Archive | April, 2012

A Gluten-Free Vegan Tour of Seattle

24 Apr

Last weekend, my sister and her boyfriend came up for some vegan food tourism (inspired by Jud’s and my visit to Portland last fall). Since Maren’s been eating gluten free for the past several months, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to round up Seattle’s vegan, gluten-free dining options.

There are so many! With little more than 24 hours in their visit, there were only so many places we could cram in (despite our very best efforts!), but safe to say, a vegan avoiding gluten could last a long time in this town before needing to return to the same spot. I should note, though, that only a few places are gluten-free establishments. If you’re sensitive enough to gluten that cross-contamination is an issue you should (as you surely already know) ask the staff at other places about how well they’re able to manage contact with gluten ingredients.

We started at Pizza Pi, source of many delicious vegan pizzas over the years. Sure enough, they offer a gluten-free crust, and since their sauces and cheese are already gluten free, there are lots of options on the pizza menu. We started with a “Saucy Sampler,” with one order of regular bread and one order of gluten free, both smothered in Teese.


Four sauces to go with gluten-free or conventional breadsticks

We all found the gluten-free crust (used both for breadsticks and for the 9″ personal size pizzas) to be quite respectable, even to those of us still used to eating gluten, and the sauces were all the same delicious ones I knew from the regular menu.

Maren tried the St. Patrick’s Revenge pizza (spinach and artichoke sauce, green peppers, broccoli, spinach and fresh basil), and I had a sample of it (the rest of us ordered gluten-containing items):

For some reason, it didn’t taste as good as usual (that pizza is one of my favorites), but I don’t think the different crust was the reason–maybe just an off day. I wouldn’t hesitate to order a gluten-free pizza there, or a St. Patrick’s Revenge, again, though just in case I might try a different combo next time.

We were all stuffed by the time we left, but of course we had to stop at Sidecar for the World Wide Vegan Bake Sale. In addition to the many gluten-free items the store carries regularly, the bake sale had an entire section of gluten-free treats. We picked up an assortment of goodies for later and headed off on a walk–mostly to make room in our bellies for the next stop: Jodee’s Desserts.

I’ve written about Jodee’s before, so I’ll just say that it once again delivered the goods–this time in the form of a slice of Key Lime Pie that we shared, along with some samples of other flavors. I’ll also point out that the menu is entirely gluten free (and vegan), so sample and order anything you want!

After some visits to Pike Place Market and the Olympic Sculpture Park, we were (eventually) ready for dinner. Maren and Brian hadn’t yet been to Travelers Thali House, which I’d recently discovered to be very friendly to GF/V diners.


My first meal at Travelers, with different dishes but the same format each month.

Sure enough, we had another great meal from the April menu, different from the one featured in my post, but in the same thali format. We made sure to order extra papadams to avoid having to fight over the two that came with our order.

For breakfast we hit Wayward. I wouldn’t have thought they’d have so many gluten-free options, but they really came through! As you can see from their gluten-free menu, many of their regular items are already gluten free or can be made so pretty easily.

I’ve been wanting to try their Club sandwich for ages, and I decided this was the time since a gluten-free version was available:


Gluten-free Club at Wayward. Be sure to specify, since there’s also a Club with gluten.

Normally, this comes with vegan turkey and ham along with the tempeh bacon, but the first two things must contain gluten since they’re excluded here. Thus, the Club really turns into a BLT, but it’s quite a tasty sandwich, even on rice bread. The French fries that came with it were excellent, and getting a pickle on the side (hidden behind the sandwich) always wins me over.

Brian tried the Gluten-Free Sampler (scrambled tofu, hashbrowns, greens, and tempeh bacon):

He enjoyed it, and having tried each of those things via their regular menu, I can vouch for them all being good.

Maren got one of my favorite items from the standard menu, which happens to be gluten free: the Very Veggie Omelet, served with home fries:

Vegetable-rich, filling and very tasty!

Of course as long as we were in the U-District we couldn’t miss Chaco Canyon, so we headed there to get some baked goods to eat later.

