What Did You Eat Today?

[W2R]

I took him out for lunch again.

He got this, which I would have killed for:

But, I am trying to stick to salads this week because of my weight, so I got this:

It was probably a LITTLE better for me, despite the almonds and blue cheese.

 

[Chuckanut]

W2R, my food eats the same food you eat!

Do you find salads filling? I would be starving again in less than two hours.

 

[Walt34]

Do you find salads filling? I would be starving again in less than two hours.

Sometimes, if I get intensely focused on something afterwards. Often not though, hence the chocolate mint ice cream. And even now I'm munching on a bag of almonds simply because they are filling.

 

[W2R]

W2R, my food eats the same food you eat!

Do you find salads filling? I would be starving again in less than two hours.

I'd RATHER have the pasta dish. But I have to do something about my weight.

 

[Chuckanut]

Fry bread with prosciutto, Dubliner cheese, and tomatoes.

 

[Chuckanut]

Sometimes, if I get intensely focused on something afterwards. Often not though, hence the chocolate mint ice cream. And even now I'm munching on a bag of almonds simply because they are filling.

Yes, almonds and macadamia nuts will fill me up. And despite the warnings, don't seem to cause me to gain weight.

 

[freebird5825]

I am sweating profusely despite the ceiling fan. Yes, I am finishing up the whole pot of veggie soup.

I am going to take a shower now to cool down.

Ever have cold soups ? Gazpacho is a favorite of mine. I use my homegrown fresh tomatoes. Wow!

Cold cucumber soup is a real treat.

There are 16 cold soup recipes here:
Chilled Summer Soups - Gazpacho and Cucumber Cold Soup Recipes - Country Living

 

[NW-Bound]

Hey, nice to see you're back!

Yes, I have had gazpacho but I do not like it.

If it is savory, I like it at least warm. If it is cold, then it's a slurry or smoothie, and I can have it but not savory.

I am not really picky, just particular about this.

 

[Moemg]

I took him out for lunch again.

He got this, which I would have killed for:

But, I am trying to stick to salads this week because of my weight, so I got this:

It was probably a LITTLE better for me, despite the almonds and blue cheese.

Both dishes look delicious but the portions are huge . I really wish restaurants would serve half or even a third of the portions .

 

[W2R]

Both dishes look delicious but the portions are huge . I really wish restaurants would serve half or even a third of the portions .

I do too! These photos were taken from websites online, and not by me, but still the portions were much too big even if not quite as big as the photos. I think a lot more people would eat out if the portions were half the size, and half the price, too. That is why we split one lunch portion between us 99% the time, but this time he didn't want salad. Oh well.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have absolutely no problem eating a salad plate of that size if that's all I eat, as I have done many times in the past. And I would be able to repeat that in an hour. There's no calories, and nothing there to satiate the hunger.

 

[W2R]

Here are what these two dishes REALLY look like (photos taken by me at the same restaurant, several years ago).
The salad looks bigger but it is on the same size plate as the pasta dish. Still pretty doggone huge!
The menu lists the salad as being 510 calories, which I think is a lot for just a salad. The calories in the pasta dish are a State Secret.

 

[NW-Bound]

Isn't there cheese crumble in the salad? If so, that's where the calories are. I usually eat salad without cheese, so most of the calories come from the oil in my favorite Italian dressing.

 

[W2R]

Isn't there cheese crumble in the salad? If so, that's where the calories are. I usually eat salad without cheese, so most of the calories come from the oil in my favorite Italian dressing.

It is called an "Apple Almond Bleu" salad, and after analyzing it at a calorie counter website (www.calorieking.com) I think there are even more calories in the almonds than in the bleu cheese! You can't win. I sometimes order it without the almonds, but since I was celebrating and lunch is my main meal of the day, I figured I would "go for broke" and enjoy the whole 510 calories.

Oh well, at least it wasn't spaghetti or pizza or steak, any of which can be a LOT more calories than that whether at home or at a restaurant.

 

[NW-Bound]

That photo of "Tomato Basil Chicken" dish gave me an idea. I will make that some time next week.

 

[Moemg]

That photo of "Tomato Basil Chicken" dish gave me an idea. I will make that some time next week.
TE]

Me too ! I haven't made it in awhile & it looks great !

 

[NW-Bound]

Tomorrow, before I pick up my wife from the airport, I will have this dish ready for homecoming dinner.

I guess the reason this dish has so many calories is because some people use a huge amount of butter. Cut back on the pasta too, and the chicken breasts are fairly low-cal. But without butter, then the sauce is thin and does not look good. Besides, butter gives it the flavor. I wonder if I can cheat by using less butter, and adding a bit of creme. I like the sauce to look like the following photo from the Web.

Ah, what the heck! My wife never eats much, and I can afford the calories after all. BMI down to 23 now! I am down to skin and bones because I have not been eating much in this heat.

 

[W2R]

Chicken with tomatos! Looks great. I used to make chicken with tomatos back in California. It's a good, cheap, California dish.

I don't know why, but New Orleans restaurants are unique and terrific. Check out the thread about great cities for restaurants - - New Orleans is mentioned more than any other US city, IIRC. Attempts at copying New Orleans restaurant food can result in something nice, though disastrous in another sense because the result is somehow nothing like anything we would eat here in New Orleans. If it WAS the same, then New Orleans wouldn't be known for good restaurants, now would it? We would no longer have a tourist industry, and the French Quarter would be torn down and turned into a parking lot.

