I’m on a little bit of a simple summer salad kick right now. In this heat — nay, humidity — I just can’t stomach anything heavy. Plus what’s better than fresh veggies, herbs and citrus — all on one plate.
Following up on last week’s strawberry, pea, almond creation I bring you this delightful cucumber, tomato, onion, and herb extravaganza. The best part about both of these salads is that you can easily tailor it to your liking: pick and choose the amount of each veggie (more tomato, less onion) and add whatever protein on top to round out the meal. For herbs I used basil and thyme because that’s what I had on hand — but any fresh green from your garden or market would be delicious in this salad. I bet parsley and/or cilantro would be perfect here.
To my herbs and veggies I added a diced avocado, a bit of olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh lime juice — and voila! B loved it too. He raved about this meal long after the dishes were done, and he never used to be a salad guy. I still wouldn’t classify him as such, but he’s getting there. Amazing what a little fresh herb and citrus will do to a previously Serious Sweet Tooth. Nature’s candy!
Peas really don’t get the love they deserve. I always see them in the market and think – huh, peas, I should eat you. But what can I put you with to make you a little more interesting? Enter the latest issue of Bon Appetit, which I read on the plane ride home from vacation, in which I found this recipe that looked as delicious as it did easy. The latter, easy, was the key this week, since getting back into the routine after two weeks off has been a bit harder than I anticipated.
It all started with a couple of radishes by the pool at the Chateau Marmont. Fresh off the plane, I had no idea what to expect from this two-week journey up the West Coast. But one thing was for sure: I was hungry, ready to devour everything from LA to Seattle. In total, we traveled 1,959 miles and didn’t have one bad meal (or stop at one gross bathroom). Here now, some highlights (of the food, not the toilets, silly).
Malibu seems like a good place to start, right? My friend Britt took us to the Reel Inn where we sat outside and had some killer fish tacos and slaw. I’m still thinking about that slaw, almost three weeks later.
She then took us to Son of a Gun for dinner, which came highly recommended from two other friends, and while I didn’t get any good photos, I did find a recipe online for their famous shrimp toast. This is one of the many dishes I’ll be recreating back here at home. Then we hit the road for Santa Barbara, and stopped for some fresh strawberries: sweet like candy, and only $2.50 for a huge basket.
After lunch in SB, we made it to Big Sur for dinner. There were no shortage of meals with a view on this trip, but Nepenthe might’ve taken the cake.
A few days later we woke up in San Francisco and I told B about this tweet I got from a friend of a friend, recommending we eat toast at The Mill. Yes, toast. That’s their entire menu: toast and coffee. She admitted to it sounding crazy, but told me to leave my better judgment behind and go eat the toast. So we did; it was tremendous.
While I loved the toast, lunch later that same day was perhaps my favorite meal of the trip — at Slanted Door, in the Ferry Building. I had been there years ago and loved it then; now, I loved it even more. Maybe it was the company? It might even be my favorite restaurant in the country, but that’s a discussion for another time. We started with the yellowtail sashimi appetizer…
…then ordered one of basically everything else on the menu — drinks too — cause that’s how B rolls. When I like it somewhere, he wants to make sure we enjoy it fully, savor it, try everything. (I’m gonna keep him around a little longer.) He got some meat thing, I got monterey squid with hot peppers and we shared cellophane noodles as well as all kinds of other yummy delicious side dishes.
You’d think we’d be full by now. But no, time for dinner at Greens, somewhat of a landmark vegetarian restaurant with my friend Julie and her boyfriend Cameron. I didn’t get any good photos of the food, but the sunset view rivaled Nepenthe. (That’s the Golden Gate Bridge in the background.)
The next day we stumbled upon Cliff’s Variety, this adorable store in the Castro District, and look what I found! (I bought it, obviously.)
Then before we left SF our friend Conor told us to get burritos at his favorite place in Mission: Pancho Villa Taqueria. We’re good listeners.
Next stop: Napa, where we picked up picnic lunch at Oakville Grocery. Sandwiches, salads, chips, you name it — all fresh, all delicious — it’s a must if you’re in town.
