A San Francisco Day

The other day I was a tourist in my own city.  I went to the SFMOMA to see the Stein collection and then wandered downtown until I found myself at the Ferry Building.  It was Tuesday so the farmer's market was  hopping.  At that point I was hungry from all the art watching that morning, so I stopped at the Indian stand where they sell Naan and delicious dips like fire roasted eggplant and..... gluten free spinach chickpea bread! This bread by Sukhi's Gourmet Indian Food is so savory and delicious- look for these guys at other Bay Area farmer's markets:

I bought a pack of the bread and the eggplant dip and sat along the water noshing on my goodies.  I was surrounded by tourists speaking French, Japanese, and German around me.  Though I am not a tourist in San Francisco anymore, that afternoon I did feel the same sense of anonymity in a new place.  I rarely go downtown, as I work in different neighborhood, so on a relaxing day off I could truly appreciate my surroundings like a tourist:  basking in the sun reflecting off the very clean pavements, admiring the view of the Bay Bridge, and enjoying the novelty of the Ferry Building's decadent treats.  And laughing when one 4 year old girl in a pink dress asked her sister, "Why don't you call it ice cream?  Why do you always have to say gelato?"  You know you're in San Francisco when 4 year olds are arguing about gelato....

Gluten Free English Muffins/Happy Father's Day

Food for Life makes some of the best gluten free products.  I love their brown rice tortillas, their gluten free breads, and now their gluten free english muffins!  I toasted those babies up and spread some blueberry jam (sugar free only fruit sweetened) on them and fried up some organic eggs for breakfast.  It reminded me of one of my favorite comfort foods from childhood: a toasted english muffin with margarine and orange marmalade.  I loved the contrast of the sweet and tangy marmalade with the soft and buttery english muffin.  I also remember as a kid, when I was sick my dad would toast pita bread and spread some soy cream cheese on it for me.  Sounds weird maybe to you, but it was exactly what I needed.  He always cooked the most perfect dishes for me.  Thanks, Dad!  Happy Father's Day!

Easy Brown Rice Pilaf

 

I've gotten into the very good habit of cooking a large amount of basic ingredients on Sunday night to use for the rest of the week.  For example, I'll cook a pot of quinoa, steam a bunch of kale, and bake some chicken and then during the week I mix and match these basic ingredients with other fresh ones to have a different meal every night.  Monday night I'll cook an Italian pasta dish with pieces of chicken and kale and portabella mushrooms; on Tuesday night I'll make chicken tacos with quinoa, avocados and tomatoes; Wednesday night I'll make a chicken salad with quinoa and apple chunks; Thursday night I'll cook an Asian inspired stir fry with kale, chicken, snow peas and shitake mushrooms and serve it over the rest of the quinoa, etc.... This last week I made a pot of brown rice that served as a delicious rice cereal for breakfast- with cinnamon, cardamom, maple syrup and rice milk.  For lunch I made a brown rice sushi roll with cucumber and avocado, and then one night I turned the rice into a pilaf with fresh veggies and chickpeas. Since the rice was already cooked- it was so fast to make this dish- I would say 20 minutes!  Having basic ingredients like cooked rice ready to go, saves time during the week when you've just gotten home from a long day of work, then a yoga class and are starving for some homemade food.  Try this recipe out, and-as always- please take the liberty to change up the ingredients!

Ingredients (will make 3-4 meals)

• 3 cups of cooked brown rice (1 cup of uncooked rice will make about enough)
• 1 cup of crimini mushrooms, sliced 
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 large green onion, sliced thinly
• 1 can of chickpeas
• 1 large red pepper, chopped
• 1 bag of arugula, washed
• 2-3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 a lemon
• 1 handful of parsley, mint, or your favorite herb, chopped finely
• Olive oil, salt and pepper

Directions

1. Sauté mushrooms in a large pan with olive oil over medium/high heat until they begin to soften.
2. Reduce the heat to medium and add the minced garlic and the white parts of the green onion.
3. Mix in the brown rice and chickpeas, and about 2 tsps of salt and pepper. Cook for another few minutes to let the flavors blend together. 
4. Turn off the heat and throw in the arugula and peppers at the end to allow them to just wilt. 
5. Add the balsamic vinegar and squeeze the lemon on top.
6. Sprinkle with the herbs and the rest of the green onions and enjoy!

