A Date for Modern Greek

Anyone else have a case of the groggies this morning? I had such a hard time getting up today. Darn that barometric pressure! (That humidity and rain make you sleepy is about the only thing I retained from 9th grade Earth Science class.) If you’re in need of a pick-me-up -and can deal with crude humor- you should check this out: but know that you will cry with laughter, so be mindful if you’re around other people in your office!

It was so foggy yesterday morning, I could barely see out my window! Definitely a morning for hot oats. The chia seeds went above and beyond yesterday, almost doubling the volume of my breakfast! It almost spilled out of the bowl.

Beat-the-Moandays AB & J Oats

• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup almond milk
• 1/2 sliced banana (ate the other half mid-morning, he was lonely)
• 1 T chia seeds
• cinnamon
• almond butter
• Crofters Superfruit Spread <—- LOVE this. Lower in sugar than most jams, but so much flavor!

Bring oats and water to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Add chia seeds and banana, stirring every so often. Add almond milk and cinnamon and cook until liquid is absorbed and oats are at desired consistency. Pour into bowl, and top with almond butter and fruit spread. FIll saucepan immediately with soapy water to save yourself future heartache. Sit down. Relax. Enjoy.

I spent most of the morning around the house checking e-mails (I try to stay as unplugged as possible over the weekend) and doing laundry. When it was time for lunch, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted so I went with one of my friend Lisa’s old standards: a Masala-egg scramble.

I cracked a couple eggs and started scrambling them over low, then crumbled in a warmed Masala veggie burger (from Trader Joe’s). Sprinkled with chili flakes and served over spinach + artichoke hearts, it was a pretty good lunch!

My dad had brought me a chocolate chip brioche from Silver Moon earlier in the day, and you know how I am with those bad boys. I was more stressed than hungry (statistics homework is so frustrating!) and this was more comfort food than fuel.

Most of the day was spent hunched over the dining room table stabbing numbers into a calculator, so unfortunately there was no time for the outdoor run I was craving. I was, however, able to meet a friend for a walk under the trees, which was a big help for my cabin fever!

My dad and I went on a really fun father-daughter date last night at Kefi, a modern Greek restaurant on the Upper West Side. I’d been once before, for lunch, but I didn’t have my camera and was dying to go back to share it with you all. Several of my friends have raved about it in the past couple years, and it did not disappoint.

Papa LVP is a really big fan of octopus, so I lured him to Kefi knowing he’d zero in on this grilled octopus and bean salad appetizer when I e-mailed him the menu. It was delicious. I’ll have to enlist my chef friend Ryan to teach me how to recreate it grill-free at home…

We also started with the crispy cod with garlic potatoes and tomato. It was sort of like fish-and-chips (without the chips) and wasn’t entirely what we had in mind.

We split two entrées, starting with the pan-seared striped bass with potatoes, capers, olives and tomatoes. It was a very generous portion- I think this was the whole fish- and I only ate half of my piece. The flavors all came together really well- briny camers and olives, rich potatoes, acidic tomatoes.

My favorite, though, was the sheep’s milk ravioli with brown butter, sage and fried onions. I’d tried this on my first visit as well, and it is so, so good. Can’t wait to have the leftovers tonight!

We were pretty full from our meal, but were intrigued by the dessert menu and shared the walnut cake with walnut ice cream. It was like a spice cake with carrots, and full of flavor. I’m going to try and track down this recipe. (The ice cream was good, too, and luckily the few bites I had didn’t do any significant damage.)

A fabulous meal to start the week, and so nice to be able to spend some quality time with my dad. Even though we see each other around the house, it’s hard to match up three adults’ schedules. Glad it worked out!

Do you ever have “dates” with your parents? What do you do?