With a case like this right up front, you know you’re in good hands:

…and when you realize that the much-larger case below it contains a majority of gluten-free items as well (clearly labeled along with indications of raw items and those without soy ingredients), you start to feel the panic of very difficult choices:


Of course, writing a food blog gives you license (right??) to make all kinds of choices that would otherwise be ridiculous, so I got a chocolate-hazelnut cookie, a piece of rhubarb upside-down cake, AND a piece of that vanilla-lemon cake. The cookie was tasty, if a little dry and crumbly, as gluten-free cookies nearly always are. The cakes, though, were outstanding. Chaco has really mastered the art of making gluten-free cakes (and muffins) that you wouldn’t guess were gluten free. You taste rhubarb (and maybe a hint of fennel?), not garbanzo bean flour, and the texture is moist and only slightly more dense than a comparable counterpart would be with gluten.

This time I reluctantly skipped one of my very favorite desserts that they carry–raw chocolate brownies with hazelnuts. More like a truffle in bar form than a brownie, these things are so decadent, smooth and rich I would put them high on the list of things to feed skeptics who think that vegans eat unsweetened tree bark for dessert.

Chaco also serves “real food” if you want breakfast, lunch or dinner, and there are lots of gluten-free options (raw and cooked) on those menus also.

Finally (after a long walk around Discovery Park), no gluten-free tour of Seattle would be complete without a stop at Flying Apron in Fremont. This all-vegan, all-gluten-free establishment has been around for years, and I’ve heard many times how beloved it is by locals who avoid gluten. I confess that my experiences with their baked goods have been pretty hit or miss, so I hadn’t been by since they opened their storefront in Fremont. A couple weeks ago, I decided I needed to give them another try, and I’m so glad I did.

The new (not so new anymore, but new to me!) storefront in the middle of Fremont is adorable and welcoming–a huge improvement over the tiny, basement-level counter they used to occupy in the U-District.

There’s even a bit of sidewalk seating for nice days.

When I visited recently with Jud, I tried a couple baked items and a few things out of the savory case.


A hit and a miss: LOVED the lasagna; was disappointed in the Ginger Wheel cookie.

I must say, that experience reinforced my earlier experience with their baked items: dry and gritty. I will add that the cookie and the pecan cinnamon roll we also tried had really good flavor–they just fell far short of my hopes for texture. The cookie was quite hard, which would have been less annoying if it hadn’t also been quite thick. I think the cinnamon roll would have been much more enjoyable if it had been called something else. “Cinnamon Spiral,” maybe? For me, a cinnamon roll is soft and pillowy. This was crisp and brittle, much more like a scone. Again, the flavor was very good, but I had a hard time getting past the texture based on my associations with that particular baked good.


The Pecan Cinnamon Roll that should perhaps be called something else.

But. The stuff we got out of the savory case knocked my socks off. That lasagna you see up there? It’s one of the best lasagnas I’ve ever had, bar none. Complex flavor, plenty of veggies, and I would never guess that the noodles are made of rice and gluten free. Jud’s shepherd’s pie was not quite at that level, but it was very enjoyable, and I’d definitely order it again if I wasn’t in the mood for lasagna.


Shepherd’s pie at Flying Apron: rich and savory.

Jud also ordered a broccoli salad, with which I am now officially obsessed, so he ordered a large when we returned with Maren and Brian:


I could eat this daily for a good long time.

Raw broccoli (of which I’m not usually a fan, but gladly make an exception here), cabbage, and carrots with plenty of cashews and raisins in a lightly sweet, creamy dressing. Holy cow. Don’t miss this if you go.

On this most recent visit I also tried the Mac and Cheese, which is mixed with spinach:

Again, the rice-based pasta did not betray its gluten-free nature, and this was a very well-made mac and cheese. I appreciated the added spinach, both for nutrition and for flavor and visual interest, and the garlicky sauce was nicely creamy without being over-the-top greasy like some versions are.