Yes, if you decided to add lots of butter to your dish that would add a whole lot of calories (as well as transform it into a completely different dish from the one I showed). But then, wait, it was already completely different. Oh my, and look at the tomatos. Hopefully you were not trying to prove something by copying the one I showed, now were you? Many try, none succeed. Try copying the OTHER dish, the one you showed in your photo.

W2R

Tomorrow, before I pick up my wife from the airport, I will have this dish ready for homecoming dinner.

I guess the reason this dish has so many calories is because some people use a huge amount of butter. Cut back on the pasta too, and the chicken breasts are fairly low-cal. But without butter, then the sauce is thin and does not look good. Besides, butter gives it the flavor. I wonder if I can cheat by using less butter, and adding a bit of creme. I like the sauce to look like the following photo from the Web.

Ah, what the heck! My wife never eats much, and I can afford the calories after all. BMI down to 23 now! I am down to skin and bones because I have not been eating much in this heat.

 

[NW-Bound]

I thought the dish you showed the photo of was "Tomato Basil Chicken", but perhaps it is not.

"Tomato Basil Chicken" may or may not be an authentic Italian dish, but there are many slight variations of it that I found on the Web. The ingredients are simple, but perhaps the NO chefs have something secret in their sauce. I need to try it there next time to see for myself.

PS. There's another dish of chicken with tomato called Chicken Cacciatore that I often make and my wife and children like it. It is a traditional Italian dish, and is usually made with pieces with bones. The Tomato Basil Chicken is always made with boneless breasts, and the cooking is a bit different.

 

[W2R]

I thought the dish you showed the photo of was "Tomato Basil Chicken", but perhaps it is not.

"Tomato Basil Chicken" may or may not be an authentic Italian dish, but there are many variations of it that I found on the Web. The ingredients are simple, but perhaps the NO chefs have something secret in their sauce. I need to try it there next time to see for myself.

Lots of dishes have the same name, but this is not a straight Italian dish at all; this is New Orleans cuisine. This particular dish is NOT the same as anything you or anybody else could possibly make at home. For one thing, I don't think the ingredients are available anywhere else, AFAIK. For another, you don't have the decades of cooking traditions, secrets, and skills behind you that New Orleans' chefs must have. Yes, New Orleans' chefs do guard their recipe secrets very seriously. They really are impossible to duplicate, even from one restaurant to another here in New Orleans. This is why I thought forum members might be interested, but I guess not.

Frank always loves telling out-of-towners that the highest of New Orleans society are our chefs. That sounds like a joke, but actually it is true. They wield a tremendous amount of political and social power here. Honestly, they are treated as nearly holy. The idea that anybody, much less anybody from out of town on a moment's notice, could duplicate a New Orleans chef's original recipe is nearly sacrilege; and here, would probably provide an acceptable motive for murder by the chef or his sous-chefs.

Which is not to say that this was from a fancy restaurant. The same goes for many neighborhood restaurants and small local franchises.

 

[NW-Bound]

Well, as I have not even eaten this dish in NO, I obviously cannot duplicate it.

I looked up "Tomato Basil Chicken" public recipes, and from the ingredient list, saw that it would be something that I enjoy. That's all. I am not trying to best any chef here.

And the truth is, personal tastes differ. My wife's friend has a son-in-law with a successful Italian restaurant here, and my wife had several meals with her friends at the place. At my wife's urging, I went there once and was not impressed. The food was not bad, but the pasta was too drenched in sauce for my taste. Perhaps I am in the minority, but I know what I like.

 

[W2R]

Well, as I have not even eaten this dish in NO, I obviously cannot duplicate it.

Well, as I said above, even if you had eaten this dish every day for 20 years in NO, you still could not duplicate it, for reasons beyond your control. Sorry! That's the truth. I am sure that Moemg, Audryh1, you, and all the others who have confidently claimed on this thread that they are going to duplicate it, are all wondrous cooks. But while all of you may make wonderful meals, they just cannot be the same. It could not be the same even from one restaurant to another here in New Orleans. BTW, it isn't Italian, and it isn't even completely Sicilian although New Orleanian cuisine is heavily influenced by Sicilian, Creole, and other cooking traditions.

I know what I like.

That's the most important! So what if it isn't the same. If you like it, then make that dish.

 

[NW-Bound]

W2R, I have not had this dish in NO. So, it is definitely not going to be the same. I do not even know what I would be trying to duplicate.

If the dish does not come out as I think, I will not make it anymore. But it would be just me and my dish, you see.

But next time in NO, I will be sure to sample it.

 

[W2R]

W2R, I have not had this dish in NO. So, it is definitely not going to be the same. I do not even know what I would be trying to duplicate.

If the dish does not come out as I think, I will not make it anymore. But next time in NO, I will be sure to sample it.

Good luck in finding it because I have no intention of providing the names of restaurants we frequent to people on a message board. And, as I said in my post above (are you even reading them? ) without that restaurant name it is impossible to sample it. I am sure you will sample many other dishes that you will like just as well and even better, though.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Everything W2R states is 100% accurate. I've been gone 2 years, and there is nothing like a NOLA neighborhood restaurant. Man I really miss it. Louisiana culture is definitely an acquired taste, but eating out in town is what speeds up that process. Food is inexpensive, delicious, and usually the people serving the food can tell you some great stories. At the more expensive places, the food is out of this world good. I have my list of favorites, but many folks would look at the outside of the restaurant, get scared and call it a sh!+h0Le, and then go get something from Subway. Time for a trip, maybe in October when the heat breaks down there. First stop: Rocky & Carlo's.