Restaurant Review :: Everest on Grand

When it comes to certain restaurants, I'm a creature of habit.  Everest on Grand is one of these places.  This restaurant gem is on Grand Avenue in St. Paul, right in between Lexington and Hamline.  It's a small, quaint place serving Nepali/Tibetan/Indian food featuring lots of cilantro (yay!) and they even have yak meat on the menu.  When they offered up a Groupon for their delicious food, I immediately snapped it up and proceeded to wait until the very last day to redeem.  Thankfully, Leigh and I got there for our work lunch before the HUGE Groupon rush.  Usually it's pretty quiet, especially for lunch, but it was a crazy fest that day.  Luckily I knew exactly what I was going to order.

We started out with vegetarian dumplings of the deep-fried variety.  They are called Kothe, which is a deep-fried dumpling stuffed with a mixture of vegetables (or chicken or yak!), onions, cilantro, and delightful spices.  It was served with this amazing sauce on the side that perfectly complemented these little deep-fried pieces of heaven.  I did not intend on eating my entire half of the serving, but I just couldn't stop and after about 5 minutes, the plate was totally empty!  These dumplings are just too good.



I ordered my favorite main dish as well -- palak paneer.  Sometimes I feel bad not mixing it up at my favorite restaurants and trying some new things, but if you have the option of eating something this tasty, why would you NOT order it?!  I love the palak paneer.  A creamy mix of spinach, spices, blocks of paneer (which is a cheese), with some tomato and cilantro as a garnish.  Mmmmm, LOVE it.  I spoon a generous serving of palak paneer over a bed of rice and chow down!  The best part is that the portions are so big, you can take half of it home and eat it for lunch the next day (or dinner that night...). 

Of course, it wouldn't be a full Everest meal without their garlic naan.  A warm, chewy piece of naan bread, sprinkled with bits of garlic AND cilantro.  Tear it into pieces and either use it as another way to eat the delicious palak paneer or just sample it plain.  Either way, it's super good. 

This place rocks.  The food is top notch and the menu is stacked with awesome-sounding meals.  And during the summer, they have outdoor tables so you can enjoy the eats with some Grand Avenue people watching.  I don't know if I'm ever going to venture away from this A+ meal, but I invite you to go and try out something new!  Maybe your comments will inspire me to deviate! 

Cheesy Lasagna

I haven't cooked anything in a while...sometimes I just have those weeks.  So tonight I wanted to get back into the kitchen and make something delicious.  I pulled out a recipe I photocopied from my friend's Moosewood cookbook for a super simple lasagna.  I made this dish as is, but I have some ideas for doctoring it up later on.  Maybe a vegetable lasagna with a cheese sauce....or adding some spinach into the mix.  If you feel so inclined, adding meat or using a meat-based sauce would be an option as well.  But even on its own, you get a cheesy, hearty, awesome meal in a snap!

Ingredients
1 regular-sized jar of tomato sauce (I used tomato basil but any variation will do, and use your own discretion as to how much sauce you want in the lasagna when you buy your jar of sauce)
12 lasagna noodles, half cooked or uncooked*
2 cups ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
1 lb grated or sliced mozzarella
1/2 cup (or more!) of parmesan, romano, or asiago cheese

Directions
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Spread a little of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Cover the sauce with a single layer of noodles (about 4) breaking them as necessary to fit into the bottom of the pan.  Using 1 cup of ricotta/cottage cheese, dot the top of the noodles with spoonfuls of the cheese. 

Then you get to layering!  Layer your ingredients in the following order:  a third of your sauce (about 3/4 of a cup), 1/2 of your mozzarella cheese, another 4 noodles on top, the remaining ricotta cheese, another third of your sauce, the rest of your mozzarella, the last of the noodles, and the last of your sauce!  Top the entire dish with the parmesan/romano/asiago cheese.  You get a layered masterpiece of cheesiness.

 
Bake for 45 minutes.  Cover loosely with foil if the cheese is browning too fast toward the end.  Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.  Eat and enjoy!

*Food Tip: The recipe said that uncooked, regular noodles worked great in this dish.  I'm lazy, so I took the recipe at its word and it worked!  The noodles on the very top were a little al dente and chewy, which is perfect for me.  The noodles in the lower layers were perfectly cooked.  So rest assured that you can buy regular lasagna noodles and they'll work just as wonderfully as those no-boil ones!

Restaurant Review :: Cheeky Monkey Deli

I've had a less-than stellar week.  So after a second trip to the vet on Friday with my kitty, Ruby, I decided to treat myself to a nice lunch before I headed back into work.  There are quite a few great options right around my neighborhood - Cafe Latte, Bread & Chocolate, to name a few -- but just a mile away in the Selby & Dale neighborhood there are some awesome places to eat!  One of my faves is Cheeky Monkey Deli. 

The first thing you notice when you walk in (besides the huge crowd of people clamoring to get the the yummy food) is the giant menus.  Big, colorful, and filled with delicious-sounding sandwiches. 

They serve hot sandwiches, cold sandwiches, pressed sandwiches, some salads & soups, desserts, AND wine & beer!  THEY HAVE HAPPY HOUR!!  Don't forget, I love to eat but I also love me some booze drinks.  Anyway.....

After ordering and getting your number, you head over the dining room area to wait.  There are some rows of tables but if you walk a bit further in, it has almost a living room feel.  Big leather couches with coffee tables, a fireplace, and other chair/table combos that you might not expect in a restaurant.  It's comfy, cozy, with a bit of an eclectic flair.  Plus I always love sitting in bustling restaurants surrounded by people who are LOVING their food.  Makes me smile.  And order more.

I ordered my sandwich to go -- a roasted vegetable sandwich with hummus on ciabatta bread.  (Note: pre-veggie Christine also LOVED the ham & brie sandwich!) 

Wow.  WOW.  This sandwich was a-ma-zing.  The roasted vegetables gave the sandwich a smokey flavor that I had been subconsciously craving since that morning (my neighbor was grilling in the morning...JEALOUS).  And the veggies were soft but still had a bit of a crunch to them.  The hummus was the perfect addition, adding it's own smokiness and a creamy texture to the veggie sandwich.  The veggies included some summer squash, red peppers, asparagus, spinach and maybe some tomato and mushrooms.  I honestly couldn't tell -- I ate it so fast!  Check it out -- maybe you'll see some that I missed in my sandwich-eating fervor.

YUM.  Oh it was so yummy.  And it was only $7!!  The perfect way for me to brighten up the end of this blah week.  If you're looking for some seriously awesome and inventive sandwiches in a great spot for a fab price, look no further than Cheeky Monkey Deli.  This entire neighborhood is filled with foodie gems.  Cheeky Monkey Deli is certainly one of them!