I also tried a few other baked goods:


Russian Tea Cake (Have you ever seen one that big?! It’s easily 3″ across.) and Chocolate Chip Cookie


Chocolate Shortbread Cookie (and blue sugar cookies I didn’t try)

Finally, we had some winners. I actually liked all three of these quite a bit. The Russian Tea Cake was my favorite, with nice walnut flavor and subtle sweetness that didn’t take over the cookie. Because these cookies tend to be crumbly anyway, the texture achieved with gluten-free flours wasn’t far at all from the traditional results. I was pleasantly surprised to find the chocolate-chip cookie to be soft and even a little chewy, and the shortbread had a pronounced chocolate flavor while maintaining the just-crumbly-enough texture of a shortbread–with an unusually attractive presentation.

Fortunately, Flying Apron has a wonderful policy of a 100% guarantee: if you try something you don’t like, they’ll give you a refund. I didn’t take them up on this, but I hope it takes out enough of the risk factor for you to try some of their wares. You may not like all of them, but I bet you’ll find some that you do. And in any case, don’t miss the savory items! The only thing I haven’t liked so far was the vegetable-topped flatbread that features more peppers than I prefer (and many would consider that a plus).

There are lots of other places that would be high on my list for gluten-free, vegan dining in Seattle. We only skipped Bouteloua Bakery because it was closed for the weekend, but they do an excellent job with gluten-free cupcakes and cakes by the slice. Thrive on 65th is another place that’s entirely vegan and gluten free, serving mostly raw food with a few cooked items. Sutra, which I’ve also raved about before, is so focused on vegetable-centered dishes and local ingredients that many of its menus are already gluten free, but if you alert them ahead of time they can assure you of a gluten-free meal. St. Dames, in Columbia City, is an ovo-lacto place with a good assortment of vegan, gluten-free, and GF/V options for brunch/lunch/dinner. Finally, Plum Bistro and Sage Bakery and Cafe are well-loved vegan restaurants that cater easily to those avoiding gluten.

You want a map? Of course you do.


View Larger Map

This is still just the tip of the iceberg. Where have you found good gluten-free vegan food in or around Seattle?

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Cookbook review: Comfort Soups to Keep You Warm

18 Apr

You don’t have to read much of this blog to know that I am not at all opposed to oil in my food. I cook with it, bake with it, and happily eat food others have prepared with oil.

But just as enthusiastically, I like to learn about different ways of preparing foods and ways of accommodating others’ diets. So I was glad to try a new eBook by Veronica Patenaude, aka The Low Fat Vegan Chef: Comfort Soups to Keep You Warm (I got a free review copy). Patenaude’s self-published eBook contains 30 soup recipes (plus some extras), all developed for use without any added oils.

I honestly had a hard time picking which recipes to try first, since the pictures and recipe titles (all viewable here) made a pretty strong case for all of them. I decided to start with the Greek Fasolada (White Bean) Soup, using some beautiful little Orca beans I found at the farmers’ market.


Greek Fasolada Soup, with Orca Beans

I liked the different colors in this soup, and the subtle heartiness of the beans. On the down side, as someone accustomed to foods with added oil, was that I did miss the oil, especially at first. It tasted pretty bland, despite the inclusion of flavorful ingredients like fire-roasted tomatoes and fresh lemon juice. Patenaude points out that some people unaccustomed to low-fat cooking might want to use a little extra salt as their taste buds adjust, and I did find that that helped, especially using a spicy celery salt that added more complex flavor than salt alone could have provided. Indeed, the book typically calls for Herbamare, but offers plain salt as a substitute. Based on my experience, I would not recommend using plain salt in these recipes. Whether you use Herbamare or another seasoned salt blend, I found that that extra element of flavor was really important for compensating for the lack of oil.

I wish that I had held back a serving of the soup to try the next day, since bean soups so often improve in flavor overnight. However, the friends I shared the soup with tried it after a day, and they gave it thumbs up. I will also say that if I hadn’t been full after the generous first bowl I served myself, I would have gone back for more. One friend agreed that he liked the soup more as he ate more of it.

