Solstice Picnic

Hi out there! I hope everyone enjoyed the Solstice yesterday and (if you're in the northern hemisphere) are looking forward to the summer season. I know I am...among other things, I can't wait for local summer fruits and berries to start popping up in the markets.

Yesterday couldn't have been a more perfect day for the first day of summer around here: 78 degrees, sunny, blue sky and puffy clouds. Originally, split pea soup was on the menu for dinner last night, but as I was out for a ride on my bike,  it struck me that spilt pea soup seemed incongruous with the summery nature of the day. Instead we decided to pack a picnic...and although the pics might lead you think that we ended up on a sail boat...alas no, we headed to a nearby park that overlooks the city...lovely just the same.

Sail boats, and boaters in general, were out in full force enjoying the evening breeze, lots and lots of other picnickers too.

I didn't have a lot of time to get the food together so I just made a quick salad of bulgur wheat with parsley, red onion, cucumber and tomato, dressed with lemon juice, black pepper and olive oil. I also tossed some cherry tomatoes with fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and black pepper, boiled some corn on the cob, and to round it all off, picked up some falafel at Whole Foods. With some olives, lemon-tahini sauce, and lemon wedges it was a perfect picnic affair. I also made some garlic crostini (not pictured) and of course we had a bottle of wine.

Oh, and we had a fruit salad, blueberries, Maui Gold pineapple, and a few strawberries from the garden:

Those Maui Golds are the best...if you run across some, I recommend giving them a try. I snap them up regularly when they're in the markets around here.

We stayed until sundown...

... and well past:

Happy Summer!

Carmelita and Huge Dandelion Things

Grilled white and green asparagus, pistacio-tarragon emulsion, miners lettuce and hearts of palm salad -vegan 

We had a (mostly) smashing dinner at our neighborhood veggie restaurant last night. I say mostly because this place, Carmelita, can be hit or miss. Their seasonal menu always sounds fabulous, and you can get a great meal there...but sometimes not so great. Last night was definitely a hit...with only one little miss. For starters we had grilled asparagus (above) in a pistacio-tarragon sauce...hit! (Sorry about the dark shots)

We also had this deliciously moist foccacia with a tangy and citrusy sun-dried tomato pesto...hit!

Homemade foccacia, truffled artichoke-sun dried tomato spread -vegan

PizzaFor mains, I ordered this foraged mushroom and nettle/spinach pesto pizza, topped with mizuna rabe. The crust was absolutely perfect and very tasty, and the mushrooms were tender, grilled to perfection and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. The nettle-spinach pesto was earthy, rich, and full of flavor, and the raw rabe on the top added a fresh and peppery finish...definitely a hit and the star of the evening!

Nettle-spinach pesto, grilled spring onion, foraged mushrooms, seasonal greens, balsamic -vegan option 

Now for the miss part...this would have been a perfect dish as well if the linguine weren't overcooked. Such a basic mistake...not sure how a place that makes the rest of the food so delicious and beautiful can screw up on pasta..but it appeared that they cooked the fresh pasta like you would have done dry pasta, and as I said, the result was not good...would have been lovely otherwise as all the other flavors and ingredients were well-conceived and very good. I loved the little chive flower garnishes.

Housemade linguine, snap peas, morels, chive-pistacio pesto - vegan

We took a bit of a walk around the neighborhood afterwards and cut through the food co-op parking lot...they really have lovely gardens surrounding their lot. You'll find all sorts of wonderful aromatic shrubs, herbs, and vegetables growing there. Last night, I was struck (not literally...the dandelions were very peaceful) by these extra large dandelions. They are growing about 5 -6 feet high! I think these are wild variety...not sure whether they are technically called dandelion, but I'm sure they are in the same family at any rate.

Update From the Comments: Apparently, these plants are most likely salsify...and they are in the same family as dandelions: Asteraceae.

mammoth dandelion-type plants (salsify), worthy of prehistoric times

VeganMoFo Day 8: Out for Dinner

We went out to dinner tonight, but I forgot my camera and believe it or not, neither one of us has a cell phone: so no photos.

But we've been there before. It's called Jhanjay Vegetarian Thai. Here's a previous post about it. It's great, because it's 100% vegetarian and most dishes can be ordered vegan simply by omitting the egg.

It's a small, busy place. The ingredients are fresh and the food is delicious. Tonight we had corn patties to start, then a green mango salad with carrot, apple and toasted cashews in a delicious tamarind dressing. John had spicy eggplant, which was absolutely to die for. I was boring and ordered pad thai (sans egg). You can check out pictures of their food on their website.

It was really bustling tonight; I'm glad this place is getting lots of business, and I wish them continued success. If you're ever in the Seattle area, definitely put Jhanjay on your list.

Sorry no pics.

Goodnight!

Hiking in Mt Rainier Nat'l Park

John and I went hiking yesterday, and while it's not food or gardening, I just had to post about it because it was so beautiful and exhilarating. I'm still hugging the experience and want to keep it clear in my memory as long as possible.

Mt. Rainier National Park is extensive (368 square miles) and offers hundreds of miles of trails. We hiked the Palisades Lakes Trail from Sunrise, which at an elevation of 6,400 feet, is the highest point that can be reached by car. Sunrise affords spectacular views of Mt Rainier (rising above at an elevation of 14,410 ft) and other volcanoes in the Cascade Range.

Here's John with the snow-covered tip of Mt. Rainier just discernible through the clouds behind him.


The trail cuts down along the northern side of the Sunrise precipice, and continues on through a series of valleys and ridges that are dotted with pristine alpine lakes. The first lake is Sunrise Lake--here's a view from the top of the trail:



More views along the the top of the trail:




After descending the precipice, the trail winds through several alpine meadows along the way to the first lake:




We ate lunch (tomato pesto and hummus sandwiches) at Clover Lake, which at 1.5 miles along the trail, is the second lake you encounter:



Some Gray Jays came to beg food from us; they were so insistent and adorable, we had to give in.


The hike continues on past 4 more lovely lakes until you reach the end of the trail at Upper Palisades Lake high camp... next time, we'll bring gear and camp there overnight.

The photos diminished as we hiked on and got into a primal, free-spirited, and light-hearted natural high that didn't prompt photo taking. Anyway, I wouldn't want to reveal the whole trail in the hopes that someday you can see it for yourselves, or at least create it in your imagination.

This trail makes a tidy day hike: 7 miles round trip, moderately rigorous--if you get an early start, you'll have plenty of time to tarry along the way.

Here are some other random shots:

Spot the froggy?

Pasque Flower mops

Lots of chipmunks here, although, none in photo

Mount Rainier again, just visible through the clouds in right of photo

Seattle - Jhanjay Vegetarian Thai

I've got a great restaurant to tell you about: Jhanjay Vegetarian Thai in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood. We've been a few times now, and each time we've come away with really happy tummies and tastebuds! It's 100% vegetarian, so no fish sauce to worry about. There are plenty of vegan menu items, and most dishes can be made to order vegan simply by ordering a dish and requesting "no eggs." Anyway, the staff are super lovely and know precisely which items are de facto vegan and which ones can be ordered vegan.


We started with the appetizer special: Mieng Pak Gad, which was a mix of shitake mushrooms, tofu, bamboo shoots, carrots and cashews in a sweet/savory sauce. It comes with crisp, fresh lettuce, so you can make little lettuce rolls with the delicious Mieng Pak Gad as filling. It was total tastebud titillation.

The Papaya Salad went along very nicely; it had a fresh crunch, slightly tangy, and was accented with fresh tomato, green beans, and cashews:


For mains, I had the Tum Yum soup; all the ingredients were very fresh and the broth was wonderfully aromatic:


My friend had curry fried rice; he ordered it with eggs, but you could also order it vegan by requesting no eggs:


And here is the simple yet lovely table decoration:

After dinner, we wandered over to the Seattle Tilth Gardens, just a few blocks away.



A bed of borage, nigela, and other flowers in the Tilth gardens:

A spectacular bed of amaranth rising up towards the heavens:

Some echinacea:

The Tilth demo gardens in the early dusk:

Here's the Wallingford QFC super market...back in the 80's ( and prior), this was the much less posh and lower-scale Food Giant super market, a lost icon of old-school, off-the-map, Seattle: