lunch

Middle Eastern Roasted Chickpea Pitas

May 22, 2019

Middle Eastern Roasted Chickpea Pitas- your new favorite vegetarian meal to whip up in under 30 minutes. Quick & packed with flavors!

Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE

In honor of the new upcoming live-action Aladdin movie, by Disney. I’m dedicating the week for recipes that are inspired by the movie. Have a picnic on your magic carpet.

There are just so many days when I am BORED cooking. I’m over it. So done.

And the worst thing about it is that I don’t just have to feed myself, but 2 kids too. (Sure, I sorta have to feed my husband, but if I stopped cooking, he would live off Taco Bell. He wouldn’t be too sad)

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Monday Munchies: Fajitas and ‘Ritas- Boston, MA

March 17, 2014

Fajitas and ‘Ritas has been serving Boston with fun Tex-Mex food since 1989. Enjoy Texas favorites from Nachos to Tequila Wings, Fajitas to Barbecue, and Chili to Burritos. That’s 25 years of amazing lunches and dinners serving up some delisious food and drinks!

Price had worked near Fajitas and ‘Ritas years ago so we would occasionally meet there for lunches or drinks after work. It was a great place for affordable meals and drinks to help you get though the rest of a rough day.

It had been ages since we went but going back for lunch recently brought back the memories of the great food and margaritas we enjoyed together and with friends among the mural covered walls.

During our recent visit, we had planned on starting with the Build Your Own Nachos. Basically, you start with a plate of tortilla chips with melted cheese ($3.74) and then you pick the toppings you would like. I like that you can make the nachos exactly how you enjoy them with steak ($3.74) or chicken ($2.15) or chili ($1.64) and topped off with things like sour cream ($.75) or jalapenos ($47). Nachos were on my mind but since a basket of warm tortilla chips with salsa were put in front of us the moment we were seated we decided to enjoy those and pick other starters when we ordered our drinks.

I ordered the Mexican Sunrise ($6.07). I wanted something fun and it sounded like a great pick with it’s Lunazul Reposado, Grenadine, lemonade, orange juice, fresh lime juice, and ginger ale. It had great bite from the tequila and the lemonade and was such a pretty color from the Grenadine. I liked the slight effervescence from the ginger ale as well.

Price enjoyed the house margarita ($5.37). Fresh citrus and a hearty amount of tequila always makes for a great drink. Plus, the affordable price doesn’t hurt.

Ultimately, we decided on starting with the small order of 8 tequila wings ($8.18). Price loves wings so this was his pick. He was excited to dig right in when they were set down in front of us and the scent of the wings rose up with the steam coming off the hot wings.

The tequila wings were juicy and really flavorful without being too hot. The tequila adds a really nice flavor. I would have preferred the skin to be crisper but I’m honestly really picky about wings since I don’t actually really like wings. shhh… I prefer tenders but I have to say I did have one of these and it was really good. Loved the flavor from the sauce.

The wings were served with a zesty blue cheese sauce and, of course, celery. I loved the blue cheese sauce as it was really creamy and flavorful. I couldn’t resist dipping some tortilla chips into the sauce as well.

I picked out the special of Jalapeno Poppers since they are some of my favorite appetizers. I love the combo of spicy pepper with cooling cream cheese and the crunch from the crisp coating. These poppers were a perfect combo of that. Plus crazy fresh from the fryer, which is a must with poppers as you want a hot filling and crisp coating.

The jalapeno poppers were served with the same zesty blue cheese sauce as the wings.

Fajitas and ‘Ritas has several zones in their restaurant. It makes for flexible seating when it comes to avoiding loud crowds or for hosting a party in an area.

For my entrée, I ordered the steak and shrimp fajitas ($10.28) because I couldn’t pass up the signature dish in which the restaurant is named.

The fajitas are served with fresh guacamole, chopped pico de gallo, sour cream, and 2 warm flour tortillas.

I loved it all. It was a large portion of vegetables with steak and 4 shrimp. The steak was lean, flavorful, and tender while the shrimp had a nice blackening to it from the heat of the cooktop. The steak was cut into strips so it was easy for stacking into the tortillas.

Because we enjoyed 2 starters, I saved half of my fajitas to have for lunch the next day. It heated up well in the microwave as the veggies were still a bit crisp and the steak was not too well done in the first place so it didn’t get tough and chewy after it was reheated.

Price picked the pulled pork platter ($9.35). The platters are served with a corn muffin, cole slaw, beans, and a side of BBQ sauce. The typical hearty Texas meal!

Price really enjoyed the 12 hour smoked pork that was smothered in BBQ sauce. The thick sauce was smokey and sweet and a great compliment to the beans. A bite of pulled pork followed up with a bite of corn muffin was a great combination.

We both really enjoyed the cole slaw as it was really crunchy and lightly dressed. For us, texture is a big factor in a good cole slaw and this style of cut (like a dice, not ribboned) makes it extra crunchy.

While Price was enjoying his entrée, he had a CoronaRita ($8.41). What’s a CoronaRita? Well, it’s their house frozen margarita served with an upside down 7oz bottle of Corona in it. As you drink the margarita you pull the Corona out of the drink to release more of the beer so it mixes with the ‘rita. yum!

