It's BAAAAACK! Madison Square Park Eats - Fall Edition

The first time I talked about Madison Square Park Eats was earlier this year HERE.

I'm so happy to report that on September 27, Madison Square Park Eats opened up again for their Fall installment! I discovered the deliciousness of Seoul Lee Korean Barbecue in the Spring Madison Square Park Eats and at that time also realized that they don't have a store front yet - and actually didn't have any solid plans for a restaurant! I was very sad that I wouldn't be able to enjoy tasty Korean tacos after it ended, but they did say that they were bringing it back for the Fall session! 

So, when this season's eats came around, I immediately jumped at the chance to have
Seoul Lee Korean Barbecue's bulgogi tacos!YUM!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will open a restaurant soon, especially before I leave NYC!

The front of the booth.

The view as I waited in line.

I had to wait in a LONG line.

Prepping my delicious lunch.

The final product, which was worth the wait!

 

A Delightful Saturday at the Flea Market

View of the Chrysler Building from Long Island City, Queens

Yesterday, my friend Karlene and I decided to head down to the Long Island City Flea & Food market. It's a fun outdoor market that local NYC vendors feature their work, including paintings and donuts.If you're ever in the NYC area on the weekends, check it out!

The weather was perfect - and we had a good time checking out the different vendors. I've been complaining for the past week that I wanted a "real" donut, not just one from Dunkin' Donuts. It was my lucky day because they had a donut vendor with fresh delicious donuts. I could not say no. :)

Madison Square Park Eats!

There is no question that I love NYC.

It's also quite obvious I love my job!

Not only do I enjoy what I do, I happen to work in a pretty awesome area of NYC.  My office is about a block away from Madison Square Park.  A very cute like park oasis in the middle of a plethora of office skyscrapers.

Twice a year for about a month, the park puts together "Madison Square Park Eats."  It's when a bunch of delicious vendors come together and provide tasty food to the people.  They block off a corner of the park where people can gather, eat their food, drink and be merry!  I usually just swoop in during my lunch break and take my food to-go!

I typically bring my lunch to work because I find it way to expensive to eat out all the time, but every once in a while I splurge and eat food from different places around where I work.  With the spring opening of Madison Square Park Eats ending tomorrow, I decided to run over and grab lunch.  I've already done so twice this month.  After looking at all the different food available, I thought I would give "Seoul Lee Korean Barbeque" a try.  My thought process...oh, my soldier is in Korea, I love all food, and the line is pretty long...so, it has to be good!

It was oh so good!

I was overcome with food euphoria - and I didn't want it to end.  I was so upset to find out that they actually don't have a brick and mortar restaurant open yet!  There is NO way for me to get more yummy Korean tacos....

According to their Facebook page, they are working on opening up a restaurant - and for my sake, I hope it's sooner than later!  They will be back in the Fall opening of Madison Square Park Eats, but I don't know if I can wait that long!!

I was able to try out food from two other vendors: AsiaDog and Red Hook Lobster Pound.  AsiaDog takes the traditional American hotdog and adds Asian condiments to it.  I'm loving all these adaptations to Asian cuisine!  Seoul Lee Korean Barbeque takes Korean dishes and adds some Mexican influence. 

I'll keep my fingers crossed that Seoul Lee opens their restaurant soon - or else, I'll have to wait till the fall to have my delicious Korean tacos!

Tasty Lightened Bowtie with Vodka Sauce

I LOVE to cook.  I'm always looking for quick tasty recipes to whip up on the weekdays!  During the work week, my room mate and I alternate days cooking dinner for each other.  It's awesome to live with my friend while the hubs is away.  We've been room mates since we graduated college in 2008!!  She's been my huge support system along with my other amazing friends in the area!!

Anyway, I don't count points myself, but I like to test out weight watchers recipes anyway to keep things on the healthy side.  A couple nights ago, I was really craving Penne alla Vodka!  I searched on the interwebs and found the weight watchers recipe and thought I would made it and pair it with a nice caesar salad.

Here is the delicious recipe with my minor modifications.  I wanted the sauce to be more tomato-y, doubled the vodka amount (it was a rough workday!) and used bowtie pasta instead of penne!

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 2 medium-sized shallots (1/2 cup)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons of parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt (or normal salt)
• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
• 4 tablespoons canned tomato paste
• 4 ounces of vodka
• 12 ounces of uncooked bowtie pasta (or whatever comparable pasta like penne)
• 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
• 20 leaves of basil cut into ribbons

How to:

Use a large skillet and keep it on medium-low heat.  Once it's warm, add butter, shallots and garlic. Mix until the shallots start to caramelize, about 5 minutes.  After, add parsley, sea salt, tomato paste and mix together thoroughly to paste the ingredients together.  Cook the paste and stir for 5 more minutes.  Then, add vodka and use a wooden spoon, if you have it, to scrap everything off the base of the pan.  Cook 5 more minutes.

As you're making the sauce, bring a medium pot of water to boil and cook pasta according to package instructions.  Once it's done, drain and set aside for the sauce to complete.

When you finish cooking the paste, add the cream and reduce the heat to low.  Simmer the sauce for 3 minutes and stir at the same time.  Make sure the paste and cream dissolve into each other.  Finally, add pasta to the skillet and mix to coat.  Once the pasta is coated with sauce, top everything with basil.

And voilà!  Time to eat!