Archive | February, 2012

Travelers Thali House: No dairy, no gluten, no soy? No problem.

26 Feb

About a month ago, I got an email from my friend Bernie, asking for Indian food recommendations in Seattle. A long-time vegan newly directed to avoid both gluten and soy, Bernie saw an opportunity in focusing more on Indian food, which has a lot of options that don’t include those ingredients.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a lot of recommendations up my sleeve, but that very same day I saw a tweet from Michael Natkin, a local ovo-lacto food blogger (and soon to be cookbook author) you should follow. The food in that thali looked awfully tasty, and both Michael and the Travelers website offered good reason to believe that this vegetarian restaurant could do right by vegans. Bernie, Jud and I resolved to check it out.

Travelers has a tea room on Capitol Hill, which also sells snacks and a nice assortment of spices and kitchen implements suitable for Indian cooking. For a weeknight dinner, though, we headed to their Beacon Hill location: Travelers Thali House.

The space is in fact a converted house, and it’s both casual and inviting. The menu didn’t make clear what was vegan or gluten-free, but invited us to ask. When we did, we learned that most of the menu was or could be made vegan, and that nearly everything but the breads were gluten free. Avoiding soy was also no problem. For the three of us, we split a Deluxe Thali ($20), a Full Thali ($15) and a plate of samosas ($5), which was a good amount of food to fill us up.


Full and Deluxe Thalis, free of gluten, soy, or any animal ingredients (except the chapatis, which contain wheat).

The difference between the Full and the Deluxe is that the latter adds an order of bread (all contain gluten; only the chapatis are vegan), a beverage (tea, chai, coffee or soft drink), and dessert. Each one came with a large papadam; if you wanted a gluten-free deluxe you might ask if they’d give you a second papadam for the bread. If you want less food, there are smaller options (with fewer dishes) for $8 or $6. There’s also a “light fare” menu that breaks out of the thali format, offering dal, rice, salaad and a couple condiments for around $5. Safe to say, the menu can easily accommodate any size of appetite, and the prices seem very reasonable for what you get.


A closer look at a Full Thali

What you see here (clockwise from front center; italicized descriptions are quoted from the menu):

  • Masoor Dal (red lentils, cooked with ginger, garlic and chilies, topped with fried onions and roasted black cumin seeds)
  • A chickpea curry not listed on the menu
  • Nepali Lauki Ki Sabzi (lauki is a gourd that grows on lush vines that cover houses and haystacks throughout India. This authentic recipe – with potatoes, tomatoes and onions, lightly seasoned – comes from our Bhutanese-Nepali chef)
  • Papadam (poking up from center of tray)
  • Sesame Potato & Cucumber Salaad (nearly hidden behind the papadam: a Nepali salaad of potatoes and cucumbers, coated in a dressing of toasted sesame seeds with ginger, garlic, cilantro, lime juice and fried fenugreek seeds)
  • Steamed basmati rice
  • A simple fruit salad with orange, fresh pineapple and pomegranate seeds
  • Kadhi Pakore (fried chickpea dumplings that would have been smothered in dairy products if we hadn’t ordered vegan)
  • Achaar Pachranga (the famous mixed pickle of Haryana – sour, salty, spicy – stimulates the digestive fire)
  • Mango Chutney (sweet chutney from the mango fields of northern India, preserved with vinegar, sugar and salt)

All of the elements were well prepared. The curries had a nice balance of flavors and weren’t overly spicy, and the potato/cucumber salad was an interesting combination of familiar flavors I would never have thought to put together. I wouldn’t say that any one thing jumped out at me as outstanding, but the generous variety of textures, flavors and visuals made for a very enjoyable meal. We also appreciated the fact that, unlike most Indian restaurant food, this seemed to be prepared with a reasonable amount of oil. The thali format also meant not having to coordinate our ordering to get a nice balance of food groups on the table.

The two tasty, piping-hot samosas (not gluten free) came with both a tamarind and a mint chutney:

Not pictured is the delicious chai I enjoyed as part of the Deluxe Thali. I don’t think I’ve ever had a better chai, with a nice mix of fresh-tasting spices and tea, both peppery and slightly sweet. If you don’t have time for a meal, I’d urge you to stop in to either location just for that. They also sell packages of the spice blend and tea to make the chai at home yourself. This would give you nice control over the sweetness level, in addition to being very cost effective. There’s even a rooibos version if you’d prefer to avoid caffeine.