Japanese Soba Noodles

Whenever I am sick, all I crave is Japanese food: miso soup, fresh fish and rice, umeboshi plums, seaweed, ginger and wasabi.  It feels very clean and nurturing for my body.  So today, when my nose began to run from all this gloomy San Francisco weather, I knew what I wanted for dinner: a bowl of soba noodles (oohh now that I think about it, making a soba noodle miso soup would have been good too...next time...)  Most soba noodles are made from wheat flour and buckwheat flour (soba means buckwheat in Japanese.)  But in Whole Foods and some other stores you can find 100% buckwheat noodles (Mitoku and Eden brands).  Buckwheat, despite the confusing name, has no relation to wheat and is gluten free.  Check out my impromptu soba noodle dish:


Ingredients (serves 3-4):

• 1 package of 100% buckwheat/soba noodles
• 1 block of firm tofu
• 1 bunch of kale, or bok choy or spinach...
• 3 tbs of wheat free soy sauce
• 1 tbs of rice vinegar or umeboshi vinegar
• 1/2 tbs of sesame oil
• 1/2 tbs of maple syrup or agave
• 1 tbs of fresh grated ginger
• 1 tsp (or more if you like) of wasabi powder
• 1-2 scallions sliced
• Sesame seeds and shredded nori (seaweed) for garnish

Directions:

1. Boil soba noodles in a pot for about 8 minutes until tender. Strain and rinse thoroughly with water. (Or follow the directions on the package of noodles.)
2. Wash and trim the kale, and steam for 5 minutes in a bamboo steamer (or any steamer will do.)
3. Cut the tofu into small thin rectangles.
4. In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, maple syrup, ginger, wasabi, and scallions.  (If it's too salty for your taste add a few teaspoons of water.)
5. Marinate the tofu in the sauce while the noodles and kale cook.
6. In a bowl, gently mix together the noodles, kale, tofu and sauce.  Garnish with some sesame seeds and shredded nori and enjoy!

Farmer's Markets

I love how farmer's markets transform lifeless spaces, like parking lots, into lush, vibrant, community centers.  Each farmer's market I have been to has it's own unique vibe and brings up joyful memories for me.  As a child, I looked forward to the farmer's market in my town outside of Boston, that happened every Thursday.  My sister and I would sample pieces of Gouda cheese from the blond curly haired lady and her mother, and buy honey sticks from the sweet old man a few stands down.  We weaved in and out of the crowds of other mothers carrying bags of basil, carrots, and fresh flowers.  

The Civic Center farmer's market here in San Francisco has a diverse range of vendors selling Japanese eggplants, bok choy, and lychee nuts to organic chard, apples and strawberries.   It is definitely the best priced farmer's market in the city. When I used to work in that part of town, I remember buying baskets of blueberries during my lunch breaks and eating half before I even brought them home.  

The Alemany Farmer's market takes over a huge parking lot with a plethora of organic/non organic vendors selling everything from tangerines to duck eggs to kale.  It's one of the oldest markets in the city with a strong sense of community.  My friend Jesse and I had a relaxing time there one summer day, sitting in the sunshine eating tacos and talking about life.  

The east bay has some great farmer's markets too, like the Grand Lake farmer's market in Oakland that is the perfect place to hang out on sunny day, drinking fresh watermelon juice and Thai curries from the prepared foods vendors.  The Temescal farmer's market in Oakland is also special- I have such good memories with my east bay friends there, strolling through on a Sunday morning, sampling the first persimmons of the season and buying some Donna's damn good tamales.

The new Mission market in San Francisco is small, but reasonably priced and has great live music- like the local band Santos Perdidos which plays latin and afro-latino songs.  I bought the most beautiful figs there once.  I love this market because I always run into friends, or friends of friends there!

I also adore the Castro farmer's market that happens on one of the prettiest corners in the city-Noe and 16th.  A corner I have lived near and walked by for years, but never knew there was a farmer's market there until last summer!  I love discovering new markets- they are certainly popping up more places nowadays.  Hopefully, someday farmer's markets will reach all communities in this country. 

Perfectly Baked Salmon

Some people don't like salmon because it's too fishy- but that is exactly why I love it!  I'm a seafood lover, and salmon is hands down-my favorite fish.  It's quite expensive, but if you can find wild caught fresh salmon it's worth it.  I baked some beautiful reddish pink pieces the other night- it was so easy.  Check out this simple recipe (this one's for you, Supy!)

Ingredients

• 2 healthy salmon fillets
• 1 big lemon
• olive oil
• handful of fresh or dry dill
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup of mayo

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Line a baking pan with tin foil and place fillets on the pan, skin side down.
3. Drizzle with olive oil, and rub in the dill, salt and pepper and lay some lemon slices on top.
4. Bake in the oven for about 10+ minutes (depending on the size of the fillet), until the salmon turns light pink/white-ish, and flakes easily with a fork.
5. For the sauce, combine the mayo with the juice of the lemon; mix in some dill, salt and pepper.
6. Serve salmon with roasted asapragus and the lemon mayo sauce.