For the next recipe, I went for the Creamy Potato Corn Chowder, made with coconut milk and lime:


Creamy Potato Corn Chowder

This time I resolved to make my own broth, using my own un-recipe (turns out I don’t like the Pacific brand low-sodium broth she recommends if homemade is not available). The chowder takes an interesting turn from traditional corn chowders, using chili powder along with the lime and coconut milk for a unique fusion approach. In general I liked it, though I agreed with my friends that the lime was a little overpowering and made the soup too tangy. A smaller amount would have been just right, I think. The lite coconut milk called for in the recipe did a good job of incorporating the creaminess you want in a chowder–and a mild coconut flavor–while adding a minimal amount of fat.

Finally, I was drawn to the Moroccan Chickpea Soup, with plenty of spices to accompany the beans and vegetables.


Moroccan Chickpea Soup

I used the rest of my homemade broth in this recipe, along with freshly cooked chickpeas. The results–with fresh ginger, cinnamon, and other spices–were a well-balanced nod to Moroccan flavors and ingredients, and an enjoyable lunch for me the past two days. Although it looks similar to the Greek soup due to similar vegetables, the flavors are totally different, and it’s another soup entirely.

I confess that I miss the oil in this one a bit, too, but I do think that has a lot to do with what my palate is accustomed to. For someone already accustomed to low-fat cooking, I think this book would provide a number of varied recipes to try, and for someone interested or otherwise motivated to try more cooking without added oils, there are lots of good tips on technique and ingredients to help beginners. I would not recommend it as an introduction to vegan food for someone accustomed to omnivorous or rich vegetarian fare, as I think such a person would have a hard time seeing past what’s not there to see what is there to enjoy.

Overall, one thing I found frustrating was the wide variation in serving sizes used throughout the book. In her introduction, Patenaude explains that the serving sizes are subjective, based on her recommendation for that recipe. I can see the value in that approach, but it made for some very unpredictable yields. The Greek soup I made said it would serve six, and it produced 3-1/2 quarts of soup. The chowder also said it would serve six, but it only made 2-1/2 quarts. Then the Moroccan soup listed as four servings and also made 2-1/2 quarts. I would say that any of those could be reasonable servings for those soups, but the inconsistency between recipes meant, among other things, that I didn’t know how much fridge or freezer space to plan for once the soups were done.

The eBook is available as a PDF file (also formatted for Kindle and iPad), simply designed but easy to use, with clickable table of contents and easy key word look-ups using the find function. I had no trouble bringing it up on my Android phone, which would be very helpful for quick look-ups while at the grocery store, or keeping the book handy for cooking in someone else’s kitchen. It sells for $19.95 (ETA: I had erroneously said before that this was Canadian, but the book ships from the US and is priced in US dollars), which is on the high end for an eBook, but it does come with a money-back guarantee if you find you don’t like the book, plus notification of any revisions (I did catch a missing ingredient, which I’m told will be corrected for future distribution of the book). You can also try for yourself her recipe for Low Fat Vegan Mexican Black Bean Corn Soup, which just might be next on my list to try.

Patenaude’s writing is conversational but clear, and she takes advantage of the electronic format to err on the side of thoroughness in explanations and introductory material. Because of the format and design, though, it’s easy to skip over those sections when you want to just get to your recipe. I appreciated that every recipe had a (well-done) photograph, which is a huge help for visual people like me in picking what recipe to make. You might notice that my images show “brothier” results than the ones in the book. I’m not sure whether she styled her photos differently in an effort to better show the elements of each soup, or whether the recipes might have called for more broth than would ideally be included. If you try them, you might want to hold back one cup of broth and consider what consistency you prefer as you’re finishing the soup.

In good news for those with other dietary restrictions, the recipe collection is largely gluten- and soy-free (or can easily be modified to be), which made it very easy for me to share the results with my friend who avoids both of those things.

It’s tempting to think that in mid-April soup weather is now many months away, but we in this part of the world know better: there will be “soup days” for months yet, and if you’re looking for a source of low-fat recipes this would be a good one to check out.

And hey, there’s a GIVEAWAY!

Yep, the author is generously making available a free copy of Comfort Soups to Keep You Warm to one of my readers. To enter, just comment with either your favorite kind of soup or a tip you use for flavorful, low-fat cooking (or both, of course, if you want to). A winner will be chosen at random from entries received by end of day (midnight, PDT) Sunday. I’ll announce the winner Monday.