Besides the margaritas, they also serve wine and margarita like drinks with a vodka base instead of tequila. The Texas Sipper ($6.54) made with Titos Handmade Vodka, St. Germain, Grapefruit Juice, soda has my name all over it for next time.

I had been hoping to enjoy some dessert but we had filled up too much on our meal. Only means we need to go back for some Sopapillas (One for $1.64, Three for $4.40) and, of course, more ‘ritas!

And a big THANK YOU to our waitress who gave us awesome service, as well as being super sweet to Autumn. Just the sweetest thing ever!!!!!! Love the extra attention for our little one. Made my day.

Fajitas and ‘Ritas

25 West St #1

Boston, MA 02111

617.426.1222

*While a portion of my lunch bill was comped by Fajitas and ‘Ritas these opinions are entirely my own.

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Monday Munchies: The Red Hat- Boston, MA

June 3, 2013

As part of my Monday Munchies series, I will feature a different eatery for a review on the first and third Monday of every month. Hope you enjoy!

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Oh, man my Monday Munchies series has really taken a hit! I’ve slacked off since we hadn’t really been going out with having the dog to coordinate our outings around. Plus, Price and I have been so busy at work so we’ve just been keeping things simple and staying in. Or ordering take out- love you Foodler! I hate being off schedule, even if it is my own schedule so I’m starting things up again and I promise I’ll have some great shares in the upcoming months. 🙂

So here I am, finally sharing with you about a nice little lunch I had with Pricer at The Red Hat in Boston. We had a groupon so we got a fantastic deal on this lunch. Plus it’s exactly why we ordered so much. noms.

Santa Fe Egg Rolls- Egg rolls stuffed with Santa Fe sauced chicken and spring vegetables. Served with orange marmalade sauce – 6.99

These were really good but nothing too special. Plus, I have a feeling they were pre-made. I never would have thought of pairing spicy egg rolls with a marmalade sauce but it was a nice opposites attract sort of thing.

Buffalo Chicken Tenders- Breaded chicken tenders with accompanying sauces – 7.99

Do you see how big these tenders are?!? These were soooo good. And massive! The buffalo sauce was spicy but, as always, served with some celery and blue cheese dressing to cool it down. These would be great for a crowd to enjoy while watching a game.

Turkey Club Salad- Your favorite club without the bread. Spring greens topped with roasted turkey breast, tomatoes and red onions tossed with honey mustard dressing. Finished with crispy bacon bits – 8.99

Price ordered this salad since he loves club sandwiches and salads. It was a big, fresh salad piled high with toppings. The salad was served was a tangy honey mustard dressing, which went nicely along with the turkey.

Polo Grasso- Sautéed chicken, strips of bacon, Russian dressing and topped with mozzarella cheese-8.99

I loved this sandwich so much. I thought it sounded good and I was right. The chicken, bacon, and motz combo was so good. I also think it would be great with swiss, but anyway. It was a great combo tied together with the tangy Russian dressing. (Random factoid- I love Russian dressing on sandwiches, but not on salads.) It was served with a mound of seasoned waffled fries.

Some things were ordered were hits and others were misses but we really enjoyed the lunch over all. It was a great deal as we had plenty of left overs to enjoy the next day. Give The Red Hat a try for lunch as well. 🙂

The Red Hat

9 Bowdoin Street

Boston, MA 02114

(617) 523-2175

Lunching with Momogoose: Week 3

May 20, 2011

Week 3 of my month of free lunches with Momogoose sped by because I was so busy with a deadline at work. So busy in fact that missed 2 lunches. I still enjoyed the 3 lunches that I was able to grab from the bright red food truck.

Monday May 16th- Bun Cha Gio ($4.50)

I already had Bun Cha Gio during my first week of lunching at the Momogoose Food Truck. So What? Who Cares? I knew I set out with the intension to not repeat meals but I wanted this again so I got what I wanted.

Just like the first time I had this, it was so good. I would only ask for more fish sauce when getting it or maybe they could use one that was a bit more stronger. I love the fish sauces that are strong, salty, and pungent.

Tuesday May 17th- Orange Fish ($5)

After my repeat on Monday, I printed out the menu and started to check off what I had already. I already had eaten at the food truck 11 times and I hardly made a dent in the menu. Impressive. So I tried the Orange Fish today so I could cross another thing off the list.

The fish was a generious portion of fried white fish fillets. The fish was flaky and tender.

The sauce was exactly like a typical orange sauce I have had before with orange chicken at take out places. It was predictable and reassuring. It was tangy, sweet, sticky, and thick.

My rice was a tad bit dense today, however it was a great consistency to soak up the orange sauce.

Wednesday May 18th– no lunch at Momogoose

There was lunch in the office so I stuck around there and had that since I was busy working on a deadline and the weather was crap.

Thursday May 19th- Green Curry Chicken Special ($5)

I do not really like eggplant. So why did I get this? I don’t know. It was the special so I just went for it. Thankfully there was not too much eggplant in my dish.

