What kinds of things drive you nuts?
It makes me bonkers when I go to load the dishwasher,
and it's filled with clean dishes.
It cheeses me off when I want to brew a cup of coffee in my Keurig,
and it flashes "add more water."
And it drives me crazy when we make plans around Junior Goo Shoes' plans,
and his plans keep changing.
And changing.
Two weekends ago, Junior Goo Shoes asked
if he could go into New York City to sleep at a camp friend's.
The unspoken question was, "Can you drive me there and back?"
We didn't have any big plans, so we agreed.
Because he had to be there at 6:30pm,
Mr. GS and I thought it would be fun to stay in the city and have dinner.
The camp friend's parents are divorced --
the Dad lives on the Upper East side; Mom, on the Upper West.
We were dropping JGS at the mom's,
so I spent about an hour online looking for a reservation in that neighborhood.
Five minutes before we were leaving the house,
JGS said,
"Change of plans, I have to go to his dad's."
Not wanting to drive East Side-West Side-All-Around-The-Town just to eat,
I spent the entire car ride to Manhattan
searching Open Table for another restaurant on the east side.
An Italian place called 83 1/2 still had reservations available,
which is usually not a good sign.
However, the reviews sounded good, and we couldn't be too picky,
as it was T minus 45 minutes to dinner time.
The restaurant was small, and pretty...and empty.
Two of about 20 tables were occupied,
but it was only 7:00pm, so I wasn't too concerned.
Well, just a little, to be honest.
The meal was one of the best we've had in a long time.
Seriously good. Moderately priced.
If we still lived in Manhattan on the Upper East Side,
83 1/2 would be our go-to neighborhood joint.
The restaurant owner has Sicilian roots,
and it showed in the preparation of every dish we had.
We both ordered the Cavolo salad to start, described on the menu as
Tuscan kale, arugula, green apple, avocado, toasted hazelnuts,
with a ginger vanilla dressing.
One mouthful, and I knew I'd have to recreate this at home.
The combo of avocado and apple in one bite is a match made in foodie heaven
(avocado toast topped with apple, anyone?).
If you know Mr. Goo Shoes, then you know that he rarely gets excited about food.
When he said, "This salad is really good,"
that, my friends, was a rave.
By the time our entrees arrived, the restaurant was completely full.
My zucchini-crusted branzino was outstanding.
And guess what Mr. Goo Shoes said about his pasta?
"Best pasta I've had since Italy."
High praise, folks. High praise, indeed.
I've now made the salad a bunch of times,
with some slight modifications.
I leave out the hazelnuts, since Mr. GS doesn't like "nutty" food.
and I add either scallions or red onion, since I'm partial to a little zip in my salads.
It's delish topped with vanilla vinaigrette, which I posted about last week.
Sooooo good.
I wrote up a recipe, below, just to be official,
not that it's really necessary.
Just use as many greens as you want;
one avocado and one apple should be enough for two or three salads.
Kale, Avocado and Apple Salad
Recipe adapted from 83 1/2 Restaurant
Makes 2 Servings
Kale (approximately 2 cups)*
Aruguala (approximately 2 cups)*
(the amount really depends on how big you want your salad to be).
1 Granny Smith apple, sliced
1 avocado, sliced
2 tablespoons chopped scallions or red onion
Put greens on a plate, and top with slices of apple and avocado.
Sprinkle scallion or red onion on top.
Add a drizzle of dressing over the apple and avocado.
The moral of the story is that
every once in awhile, being driven crazy yields good results...
a fabulous meal,
a great restaurant find,
and new recipe for the blog.
Thank you (sort of) Junior Goo Shoes for changing your plans,
because this time, it all worked out for the best.
Just don't make a habit out of it.
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