Brian's American Eatery

This is just a little shout out to Brian's American Eatery on Washington Street in Hillcrest for NOT sucking. I drive by it at least once a week on my way to a friend's house and--to be completely honest--I always think, "Guuh, that place looks like a dump." However, I went there for breakfast this morning and surprise, surprise, it's super cute and dinery, and the service is fast and friendly. They doooo have a HUGE menu (which I don't always like in a place) and their coffee is expensive ($2.89), which I thought was a bit odd, but overall I was very pleased with my breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs, a biscuit, and house potatoes. Delish. You can read more about it HERE.

Cucina Urbana

It's been a loooong time since I've gone to a new interesting restaurant... which is one reason I haven't posted anything since January. The other reason is that I just got too busy. And another reason is that my garden looks like $h!t right now and I'm embarrassed to even call it a garden. I do, however, have some lovely squash growing despite my neglect, and after eating at Cucina Urbana last week, I'm inspired to make some of my own fried squash blossoms (pictured here). Stuffed with ricotta cheese, lightly fried and served with aioli-- I ate them all and didn't give any to my husband (he was leery anyway).




The other delicious thing I had there was a watermelon rose martini... sadly the waiter spilled half of it on my leg, but it was on the house and he brought champagne for our anniversary, so I forgave him quickly enough.




If it's your turn to plan a date night, this is what you should do: Park at Balboa Park's Organ Pavilion, take a stroll through the botanical gardens, then walk across the Laurel Street bridge to the corner of 6th and Laurel for dinner at Cucina Urbana. My husband and I each got a personal pizza: I got the mushroom with truffle oil (ooooh so good), and he got a spicy pineapple prosciutto pizza (also so good). The decor is rustic and artsy-- I wore jeans, but some people were more dressed up as well, so anything goes. The wait staff is very friendly and the food is superb (if you didn't pick up on that already)--they use fresh ingredients from local farms (like Suzie's) and create seasonal dishes.

We didn't make reservations and so we had to wait until there was an opening at the bar area (we didn't wait long), but if you want to sit at a table you definitely want to make reservations ahead of time--they book up nearly every night (even on weekdays).

Cucina Urbana
505 Laurel Street
619.539.2222

Cafe Madeliene, South Park

After our 8 mile run this morning, my running buddy and I ate at the newest creperie in South Park: Cafe Madeliene. I'm not a big fan of crepes because I find them dainty and flavorless most of the time--unless of course Nutella is involved--and I'm usually wishing the crepe was a tortilla instead of the limp, floppy, little thing it is. Today wasn't all that different in that regard, but as far as crepes go, Cafe Madeliene has a fun selection of unique flavors. For example I had the Poached Pear & Bleu Cheese with honey:

It was a quite tasty appetizer, and now I'm ready for a breakfast

burrito. I don't recommend crepes as a real meal, unless you like small meals. (Though not all crepes are so flat and Frenchy: the ones at the Farmer's Market are overstuffed with veggies...though they're still flavorless.)

My crepe date, who suggested both crepes and going to Madeliene's, was enticed by the Croque Monsieur (pictured here), thinking it would take her back to her days spent in Paris. She said it was "good," although it didn't use real French bread

and seemed more like something she'd make at home. Ah, c'est la vie.

The fresh squeezed orange juice was delicious and the coffee drinks are pretty (because of the glass they are served in)-- it looked like a lot of people were enjoying them. Seating is (very) limited, so try to go during a non-regular meal time (brunch hours, early or late afternoon are OK) and you shouldn't have any problem snagging a patio table or inside spot.

Cafe Madeliene

2248 30th Street (Turn right on Juniper: it's between Ivy and Juniper)

San Diego, CA 92104

619.544.1735

What to Eat Now

Eating seasonally? Here's what's tasty and ripe right now:

Artichokes, Asparagus, Avocados, Basil, Green Beans, Beets, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Carambola (Star Fruit), Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Chili Peppers, Citrus, Collards, Cucumber, Eggplant, Medjool Dates, Kale, Kiwi, Kohlrabi (Whatever that is), Lettuce, Mushrooms, Mustard, Okra, Green Onions, Passion Fruit, Green Peas, Peppers, Pomegranates, Potatoes, Spinach, Squash, Tomatillos, Turnips, Yams.

