Easy Spinach

While some may consider pre-washed, bagged spinach food for the lazy, I feel that it has its place in the kitchen. There's nothing like cutting spinach and washing it once, twice, three times, and coming up with a wet mass of unevenly cut leaves and dirt. Splurging once in a while on a bag of pre-washed spinach reminds me that spinach is easy to cook and worthwhile. The easiest spinach of all comes from taking bagged spinach, placing the desired amount in a bowl (remember to pile it on, since it wilts), and microwaving for a minute. Once heated, the spinach can be seasoned with soy sauce, fish sauce, maggi seasoning, or your flavoring of choice.

Sammy's

Who knew that at the corner of 6th Ave. and 11th Street, just a few minutes from my apartment, lay fantastic, fatty duck, and an ethereal concoction of sticky rice and pork wrapped in a lotus leaf? I certainly had no idea until yesterday, when Jack and I decided to order in from Sammy's, a Chinese restaurant we had passed many times but had never patronized. We ordered the Cantonese-style wonton soup with egg noodles and duck, shrimp dumplings, and sticky rice in a leaf. We were pleasantly surprised with the clean taste of the soup broth, which came with bean sprouts and spinach, the succulent duck, and the meaty, fragrant sticky rice. The wonton skins were a little thicker than I was used to, and the dumplings were average. Overall, though, the delicious soup and sticky rice (all nicely non-greasy) mean that this place merits a repeat visit.

Blog envy

On this rainy Sunday in New York, I found some solace in the burrito blog, at www.burritoblog.com. While I don't agree with many of the ratings (The Enchilada is a terrible, terrible place, and I have a soft spot for Chipotle), the idea of creating a blog about burritos is genius.