After a full day of drinking, we settled into Bottega for the early bird special. My good friend Noah recommended this place, and he’s never steered me wrong in the food world. I’m not one to rave about polenta, or even usually order it, but this mushroom version served in a cute pop-top jar melted in my mouth. Sure, it was 90 degrees and I had had more than my share of vino — but trust me on this.
After a night at Tu Tu’ Tun Lodge, the most magical place I’ve ever stayed, we were on the road to Portland. Along the way we made our only real fast stop for food, at Abby’s Legendary Pizza. The only thing legendary about it was the two and a half minutes it took me to down a 7-inch greek vegetarian pie with no cheese. (You can see how much B ate of his in that same amount of time.)
In Portland, we ate oyster hash at Bijou Cafe on the recommendation of one of B’s colleagues, and Voodoo Doughnuts on the recommendation of everyone.
We were told they take brunch very seriously in Portland, and nowhere is that more evident than Tasty n Sons. Again we got one of everything, but this shakshuka was among the most beautiful, and tasty. I even found the recipe online so I can try to make it for B at home.
After a night in Port Townsend and a day of whale watching in the Puget Sound we made our way to Seattle, our last stop on this glorious food tour. So many great meals here, but so few photos. Brunch at Sitka and Spruce was as delectable as their place settings are charming…
…but the real highlight of the trip was when I caught not one, but TWO salmon at Pike Place Fish Market. Call me weird but I’ve dreamt of doing this for years — being a part of their famous fish toss, ever since I saw it on Real World Seattle, I think — so I was ecstatic when Taho agreed to teach me, and do the honors. Make sure to watch the video!
Kind of amazing, right?! Also that I didn’t gain 20 pounds out there. To think, I didn’t even tell you everything. I actually plan on writing up a longer, more detailed account of our trip sometime soon, so stay tuned for that. Meantime if you’re ever going to any of these cities, I’m more than happy to give you hotel, site seeing and food recommendations. Til then, enjoy some other photos from our vacation here and here. Now, back to some home cookin!
I’m writing to you now from 38,000 feet, en route to Los Angeles. Such begins a big vacation for me + B: a two-week road trip up the West Coast. I’ve never had two consecutive weeks off work (save for my arthritis-related neck surgery two years ago, which wasn’t so much a vacation) so this feels pretty momentous.
Don’t these artichokes look delicious? They were. But don’t let their pretty faces fool you; these guys are a lot of work and take some serious muscle. First, you spot them in the store and you’re all “oh, I love artichokes! I’m gonna make artichokes! This pile looks so cute I’m gonna instagram it and tell everyone that I’m making artichokes!”
When I first saw this recipe in the New York Times almost two months ago, I was salivating. It sounded like the perfect, light summery dish — with a white wine reduction, to boot. Who doesn’t love a white wine reduction? I remember the first time I made one: a few summers ago, with sauteed ramps; it was divine.
I’m so happy that corn is in season again. As soon as I saw these ears in Trader Joe’s (for $0.49 a piece!) I snatched ‘em up and starting thinking about how to cook ‘em. Luckily Gwynnie had a recipe in It’s All Good that I could easily riff off.
Gorgeous photo, right?! I wish I could take the credit. That’s all Daniel Krieger aka Smooth Dude, who not only took that shot — but taught me a few things about food photography too. Lesson 1: food often looks best shot from above, in natural light.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: tequila is the best and only drink. It gets such a bad rep because people associate it with that last shot of the night, when they probably shouldn’t be drinking any more anyway. Instead think of it as you do a wine fine, scotch, or whiskey — that you sip pleasantly on the rocks, perhaps with a splash of lime juice or agave. That’s how I usually take it.
“I thought it would have fins on the end… or something,” B says to me as he glides into the kitchen, peering over my shoulder into the pan — his sense of smell and curiosity getting the best of him from where he sat in the living room.
Fins! Fins? Or something.
The guy just wrote a book; I’ll cut him a break. This is one fish — and CURRY — he’s not familiar with. BA-DUM.
I’m on a little bit of a simple summer salad kick right now. In this heat — nay, humidity — I just can’t stomach anything heavy. Plus what’s better than fresh veggies, herbs and citrus — all on one plate.
