Bavarian Vegetarian - a Leavenworth Restaurant Guide

I love Leavenworth - sure it's kind of cheesy and totally fake, but to me it's a masterpiece of economic development planning. Would I ever stop in a faded Eastern Washington town for lunch as often as i do in Leavenworth if they hadn't made the collective decision to promote tourism by going Bavarian? No. Leavenworth would be this sad, dismal place still missing its fruit processing 30 years later. Instead it's got better Bavarian decorations than Bavaria due to it strict land use laws. Do you think German Starbucks and McDonalds have Calligraphy on their signs? Probably not, but zoning code designed to force a time period rules here. It's brilliant.



But there's more to it than that, Leavenworth has other stuff we love: great camping, hiking, scenery, innertubing, river rafting, it's own ski hill, awesome birds, alpine meadows, mountain goats, rock climbing, and more all within a 10 mile radius (and in some cases, considerable uphill climbing). Then there's the fact that Charlie's German family and my dad, having been stationed in Frankfurt for his longest tour, instilled in us a certain appreciation for sauerkraut that nothing can match. Lunch in Leavnworth on the way to whatever outdoor adventure we are headed for has been a stand by for us for many years now. Sadly lunch in Leavenworth before meant: Bratwurst. Lots of it. Damn! What was I going to eat there now?

We stopped there twice with Aaron (also veggie, no fish) and Pei on our most recent wanderings and here's what we came up with:


Munchen Haus - my personal favorite for the mustard collection alone (pictured). I was quite skeptical that Aaron and I would be able to find anything to eat here, but the festive beer garden drew us in anyway and to my delight they had a a veggie sausage made by field roast - that super gourmet vegan company! While this didn't go with the sauerkraut as well as say bratwurst, it was still quite tasty and I was impressed with the fact that we could eat vegan in a outdoor beer garden on a sunny Sunday in February next to a wood fire and have homemade sauerkraut and 30 choices of mustard. Wow.

Viscontis at the Brewery - two vegetarian options at lunch, multigrain pasta with oven roasted vegetables and a classic vegetarian sandwich. Three of us opted for the pasta. I really enjoyed it, it had a great variety of vegetables and a generous amount of them. My only thought was that since it was a diet friendly meal, it could have used a little more oil, and if I made it myself I would add white beans for a little staying power and protein.

Bavarian Bakery - Pretzels! Kringle! Yum. I love marzipan and they make an awesome almond kringle here. We also picked up some pretzels, which were homemade and great with some stone ground mustard. Only two bummers about this place: pretzel is not heated and its cash only. Despite it's joys, I might get a previously frozen pretzel at another place so I can have it hot and pay with a card.

Sustainability Hero - Morgan Keuler!

 

Morgan totally brought his own compost bin to the cabin this weekend so he could keep up his green lifestyle while traveling. Wow! He also told me that he is opting to buy local beer instead of his usual favorite Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. PLUS he and his wife Jill gave out awesome canvas bags as their wedding favor. Kudos Morgan!

When I think about my own life, I realize these are three big areas in which I am not doing so well as a green girl. I totally need some composting help, which I just got in the mail from my refuse provider so i have no excuse. Sure, drinking local sounds like a low hanging fruit when you live in microbrewed wine country - but actually, when I look at my labels, most of what I drink is shipped up from California. And bags - whoa. BIG problem for me. I use the bag i got at the wedding for my library back and forth, but I never ever seem to remember to bring grocery bags to the store - stay tuned for more on this.

Mango Shrimp Avocado Revisited - and Better!

Way better the second time around. I kept it simpler, skipping the tomato and cucumber and changed up the spice mix a little. Seriously delicious.

2 serving Cooked Tail-off Shrimp
1 medium Avocado
1 average size Mangos
2 serving Mango Chile Vinegar
1 tbsp Thai Holy Basil
1 cube Chopped Cilantro
1 tbsp Jalapeno Pepper, raw
2 serving Arugala
1 tbsp Onions, Green, Raw
1 serving Chives

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1 servings
Amount per Serving
Calories 239
Calories from Fat 73.3
Total Fat 8.14g
Total Carbohydrate 28.62g
Dietary Fiber 7.43g
Sugars 16.01g
Protein 18.92g

Slow Cooked Kidney Beans - 4 Ways

I randomly decided to slow cook some kidney beans the other day, but had no real plan when I turned on the slow cooker. Thinking vaguely of veggie chili. But when I went to add more to the beans, I realized I had started a whole pound of them. Way too much for veggie chili. Yikes!

I ended up cooking the beans entirely then taking out half for other purposes, here's what I ended up making, all four were awesome:
 
Kidney beans sauted with crisp onions.

 
Veggie chili in the slow cooker

 
Pureed refried style kidney beans

Puree a cup of cooked beans with garlic, cumin, green salsa and a bit of olive oil.


English style baked kidney beans on toast
Serves two

1 cup kidney beans, cooked
1/2 cup Stewed Italian Recipe Tomatoes
1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
1/3 medium Yellow Onion
1 cloves Garlic Clove

Saute the onions, garlic and tomatoes. Add mustard and puree a bit. Add the beans and heat more, then top off your toast with yummy beans! Add a fried egg for a bonus!

Seattle-style Vegetarians

It's a gorgeous sunny day in Seattle that feels like May and not February. Amol and I were going for our usual Friday run basking in the unusually awesome weather, when I told him about this blog and my whole vegetarian thing. And he says to me "you're totally one of those Seattle vegetarians aren't you?" Guessing what he might mean, I say "You mean, do I eat fish?" He says "Yeah, every vegetarian I know in Seattle still eats fish. It's weird." I was like, yeah, "I'm a Seattle Vegetarian."