Jud had a glass of wine, which came amid apologies from the server that recent changes in Washington State liquor laws have limited the variety of wines they have access to. Sure enough, the wine was drinkable but probably not anything we’d order again. They do offer a short list of beers also, which I would guess to be less affected by availability issues.

The Deluxe came with a little plate of dessert, also:


Dessert, plus two polished-off thalis

The rectangles were Besan Burfi (“chickpea flour fudge”); the balls were Ganesh Ladoo (“sweet balls of chickpea boondis”). I had had besan burfi before, but never ganesh ladoo. Like many desserts in Asian cuisines, the primary flavor is “sweet,” which is not generally what I enjoy in a dessert, preferring less sweetness and more complexity of flavor. Given that, I’m probably not the person to ask whether these were good examples of those dishes.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed the experience. The thali menu changes monthly, so unless you go very soon you’ll have some different dishes in the rotation. If you’re working around dietary restrictions beyond veganism like we were, this place is a great, no-fuss way for everyone to get a nicely varied meal. One more bonus is that the restaurant is just a couple minutes’ walk from the Beacon Hill light rail station, making for very easy access if you don’t already frequent that neighborhood.

Thali House Restaurant
(206) 329-1465
Open noon to 9pm, Wednesday – Sunday
Happy Hour 4:00 – 6:30
Closed Monday & Tuesday
2524 Beacon Avenue S
Seattle, WA 98144

Where do you go for vegan Indian food in the PNW?

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Northwest Niblets

23 Feb

Ok, I’m going to try to be more regular with this Northwest Niblets thing–a round up of cool little things you may have missed on Twitter or Facebook or the grocery store when you were busy with the rest of your life. If you know of something I should include in Northwest Niblets, please email me or tweet at me.

  • Corina Bakery in Tacoma has new digs, and from the look of it, they’re gorgeous! The new address (their website is not yet current) is right around the corner from their old location. Find them at 602 Fawcett Ave. If you don’t know the deliciousness that is Corina, I suggest you read this right away, or just get down there and discover it for yourself.

  • If you’re a bit farther to the north, maybe you should head to Seattle’s Bang Bang Cafe, where my Seattle Times colleague Tyrone Beason wrote about “a little scoop of heaven that is spicy, smoky and wonderfully crunchy”–that being the vegan mac and cheese that is the talk of Belltown and much of Seattle.

  • Seattleites might also like to know that Rachel’s Ginger Beer is now available, among other places, at Central Co-op. Delicious on its own or as a mixer.

  • Maybe you’re even farther north, all the way into BC! If that’s the case you’re SO in luck next month. On March 10-11, Fairy Cakes Cupcakes is having its Grand Opening, complete with samples (some gluten free, all vegan and free of tree nuts and peanuts) and other great stuff. But wait! There’s more! On Thursday, 3/22, New Westminster is the place to be for a Vegan Wine and Cheese Soiree. Yes, you read that right. And if you’re wondering what else you would do if you were to venture to New West for this event, you should instead be wondering why you’re not already there.

  • Our friends to the south might like to know about the opportunity to help start a vegan, artisanal ice cream truck in Portland. More into savory than sweet? Then check out the Kickstarter campaign to help Homegrown Smoker add a second truck, on Portland’s east side. And if you haven’t tried Homegrown Smoker’s magically delicious street food, you need to plan a trip to their current downtown cart right now.

  • Two favorite food discoveries this week: FatFree Vegan’s Polenta Lasagna, which was deliciously rich, hearty and loaded with vegetables. It’s also gluten free, easy to make and reheats beautifully. And then for dessert, Eat Pastry cookies (or just eat the dough!). Warm, soft, vegan cookies out of the oven in about 15 minutes. And Whole Foods Westlake has three varieties on sale right now, through 2/28. Other Whole Foods stores probably do, too. Now is the time to try this wonderful stuff.

ETA: Thanks to Brooke for reminding me about Jodee’s Desserts in Seattle, which is celebrating its first anniversary this Saturday, 2/25, with special treats in the storefront. You can read how much I love Jodee’s desserts here.

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Barbecue Sliders with Coleslaw

20 Feb

Friday night I went to a Meet-up hosted by Anika, of Seattle Vegan Score (which blog, by the way, was a primary inspiration for starting Northwest Herbivore, and if you’re not following it I can’t imagine why not). It was a gathering of local vegan food bloggers–most of whom I’d never met, at least in person. I settled on taking BBQ sliders made with Soy Curls, even though I’d a) never cooked with Soy Curls b) never made sliders c) to the best of my recollection never eaten a slider.

But I wanted to eat a slider, and this is how my brain works. Despite the apparent lack of wisdom in not making a favorite, practiced dish when short on time (and perhaps trying to impress some new acquaintances), I rarely make the same thing twice and rarely follow recipes, so I often look at situations like this as a chance to push myself a bit more and try something that inspires me rather than something that feels familiar. This time it worked out; other times it totally flops, but I always learn a lot.

So. Here’s my learn-as-I-went version of Barbecue Sliders with Coleslaw (with just the one picture since I was running late enough as it was!). They went over really well with the group, and although a bit time-consuming, you could easily split up the work to make them easy for a party or other gathering.

If you’re doing this all at once, start with the buns. Normally I’d make buns from scratch (there’s a great sandwich bun recipe in The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook), but with all the other stuff to do and limited time I just used blobs of pizza dough out of the Whole Foods refrigerated section, and they worked great.

Slider buns (Makes 32 buns about 1-1/2″ across)

2 11-oz. packages refrigerated pizza dough (I used whole wheat from Whole Foods. Trader Joe’s makes several delicious vegan pizza doughs that are cheaper and would work just as well here). If you use frozen, you’ll need to thaw it well in advance, per package instructions.
2 Tbsp. sesame seeds (Optional. I used half white and half black.)

Take the dough out of the packages and knead briefly to mix in any dry areas or sticky spots. The Whole Foods dough didn’t need any flour on the surface for this; Trader Joe’s dough is stickier and definitely would need some flour. With a dough scraper or sharp knife, cut each ball of dough into 16 pieces, as equally sized as you can. If you want slightly larger buns, you might try dividing into 12 instead. Cover dough pieces with plastic wrap (or a clean towel or an overturned bowl) and let it warm up to room temp (this would be a good time to make the coleslaw).

Roll/pat/stretch each small piece of dough into a disc about 2″ across and 1/4″ thick. Arrange on a lightly greased baking sheet. These actually pull in a bit as they bake and rise into more of a ball shape, so you can put them very close together. Brush tops with water and sprinkle with sesame seeds (if the dough is somewhat sticky when you’re shaping it, you can do what I did and just dip the shaped pieces into a little bowl of seeds before putting on the tray).

At this point, preheat the oven to 450 F.

Let sit in a warm place until the oven preheats, or at least 10 minutes. Bake on the bottom rack about 10 minutes, or until puffed up into little balls and golden brown. Cool before slicing most of the way through each bun with a bread knife.

Barbecue Soy Curls

1 large onion, diced (I used a sweet white one)
1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 package Soy Curls
16 oz. barbecue sauce (I used my own Chipotle-Peach Barbecue Sauce that I canned this summer.)
Extra seasonings to taste, which will depend on your sauce. I used a couple tablespoons each of soy sauce, cider vinegar and unsalted tomato paste, a teaspoon or so of smoked salt, and maybe 1/2 tsp. powdered chipotle.

In a large sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium-low heat, cook the onion in the oil until very soft and starting to brown. While that’s cooking, soak the Soy Curls. I used very hot (almost boiling) water and soaked them longer than you normally should, which produced very soft curls that worked well for this dish. When they’re as soft as you want them, drain thoroughly and then chop coarsely to get the long strips down to something that will fit on a slider.

When the onions start to brown, add the Soy Curls to the pan. Cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, to evaporate some of the liquid that remains after draining. Add the barbecue sauce and stir well. Cook another 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, and taste to adjust the seasonings. By the time it’s done, it should be very moist but not have liquid spots in the mixture, so it will hold together on the buns without immediately making them soggy.

I’m thinking this would work great in a slow cooker, which could also really manage the prep time needed before serving, and you could use the cooker to keep the mixture hot on the table.

Coleslaw

1/2 head cabbage, cored and quartered (Purple makes for some nicely festive slaw, or you could do a mix of purple and green. Savoy would work, too.)
1 medium carrot, scrubbed and trimmed
1/4 of a large, sweet onion
1/3 to 1/2 cup Vegenaise
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
1/2-1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. whole celery seed
1/8 tsp. salt

Shred the vegetables (I used the grating blade of my 7-cup food processor, which was a bit too fine for my taste, but it certainly did the job quickly and easily) and mix with the remaining ingredients. Adjust seasonings to taste and keep chilled until serving.