Things you might be afraid of in this list: Brussel Sprouts, Okra, Turnips. At least these are the things I don't want to eat. However, I have learned to like brussel sprouts when steamed then sauteed with olive oil and sliced almonds. As for okra, I've yet to discover a way to make the slime go away (What is that stuff anyway?). And as for turnips, they taste like dirt to me. Any suggestions?

New Year's Resolution:

Find better ways to drain the run off so I don't get bogged down and wilty.

The Last Farm Box

I might be taking a hiatus from the farm boxes for the rest of winter. I still really like them; however, I'm also wasting a lot food. For example, after picking up my box tonight, I came home and had to toss a whole head of wilty lettuce, dandelion greens, parsley, two soft radishes, wilty sage, and chard to make room in the frig for the new stuff. That's A LOT of food going to waste because I was too lazy to cook and instead ate Trader Joe's wasabi peas and sesame sticks for dinner every night last week.

This week's box contained:

Beets (4)

Carrots (4)

1/2 lb Dragon Tongue Shelling Beans (oooh. preeeetty.)

Delicata (2)

Chard

Lettuce (LOTS of it)

Napa Cabbage

Spinach (LOTS of it)

Parsley

Braising Mix (LOTS...)

Sprouts

Rosemary, sage, thyme, mix bunch

Microgreens

Dandelion Greens

First of all, what the cuss should I do with Dandelion Greens!? They don't taste like anything but bitterness. Bleck. If you have a recipe for Dandelion Greens pleeeeeeease share because if I don't use this bunch it will be the 3rd batch that goes to waste. And, what am I going to do with all these other greens? Cabbage and lettuce and spinach and braising mix? (What the f is that?): I need new recipes and I don't want them to be salads- I'm so sick of salads I could punch them (if they had faces).

On the plus side, I am excited about trying the Dragon Tongue beans; they have purple and white marbles shells. I've never seen anything like them. I'll let you know what they're like and share some pics.

Please post some recipes or ideas for me here about my farm box contents so that I don't waste any more food.

Happy Holidays

These are a few of my favorite (food) things

The holidays are here and it only took one trip to my parent's house (where my mom puts out a amazing fresh baked goods every 5 hours) and I already have an extra 3 pounds to carry around on my runs...and no, it's not the type of 3 pounds that can be lost in a lengthy bathroom session. It's 3 real pounds and there are more to come if I'm not careful.

Trying to stick to a vegan, or even vegetarian, diet over Thanksgiving wasn't possible, but I'm not beating myself up over it (though my intestines are still in recovery mode). So, when I came home from the holiday break, and was explaining all this to a friend, he told me that I'm an OPPORTUNIVORE. (It's the love child of "opportunity" and "omnivore" in case you missed that.) Apparently this is a real thing--he didn't just make it up. What it means is that I'm realistic about life and its complications concerning food. Our diets are determined by so many factors: location, finance, travel, allergies, the list goes on and on. So, I'm realistic about the way I eat and make no apologies when I have to veer off my vegan course. When it's possible and I have the time, money and resources to do so, I will always choose vegan. However, if it's inconvenient to others or simply not possible because of travel, I will do what is most logical. So there. Opportunivore. Spread the word.

In the mean time, here a few holiday treats I've tweaked so that I don't feel like I'm missing out on the good old fashioned holiday goodies:

Favorite Thing: Milky Hot Chocolate

New Favorite Thing:

-Heat 1 C sweetened or unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk in a sauce pan

-Add dry, non-dairy, cocoa powder (to taste)

-1 tsp cinnamon

-1/4 tsp nutmeg, allspice, or pumpkin spice (or more to taste)

**Optional: add a 1/4 tsp of peppermint or vanilla extract**

Favorite Thing: Eggnog & Eggnog Lattes from Starbucks:

New Favorite Thing:

Rice Milk Eggnog: It's not as good as the real thing (obviously--what is better than real eggnog?!) But, I found that it's good if you do 1/2 rice milk eggnog with 1/2 sweetened almond milk. This makes it a tad thicker like the real thing. Or, add the "eggnog" to your coffee instead of regular creamer. That is goooood.