This totally cracked me up. I guess that's just what it is when you live in a Seafood town. I told him that since I am also Scandinavian, I get a double pass.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Greek Salad! So simple and so yummy. Only a little chopping required.


Greek Salad for two
Half a cucumber
1-2 roma tomatos
2-3 oz feta
1/4-1/2 an onion
E.V. olive oil
red wine vinegar
salt, pepper, and oregano.

I don't tend to measure any of this, just chop up the veggies, top with feta, sprinkle the salt, pepper and oregano on top, then drizzle oil and vinegar, and toss. If you like them add kalamatas. Charlie doesn't like them that much, so we usually don't.

We ate this salad with the Moosewood Cookbook's Fish a la Greque and Greek Potatoes.


Both are made in the oven. The potatoes are a basic roast potato dish with a ton of lemon juice and oregano added. The fish is a white fish topped with tomato, onion and feta cheese. Delicious. I also added some dill and served this with some tzatziki because i can't resist it. Let me know if you want the recipe.

Favorite Products

Some pictures of stuff I'm always using, just for reference. This is smoked paprika, I used to pay a lot for it at the Spanish Table (left) and now have found a cheaper source (right) at Costco. Note that the Spanish Table sells three flavors though, sweet, bittersweet and spicy, see Picante on the label? They are not kidding. I am pretty much addicted to the smoky flavor of this stuff and I put it on everything.  
Spike is sold as a low-sodium salt substitute, it's main ingredient is nutritional yeast. I find that what it is really good for is creating depth, umami for lack of a better term. It's especially good in scrambled tofu, but handy in anything that is just missing something.
 
Bacon salt is pretty funny to me. I haven't quite figured out how to use it, but it's vegetarian, kosher, and tasty. It was good on top of a soup that i used to put bacon in or on the tomatoes for a Fake BLT.
 
Chipotle tabasco, like smoked paprika, i can't get enough of this. Awesome on eggs, chili, quesadillas, anything.
 

Slowcooker Morroccan Summer Vegetable Stew

 This didn't photograph nearly as well as it tastes, but I thought I would include it anyway. This is one of those really flexible dishes as far as spices and summer vegetables go. I always use eggplant, but zucchini or peppers or both whatever is fine there.

Slowcooker Morroccan Stew
Makes 3 quarts

1 eggplant
2 cans stewed/diced tomatoes
1 zucchini
1 pepper
1 onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
1 can garbanzo beans
1-2 Tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon cumin
1.5 tablespoons cinnamon

Add everything to the slowcooker (dice the vegetables, mince the garlic, open the cans and drain the beans) and cook on low for up to 10 hours, 8 is fine. Or cook in half the time on high. Serve on Quinoa for extra protein (shown) or the traditional couscous. Add more olive oil for a more decadent meal.

Pictures from my kitchen

 
This lovely picture is my fruit bowl after we've eaten most of the fruit from the csa. I love the rainbow.
  This is my favorite seasoning. Probably not "green," but it's very good. :)

Mintz Dairy Free Blintz - Rave Review

Oh my god these are good. I picked them up just out of curiosity, I had no idea how dreamy they would be. They cook in a minute in the microwave, are sold 6 for $3 or so at Trader Joe's, and are only 140 calories. They're made by tofutti, so they are dairy free, but after some checking around on the label I discovered they aren't truly vegan. They are shown here topped with Erica's awesome Blackberry Jam.

 

Salmon Hash

 This may actually be my last dish of Winter 2010 featuring leftover roasted root vegetables. The only roots left in my fridge are sunchokes, which I will be making a lovely bisque out of.

Salmon Hash
Serves 2

1 can salmon
1 cup roasted root vegetables
2 eggs
1 cup spinach (optional)

This is pretty straight forward. Heat up the salmon and already cooked roots in a saute pan, stir in spinach, salt and pepper. Top with a fried egg. YUM.

 

Plum Bistro - Eat Here

The Plum Bistro is near SU, so we popped over there for lunch on class break Saturday. It's on 12th Avenue along with many other impressive eateries. I've actually meant to check this place out for awhile, ever since I heard it's Tobey Maguire's favorite restaurant in Seattle. There aren't too many high end vegan places and it did not disappoint. The menu is small, but filled with amazing, creative options. Super tasty and exotic. I had the Puerto Rican Mofongo with fried tempeh, which was mind blowingly good and might have been based on this recipe, click just to see the awesome picture.

I loved this place down to the cucumber water and the fragrant lilies on the table and I can't wait to go back on my next Saturday class.

Mango Shrimp Avocado Salad

This is a completely awesome combination. I wanted to make it a bit heartier since I am in one dish meal mode this year, so I also included tomato, cucumber and arugala. We really enjoyed this, but Charlie said he would skip the cucumber next time. I used arugala because I had it, but you could use other lettuce or just stick with the core ingredients of mango, shrimp and avocado.

Mango Shrimp Avocado Salad
Serves 2
 
1 mango
22 precooked shrimp with tails off
1 avocado
1 roma tomato
half cucumber
2 cups arugala
2 green onions

Dressing
1 sprig thai basil (optional, but very good)
juice of half a lime
0.5 tablespoon mango chili vinegar from Trader Joe's (see pic)
sprinkle of smoked paprika
salt and pepper

Note - in lieu of the mango chili vinegar, try seasoned rice vinegar and a bit of chili pepper

More Nearly Spring Happiness

The smell of sarcococca is in the air, the track team is doing push ups on the SU quad equivalent, the hellebores are blooming. It's glorious today and even though I have to spend the evening in Econ, at least the professor is awesome and is teaching me how to be a better liberal.