Assembly

Put a tablespoon or so of barbecue on a bun, top with a teaspoon or two of coleslaw, and pin it together with a party frill or just shove it in your mouth.

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Soak up the atmosphere at Tacoma’s delicious 1022 South

12 Feb

Several months ago, in researching spots to check out for this blog, I stumbled upon the website of 1022 South, a craft cocktail lounge in the Hilltop area of Tacoma. I don’t often get down that way, so it wasn’t until last weekend that I visited–a result of a last-minute decision to get food and a drink before returning to Seattle from a day of snowshoeing near Rainier with Jud. 

First off, now that I’ve been there I need to give props to whoever designed their website. It’s clean, attractive, easy to navigate even on a phone (hurray for no PDF menus!), tells you what you need to know and gives a nicely visual first taste of what you’ll experience if you go. If only all businesses had such good websites!

Secondly, I’ll note that 1022 South is primarily a bar (or lounge, if you prefer), and there’s an excellent write-up in Tacoma Weekly about the business and its unique cocktail menu by an author who might be quite familiar to South Sound vegans.

I like a good drink, but since I’m no expert on cocktails I’m going to focus here on the food and the experience of going there.


Cozy and elegant, there’s seating at the bar and at a few small tables.

With its small, narrow space, 1022 South is not the place to take a crowd–but it’s a great place to take a date or a good friend with whom to relax and catch up. We waited just a few minutes for a table for two to open on a Saturday night, though we could have sat at the bar without a wait.


Vintage-styled lights are kept at a sultry dimness, but candles throw plenty of light on the tables.

The cocktail menu is extensive, creative and uses lots of house-infused liquors for complex flavors. Jud had a Sazerac, and I had a “Red Over White,” (Aquavit, beet-infused dry vermouth, Benedictine, celery bitters, sage and salt, which came together into an interestingly astringent dryness and a glowing red color).

The food menu had been updated somewhat since this one from the website, but the online version gives a good idea of their offerings, which are remarkably vegan-friendly and also remarkably rich in fresh produce. That sounded like just the thing after a day out enjoying the snowy sunshine in the mountains. We decided to get a number of small plates, plus a sandwich to share.


Grilled green beans with balsamic vinegar, sea salt and lemon zest

The green beans were deliciously crisp and complemented in both taste and presentation by the vinegar and trace of salt. We didn’t taste the lemon zest, but the beans were quite good anyway.


White-bean-and-fennel spread with baguette and green apple

We both really enjoyed this light but flavorful spread, which got even better when paired with the apple.


Spiced Marcona almonds and pistachios (left, background) and pickled vegetables

The nuts were a satisfying addition to the rest of the food we had, though again, the promised spicing (with coriander) was not detectable: they just tasted like good, salty nuts.

The pickles more than made up for that, though. The mason jar held a mix of pickled beets, cucumber and fennel. All of them were perfectly fresh-tasting and crunchy, with an excellent balance of tart-salty-spicy flavor that didn’t overwhelm the taste of the underlying vegetable. The beets were gorgeously red in the candlelight, and the others looked pearly white. The mixture varies according to what they’ve got at the time, but I will absolutely be ordering this again next time I go.


The “Winter Flora” sandwich, with beets, apples and tomato jam. Unexpected and lovely.

This was the one vegan sandwich offering available, so we went right for it. Neither of us would have dreamed to put these things together, let alone in this way, but it was wonderful. The thinly sliced beets brought a firm, chewy bite to the sandwich, and the fresh apples offered juicy, tangy crunch. I’m not sure what, other than vegan mayo, was in the top layer, but it worked very well to bring the other flavors together. The crusty potato roll it was served on was substantial without being a chore to get your mouth around, and the green side salad added even more welcome fresh veggies to the meal. Seriously, since when do you get this many vegetables–good ones! seasonal ones!–in a bar?

Our server was friendly and efficient, and when Jud peppered her with questions to figure out which wine he wanted to try after his cocktail, she led him to exactly what he was looking for.

If you’re looking for a place to get gussied up a bit and enjoy some cocktails in beautiful surroundings that let you pretend you’re visiting another era, this is it. If you’re “gussied up” in REI’s finest with hat head and find yourself looking for good food and a drink or two to complement it, they’ll still be really nice to you.

Two cocktails, a glass of wine, one sandwich and four small plates came to an even $50 before tip, and it was a perfect amount of food for two.

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