Favorite Thing: Apple Pie

New Favorite Thing:

-Peel, core and slice about 4-5 apples to fill an 8 x 8, lightly greased, pan

-Toss with lemon, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg (as much as you like)

-Then toss with 1C of oatmeal or your favorite granola

-Drizzle maple syrup or agave nectar over the top of everything (Put about handful of oats or granola on top if you want a little crunch).

-Bake at 350 until the juices boil a bit and apples are soft (I have no idea how long that takes, I don't pay attention. I just check on it every once in a while).

** This recipe is also really good with some dried cranberries and fresh slices of pears.**

That's all for now. As I come up with more tweaks to holiday favorites, I'll post 'em.

Please share any healthy versions of classic holiday recipes you might have up your sleeve-- I'd love more recipes to try!

Feeling Sluggish?

I am.

And, I said so to my husband just a minute ago. Says I, "I'm feeling unmotivated. I haven't blogged in a while. I don't want to grade papers. I don't want to do aaaaaanything."

Says he, "It's that time of year."

"Wha?" says me.

"Take some Vitamin D. The sun is going down earlier, you're not getting as much, you need to take Vitamin D3. [Insert name I don't remember] told me about it. It helps."

"Bluuuuugh. Whatehh"-- says me without the motivation to even finish the word.

You might be thinking, "Didn't you switch to a mostly vegan diet? Maybe that's why you're sluggish...(dumbass)."

Well if I'm such a sluggish vegan then how did I run 12 miles today-- and feel really good doing it, huh?

And then you think, "You ran 12 miles? That's why you're tired."

Well that could be.

But, it's more of an emotional tired I think....sooooooo.........

I finally mustered the energy a couple minutes ago, while I was writing this post, to look up Vitamin D3 rich foods--because I'd rather cook and eat something than swallow a pill. I googled "foods rich in Vitamin D3" and this is what I got:

"Fortified milk, eggs, chicken livers, salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel, swordfish and fish oils (halibut and cod liver oils) all contain small amounts."

These are very non-vegan items. Sigh. So I tried googling "plants rich in Vitamin D3" and this is what I got:

AlgaeCal.

It's some South American algae that's being marketed as good calcium and other vitamins (like Vitamin D3).

Maybe I'll get up the motivation to order some...or maybe I just need a nap in the sun.

Farm Box Funness

Behold! The Veronica Cauliflower:

Kinda scary looking isn't it? So prehistoric. Veronica cauliflower has a nutty flavor and is a bit more hearty than standard cauliflower. I like it, even though it sort of scares me when I look at or open the fridge late at night.

If you stumble upon a head of it (Suzie's Farm has some at their booth in the Farmer's Market) try it. It's good even when simply prepared: I steamed it for about 12 minutes, salted it and ate a whole bowl.

Next!

It's the season of squash. I love, love, love looking at squash and fantasizing about cooking one, but rarely do I make a successful dish with one (that doesn't include canned pumpkin--I'm talking the real deal). Well, I finally used one of the little kobacha squashes in last night's cous cous.

1 C cous cous (prepared in vegetable broth)

1 pinch saffron

1 small kabacha squash cooked, and lightly browned in a pan

1/2 C cranberries

1/4 C toasted pine nuts

1 tsp garlic salt

pepper to taste

Why go to all the trouble of cooking and eating squash? Because they're loaded with good shit like Vitamin A, C, K, and some of the B's, Potassium, Folate (whatever that's for), even Omega 3's and protein, bitches! (It's Monday and it's already been a long week...please excuse the real cussing in this post.)

