Bloggers’ Bites: Beach Food
Bloggers’ Bites is a series of posts chronicling the foodie adventures of Penn Appétit’s blog staff. This week, we asked our bloggers, “What are your favorite bites to take to the beach (or favorite restaurant by the beach) and why?”
Nicole Woon: Imagine a corn dog. More specifically, imagine a Hot Dog on a Stick. Watch as your turkey hot dog–yes, all yours–is speared on a stick, dipped generously in pale yellow batter, and placed ceremoniously into sizzling hot cottonseed and canola oil. Moments later, an employee extracts your battered wurst fried to a dark golden brown perfection. Squirt a bit of mustard or ketchup on the side of your paper food tray and you’ve got yourself the perfect beachside bombshell. Complement it with an icy cold lemonade (original for me, but also offered in cherry, lime, and sugar-free), made fresh every two hours and an ideal thirst quencher for the sunny weather. The original Hot Dog on a Stick lies just steps away from the sands of California’s Santa Monica Beach, but don’t worry–the classic beach fare can be found in mall food court franchises in 14 different states and internationally.
Jillian Di Filippo: I work at a gourmet market, Pearl Street Market in Beach Haven, NJ, down the street from the beach, and my favorite grab and go snack from there is a cold quinoa salad with golden raisins, dried apricots, pecans and scallions. It’s the perfect light summer salad to nibble on in the afternoon. Also grab some spreadable herbed goat cheese, grainy crackers and red grapes and you’re set for the day.
KC Boas: Ice Cream
(to the tune of Nicki Minaj’s “Starships”)
Let’s go to the beach-each
Let’s go get away
They speak, what they gonna eat?
Have a bite, right, eat something light
Bad bloggers like me, is hard to come by
The ice cream, it may taste supreme
We scream, we scream for ice cream
Is it two, three? Calories don’t count
I’ma blow away my diet and call it a discount.
Kristen Duda: My favorite restaurant by the beach is most definitely Sandwich Bar, in Ocean City, NJ. When you first approach this small premier sandwich spot, it appears to consist of simply a window and a handful of tables outside. But inside, the most incredible sandwiches are being made for its patrons. The owner Dennis is very friendly, and the prices are very reasonable, particularly in a beach town. Often he has a fry creation of the day; I recently enjoyed the blue cheese, caramelized onion and green pepper creation. My personal favorite meal is the Shrimp Salad Sandwich, which contains huge chunks of fresh shrimp and is served with lettuce and tomato on a whole wheat wrap, with an order of crispy handcut fries.
Chelsea Goldinger: Grilled vegetable hummus wraps are certainly my favorite beach eat. While they may necessitate a cooler bag–that is nothing worse than a soggy, warm hummus wrap (aside from no hummus wrap at all)–the refreshing and light taste is worth the extra baggage. Many typical sandwiches are too heavy for a hot day and salads can be a mess to tansport easily to the beach. Instead, I combine hummus, cucumbers, grilled peppers, grilled eggplant, and finley chopped carrots with some fresh chopped basil and black pepper for a light beach lunch. And if it’s July and heirloom tomatoes are a plenty, fresh tomato slices are happily included as well.
Katie Behrman: Frothy pink and topped with velvety whipped cream, strawberry daiquiris (I’m talking about the ones you can get as a kid!) have consistently been my favorite beach treat. As a child, I may have had a slight addiction to strawberries—I’m not going to say that I once developed a rash from eating too many strawberries (pints upon pints upon pints), but I may have. So, you can only imagine my delight when I discovered that strawberries could be blended together into a refreshing and summery bit of perfection. For me, there’s nothing better than sitting on the hot sand, watching the waves lap against the shore, and sipping a cooling strawberry concoction. And let’s not forget about that decadent whipped cream, either!