I heart Seattle!

Seattle is one of my favorite places in the US.

Not only do I have fabulous friends there, but the culture and lifestyle are right up my alley.  People are forward-thinking and compassionate.  There are recycling bins on every corner.  Plastic bags are banned in all stores.  The transit system is eco-friendly. I saw bus ads advocating for immigrant rights and Planned Parenthood services (which is a big contrast from here in NOLA, where all I see are ads for fast food and booze).  Same sex marriage is legal.  The vegetation is so green and lush, and I have never seen more brightly colored flowers on every lawn in every neighborhood.  And it really does not rain every day!  Here is proof.

And locally sourced, organic, vegan food is available EVERYWHERE.

I was in heaven.

After hugs from my friends outside baggage claim, our first stop was at Portage Bay for brunch.  I got a vegan Migas, which is one of my favorite breakfasts from my pre-vegan years.  This one subbed tofu for the eggs, and the added touch was a jackfruit "pulled pork" that was so good!

Just to be clear, I am not a fan, (at all!) of fake meats and meat substitutes.  However, jackfruit is a fruit native to Asia that has a similar texture to meat, but in a non-weird way.  You can find it in Asian markets, and you may find a post on here soon that illustrates my first experience with it, if I can get my hands on one :).  I have also had crab cakes made with jackfruit that were delicious.

The following day we went to Plum Bistro, which is an all-vegan restaurant in Capitol Hill.  We had a feast of raw kale salad, avocado roll, mac n' yease, tofu tacos, mushroom pasta, and margarita pizza.

For vegans and non-vegans alike, you have got to try this spot.  Just trust me.  GO.  And drink a local Fishtail beer while you are at it.

One more vegan meal I will share with you was at Boom Noodle.  I mean, who doesn't want to eat at a restaurant with Boom in its name?  I had a vegan ramen soup, which was not the best I have ever had but a little sriracha helped make it quite tasty.  It is just so easy to eat healthy food in Seattle, why can't other places follow suit???

If you have not visited Seattle, add it to your list and find your way there!

Garden Update

It is almost salsa-making time!  I have my first jalapeno, and so many green tomatoes that I hope they do not ripen all at once or I will not know what to do with all of them!  Bottle up salsa for my friends, perhaps?

Here is my garden as of yesterday.  Those tomato plants on the left side in the box are up to my shoulders, and that artichoke plant on the right is out of control!

For comparison, here is what it looked like when first planted:

Then partway between then and now:

And now (again)!

I just put in the stakes for additional support for the tomatoes, and also set up a pseudo-trellis for my cucumber vine.  It is hard to tell in this picture, but this is about 2 feet high and there are tons of baby cucumbers forming!!  Eek!!

Here's my first jalapeno:

And tons of tomatoes!  Look out for new recipes coming soon, featuring these babies.  Oh yeah, you cannot get more local than this!

Thanks, @VegTimes

Oh, Twitter. You are good for so many things. Like finding funny cat memes, reading fake news updates, smiling at warm and fuzzy stories of generosity, following the tragedy in my old hometown via @BostonGlobe, @HuffingtonPost, and #bostonstrong, laughing at NOLA Problems, and recipes.

What? Recipes? Yes, friends. It's not often that I find recipes on Twitter. Or ever, actually, before today. So thanks to a tweet from Vegetarian Times, I made this Chickpea and Red Cabbage Pita Pizza today and it was oh so good. Keep tweeting those recipes, and I'll keep making them. If they are as good as this one, then I am, and all of you are, in for a treat.

Before I get into it, a shout out to my old hometown, Boston.  You have been through a rough week or so and I can't help but feel sad, angry, and helpless. At the same time, the outpouring of support from around the world, bravery of the survivors and the first responders/healers/officers, and sense of community I feel has maintained, and even strengthened, my pride in Boston. Love that dirty water!! #bostonstrong

Ok, dinner time!

Recipe can be found here.

Note: I modified this to be vegan and I eyeballed it so as to make a single pizza instead of six. Quantities below are based on my estimated attempt to one-sixth all of the toppings...no promises that it's correct so please play around with it as you wish!

Ingredients:

1 Whole Wheat Ezekiel Pita Pocket
1 cup finely sliced or shredded red cabbage
1/4 cup thin sliced red onion
Few splashes of balsamic vinegar
Equal part of few splashes of water
Dollop of agave nectar
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. whole cumin seeds
1 15 oz. can of no salt added chickpeas, drained and washed
1 large garlic clove
3-4 Tbsp. chopped cilantro

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Saute red cabbage and red onion in a pan over medium heat.  Use a minimal amount of olive oil, cooking spray, or water.

3. Add generous splashes of balsamic vinegar and water, cover, and allow to simmer for 10 or so minutes.  The cabbage will soften and the balsamic mixture will reduce down.  If you wish, season with salt and pepper and a dollop of agave nectar, stir, and turn off the heat when finished.

4. While the cabbage mixture is cooking, toast the cumin seeds in a small dry pan over medium heat until they are aromatic and slightly darker.

5.  Add them to a food processor or mini-Ninja canister along with some salt and garlic clove and pulse.

6. Add the chickpeas (save a handful for later), 1/4 cup water, and puree.  Add a splash more water if the mixture is too thick.

(Note:  the chickpea mixture is the full recipe for the 6 pizzas.  I opted to make the whole batch and save it for future use.)

            

7. Mix in most of the cilantro by hand.

8.  Prep your pita either by placing in the pre-heating oven for 5 minutes or heating it in a pan on the stove for a few minutes.

9.  Spread a hearty spoonful of the chickpea mixture on the pita.  The recipe above should serve 6, although admittedly I probably spread 1/4 of the mixture on mine, here:

10.  Layer the cabbage and onion mixture on top.

11.  Add a few whole chickpeas on top.  Sprinkle some additional ground cumin if you have it, and some coarse sea salt.  Bake in the oven for 7-8 minutes.

12.  Remove the pizza from the oven and sprinkle with the remaining chopped cilantro.  Dig in!

Nutritional content, estimate (calculated using MyFitnessPal):

220-280 calories (depending on using or omitting 1/2 T. olive oil)

3-10 g fat (depending on using or omitting 1/2 T. olive oil)

45 g carbs (7 g sugar)

14 g protein

160 mg sodium (not including any added salt to taste)

11 g fiber

Kale pesto

So...this is the most amazing pesto recipe I have made in a loooong time. Well, it's the only one I have made recently, but I used to make it a lot and this one beats it. And it's much healthier, so an added bonus!

Modified from here: Tessa the Domestic Diva

I actually followed her recipe pretty closely, except I used half the amount of olive oil (3 Tbsp instead of 6) and added 3 Tbsp of water.  I think next time I'll try it without any oil at all, or maybe throw in 1/4 of an avocado for the fatty-creaminess.  I think that's really the only thing that the oil brings to this dish...

Next time I would also use half the nutritional yeast.  Mine had just a little bit too much of that unmistakable flavor (as an aftertaste) so next time I want the flavors of the kale and basil to really overpower the whole batch.

Steam enough kale to have 1 cup when cooked, and some leftover (I used my hearty purple kale, which didn't shrink too much so I had some leftover to mix into my pasta dish.  I highly recommend doing that!).  Steam for 4-6 minutes.  Reserve the water to cook your pasta.

Throw the following into a food processor or blender:

1 cup cooked kale
1 cup fresh basil leaves
6 Tbsp toasted pine nuts (toast in oven for a few minutes, or in a dry pan until aromatic and slightly darker)
0-3 Tbsp olive oil
3-6 Tbsp water (need 6 Tbsp of oil and water combined, so any combination you choose.  Go 6 Tbsp water for reduced fat)*
1/8-1/4 cup nutritional yeast
3 small cloves of garlic
1 1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
dash salt to taste

*as mentioned above, perhaps 1/4 of an avocado could substitute for the oil.  I haven't tried it yet, but I'll update this post when I do.  Let me know if you try it and how it turns out!

Blend it all up into a creamy goodness.

What's interesting about this dish is that I used my purple kale.  I thought it would be a purple pesto, but it is not.  Also, as I steamed the kale I noticed the water was green.  So I have no idea why the purple color doesn't flaunt itself proudly!  It should.  It's bold and pretty.  Either way....this tastes fabulous.

At some point, boil your whole wheat pasta in the water reserved from the kale.  When ready, drain and toss with a generous spoonful or two of the pesto, and add in any leftover kale.  Dig in!

The pesto sauce recipe serves 6, or if you like your dish saucy, 4.  127 calories per serving, for 6 people.  Reduce fat and calories by reducing or eliminating the olive oil. (calorie count does not include pasta).