Sunday, June 24, 2007

Dinner and a Mystery

Thank you to everyone who left such heart-warming congratulations! We thoroughly enjoyed our week. I didn't do a lot of cooking and we dined out a lot, which isn't all that easy as a vegan sometimes. Mostly I take photos of what I make, but I had to blog about the most spectacular meal of the week, at Sacred Garden on Bank at Riverside. It is a completely vegetarian Thai restaurant. We've been there once before and were impressed, but this time we were totally blown away. I'm just getting used to taking my camera out of the kitchen, and had polished off the amazing Tom Yum Soup before it dawned on me to take a photo of it. The second course was the Green Papaya Salad.



I don't think I'd ever be able to reproduce it since green papayas have eluded me in the grocery store. It was excellent.

For the main course, we had Red Panang Curry.



The menu describes it as a dry curry, and being a lover of juicy things, I was pleasantly surprised that it had a creamy coconut sauce and was absolutely to die for.

We also chose the less exotic Pad Thai, which was really good.



Last, off the specials board, I noticed a dessert advertised as vegan, which I had to order just because the restaurant knew that having a vegan dessert was important. Since we were both full, Pete and I decided to share. It was the very best dessert I have ever had in my life.



Sweet and icy coconut milk surrounded soft fresh coconut slivers and tiny pink tapioca pearls. Pete graciously let me have the last spoonful. Perhaps he saw the crazed look in my eye and became a little frightened.

If you live in Ottawa and are veg*n, or just looking for a fantastic meal, try the Sacred Garden. Maybe the fake shrimp in the soup will freak you out a little, but the food will be exquisite.

On a seasonal note, the local pick-your-own-berries farm opened!



We're thinking that given one week of sunny days, there will be so many ripe strawberries on the plants that you can just sit in one spot and fill a basket.

This mystery vegetable arrived in our CSA box this week.



Does anyone know what it is or what to do with it?

12 comments:

Unknown said...

Those look to me like they are long beans.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_bean

They are used a lot in Chinese cooking, though I have a few Thai recipes that use them as well.

Judy said...

I've never been there, nor have I even heard of it. I'll have to check it out.

Columbus Foodie said...

They are garlic scapes, the tender shoots of hard-neck garlic. They have a garlicky flavor to them - you can cut them up for stir fry, or throw them in the food processor with some olive oil, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese to make garlic scape pesto for pasta - the pesto freezes very well for later in the year.

Tracy said...

Garlic scapes - you're exactly right columbus foodie! They tasted great chopped up in our vegan quesadillas tonight! Thanks!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

hmm... I've never heard of garlic scapes - I wonder if they're available at my local Whole Foods; they look intriguing! and wow, those strawberries look incredibly tasty. I just LOVE fresh berries.

Everyday Superhero said...

Hi Tracy, I've heard good things about the Sacred Garden but haven't tried it yet. Your meal looks and sounds fantastic. My Hubby loves Panang.

By the way, what co-op are you using? We signed up for one and have yet to get anything. :-(

Anonymous said...

I agree--garlic scapes. I got them in my CSA quite a bit last year. They are good! You can add them to sautes or stir fries or tofu scrambles...yum!

Courtney

Kati said...

Yum - everything looks delicious! I've never been strawberry picking, but I'd really like to go...unfortunately, it will have to wait until next summer when I'm actually in closer proximity to some farms.

I was going to guess that your mystery veggie were ramps, but it looks like I was mistaken!

Anonymous said...

I was wondering, which pick-your-own berry farm are you referring to? I live in Ottawa and have been meaning to research a good strawberry farm (i.e. minimal pesticide use!) to pick berries at. I have the Buy Local Food guide but haven't gotten around to giving a whole bunch of farmers a call.

Tracy said...

veggie vixen - our CSA contact info is:

Tim and Roshan Aubin
613-658-5721
aubinfarm@aol.com

A veggie box is $30 delivered to your door and it is organic!

keira - We picked berries at Shouldice Farm on Woodroffe. I'm not sure if they are organic, but at least they didn't travel all the way from California! If you find a pick-your-own organic farm, please let us know!

Everyday Superhero said...

Tracy, Thanks for the info. I wish I had known weeks ago. We already paid $500 for the summer and are still waiting...I'll have to check out Shouldice for the berries.

Sheree' said...

Yep they are garlic scapes. We have them in our Whole foods right now and our hardware store has them in their garden section. I had never seen them before this year.