Portland Food Scene

  

For my birthday I visited the enchanting city of Portland, Oregon.  I fell in love with the tree-lined neighborhoods, the bookstores and cafes, the plethora of bikes and bike lanes, the river and bridges, and the luscious mountains surrounding this tiny little city.  Much like the show Portlandia describes it, it's a place where young people go to retire.  (Side note, I actually saw the star of Portlandia, Fred Armisan, at the Northface store in Portland while I was visiting!)  Retire, that is exactly what I began dreaming of while I was there: quitting my job, renting a big old house in Portland with a garden for only $200 a month, and spending my days biking, gardening, and crafting with cut out birds.  Well, I'm not sure I'm really ready to move there, but at least it's a fabulous place to visit.  The best part of Portland is the endless number of wheat/sugar/dairy free restaurants for me to choose from.  The food culture is extremely conscious: vegan conscious, sustainable/eco friendly conscious, health conscious, and allergy conscious.  Along with some of the awesome food trucks, here are a few restaurants that I checked out:

Prasad  Prasad cafe (part of Pearl Yoga center in the Pearl district) was my little haven.  Jars of fresh ginger root and lemons line the shelves above the 100% gluten, sugar and dairy free dessert case!  I knew I was in the right place, when I ordered a soup (which is automatically served with gluten free bread from New Cascadia Bakery- see below) and the server asked if I wanted butter with that, and before the question even came out of my mouth he said, "Oh yes, it's vegan butter." Everything on the menu is vegan and sugar free, and almost everything is wheat free.  I went there everyday that I was in Portland, either for a fresh fruit smoothie, or a dragon bowl full of veggies and seaweed, or a gluten/dairy free yogurt parfait, or the amazing canyon cookies or chocolate truffles- all wheat/sugar/dairy free!  This will be forever my go-to place in Portland!

New Cascadia Bakery
The day I rode my rental bike to New Cascadia Traditional Gluten Free Bakery, it started to rain and pour, hence why I ran into a Northface store to buy a raincoat and ended up seeing Fred Armisan (I know, it sounds crazy that I didn't bring a raincoat or umbrella to Portland, but it was only a problem this one day.)  With the rain and celebrity sightings, by the time I arrived across the bridge to New Cascadia, I was too late for their sandwiches or pizza, which I had been waiting for all morning.  So I bought some honey bread instead.  Luckily, it was moist, light and addicting....I kept gnawing on pieces of it all day long.

Sweet Pea Bakery
Portland is known for it's vegan scene, and my friend Carla showed me the "vegan mall," as they call it in the south east area of Portland: a strip of shops and restaurants and cafes all serving and selling only non-animal products.  Sweet Pea Bakery, near the corner, with it's avocado colored walls serves all vegan baked goods and includes a gluten free section.  I didn't actually buy anything while I was there, as I was only in the mood for something savory, but everything looked beautiful.

Pok Pok  Well, I waited over an hour in the cold for a table at Pok Pok... and it was worth it!  It's like the Burma Super Star of Portland, if that means anything to you, extremely popular, long waits, but unique and flavorful food.  It's all Thai, but you won't see Pad Thai on this menu, instead it's full of authentic dishes well known in Thailand.  Some dishes contain wheat and many contain sugar and whiskey, but the dish I had was safe for me and insanely delicious.  It was a turmeric marinated catfish fried, over a bed of thin rice noodles, beautifully sliced scallions, cilantro and dill, topped with peanuts.

Bamboo Sushi
As you probably know, I am a sushi junkie.  I can eat sushi every day, any time of day.  But, I do know that sushi is not necessarily a very earth-friendly/sustainable cuisine.  Which is why it was so great to eat at Bamboo sushi, which serves delicious and sustainably raised/caught fish.  But even more importantly, they make a gluten free tempura roll - I was in heaven!  (Sorry for no photos of the sushi...I was so excited about the food I forgot to take a picture!)

I know Portland is known for it's coffee, but my body can't handle caffeine.  This is a "wellness toddy" from Prasad, made with fresh grated ginger, lemon, honey, cayenne and echinacea.  Salud!

This is a smoothie from Prasad, but more importantly, notice my friend Rosalie's kick-ass kale tattoo in the background to the left (one of the many reasons we are friends...)