SAMMICH!

Okay.
It's one of those late in the night posts.
But hey! It's still 4/10/11 like I promised, so it's all good!

Here we go:

For those of you who know me, you probably know that I love sandwiches.
Love. Them.

The other day, I had a sandwich.
So tasty!

Actually, it's kind of rare when I don't have a sandwich at least once in a week.


Fortunately, to support my love for sandwiches, the building I work in is nicely sandwiched between two great restaurants that excel in the sandwich department.
(Pun intended; I am so clever.)
And by no accident, they are my two favorite restaurants in DC.
(This is coupled by the fact that, while I would like to and should explore more of the city, I have this crippling fear of going out and trying new places - especially by myself. Lately, it's gotten better, but it is still there.)

My most favorite place is G Street Food.
I go there at least once a week. (Though I try not to, because then my sister makes fun of me.)

A while back, I was cruising the Washington Post's restaurant guide. And, being a sandwich lover, I immediately checked out the "Best Sandwich Places in DC". I only noted the ones that were near my office (see note on fear)

I had this place in the back of my mind, mostly forgotten for a long, long time.

Then, one day, starving, coming back to the office from a doctor's appointment, I was like, "You know what? I'm going to try that place. ... Uh... where was it again?"
Sadly, it was so close to my building that I felt bad that I hadn't gone the extra half-block to get there before.
But man, oh, man. All bad feelings were gone soon thereafter.

I got the Grilled Chicken Chermula and it was awesome.
Just.
Awesome.

Just thinking about it makes me happy. :)
(And sometimes hungry.)

I plan on trying their whole menu eventually, but I nearly always have my go-to sandwiches - the Grilled Chicken Chermula and the Cubano.

The Grilled Chicken Chermula is has, obviously, grilled chicken and chermoula. (I had to look up what it was when I got back to my office and started munching on it.)
It's also got bacon. (BACON!)
Like all their hot sandwiches, they grill the bread a bit to get this lovely crunch and some extra flavor.

Grilled Chicken Chermula <3

I tried the Cubano after a strong recomendation from my friends Tom and Arina. They're super smart. :)
Apparently that's all they get when they go there.
It's got like a normal Cuban sandwich, it's got the pork, but switches in prosciutto for ham, jalapeño for pickle, and it isn't pressed.
But either way, it tastes good.

Nom! And check-out the grilled bread action. :D

I think I am going to make a separate post with all the things I've tried and my reactions.

But that would be nerdy.

... We'll see.


My second favorite restaurant is Breadline (mostly because I haven't gone there a lot... yet).
Their bread is pretty awesome.

... But I wish their website looked prettier.

Right now, I'm really digging their new turkey sandwich with sweet potato and cranberry sauce.
It's like Thanksgiving in a sandwich!

Sweet potato, turkey AND cranberry sauce.

So yes.
I like sandwiches and I like these restaurants and I'll make a more substantive post about my cooking classes soon.

(Please excuse my excessive use of parenthesis in this entry.)

Bedtimez!

(Crud. Adding the pictures officially made it midnight... Oh well.)

[Recipe] Maple Pecan Granola (+ Kashi puffs)

SO.
Apparently I am a really bad blogger.

Sorry about that.

BUT. Going to do TWO posts today.
I actually had an entry already written, but I wanted to put pictures in it, so I had to search for them in my hard drive first. And that's hard. :P

I'll do that later tonight, after the gym (and taxes).

As for this post, I'm going to talk about granola!

Yum :D

One thing that I didn't know about granola is that it's basically toasted, sugared oats. With stuff in it.

The funny thing is that granola is is RIDICULOUSLY easy to make. And cheap!
It's just a little time consuming.


For my recipe, I've altered AB's granola recipe.
His recipe has coconut (ew), raisins (meh), and lots of nuts (... too much).

Working with the ingredients I always have in our kitchen, I've created a Maple Pecan Granola (+ Kashi puffs).

Here is my recipe:

Ingredients
3 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup + 2 TBSP brown sugar
1/4 cup + 2 TBSP maple syrup
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup Kashi Whole Grain Puffs (YES! Product placement!)  (I don't always have this on hand, though.)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 250 degrees fahrenheit.
Mix the sugar, syrup, vegetable oil, and salt in a small container. (I usually do it in a one-cup measuring cup.)
Mix the oats and pecans together in a big bowl.
Mix the "wet" ingredients into the oats and pecans.
After this mixture is coated well, add in the Kashi puffs. (I do this because I think that it'll prevent the cereal from getting too wet. Not sure if it makes a difference.)
Spread it out on a baking sheet and bake for a total of 1 hour and 15 minutes. Every 15 minutes, stir the granola so it doesn't burn.

ENJOY!

I like to eat it with a cup of yogurt. :)

(without puffs)

Of course, you can always tweak the add-ins (pecans, puffs) to your liking - as you can see through my alterations of AB's recipe.

I usually make a 1/2 recipe. After the jump: