New Camera | New Knife | New Menu

What does that mean? A renewed beginning for Very Good Food.

Let us start at the end where you are most interested - the menu.

Due to a previously mentioned crisis of content with The Husband giving up strict vegetarianism (though not vegetarian meals entirely) I figured it was time to alter the recipes I present to match our broader choices. Afterall, this blog was inspired by how we cook and what we cook, so it seems unfair to both chef and reader to not continue this authentic approach.

The focus will still be to showcase complete, whole-food-centric vegetarian dishes, however I will also make mention of (and take pictures of) variations of the dish that can be made with clean animal protein. By including items such as organic eggs, poultry and fish I hope to not only reach those who may just want to eat less meat (than those specifically eating a 100% vegetarian diet) but also capture realities of a shifting food scene as many people opt for other diets, such as paleo/primal, Whole30, low-carb and low-FODMAP, to name a few. (Stay tuned as we cover just what the heck FODMAPs are in March). My aim as always is to include, not offend, and help everyone eat more seasonally-tuned meals above all else. Every dish will remain gluten-free.

Continuing the reverse order - a new knife can be a great source of pleasure and draw one into the kitchen to fondle its curves while experimenting with new combinations and old favorites. Uncharacteristically I did not do any research for this purchase, it was completely spur of the moment. The knives were on sale and this one is a shape that complements my chopping style (especially for lots of fresh herbs & leafy things) and has a great weight and balance to it. If you don't already have a good chef's knife - get one! It's the most important tool in the whole kitchen. Get a good quality one - try out different shapes if you are uncertain what will best work for you - and KEEP IT SHARP. This also means never put it in the dishwasher - you won't be able to put it down for that long anyway, right?

Lastly I'm very inspired by the new camera, and my expanded ability to bring you better quality photo is low light (which is often the limiting factor in my kitchen). The camera, along with a new knife happened rather serendipitously, and have reignited my passion for sharing Very Good Food with you. I can't wait to see what new feasts we'll discover.

Happy Eating!

Spring Has Sprung Allergy-Fighting Smoothie

Much to our disbelief, spring has definitely sprung in the Pacific Northwest (I can't say anything about the snow-pocalypse out east!). The cherries are blooming, the big bumbler bees are out investigating my Andromeda shrub in flower, and the squirrels are chasing one another up and down the telephone pole.

And of course comes with it the pollen reign, the sneezing, the itchy eyes and nose and throat, and a mountain of kleenex.

As I have shared in the past, there are numerous foods that you can load up on to help fight allergies with your diet. Check out this post and this one for the whys and hows, and some tasty recipe ideas.

After I ran out of frozen blueberries recently, and in full anticipation of the explosion of birch tree pollen to which I am especially susceptible, I've been enjoying some variations on my Cran-Pineapple Allergy-Fighting Smoothie to keep the itching and sniffling at bay. Then I thought why not up the free-radical-fighting antioxidant power with pomegranate juice and acai berries.

Cran-Acai Antioxident Smoothie

Makes one quart | Serves 1 as a meal or 2 as a snack

In the blender vessel, add:

• 1 cup frozen cranberries with no added sugar
• 1 Sambazon pure acai berry unsweetened smoothie pack (could sub gogi berries)
• 2 large leaves of kale, large mid-rip removed (or sub spinach, chard, mesculun mix or lettuce)
• 1 scoop green powder (I used Greens + Organic Superfood Raw Greens Powder)
• 1 t chai seeds (flax or hemp would work too)
• 1 T hemp hearts

And the following liquids until the level in the blender reads 3 cups/12 oz:

• 1/2 c (4 oz) unsweetened pomegranate juice (could sub cherry, plum or grape juice)
• 1 and 1/3 c (11 oz) coconut water (or sub water), and
• water (if needed) to make up the remainder
• (If the fruit is not frozen, or you like things especially cold, you may want to add some ice cubes)

Blend on low to incorporate – I find the green powder gets everywhere but in the smoothie if you abruptly start on high – then move to high speed until thoroughly blended and smooth.

Go out & enjoy the sunny day!

A Crisis of Conscious (& Content)

It has been a few months since I posted last – partly because of all the busyness of a beautiful

summer and a fantastically long and warm stretch in to fall - and partly because the blog is at a crossroads. 

You see at the end of June, after over 20 years of vegetarianism, the Husband announced that the time had come once again to. eat. meat.

Whoaaa. My mind reeled a bit. What about this? What about that? What about the blog???

Now I remind you that I have always been an omnivore, and have embraced vegetarianism at home 90% of the time, and when eating out when I could (I’ll address why that’s hard in a moment).  However I am definitely, solidly, the still the ‘gluten-free’ portion of the equation.

So why give up over 2 DECADES of meat-free living, with the occasional foray into full-on veganism? In a word: travel.

For four years or so the Husband as endured many, many flights crisscrossing the great Pacific Northwest and the country. He has logged over 100 segments so far this year alone. So how does that push a vegetarian into the land of bacon? In another word: carbs. Or more specifically, refined, empty white carbs.

You see, quite often vegetarian meals are not vegetable heavy. No, they are what I like to refer to as some version of a cheese sandwich. Pizza, tortellini, quesadilla – all heavily reliant on white flour and cheese. Even the token veggie burger is likely grain-heavy or made of gluten.

“So have a salad,” you are saying. Well, that too can be difficult to muster. Many are meat- or seafood-centric (this vegetarian does not eat fish – and if you do you are not a vegetarian so please stop confusing people). And while the PNW can be great for subbing the steak in a steak cobb salad for a veggie patty, hold the bacon,[i] room service in Salt Lake City at 11 pm because that’s all you can get for dinner? That’s another story.

So, sick of often having only one option on the dinner menu, and that option being some permutation of a cheese sandwich (see how the gluten-free girl get’s left out here?) it was not without much debate and forethought that JJ decided to “go to the dark side” as he called it. Just like becoming a vegetarian over 20 years ago was a health decision, so too he has decided to include meat again so that he can eat healthier on the road.

“Meat? Healthy?” you ask. Well loaded bacon double cheese burgers aside, when you consider a chicken caesar salad versus cheese ravioli, the former has more nutritive value and protein than the latter. Baked salmon and green beans vs. lasagna? No contest. Really, it’s more about the simple things. Now he can order soup and salad with impunity, whereas before it involved numerous questions and trips to the kitchen to inquire about the stock (many vegetable soups have a chicken stock base) and no option to add protein to the salad.

So what is a vegetarian gluten-free blogger to do? The bulk of my trial-by-fire cooking education has occurred while married (to a vegetarian), as such I can put a mean sear on some tofu, but am less confident about searing a steak. So in cooking meat I am sort of back to square one, albeit with a better cooking intuition for lack of a better term. And I've learned to stop guessing and use the thermometer. So if I do post meat recipes, you will still get a glimpse into the world of recipe testing, just as you do with my regular VGF features and flops.

One thing to note, the gluten-free portion definitely stays – with me eating that way by necessity, and the Husband eating that way most of the time (at least at home) to satisfy his low-carb desires. And I like cooking and eating well-thought out vegetarian dishes, so I'm not looking to jettison them wholesale.

So dear readers, I know that there are more of you who peruse the blog than there are those of you who are signed up for Google (and thus can leave comments below). I want to put it to you – what are you looking for?

Are you diehard gluten-free vegetarians who like the confidence that you could consume the results of any of the recipes I post? Are you busy parents who are looking for ideas on how to feed your vegetarian-might-be-a-phase teenager alongside the chicken-crazed tween? Are you a considerate host and entertainer who likes to have a well-though out menu for the vegetarian, vegan and/or gluten-free guests at your table but normally have more omnivorous tastes? Do you really need another chicken recipe, or are you more interested in putting out something delectable for Meatless Monday? 

Comment below, email me your thoughts on the subject to foodforgoodnesssake@hotmail.com, or leave me a comment on facebook. I’d love to hear from you.

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[i] You’d be surprised how many times that they get the veggie burger part right but they throw on the bacon! Do they think it’s not really meat but a condiment? JJ likes to joke something to the effect of “I checked, and bacon isn’t a vegetable” or “I tried growing bacon in the garden once and it was a dismal failure”.

Inspired By San Francisco

The Bay Bridge

On our recent trip to San Francisco and Sausalito we were more than delighted, with not only the food
and the atmosphere, but the culinary creativity that it engendered in us by being there.

I officially christened it as the "trip of the amazing vinaigrette" - a small but welcome detail that put many dishes over the top for both of us (and I'm a hardcore lemon-citrus-acid lover but he is not, so not easy to do).

Sausalito

Its always a bit of a gamble with SF - do I have a big breakfast, skip lunch because we're sightseeing and get to indulge in dinner, or have an amazing lunch and push dinner to the last seating so that we can get it all in?  See, the trick is to eat only what you think will be worth using up the real estate in this ridiculously foodie town.

White Sangria, Shishito Peppers and Peas in Vinaigrette at Bar Bocce 

Some of the highlights that will inform our future and summer menus (as they are about a month ahead if us seasonally) are:

• burrata (cream infused fresh mozzarella) with stone fruit and the most amazing stone fruit-infused vinaigrette on greens and basil from Perbacco
• the mint and tarragon vinaigrette we had on the peas at Bar Bocce
• 'burgundy onions' on the Wellington JJ enjoyed at Millennium, as an addition to our already loaded Shmeat Loaf

Millennium in particular was a treat - all vegan, with a healthy respect for gluten sensitivities.  We had a number of amazing dishes, which diverged only where JJ had to indulge in pastry dough & the like.  This was the menu that we had the hardest time choosing from - with so many options and so many components to the dishes.  Oddly, it was the first time that I had a whole meal where every dish had a fried component! Including crusted king trumpet mushrooms with a spectacular yuzu-citrus-chile dipping sauce, fried green tomatoes with a spicy-cashew harissa 'ranch', and cornmeal & thyme crusted zucchini on mousakka spiced mushrooms.  Of course I'm leaving off a bunch of the accompaniments to these dishes - you'll just have to go try them for yourself!

Perbacco is an all-time favorite, and we both tend to work our way around the menu in different arcs, with only the appies able to share between us.  Luckily, the stone fruit & burrata was likely the highlight of the meal, though the other dishes gave it a run for the money, as expected.  Sadly, no pictures in the low light of this romantic restaurant. But that's a good thing.

In all, we loved getting the small bites from the tapas, which gave us the the room to indulge in delicious, unctuous, inspired dinners. Oh, and there was lemon verbena ice cream on both dessert menus, but none that I was able to sample (one was out, one was a compromise for a girl who never saves room for dessert).

As my own little lemon verbena plant is rocking it out on the back porch because I gave it 'wine' while we were away, so I'll just have to make that myself!

Versatile Veggie Sauté

When the Week 1 basket of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) veggies arrived and I spied bok
choi, I immediately started thinking of stir-fry, miso, hoisin, and a host of other Asian cuisine staples. The Husband is not a huge fan of bok choi like I am, so I figured it was my duty to use as much as possible (see more along this line here soon).

For me that largely means 'lunch bowls'. And by chopping and cooking enough veggies all at once, I could quickly whip up different variations on the theme for a few days in a row.  It also gave me an excuse to try out this 'gluten-free ramen' pack that I bought on an impulsive, empty stomach.

Now, I understand that by definition 'gluten-free' cannot not equal 'ramen' - lets just say I was seduced by the marketing - as what you end up with is rice noodles, fancy rice noodles compressed to look like the instant noodles that you had for lunch in junior high, and a far cry from what any purist would even consider to be ramen.

I was further seduced by the purple noodles of the 'forbidden rice' variety, thinking they'd make for an exotic lunchtime treat.  I was equally impressed by the short and pronounceable list of ingredients in the seasoning package that came with. So enough reason to give it a try.

Well, as is often the case, my idea of what something will be like is much more optimistic (and tasty) than what actually appears.  While the noodles were indeed a becoming shade, the resulting broth was not - largely due to all the starch from the noodles being left there to make a bit of a cloudy mess.  The directions did not say to drain before adding the 'flavor' package to the water, but I'd almost consider starting with fresh hot water for the broth, while it would take longer.

