The other night, we were meeting some lovely family and friends for a dinner in Murray Hill. Upon much research and restaurant suggestions, a reservation at Josie’s was made. Josie’s focuses on “natural and organic” food and I guess can be called a “healthier” restaurant. They have lots of interesting vegetarian options, but also plenty of choices for the meat eaters. However, just be warned, if you’re expecting a greasy burger and fries…Josie’s will not deliver. But if you’re looking for fresh dishes or just finished a yoga class, then this is the place for you.
Butternut squash soup with vegan pumpkin pesto
To start, Josie’s serves a delicious sweet potato spread instead of the usual butter or olive oil. You also get a choice for three different breads, mutligrain, cornbread or foccacia. I should have known, being a “healthier” restaurant, the cornbread would not be buttery and sweet. And it was just the opposite…crumbly and dry. The foccacia however was quite delicious, topped with fresh rosemary.
Corriander crusted tuna with vegetables, brown rice and topped with miso aioli
I had read many reviews about their butternut squash soup so I had to order it. It was absolutely delicious! Topped with a pumpkin seed (vegan!) pesto, the soup had some curry flavors and was a perfect fall dish. For my main, I went again with recommendations from my foodie friends and chose the veggie plate deluxe and added tofu for some protein. The vegetables were perfectly cooked and Josie’s definitely knows it’s way with the squash. But would I go out of my way and wait in line for this vegetable plate of goodness…probably not. But it was still very satisfying. Adam’s tuna was so-so…It tasted fine but nothing so special.
Veggie Deluxe Plate: Butternut squash, beets, bok choy, carrots, fennel, zucchini with brown rice and tahini sauce
So you want healthy food and don’t feel like cooking…head to Josie’s. There must have been some good energy in Josie’s food because I was able to complete my longest training run yet on Sunday….20 miles!!!! (that’s 32km for you Canadian readers). One more 20ish miler to go before November 6…M-Day (Marathon-Day). I felt pretty good…fueled with non real food based G20 Gatorade (orange flavour rocks!) and some strawberry banana Gu…basically a sticky, carbohydrate filled gel that you suck back while running and don’t have to stop or deal with digestion issues…sounds appetizing right? Well it keeps me going when running over 3 hours!
Some people ask me…”what do you think about when you run for so long?” What I’m going to eat after of course! And what I had planned for dinner that night was a repeat of a favorite in our household…Tilapia Tostadas. What is a Tostada you might ask? This is crispy corn tortilla, used as a vehicle for delicious ingredients…which means you can pile on more than when you eat it in the traditional soft, rolled form. You can buy them pre-made or just follow the instructions in this recipe here as I did. Cooking Light again to the rescue!
Tilapia Tostadas with Roasted Corn Relish
No major changes in this one, except to add tomatoes to the relish, used regular tomato salsa instead of green salsa, and use shredded romaine instead of the cabbage slaw. It definitely hit the spot!
A big SHANA TOVA to everyone!!! I wish everyone a very sweet new year filled with lots of delicious food!
What are those white dolubs atop the corn relish?
It’s Greek yogurt mixed with salsa. The recipe said to use sour cream and green salsa but I like to use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and I used regular salsa. It really adds a nice creamy touch to the tostadas.
[...] when I made those delectable tilapia tostadas? If you don’t, you should definitely take a look back and check them out. Well, with more tilapia purchased this past week, we were in the mood for tacos [...]
[...] to enjoy them is in the taco form. Fish tacos are not a new dish in our household..we’ve made tilapia tostadas with breaded tilapia on crispy corn tortilla shells and tilapia tacos with grilled fish in a more [...]