Sweetness in Seattle

Last week I was in Seattle for the first time and was lucky to be there on a clear and sunny weekend.  From the top of the Space Needle you could see the Cascadian mountain range frame this beautiful city.  I found Seattle to be the perfect balance of east coast and west coast: pretty old brick buildings and hills of pine trees like New England, but full of relaxed and friendly locals giving off west coast vibes.  Besides Pike's Place, Capitol Hill, and the other tourist hot spots, one of the most important items on my itinerary was to visit Flying Apron Bakery- a gluten free/vegan bakery in the Fremont neighborhood.  I had stumbled upon their cookbook a few years ago and was impressed with their bread and pie recipes.  So on Friday morning, my brother and I ventured to this cute little bakery on Fremont. I bought a carrot muffin which I enjoyed with a delicious cup of coffee.  My brother ordered the lentil soup which came with a slice of their garlic herb bread.  We also split a slice of their veggie flatbread.  Everything was moist and flavorful! They also had plenty of cookies and brownies, which unfortunately had sugar in them, so I just stuck with the breads and muffins.  Before we left, I bought a maple pecan muffin and banana nut muffin for later.  Next time I come back to Seattle, I definitely will visit this sweet spot!

 

Gluten Free Bread Delivery

In the same week, two good friends of mine sent me an email about a lady in San Francisco who bakes gluten free goodies.  Her name is Sadie and her company Bread SRSLY is awesome.  You just go online, choose from this week's selections and order your loaves via email and she'll deliver them right to your door.  How perfect for me I thought, so I finally ordered a delicious loaf of her sourdough.  It was delivered by her business partner via bike to my work, wrapped in a brown paper bag with my name on it.  The bread had a great sour taste sprinkled with a few caraway seeds.  The inside was pretty moist, which is what I usually come across when baking gluten free breads.  But when I toasted a slice, it was perfect, and the crust was nice and crunchy!  I whipped together an open face sandwich with melted almond cheese, sauted kale, and slices of apples on one half and avacodo on the other.  It was a lovely meal.  The bread is also good with a fried egg on top, or with a little Earth Balance and pure fruit jam.  I will have to order another loaf this week!  As I began typing this blog post I accidently typed gluten free "bed" delivery; now that is the only thing that would make this better: gluten free bread delivered to you in bed!  Here's dreaming...

Minako Sushi and Old Friends

You know how being with old friends can bring out parts of yourself that you might have forgotten about?  Well, this weekend my friend Hannah was in town from NYC and being with her really brought me back to the time when she was still living in San Francisco.  When deciding where to go out for dinner, we were both craving raw fish, and I suddenly remembered Minako, an organic sushi restaurant that we had gone to frequently when she was living in San Francisco.  It is one of my favorite sushi places ever, but I had not been there in years.  In fact the last time I went there was four years ago with Hannah when she was still living in SF!  So for old time's sake, we went to Minako for dinner and indulged in the most delicious meal.  We started with the sweet and crunchy almond encrusted shrimp, followed by gorgeous pieces of salmon and tuna sashimi. Then we had the most amazing salad with mixed greens, salmon and an umeboshi (Japanese pickled plum) dressing that was to die for!  The waitress said the umeboshi plums were made by her own mother in 2000.  Then we had two delicious rolls filled with octopus and cucumber and more umeboshi plums, and the other with cucumber, avocado, tobiko, and the biggest chunks of fresh salmon - it was heavenly.  I was so grateful to have remembered how amazing Minako is!

Also on this visit, my friend was staying at her old apartment in San Francisco. On Sunday I came over for a fabulous brunch, including her killer salad made with cabbage, mango, jalepenos, cilantro, mint, lime and red onion.  As we cooked and talked about education and politics in her old kitchen, I felt warm waves of nostalgia come over me.  Soft and blurry images of my old self and my old life floated around the periphery of my awareness.  Being with my friend reopened parts of myself that had become burried and lost.  After we ate, I said good-bye to my friend and walked home, up the hill in the sunshine.  I felt refueled, not only with delicious healthy food, but also with a stronger sense of where I've come from and where I'm heading.

Samovar

 

Samovar is a fabulous tea lounge and restaurant in San Francisco.  The atmosphere is very tranquil and cozy, decorated with lanterns and silk pillows.  I recently went to their downtown location at Yerba Buena before seeing a dance show, and remembered how much I love this place.  They have a variety of tea services that are each based in a different country's tea traditions.  There is the British plate with quiche, scones, jam and black tea.  The Chinese service comes with smoked duck and dumplings.  The Russian Tea is served with beets, white fish and caviar.  My favorite is the Japanese service because it comes with the salmon, rice, nori, soup, kale and the most delicious seaweed salad, with a sesame-miso dressing that I must learn to make!  They also have a Moorish, Paleolithic and Indian tea services.  I love the celebration of the diverse tea cultures.  The menu is also well labeled with gluten free and vegan options.  When I was there this weekend, I noticed they have a brunch menu that I must try next time.  Check out the various locations in the city!  

