Mixin' It Up*

The mixmix bibimbop at Koriente in downtown Austin is among the most comforting, filling, healthy meals for under $10 you can find in this town. It's actually $6, though I pay a little extra, as I'm wont to do, for the avocado. Free salad, free miso and free lemon water are a great little bonus. So is their cozy interior and back outdoor patio on days like today. Partly cloudy, warm and breezy.

I met my sis and a good friend - both of whom are unemployed** - for a leisurely lunch on this mid-April Friday. This is the time of year when I'm most likely to shed pounds, mainly because dishes like the mixmix bibimbop actually sound good. I want to eat light 'n' healthy this time of year. And if I don't lose some weight between April and August, I have a lot less hope for the rest of the year.

Koriente's mixmix comes with warm rice, fresh red peppers, purple and white cabbage, salad spring mix, shredded carrots and slivers of cucumber. I use a combination of their house salad dressing and a spicy red Sriracha-like sauce that might rival Huebscher's, though I have only dreamt of hers and have done no actual sampling.


Toss it all together into a jumbled, healthy mess of veggies. What's not to love?

I love Koriente for many reasons but the origins of this place have a lot to do with that -- love, that is. Check out the message painted at the back entrance. I couldn't say it better.

*Thanks, Stewie.
**This was also my little sister's first of many celebratory lunches. She got a new job today! She starts May 4, so the little bugger gets three more weeks off.

Franklin Chopped Beef

When I got there at 2:00 PM on Saturday, the most popular centrally located BBQ trailer in town was out of their famed brisket. And sausage. And ribs. And potato salad. And beans.

I was all set to order a chopped beef sandwich and a pulled pork sandwich. But after 15 minutes in line, they were out of the pulled pork, too. Two chopped beef sandwiches to go, I guess.

Of all of the offerings at Franklin Barbecue, the chopped beef sandwich would have been the last on my list. But I was hungry, Mike was waiting, and the proprietor was practically giving them away at $2 apiece with a pint of coleslaw on the house -- er, trailer.

Walking back to my car, I was giddy. I love a good bargain -- even if the chopped beef wasn't my first choice. But after taking my first bite, I realized I'd have happily paid full price for these babies. If these are the dregs, I can't wait to go back and try the stuff they're actually known for.

Trailers and Trends

Austin is fast becoming -- or perhaps already is -- one of the premiere trailer food purveyors. Trailers and food stands are popping up all over the city, offering up a range of options -- Mexican, Asian, Cuban, hot dogs, doughnuts, fancy foods, fusion, and the oh-so-popular (with me) roasted chicken food stand, for starters.

I'm working my way through these mobile marvels, but more often than not, I'm apt to fall back on my favorite: the Mexican taco trailer. These are the original taco stands that dot the east Austin landscape, the ones that have been around for years and years but were discovered by hipsters, college kids and food bloggers in the past 24 months or so. They were cool long before getting your food from a trailer became cool.

Like a lot of Austinites, I first began frequenting these trailers after midnight on the weekends, when the only other options were fast-food joints or Magnolia Cafe. I probably had my first trailer taco in 2005; they were still a novelty, at least to me. I had just moved to my current neighborhood in southeast Austin, and I remember fondly that first plate of mini corn tortillas topped with al pastor pork, fresh cilantro, chopped onion and a squeeze of lime juice and green salsa.

Austin is changing, trends coming and going faster than we can keep up. But I hope these original Mexican food trailers stay frozen in time.

Hello, Lovahhh

Meet my latest addiction. It's the Asian Salad from Galaxy Cafe. My coworker introduced me to it yesterday, and I'm already ready to go back for more. More, more, more. She's been going on and on about this salad for weeks now, bragging that she goes at least once or twice a week for it.

I finally understand why.

Though this salad is a bit on the pricey side ($10.49, and an extra buck for the avocado), it has some of the best, freshest ingredients I've come across in an Austin salad. It's the perfect blend of crunchy, salty, tangy, sweet and it happens to feel good for you, too. The tuna is cooked perfectly and the portion size is very generous; it's more than I'd normally pay for lunch but I did feel like I got my money's worth.

Here's what's in it (the photo didn't capture everything): A very fresh spring mix of lettuces, rare seared ahi tuna, avocado, red peppers, edamame, crunchy rice noodles, cucumbers and toasted sesame seeds served with a side of the most addictive sesame soy salad dressing I've ever tried.

Very fine, from Monterrey

A person from Monterrey, Mexico is called a "regiomontano." And all around Austin, small food trailers and outdoor stands are cooking up chicken, Monterrey-style.

We're big fans of "Pollo Regio," a regional chain of Monterrey-style rotisserie chicken stands that includes two very convenient locations: around the corner from Mike's house and a few blocks down the street from mine. You can get a whole chicken, beans, rice, grilled onion, soft corn tortillas and neon green, blow-your-mind-and-make-you-cry hot sauce for about $12. More than enough to feed 3-4 adults.

Last night we stopped at a competitor's trailer, El Norteno, for a bit of comparison shopping. In a taste test, I likely wouldn't be able to spot the difference. We both agreed the Pollo Regio chicken is a little more moist and the rice at El Norteno is fluffier and likely made with more butter. But overall, you get the same deal at the same price and you don't feel too badly about eating this version of 'fast food.' It's quick, inexpensive and beats the hell out of fast food. It was also a great way to treat ourselves after making it to the gym.

*Coincidentally, the word "regio" in Argentina is slang for "fine." And this was indeed some fine-tasting pollo.


Oh, and this photo above? That's only a half-chicken order, sold for a mere $7 and plenty for two.

Good for you

Quinoa. Think vegan. Think healthy. Think not-really-for-me. But we recently cooked up some quinoa with fresh mushrooms thrown right into the rice cooker, and topped it roasted broccoli. A dinner I'm proud of making and eating, especially when able to resist the 10:00 pm cereal bowl that inevitably follows a meal that's so good for you.

It wasn't oustanding, but I think I can learn to love it. Mike spruced it up by using a shrimp stock he made earlier in the week to cook the quinoa. I undersalted everything as usual. And yet, we produced a filling, healthy and inexpensive dinner. I've got to look up other recipes made with this protein-rich grain; I'm committed to making this stuff a lot more often, so I'm going to have to learn how to make it tasty.

*Photos courtesy of Mike. Cross design of Broccoli-on-Quinoa, also courtesy of Mike.

425 until brown

I'm a big fan of roasting vegetables. I don't think there's a tastier, easier way to prepare them. Steaming tastes awful. Sauteeing veggies is a bit better but it often leaves the same steamed effect. Boiling is doubly wrong - lose vitamins and flavor? No, thank you.

Roasting any vegetable at 425 degrees until they're caramelized and brown is the way to go, in my book. You can take any veggie, drizzle it with olive oil and salt (you can fancy it up with pepper and dried spices but it's so. not. necessary.), and pop it in the oven at 425. As I like to tell my roast-impaired friends, when you think it's browned and done, wait another 10 minutes. Then it's done.

We've been on a roasting kick lately. I already knew about the delights of roasted broccoli and cauliflower, asparagus and squashes, tomatoes and eggplant. But kale? Leeks? Bok choi? These are transformed at 425 degrees until brown. We're talking all of the taste and crunch of a potato chip, then add nutritional value and take away the calories.

I'll post pictures soon. But I promise you they won't look nearly as good as they taste. (It's true. The picture of roasted leeks below just doesn't convey the crispety, crunchety, salty goodness created when you put these raw onions in the oven.)