunately we knew where to find my dad in the same spot that he has recently gone after finishing the race, where he meets up with his running group. At least one in the group re-qualified for Boston, which is always neat to hear. It is always so inspiring to watch so many people I know (and many I don’t) successfully finish a marathon. Maybe one day I’ll give one of the Sunday events a try.

I spent Sunday afternoon down at Williamstown Lake. Kim’s uncle Joe has a cabin on the shores of the lake that we visit frequently in the warmer months. The lake is only an hour from home, so we can easily cruise down for an afternoon. We don’t always get to take the pontoon boat out on the lake, but we did on this visit!

Kids In Charge

Trey wasn’t a fan of the life-jacket at first, but once Nick and Connor put theirs on he seemed to be a little more tolerant. We all packed together on the pontoon and headed off to a deeper cove for some swimming. The water near Joe’s is too shallow for swimming, in fact we later watched a speed boat get stuck in the mud just past his dock.

Swimming

The lake was a swirling mix of warm and cool waters. Most of us enjoyed floating around for an hour or so. Trey only lasted fifteen minutes or so before he wanted back in the boat. Hopefully as the water warms he will enjoy it more. Joe said this was the earliest he can remember swimming in the lake in the spring. Thanks to all the warm weather recently.

A couple of Saturdays ago, I took Trey to the Newport Aquarium with my parents. I’ve been to the aquarium before but it has been a number of years since my last visit. I don’t recall ever seeing the Rainforest exhibit, which appears to have been opened on May 24, 2004. So I’m guessing that my last visit was in 2003. Since then they have also added the Frog Bog along with a 14 foot, 800 pound alligator named Mighty Mike.

Throughout the 70 exhibits and 14 galleries, there are plenty of opportunities for interaction. There was no stopping Trey in the hands on tanks where he could pet horseshoe crabs, starfish, or even small sharks. There is also a play area with tubes and slides in the previously mentioned Frog Bog.

The real stars of the aquarium are the five seamless acrylic tunnels through some of the larger tanks, as well as a huge viewing window in the theater where you can sit and watch sharks for as long as you’d like. Also the penguin exhibit is always a huge hit with both kids and adults.

The aquarium continues to be a great place to spend a few hours, especially during one of those rainy days of spring.

On our third attempt to grab some food at ZZ’s Pizza my wife and I were finally successful. Just a couple of weeks ago, we found out the hard way that they don’t open until 3pm on Sunday’s. And on another visit, the tiny restaurant was a little too crowded for our already overwhelmed one year old son. If there is one problem with ZZ’s it is definitely the size and layout of the restaurant space. The bar counter is useless except for the servers who occasionally use it to pour drinks. And nearly every table inside is a high-top, which can be troubling for any young children.

Inside ZZ's Pizza

Fortunately that is where all of my complaints will end. Our service was excellent and the food was very good. We were using a Groupon that provided 2 side salads of our choice as well as any signature 12″ pizza on the menu. I chose the wedge salad - iceberg lettuce wedge with sliced Roma tomatoes, crispy bacon, house Parmesan dressing, and topped with gorgonzola cheese. (Normally $4.50). It was delicious! I’ve had salads like this in other restaurants before, but this has to be my favorite of the bunch.

Wedge Salad

My wife decided to have the Caesar salad - crisp romaine lettuce tossed with Caesar dressing and topped with Parmesan cheese and croutons ($3.50). I only had one bite of her salad but again it was good. I think I have to give the edge to the wedge, but since they are pretty different it all depends on your mood.

Caesar Salad

We had a tough time choosing between all the different signature pizzas, but eventually settled on the Primavara - artichoke hearts, mushrooms, onions, green peppers, olives & pizza sauce with provolone & mozzarella cheese on whole wheat crust ($16 for 12″). This gourmet style pizza was topped with plenty of very fresh ingredients. The whole wheat crust was thinner than I was expecting it to be, but it’s flavor was great. The sauce was savory with just a bit of spice to it. I really enjoyed the pizza.

Primavara Pizza

It will be hard for us to visit this current restaurant space often with our son, but hopefully I can get carry out in the future or we can make it a date night destination. The food is definitely worthy of a return visit.

I haven’t always liked mushrooms, so I’m somewhat new to cooking with them. I realized I had some leftover cremini mushrooms last night, and with little else to go with them, I found a fairly basic recipe for them (minus the port).

Start Of Cooking

Since we didn’t have any port lying around, and I didn’t want to open any bottles of dry red wine, I just used a little pinot grigio that was already opened. The results were pretty tasty! Though I would like to try this again with a wine of the red variety.

Finished Product