If you're new to cooking squash, read on: First, go crazy on it with a fork (poking holes all around it). Then, place it in a baking dish with 1/4" water in the bottom. Cover with foil. Bake at 350 for at least 30 minutes if a small squash, 45 minutes for larger. It's done when you can easily slice through the rind. Allow to cool then halve and scoop out seeds (rinse and you can bake those too! Yuuuuum). Scoop out flesh and slice or cube.

Other uses:

Top salads and pastas with it, or puree with some creamer, pumpkin spice, cinnamon and agave nectar for a sweet soup treat.

Cute Garden Things

...more like Odd Garden Things. I was meandering around Point Loma Nazarene University's campus the other day and ran into this odd scene. I kinda like it, though I'd never use those materials.

It does, however, inspire the creative side of me. I haven't done much but look at my garden recently. I need to pull weeds and rip out these strange purple-flowered plants that strangle the life out of everything in their way: I call them snagglebushes. It's officially fall, so I should plant some stuff for winter, too. Maybe squash? My eggplants are almost ready to harvest and my tomatoes are still hanging in there...though everything looks a little bedraggled.

I have some little f'er of a bug that eats the crap out of all my herbs. It's really making me angry. He only strikes the day I decide I need something, so I end up walking out to the garden with my scissors and then swear like an asshole at the plants for being little pansies and allowing some cussing bug to eat massive holes in all their leaves. I'm thinking I need frogs.

Where do I get frogs in bulk for cheap?

Cuss!

Yesterday, since it was Halloween, I decided to be all cute and Martha Stewarty and make caramel apples using the apples off our tree. As I was picking I nearly grabbed the one thing capable of keeping me away from the garden forever, and it's only the size of a quarter...

This Guy:


I simultaneously gagged, hyperventilated and whined like a dog in distress as I took this picture...
1. Why doesn't it have a face? 2. Why does it have hair? 3. Or are those spikes? 4. Why is it in my tree? 5. uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh. 6. Cussing cuss cussity cusser.

One Month Vegan, One Day Meatan

I went into this whole vegan-thing with the plan that I would do my best to stick to an entirely vegan diet. It's been a little over a month now and I have to say that I really like the way vegan-eating makes me feel. I found that as a result of restricting my diet to mostly plant-based foods, it's caused me to look at the world in an entirely different way...and amazingly I don't feel that I am missing out on anything by not having meat or dairy products. I by NO means have followed veganism perfectly, but I do try to make more responsible choices every day about what I'm putting in my body--and this idea has extended into other areas of my life as well (which I can talk about in a different blog).

In the last month I have done the following:

1. Discovered an entire world of grains that I didn't know existed: millet, wheat berries, farro wheat
2. Stopped relying on caffeine in the mornings to get me going and happy
3. Maintained my level of fitness-- AKA: I haven't become one of those anorexic-looking malnourished emo veganites that I was a afraid of before.

On to other news: Last night I went to a dinner party where the host made spaghetti with homemade meatballs-- cooked in bacon fat. I ate them. They were delicious! Does this make me a vegan no more? For the night, maybe. But, one of my goals since the beginning in taking on this lifestyle was to never inconvenience anyone else or place judgment on others for their diets. Had I rejected the meatballs, I would have been implying that my ideas of a diet are better than theirs. Even though I would never think that, it's still the way it would come across. I then followed the meatballs with a slice of non-vegan applesauce cake. It too was delicious (though I bypassed the ice cream).

Was it worth it? Well, I paid for this sudden change in my diet at work today. I had a few extra trips to the bathroom (except during the two-hour lock down we experienced...that was pure torture!) and I woke up feeling sick to my stomach this morning. But, it was worth it.

It was worth it because I shared a great night of food with friends that was untainted by the particularities of my diet.

As for tonight's dinner, I found my farm box veggies nearly gone. So, I improvised and came up with a pretty good mishmash here. We'll call it...

Out-of-Fresh-Produce Mishmash (Serves 2)

1/4 C cooked millet
1/4 C cooked red quinoa
1-2 C veggie broth (add as needed to cook the grains)
1/2 C garbonzo beans
1/2 C frozen peas and carrots
1/2 C onion, finely diced
1/2 C savory tofu. diced
1/2 C tempeh, diced
2 T soyaki (from Trader Joe's)
salt & pepper to taste
fresh or dried herbs to taste (I used some fresh marjoram i had in the fridge)

In a medium sized pot cook the millet and quinoa in the broth with spices. When the liquid is nearly gone, add the peas and carrots, garbonzo beans.
While the millet and quinoa are cooking, saute the onions until almost browned, add the diced tempeh and tofu and brown. Add the soyaki and stir for 1 minute. Then, stir this into the millet and quinoa mixture for a couple minutes--allow the flavors to fuse.

Ginger Essence

If you haven't been to the Westgate Hotel's Plaza Bar yet on a Saturday night to listen to Gregory Page and the Make Believe Orchestra-- you need to do it soon. And I'm not just saying that because my husband plays drums for him, I'm saying that because the waiting staff has had a significant change for the better recently and I now feel comfortable recommending it as a pleasant date night (or girls night out...or just for good listening/drinking/dessert). They're drinks are expensive, but each one I've tried is delicious.

Observe last night's Ginger Essence Martini. Delish.

absolut citron vodka, home made ginger syrup, fresh lime, soda water $14

Westgate Hotel, Plaza Bar
1055 Second Avenue, downtown
619.238.1818

Chocolate Zucchini Cookies

Oh. my. gosh. I just discovered and sort of made up the BEST cookies ever. Ok. Not ever. Cookies with real butter and real sugar and lots and lots of chocolate chips are the frickin' best ever. But these cookies are awesome if you 1. Are trying to cut out dairy and 2. Like cookies, but are trying to watch your sugar intake.

Here's the recipe:

1/2 C vegan butter, softened (I use Earth Balance)
1C maple syrup (Ok...it's sugar. BUT, it's a much healthier sugar with more nutrients than white sugar.)
1 "egg" (This is about to blow your mind. Take 1 T flaxseeds + 3 T water and puree. That is equal 1 large egg and way more healthy for you!)
2 C whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 t ground cloves
1 C grated zucchini
1/2 C chocolate or carob chips (optional)

In a medium sized bowl: Cream together the syrup and butter until smooth. Beat in the "egg." Stir in zucchini.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Stir into zucchini mix. Fold in chips.

Cover and chill for 1 or more hours.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Drop dough by teaspoon fulls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees.



Enjoy these guilt-free!

Dandy Drink

I got dandelion greens (among other fun things) in my farm box on Wednesday. All I know about cooking dandelion greens is that you can boil them. And the only reason I know that is because I read it in The Autobiography of Malcolm X (his mom used to make that and only that for dinner some nights because they were so poor). Well, two things: 1. I did not boil them for dinner and 2. I didn't store them in the crisper and now they are wilty and sad...(like the rest of my garden). Soooooo. Since I've been on a green smoothie kick lately, I decided to improvise and made a....

Dandelion Pumpkin Smoothie:

1 bunch (about a handful) dandelion greens
1/2 C cooked pumpkin (or canned will do)
1/2 C frozen berries
1 banana (because a smoothie just isn't a smoothie without one)
1 T chia seeds
1 scoop protein shake mix (soy or whey protein shake mix will do.)
1-2 C hemp, soy or almond milk
some ice if you want (I like it chilled just from the berries)
oh. and I added a scoop of almond butter just for fun.

It was good.
But I just realized that the protein shake mix I used has ingredients that are derived from milk. So much for a vegan shake. Cuss.

3 Green Farm Box Meals

Literally green. In color... not "earth-friendly green." Though I'm sure they're that too. So here they are... and oh, they're tasty. If they weren't, I wouldn't be posting them. Duh.

Summer Squash and Broccoli Soup


1 medium head of broccoli
1 medium summer squash, cubed
3/4 c green onion
6 fingerling potatoes
2 garlic cloves
cream or soy creamer (to taste)
1/2 c water or broth of choice
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a medium sized soup pot, saute the garlic, onion, squash and broccoli in a little extra virgin olive oil for about 8 minutes then add 1/2 cup water or broth and cover until everything is nice and mushy. Add salt and pepper and any other spices you might like. Add more water or broth if it begins to dry out. Will probably take about 15-20 minutes. Once everything can be smooshed down with a hand-held potato masher, it's ready to mill. Turn off the heat. Using a blender or hand-mill puree the hot veggies. Add the soy milk creamer or cream and puree more until it's the consistency you like.

Next up... Farm Box Surprise



1 small head of broccoli
1 baby bok choy
1 small eggplant
2 delicata zepplin squash
2 c collard greens (or more if you want...they cook waaaay down)
fresh basil (to taste)
fresh cilantro (to taste)
1-2 cloves chopped garlic
1-2 each of red ruffled pimentos, corno di toro and antohi sweet peppers, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Optional: 1 link of chopped spicy Tofurky or 1 c tempeh

Chop everything. Throw all in a big saute pan with some extra virgin olive oil and saute until everything is al dente. DO NOT OVERCOOK it will turn into a big, pile of ugly black veggies. I ate this over Trader Joe's Three Grains Blend: rice, barley and spelt with some black and kidney beans thrown in. It was delish!

And finally... Kale Berry Smoothie


3-5 fresh leaves of kale, roughly chopped
1-2 cups frozen fruit (I like mixed berries, but peaches are good too)
1 banana
1 tbs organic chia seeds (by Navitas Naturals at Henry's)
2 tsp maca powder (also by Navitas)
1-2 cups almond milk, sweetened or unsweetened
agave nectar to taste
ice

Throw it all in a blender and let 'er rip until it's nice and green and smooth... unless you like chunky.


This is the summer squash from the first recipe. I took the seeds out, salted and baked them at 300 degrees for about 15 minutes. They were really tasty and I felt good for not letting them go to wasty.

A New Life

So I finally read/finished reading The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone....yes...the Clueless girl. And the crazy thing is, she makes a really convincing argument for veganism. So. I'm giving it a shot--and I'm being easy on myself. AND, I'm certainly not imposing my new lifestyle on anyone: if you cook me meat for dinner, I will eat it--I promise. I'm not in it to guilt-trip or judge that's for sure.

So, I've been eating vegan for a week and a half now and this is what I've discovered:

1. I feel more balanced throughout the day. Meaning: I don't have hunger or energy spikes and plummets.
2. I don't crave carbs because I get to eat whatever whole grains I want--and they're really, really satisfying. Which means I don't crave sweets and desserts either!
3. I'm less moody. YES I'm less moody-- are you doubting me??!!
4. Not to sound all uppity or anything...but my shit don't stink.
5. I've lost 5 lbs, but you can't tell outwardly...if you catch my drift. I'm just simply carrin' less. It sort of feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders (if my shoulders were in my intestines).

It has been a relatively smooth transition into veganism. I was already a pescatarian (vegetarian that eats fish), so I'm not really doing anything drastically different. And, the farm boxes are playing a huge roll in all this. If it weren't for the crazy amounts of fresh, organic veggies I have around the house, I think this would be a lot more difficult.

Speaking of difficulties, what I've had to give up that I really, really, really, really, reallyreallyreally love is cheese. And, I'm sorry, but vegan cheese is the cussing most disgusting thing ever. These are the things I'm working on cutting out of my diet all together, and so far, have been successful:

1. cheese
2. milk
3. eggs (which makes me sad because I really wanted to get some chickens)
4. white flour
5. white sugar
6. caffeine (not as hard as I thought it would be. decaf is a good decoy.)

I'm not cutting these things out for the usual reason that people become vegan: animal rights and social justice issues. (Though I'm always for that stuff of course.) I actually think it is healthier to live without them and to replace those items with whole grains and fresh produce--which (as many people don't realize) have more protein and nutrients in them than the first three items combined. Did that just blow your mind? Because it should have.

What I'm adding into my diet, and loooooooove:

1. quinoa
2. millet
3. beans
4. almond milk (oh my gosh I love almonds and I love their milk. why did I not do this one sooner?)
5. kale and other dense, dark leafy greens full of iron

So that's about it. I'll be posting some of the things I've made with my CSA box contents soon. I've loved everything so far. This week, try to consume a little less dairy and a little more whole grain and leafy green food and see how you feel.

Peace.

I've Let Myself Go...

I know I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything. It's been crazy since school started up again. Non-stop. I have no time to smell the roses...or water them...or any of the other plants for that matter. I'm a terrible mother... thank goodness tomatoes only like to be watered every 4-5 days and my barrel of flowers are pretty drought resistant too. In fact, they seem to be the only happy ones around here...


See? Happy flowers. Pretty flowers.


Everything else in my "Urban Garden" looks like this...

(former happy strawberries)

And this...

(former happy fern)

Or this...

(former happy thyme)

Even Winston and Woodrow look pissed off at me...

(former happy fish)

I promise to be better. To water every day like I'm supposed to. To make more creative dishes with my farm box contents (I picked up my second CSA box last week and have only sauteed the shit out of all the veggies...nothing fun or creative). And to GO TO HAPPY THIS WEEK! I need a new drink.

Frankly My Dear...

I discovered a hidden treasure in Hillcrest on Sunday: Terra. No... not the plantation from Gone with the Wind, though the food served at Terra is all locally grown on plantationy farms. The following statement is at the top of their menus:

"A lot of TLC (Tasty Loving Care) goes into your meal. We buy all sustainable seafood and all natural, hormone and antibiotic free meat and chicken. We buy from the following local San Diego family farms: Stehly Organics, Blue Heron Farms, Suzie's Farm, Sage Mountain, Cunningham Organics, Crows Pass and Tierra Miguel. If you should have any food allergies or concerns, or just want to ask about our food, please ask your server."

My girlfriends and I run by this restaurant on a regular basis and have been curious for a while about the food, but suspicious that it never seemed to be busy. In fact, San Diego Home/Garden Magazine calls it, "San Diego's Best Kept Secret." That's rather unfortunate, if you ask me, so let's not keep it a secret anymore, how about that? But, upon entering the establishment, we realized there are probably a couple reasons Terra isn't slammed with business the way they should be. Those reasons are: Decor and Location.

1. We decided the interior design, while comfortable and well lit, reminded us of a cross between an early 90's hotel restaurant and an upscale Denny's. The window treatments and chair upholstery does not match the organic nature of the place. If you want my humble decorating opinion (and if you don't too bad), the place needs pictures of local farms, fresh cut foliage from said farms on the tables, earth-toned upholstery and more natural, organic-looking window treatments.

2. Hillcrest is the perfect place for a restaurant of this nature; however, it's located in the back of the Ralph's/Trader Joe's parking lot... if you're going to go out for a nice-ish dinner, who wants to drive through a grocery store parking lot to get there? It doesn't feel organic. It feels strip-mally.

But if you can get over the decor and the location, then you're in for a treat. This is a restaurant worth going out of your way for.

Observe my selection...

The Summer Vegetable Plate:

with mushroom risotto

The veggies (according to the waiter) change daily based on what is harvested that day or week. My plate happened to have colorful carrots, radishes, oyster mushrooms, spinach and various summer squashes. It was rich, creamy, and slightly sweet.

The other two dishes we ordered were...

Grilled Atlantic Salmon: with barbeque cream sauce, applewood smoked bacon, mushroom gnocchi and collard greens.

This was the best of the three meals. Light, but full of rich flavors. The gnocchi was perfectly cooked and the collard greens were vibrant and refreshing (...rather than wilty and bitter like I usually experience).

Meyeer Farm all-natural Hanger Steak: with mushroom-leek risotto, smoked onion marmalade and summer veggies.

This is a pretty sweet dish-- so I wouldn't recommend it if you like savory or salty meat entree. It was still delicious though.

I was impressed with the creativity of the dishes and inspired to try them with my own Suzie's Farm veggies. The Bonuses: I felt like I did something good by supporting a local restaurant that in turn supports local farmers. Furthermore, I ate fresh, flavorful food that was really good, and I enjoyed a nice dinner with a couple friends.

Now if we could only convince Terra to redecorate....

Terra Bar and Restaurant

1270 Cleveland Ave (between Richmond and Vermont St)

San Diego, CA 92103

619.293.7088

Farm Box, Here We Go

The beautiful mess above is what I picked up from the OB farmer's market on Wednesday:

That's right. What. the. cuss.
It's so much food!

I immediately panicked at the thought of how much food I might be potentially wasting. Then I stopped cussing my pants and turned on the oven. I decided to start with the kale.

It's a flat leaf variety and good for making kale chips out of...at least that's what my teacher friend Patti does. She makes it sound easy enough, So why not? thought I. I washed and dried the leaves, massaged them with olive oil, dusted them with Himalayan Pink Salt Crystals (from Trader Joe's of course), laid them on the baking sheet and popped them in the oven. This was the first batch going into the oven:

This was it coming out of the oven:
Cuss.
Turns out you need to watch them like a hawk or they'll burn to a bloody crisp. (And believe me, bloody crisp is not tasty.)

Second batch turned out a bit better and much more tasty, except I think I ate too many of the burned ones because I started to feel sick at this point. They were crispier than they look in this pic.

While the first batch of kale was burning in the oven, I was staring at the little, yellow watermelon, the massive tangle of basil, two stalks of fennel and a box of yellow tomatoes on the counter. I decided, why not? and combined them all into a "melon fennel salad." I added a little fresh ginger and white balsamic vinegar and... it was OK. The basil added some freshness, the melon was seriously delicious, and the ginger and white balsamic vinegar were a surprisingly good combo. However, I realized that I don't like fennel. It tastes like black licorice--if you've never had it--and it just made me want to take Yager shots. Plus, what do you do with all the stalky ferny stuff at the top of fennel? There has to be a use for it, right? (do you know?) Please share a good fennel recipe if you have one-- preferably one that involves cooking it somehow.

So, Day One Assessment of My Cooking Abilities and Farm Box Contents are hereby rated as "Pathetic but Promising"

The next day, I tackled the ridiculous amount of green and wax beans, bell peppers and eggplants. After cutting into, what I thought was just an elongated red bell pepper, and taking a nice big slice to chew on, I slowly and painfully began to realize that I was not chewing a bell pepper, but one of either the padron peppers or Hungarian hot wax peppers...I'm leaning toward the Hungarian variety. This stuff doesn't come with labels or stickers on it...so novices like me have to be careful. Granted, I'm a weakling when it comes to spicy, but I also took a big honkin' bite.
Carefulness: Noted.
Tomorrow: Buy more milk. (Chugged it all to stop the burning.)

After the tears, I chopped the real bell peppers and the garden beans and a small, white eggplant. I decided that I wanted to cook them, of course, but I also wanted to taste them in their most natural form. I'd been planning all day to use Soyaki (my fav!) to saute them, but I changed my mind at the last second, put my faith in the freshness of Suzie, and used just a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil, sea salt, pepper and sesame seeds. I sauteed until they were softish and some were browned on one side, then put this mishmash over some black and pinto beans I'd made in the crock pot a couple days ago.

Fresh veggies really are more delicious and flavorful than the genetically modified or shipped-from-across-the-world versions. (Except the eggplant. That tasted like cuss.) Go figure.

Day Two Assessment of Farm Box Contents and My Cooking Abilities: Rated as "Proficient but still Pathetic"

List of all contents in Farm Box #1:
Radish Bunch
Eggplant (apple green 4-3, Italian 1-2, Thai 2-4 or Rosa Bianca 3-4)
Head of Lettuce
Yellow Cherry Tomato Basket
Armenian Cucumbers
Fennel
Tejas, Nardello, Corno di Toros, Double Up, and Red Antohi Peppers (Sweet)
Kale
Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers
Melon
Basil Bunch
Green or Yellow Wax Beans
Summer Squash
Padron Peppers
Micro Arugula