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Cafe Munir brings Lebanese delights to Ballard

7 Apr

Last November I saw a tweet that led me to this Seattle Met blog post about a Lebanese bistro opening soon in Ballard.

And I got really excited. I love Lebanese food and try to take advantage of Portland’s many wonderful offerings every time I go. And this lede on the blog item echoed a complaint I’ve had about my beloved Seattle for years:

Rajah Gargour grew up in Lebanon (and Jordan), and has a singular but rather significant complaint about the state of his native cuisine in Seattle: “This food isn’t represented at all,” he says. “It doesn’t exist.”

Lucky for all of us, owner/chef Gargour has changed that with the lovely Cafe Munir in the Loyal Heights area of Ballard, which has been open since January at 2408 NW 80th Street.

My employer just published a nice review of the place, but much of the write-up covered the meaty and dairy-rich offerings. Rest assured, vegans can get stuffed on all kinds of delicious options at Cafe Munir, and our server was helpful in identifying appropriate choices.

We went on a Saturday evening at prime dinner time, and the place was busy enough that we waited about ten minutes for a table. Seated with a view of the dining room with a couple glasses of Lebanese red wine, the time went by quickly.


Cafe Munir at dinner

The space is not super fancy, but it’s got nice touches, like the clean white arches and beautiful decorative light fixtures, mirrored in the style of the candle holders at each table.

After a long walk that afternoon, we were ready to make a solid dent in the menu, though we still had to save several options for next time. There are all the basics you’d expect to be available on hot and cold mezze menus–hommos, baba ganoush, falafel, fattoush (Lebanese green salad tossed with toasted pita)–as well as some less-common items like muhammara (a dip made of roasted red peppers, walnuts and pomegranate molasses) and two that were new to me: Ta’miyeh, a cousin to falafel made with fava beans instead of garbanzos, and mukhaddara, a variant on muhammara made with roasted green peppers, pistachios and mint. We went for a mix of familiar and new:


Clockwise from top left: baba ganoush (in striped dish), pita, Ta’miyeh with tahini and spicy tomato sauces, hommus, mukhaddara, fattoush.

Here’s a closer look at some of those items:


Lebanese Bread Salad (Fattoush), Ta’miyeh, Mukhaddara


Baba Ganoush, with a lovely garnish of fresh pomegranate seeds

The old favorites did not disappoint. The baba was smoky and smooth, and the hommus was substantial and well balanced in flavor. The Ta’miyeh was very similar to falafel (and good), but having two sauces to pair it with instead of just tahini sauce made for some added interest. The mukhaddara was a completely new blend of flavors to me. I’m not a huge fan of green peppers, so next time I will try the muhammara, but I would happily eat the mukhaddara again as well. At once rich and fresh-tasting, the flavor of the roasted poblanos really came through in the finished dish.

We enjoyed the fattoush, and it did add some much-appreciated fresh, raw produce to the table. It wasn’t as interesting as the other dishes we tried, and since we had more than enough otherwise to keep us busy and full, we agreed that we might skip it next time.

Of course, we couldn’t just leave it at small plates, so we ordered a couple larger ones as well. The kosheri we ordered (a rice-lentil-caramelized onion dish billed as “the Egyptian national dish,” and clearly a variant of mujaddara) was delicious, but sadly did not photograph well at all. It came with the same roasted, spicy tomato sauce that we’d had with the falafel, which was a fantastic accompaniment. Ask to skip the yogurt that normally comes with it also.

We also got some vegetable skewers, which came dusted in sumac and served with a side of tahini sauce.

All that (which was absolutely too much food for two people, even hungry ones), plus three glasses of wine, at $9 each, came to $75 with tax, which seemed very reasonable for the amount and quality of food, the very good service, and the pleasant atmosphere. My only wish for the business is that they improve their Web presence. The blog that serves as their website makes it very difficult to find basic information such as address, business hours or phone number, so honestly you’re better off with Yelp if need a quick answer on those details.

By all means, though, go visit! I’m eager to go back.

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