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

I made a batch of these last night for a dinner party and the plate was cleaned within minutes.  These cookies are the most comforting cookies ever.  I love the hearty flavor of oats combined with sweet almonds and bitter chocolate chunks.  Instead of using chocolate chips, I just chopped up a bar of 100% dark chocolate and the cookies turned out perfectly delicious.  This recipe makes about 12 cookies, but you might want to double the recipe as these cookies go quickly!  

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of gluten free oats (Bob's Red Mill makes gluten free ones!)
• 3/4 cup of gluten free flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp of nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 1/4 cup of Earth Balance or canola oil
• 1 ripe mashed banana or 1/4 cup of apple sauce
• 1/2 cup of maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, beaten (or egg replacer)
• 3/4 cup of shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup of sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup of 100% dark chocolate, chopped into little chunks.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, flour, baking soda, and spices.
3. Using your hands, incorporate the Earth Balance and banana mash into the dry ingredients.
4. Using a large spoon, mix in the maple syrup, vanilla, and egg. 
5. Stir in the coconut, chocolate, and almonds.
6. Form dough into balls and flatten onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
7. Bake in the oven for about 10 or so minutes. 
8. When cookies are golden on the outside, remove cookies from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes.
9. Enjoy with a glass of rice milk!

Yellow Curry

  

Yellow curry, with its earthy and pungent flavor, pairs so nicely with the sweetness of creamy coconut milk.  You can buy Indian or Thai yellow curries at the store, but it is also pretty easy to make if you have a food processor.  I make my curry mild, but you can add as much red chili pepper as you like!  This paste lasts a month in the fridge if stored in an air tight container.  It goes well with tofu, veggies, chicken, and rice noodles!  I made a simple chicken, broccoli and carrot curry, but next time I want to try cauliflower or sweet potatoes!

Ingredients:

 - Curry Paste:

• 5 cloves of garlic peeled
• 1/2 a bunch of cilantro leaves
• 4 green onion sliced
• 1 tbs of grated fresh ginger
• 1 tbs ground coriander
• 1 tbs ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tsps of ground turmeric
• 1/2 tbs of ground red chili pepper
• 1 1/2 tsps of salt
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp of black pepper
• 1tbs of olive oil
• 2 tsbs of honey
• Juice of 1 lime or lemon

-Curry Dish:

• 1 lb of chicken or tofu cut into bite sized pieces
• 3-4 carrots, sliced
• 1 large bunch of broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 can of coconut milk

Directions

1. To make the curry: using a food processor, chop up the garlic and ginger, then add the cilantro leaves and green onions and chop some more.  Then slowly add all the other spices.  Mix in the oil, honey, and the juice of the lemon or lime.
2. In a frying pan, sear the chicken and cook for about 8 minutes (if you're doing tofu, you don't need to cook the tofu first, just add it in with the carrots.)
3. Add the carrots and 3 tbs of the curry paste, coating all the ingredients.
4. Add the coconut milk and simmer on medium/low heat for about 15-20 minutes.
5. Throw in the broccoli and cook for another 3 minutes.  
6. Serve with rice and enjoy!

Coffee

While most people try to give up coffee in the new year, my resolution was to start drinking coffee.  Yes, you heard me, start.  You may ask, why would a health nut like me want to develop a coffee habit?  Well, if you read in my New Year's posting, my intention for this year is to try new things and break out of my routine.  I avoid coffee because the caffeine keeps me up at night, but I admit that I love the taste of it.  One day my friend said to me, "Um, why don't you just drink decaf?" For some reason the idea of ordering a decaf coffee had never occurred to me.  "Brilliant," I thought, "this is my resolution for 2012: become a coffee drinker!"  It has been a challenge to break my habit of not drinking coffee, but finally today my resolution came to fruition.  Instead of compulsively jumping into my regular Sunday morning ritual of biking to the grocery store, I asked myself, "What do I want to do this morning?" The answer was clear: I wanted to sit around and drink coffee.  My roommate and I went to Four Barrel, the ultra hipster coffee shop in the Mission.  I had been there a million times with friends, watching them drink coffee while I sipped a glass of water.  Finally, it was my turn to order.  I asked the girl with the asymmetrical haircut for, "a decaf soy latte, please."  In a few minutes, my order was up, a hot cup of Joe adorned with a swirly heart of soy-milk foam!  I took one sip and I was in heaven.  The flavor of the dark roasted coffee with the creamy soy milk was mouth watering.  As we sat outside, leisurely enjoying our lattes, I thought how healthy this was.  Now, coffee is arguably not a healthy substance, but the act of drinking coffee is mentally healthy for me. I define "healthy" as having a variety of choices in how I think and act, as opposed to unconsciously getting stuck in the same old patterns.  Just like my hip hop dance teacher said yesterday, "This booty-shake is another move you can add to your repertoire at da' club, " I can bust out coffee-time whenever I want.