food!

The hubby and I took a trip into Chicago yesterday. We stopped for lunch at the new Superdawg location in Wheeling. Superdawg has been a Chicago icon since 1948 (original location on Milwaukee and Devon in Chicago). I spent quite a few teenage summer nights at the Chicago location, hanging out with friends, so Superdawg has always had a special place in my heart. There's something about the lure of a classic Chicago dog - crunchy skin, kinda garlicky, fixings of mustard (never ketchup!), chopped onion, neon-green relish, kosher dill pickle, and sport peppers on a steamed poppy seed bun - that's even better at Superdawg. Maybe because this dawg is nestled in its own little box of just-right french fries.

Menu...

We chose to eat inside instead of outside in our car, where you can drive up to the call box and order. That's hubby waving hello...

Then there was dinner. We're fans of Guy Fieri's show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. He  recently featured a Peruvian restaurant in Chicago called Taste of Peru. We've never had Peruvian food, it looked good, and we're adventurous eaters, sooo...off we went.

I had the Seco de Carne, which is beef in cilantro sauce with rice and beans. I know it doesn't look particularly appetizing in the photo, but it was delicious. The beef was fork tender and gently flavored. The rice was fluffy and perfect and the beans a nice complement to the dish.

Hubby had shrimp in a walnut cream sauce. I don't care for seafood, so I didn't try the shrimp, but I tasted the sauce. Yum!

After all that heavy eating yesterday, we ate healthy and light tonight at home. I made salads with greens from our garden, radishes, peppers, carrots, cucumber (garden), tomatoes (garden), blueberries, toasted almonds, and marinated fresh mozzarella. So fresh and flavorful, this beautiful salad doesn't even need dressing. We just sprinkled it with a little aged balsamic vinegar.