Regardless, I was happy that I had already decided to bump up the nutritional value with a mix of sauteed veggies and some baked tofu. Not only did they help to add freshness and crunch, but also color. Gotta remember we eat with our eyes first!

So that just goes to show how a quick and easy assemblage of whatever sturdy veggies you have on hand can be a great addition to dishes of many different stripes - noodles, soup or rice to name a few - whether you meant to add them or not.

Versatile Veggie Sauté

Makes about 2 cups | Infinitely scalable

The key is to slice the veggies in a manner which will be easy to eat and quick to cook, without loosing their texture.  In this case I sliced most things thinly with by knife, but pulled out the mandoline slicer to quickly and uniformly dispatch the carrots. Alternatively, you could cut them into matchsticks, they just might need a little longer to cook.  Vary the order you add the veggies according to the ones you are cooking with - sturdier ones first, delicate last - even if that means treating one vegetable two ways as is the case with the stems and greens of the bok choi.

Special note for the bok choi:

• Separate the greens from the wider, thicker portions of the stems
• Cut the stems on the bias in 1/4'' to 1/2'' chunks
• Chop the greens

Into a medium-hot sauté pan, add:

• A drizzle of good oil (I used sesame)
• 1/2 a sweet onion, diced
• 1 stem green garlic, sliced (can sub a garlic clove)
• 3 large crimini mushrooms, sliced

Sauté until just softened, then and add:

• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 4 bok choi stems, bias cut

Add any seasonings that appeal: salt & pepper, or wheat-free tamari are good choices depending on where you see the veggies landing.

When veggies are all almost done to your liking, add:

• bok choi tops, chopped
• 2 radishes, sliced (alternately, leave off the radish for garnish)

Taste the dish and add any additional seasonings. Keeping it more modest makes the veggies more versatile, but if you are committed to going a certain direction for a couple of dishes, then why not add some gluten-free, vegetarian hoisin or teriyaki sauce (San J is a good brand for this) or alternatively stir in a tablespoon of miso paste.

Use half of the veggies to dress your ramen bowl, top with radish (if using for garnish) and protein of choice.

Use the other half for another 'lunch bowl' delight, such as on rice, with sesame and topped with cashews as pictured below. I guess you could always share too.

Use Veggies for a Rice Bowl Too

CSA Week 2

I've been a little behind lately, but it doesn't mean that we haven't been enjoying fresh veggies from our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) adventure!  Here is a glimpse at what we received for week 2, with week 3 and a bunch of recipes soon to follow.

We also were away in beautiful San Francisco for our anniversary recently, and will have to share all kinds of culinary delights and inspirations that were to be found there.  So much, much more to come now that the schedule is (mildly) back on track.

For more on CSAs and the beginning of our adventure, check this post. Or click on the CSA Adventure label at right to follow along as we navigate these seasonal delights.

This week we were happy to see some arugula - one of my favorites that barely made it past day one - along with more succulent radishes and butter lettuce.  The whole bundle included (pictured roughly l-r above, excluding the lettuce):

• 1 large bunch of collard greens
• 1 large bunch of radishes with tops
• 1 bunch of arugula
• 1 stem of green garlic with a large bulb (as green garlic goes)
• 1 smaller bunch of green onions (scallions)
• 1 head of green butter lettuce

CSA Week 1

We have been really happy with our first week of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) with Sauvie Island Organic farm (SIO).  Getting to chat with Peter, one of the SIO farmers that staffs the pickup site, getting one heck of a giant head of red butter lettuce, and getting to try out more green garlic recipes have been the highlights so far.  For more on CSAs and the beginning of our adventure, check out the previous post.

Our half share included:

• 1 big, beautiful head of red butter lettuce
• 1 bunch of lacy red ursa kale
• 1 succulent head of bok choi
• 1 baby fennel bulb with lots of delicate fronds
• 1 large bunch of crunchy celesta radishes
• 2 heads of green garlic