I am finally back! If you have been keeping up-to-date with my Facebook or Twitter, you’ll know that Nouman and I had an absolutely amazing early anniversary holiday. I rushed straight into my sisters bridal shower as soon as we were back but I’ll be blogging about the trip soon! In the meantime, here is a review about a local burger joint. Who doesn’t love burgers, right?

As you know, I am a huge food lover and thankfully so are some of my co-workers. Last week, my team decided to go for a group lunch to check out The Works burger joint near our work. Anyone else notice all the burger joints that have opened up in Toronto recently? Love it!

The ambiance of The Works is laid back and casual. While there is a fair amount of seats inside, there is no bar as you would find in a pub. The restaurant is set up with wooden chairs and tables as well as booths. Something I found unique – light bulbs were filled with salt and pepper. Our server was upbeat and friendly and attended to us very well.

The drinks are served in a measuring cup!

Our table started off the meal with an order of tower-o-rings which is a gigantic tower of deep-fried onion rings. The onion rings were divine. There was a strong onion flavour, which I love, and the batter was not too over powering. The two dipping sauces, chipotle mayo and tzatziki, perfectly complimented the rings.

The menu is huge. I mean, HUGE. There are so many choices that it is overwhelming. Yup, there is a surprisingly large selection for vegetarians too! The Works not only offers a veggie patty but also portobello mushroom caps. They also clearly mark all the vegetarian options – and the variety is plentiful. I had been looking over the menu for five days so I knew what I wanted when I sat down at the restaurant. I ordered a Little Italy – pesto, grilled eggplant, sliced tomato and havarti cheese – with a veggie patty on a white bun and a side of sweet potato strings.

Although the patty was flavourful – unlike most veggie patties – my first few bites of the burger were dry. I was a little disappointed because I had been looking forward to enjoying a yummy pesto burger for almost one week. As I bit further into my burger, the oil from the pesto sauce started to spread and the burger became more moist. After the initial few bites, the burger was no longer dry. The pesto was very good and the cheese was a great compliment to it. The burger was not too saucy (no juices running down my elbow) and it held together well. By the end of my burger (yup, I finished everything), I was addicted to the taste and was inhaling my food. The sweet potato fries were yummylicious too.

The portion sizes are massive – the poutine is served in a bucket – and worth the price ($14 including a side but not a drink). Overall, everyone on our table was happy and satisfied.

I will definitely be going again and can’t wait to try toppings until I find my favourite.

*p.s. Certain locations may offer Halal patties – check with your location to find out!*

This is the last week of Winterlicious and I had to share my experience. On Friday, I went to Cafe Moroc with two of my friends. I have been wanting to try Cafe Moroc for a long time but never had the chance. When I saw that it was listed on the Winterlicious 2013 website, I knew I HAD to go.

I arrived around 5:40 pm and was promptly greeted by a hostess wearing an all black ensemble with a blue belly dancing belt. I joined my friends and within minutes, we were ready to order. Being the foodies that we are, we had obviously looked at the menu and decided our courses beforehand.

• First Course: Harira – kidney beans, chickpeas and lentils mixed in a tomato based broth
  This was yummy! The harira had a nice hearty flavour and just the right amount of spice and the lemon added the perfect kick. Yum, yum, yum!

Harira

• Second Course: Mango Salmon – pan seared salmon topped with mango salsa on a bed of basmati rice. Served with Moroccan vegetable roots.
  Unfortunately, this course was a disappointment. The worst part about this course was the rice; it was overcooked and extremely dry. The salmon was also dry and lacked in flavour. The mango salsa did absolutely nothing to enhance the taste of the salmon. The vegetables were the only plus side of this course – they were seasoned well.

• Third Course: Spiced Cinnamon, Caramel, Apple CheesecakeOh em gee. This cheesecake was to die for. The cinnamon, caramel and apple complimented each other perfectly. The cheesecake had an addictive quality to it. My only complaint with this course was that I didn’t want it to finish. I can still taste the dessert in my mouth – that’s how amazing it was.

Cheesecake

• Service: The service was great. Our water was refilled without us having to ask, plates were removed at just the right moment, and the courses were well spaced out. All three of us were served at the same time and the servers checked on us frequently.
• Portions: I hesitate with winter/summerlicious restaurants because of the stingy portions. However, at Cafe Moroc, the portions were large. After the three courses, I was stuffed!

Overall, I would try it again. I’m hoping the dry salmon/rice was a mishap in the kitchen. Both of my friends liked their food – Moroccan beef short rib and braised lamb.

Lately, I have been running a little low on energy. I think the weather (-20 C anyone?!) and my busy schedulue has something to do with it. A typical day for me is as follows:

• 7:20 am – First alarm goes off
• 7:22 am – Second alarm goes off and I get out of the bed and head to the washroom (yes, 2 extra minutes of sleep is amazing!)
• 7:22 – 7:50 am – I get ready, turn on the car, make breakfast (nutella sandwich for him and bread and butter for me), put our lunches/snacks into our bags and we are out of the driveway!
• 9:00 am – 5:00 pm – Work
• 5:30 – 7:00 pm – I workout, shower, eat a snack. Somedays, I am downtown until 8pm because Nouman works late. When I feel like being lazy (I don’t work out everyday), I come home to do groceries, clean or cook.
• 8:00 pm – Nouman and I typically get home around this time. Some days, such as last Thursday, we got home around 9pm
• 8:00 – 11:00 pm – Eat, wash dishes, make/pack lunches, blog, watch TV/unwind
• I try to be in bed by 11:00pm but this is pretty difficult. By the time I actually go to sleep, it is atleast around midnight.

Anyway, as you can see, my days are pretty busy. I generally make enough food for the week on Sunday or I make an extra dish on Wednesday. Since I don’t eat meat, I sometimes get lazy and can’t be bothered to make enough food for myself for the week. Stupid, I know. I have been lacking protein in my diet so I decided to make a eggs for lunch one day and loved it. I now make this atleast once a week.

You will need:

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of fresh spinach (you can use frozen aswell). You can chop these but I don’t bother
• 1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
• A few slice of thinly slice onions
• 1/2 tomato, cut in chunky pieces
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 2-3 sliced hot peppers

*If you have any other veggies, you can throw those in aswell; I regularly add a few florets of broccolli. You can add all sorts of crazy to eggs – cheese, sausages, ground meat… anything, really!*

Method:

• Heat your oil in a skillet/pan
• Meanwhile, beat the eggs in a bowl
• Now, add all the ingredients into the bowl with the eggs
• Pour the egg mixture onto your skillet
• Cook each side for 3-5 minutes, or until golden brown, on medium heat
• Voila!

One side done

When I make a sanwich, I cut the egg pancake into quarters

SanwichedSandwiched between a yummy burger bun with sesame seeds

You can either eat this with a fork or in a yummy egg sandwich. I prefer the latter.

Do you have any quick, go-to recipes?