I really liked the green curry sauce so that made this dish enjoyable. The sauce was really good being that it had a good balance of heat and sweetness to it.

There were not many potatoes in my portion, which was a disappointment since it was not evenly balanced with the eggplant, bell peppers, and potatoes.

Friday May 20th– no lunch

I was wrapping up the work for our deadline and worked through lunch. I ended up leaving at 3pm, after working a 60 hour week, but it was too late and I missed momogoose. I ate rice pasta at home. Rice pasta is garbage, just saying

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The Orange Chicken I had on Tuesday was my favorite lunch this week. I thought the flavor and texture were right on the money. I would get this again. I think that if this was made with fried shrimp I would be sooooo happy.

Check out my Week 1 Recap for those lunch reviews!

Check out my Week 2 Recap for those lunch reviews!

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Lunching with Momogoose- Week 1

May 6, 2011

I was soooo excited to be selected as a winner of free meals from Momogoose, a food truck stationed at City Hall Plaza, for the month of May! This is major. This is thrilling. This is yummy.

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Monday May 2nd- Panang Curry with Chicken ($5.50)

I decided to go with the daily special to mark my first day of winning free meals from Momogoose. I might have skipped away from the truck, might have. My lunch and I headed back to the office so I could blog surf and enjoy the curry dish. I really enjoyed this lunch because of the quality of ingredients, flavor, and the cost (free!).

The chicken was really good- not over cooked, very tender

The sauce was mellow- I didn’t think it was spicy at all, but I liked the sweetness of it, and now it paired with the sriracha I added to it.

Rice- I decided to go with white rice today. The rice was really good, not under or over cooked and it was not stuck together at all.

Side Salad- I actually mixed this right into the meal for a play on texture for every bite.

Tuesday May 3rd- Suon Nuong (pork) baguette ($5) and spring roll ($1.50)

I met Price for lunch today. I love getting to meet Price for lunch. We work so close but rarely meet each other since we don’t always take lunch at the same time we don’t often get to meet. But we arranged meeting so that we could enjoy the nice weather and the lunch from Momogoose. I wasn’t reall hungry so I let Price decide what he wanted for lunch. It was no surprise that he would pic a baguette sandwich. Since he ate it, this is his evaulation:

The bguette bread was really fresh, slighl crunch exterior with a soft doughy interior.

The grilled pork was seasoned well. It was not greasy of fatty.

The sandwich was dressed with vegetables, plenty of cilantro, and a little bit of mayo.

I had a spring roll which was a perfect amount of food for not being hungry for a real lunch.

The spring roll was crunchy, lightl fried, full of vegetables. It liked that while it was not freshly fried it was still warm, and not greasy.

Wednesday May 4th-Bun Cha Gio ($4.50)

The moment I saw a photo of the Bun Cha Gio posted on their window I knew I would have it. I love bun dishes at Vietnamese places. Bun typically is cold rice vermicelli mixed with fresh vegetables and topped with hot barbecued pork. In my case I always get it with shrimp paste on sugar cane and with a side of spring rolls that I cut up into the noodles.

The room temperature noodles were swimming in fish sauce. I love pungent, garlicy fish sauce.

Three spring rolls happil sat on top of the noodles. Three warm and crunchy spring rolls that

Adding in some chili sauce added some hot and sweet flavor to the plain noodles. Chili sauce went well with the intense flavors of the fish sauce.

Thursday May 5th– Thai Peanut with Tofu ($5.50)

The moment that I left the office was the moment that it started to rain. If you know me, you know I never have an umbrella handy. Such an awesome moment. So I hurried to Momogoose and I grabbed a tofu lunch to head back to the office.

The tofu was coated in a Thai sweet curry and peanut sauce. The tofu was evenly coated with sauce. some pieces were slightly overcooked but overall tofu was really good.

The white rice that came with the dish absorbed the sauce that coated the tofu.

The dish came garnished with cilantro, and I added some chili sauce.

Friday May 6th- Viet Combo ($5.00)

Another great day in Boston, spring is very slow this year so whenever it is nice I head outside. I can’t put down Tina Fey’s Bossypants so my Kindle and I set up shop on some steps on City Hall Plaza for some reading and lunch. I was looking forward to something a bit different for lunch so I wanted to have the Viet Combo, which the had on the menu that day. I always enjoy fried fish so I was egar to give it a try.

Carmelized pork shared the spotlight with the fish. The pork was in thin bit sized pieces and were really carmelized

The crispy fish fillets were, thankfully, not covered in sauce, allowing them to stay crispy the entire time.

The dish was a bit to saucy for my liking. The rice seemed to be a bit soupy in the amount of sauce.

As usual, I topped the dish with chili sauce.

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For one reason or another, I enjoyed each lunch. From fresh bites to flavorful sauces. Loads of chili sauce and cilantro made the dishes hot and tangy. I think that my favorite lunch was Wednesday’s Bun Cha Gio because it reminded me of the Bun dishes I often get at m favorite vietnamese resturants. I can’t get enough of big bowls of bun and this was a simple quick version of what I am used to.

Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.