Ginger's Kitchenware = Real Sharp Knives

Every time I go into Ginger's Kitchenware on Newport (across from Newport Market), I'm so pleased. Many might know it as the specialty kitchen supply store, fancier than Williams-Sonoma, where Ginger holds court, and where you can purchase the latest culinary gadgetry (silicone egg poachers anyone?). However, I know Ginger's Kitchenware as the place to get my knives sharpened in one day, for $4 per knife. This is a great deal! Don't hack away at another onion tonight, or smoosh a perfect tomato with a dull blade -- get 'em sharp again at Ginger's!

A Vegan Lasagna, Off The Cuff

I had a giant 8-ball zucchini (from the garden!), carrots, garlic, collard greens, broccoli and canned tomato products in the house: that spelled lasagna. I've been trying to eat more raw food than not, so all the vegetables went into the lasagna raw, in the hopes that only 45 minutes of baking would leave more nutrients than might otherwise be there with all the cooking that normally precedes lasagna assemblage. More nutrients or not, I discovered a better way to assemble a vegetarian lasagna -- large slices of uncooked vegetables and thick layers of vegetables with minimal sauce makes a nice, moist casserole without any excess water. It holds its shape like a torte.

1/4 inch thick slices of zucchini or squash
head of broccoli, chopped into small pieces
collard green leaves or kale leaves
shiitake mushrooms
marinara of choice
no-boil lasagna noodles
topping of grated carrot and minced garlic

layer: sauce, noodles, sauce, mushrooms, collard leaf, zucchini, noodles, sauce, broccoli, collard leaf, zucchini, noodles, sauce, carrot/garlic topping. Bake 350 for 45 minutes and enjoy layers and layers of lightly-baked vegetables.

A Day Eating In Southeast Portland

I was in Portland the other day for fun and to hear Brian Clement from the Hippocrates Health Institute give a lecture on raw food. It was lunchtime when I pulled into the big city, so I just pointed the car toward the Southeast part of town where the lecture was taking place. Well, ya know ya can't swing a dead cat in Portland without hitting a worthy eatery, and lo, one block from my parked car was VegeThai, Portland's "only all-vegetarian Thai restaurant". That means no fish sauce, either. I ordered vegetable pad thai and I would be enthusiastic about this place if they hadn't skimped MAJOR on the veg. Spent the meal turning over rice noodles in a futile attempt to find more cabbage and broccoli. Reasonable price, though, at $7.50. I would give this place another shot -- and order something different.

4 hours later, it was time for dinner, which I had planned pretty meticulously. Back across Hawthorne from VegeThai, at 32nd, is Belly Timber, the newish modern American place housed in a massive corner Victorian. I skipped the outdoor seating, as it was in the 90s, and went straight for the bar area. A bit muggy inside this joint, but I prefer that over blasting air conditioning. The service was awesome. I started with a taste of Hub Lager, a local brew. I'm still in love with IPAs, so this just tasted like Bud to me -- blech. So I went ahead and ordered a Puka Sahib (which is Victorian slang, male mixologist informed me, for "excellent fellow" and often used in colonial-era literature). It contains: Medoyeff vodka from Portland, lemon juice, and Trillium absinthe, from Portland). Our proprietors are leaders in the locally-sourced movement, it turns out, as I coincidentally read in the PDX indy-weekly, not only serving local alcohols, but featuring vegetables grown in the front lawns of Southeast Portland neighborhoods for Sellwood Garden Club. Way cool!!

On to dinner, then -- the free bread was a treat, with its sourdough perfection and house-made salts: one a smokey anise flavored, and one a carrot salt. They also put some sugar in their salt, which was nice, but not subtle. Appetizer was the Dungeness crab cakes ($9) with fennel potato salad and red pepper oil. Though salty, there wasn't a crumb left on my plate, as I used the last of my bread to clean up the pepper oil. Potato salad was perfect little squares of potato, very al dente; ok, too al dente, but that didn't stop me from inhaling them.



My main was the Mushroom and Goat Cheese Torta (half order, $8), which I can't stop thinking about. On the bottom of the perfect pastry was a layer of caramelized shallots. The filling was overwhelmingly goat cheesy, in a good way, but with giant chanterelles to interrupt the creaminess. The slice was laid on chard and barley: again salty, but I love salt. Perhaps I should say "well-seasoned". The dish was finished with pickled celery and radish, which I could have done without, but whatever: pickled veg is good for you. The standouts on this dish are the generous and exotic mushrooms, the obviously quality goat cheese, and the perfection of the crust. I hope this place makes it for the long haul -- its enviro-heart is in the right place, and I truly enjoyed every bite.