A Pike Place Dinner
While in Seattle, Pike Place Market is a must. It is a vegan’s paradise. The endless amounts of fresh fruit and vegetable stands are only the tip of the iceberg. There were several stands with other goodies such as chocolate covered local cherries (perfect to bring back to my coworkers) and delicious infused olive oils to name a few. The first half of the market was filled with gorgeous, perky flowers.
The Market pictured below. It is quite the experience if you have not been there yet.
As I already said, it is a vegan paradise!!
One produce stand was sampling the “Oh My God” peaches. Sign below (backside of the sign said another profanity as displayed...hehe). The first words out of my mouth was “oh my gosh” and we immediately purchased enough for a large fruit salad. It was literally unreal, melt in your mouth, sweet Washington peaches. I might go as far to say life changing.
We also threw papaya, mango, raspberries, and the biggest blueberries I have ever seen into the mix. If you don’t know, papaya is actually quite low in phenylalanine. It is comparable to the phe in an apple. However, it is tricky to find a good one in New England so I had to treat myself when I saw these juicy bad boys.
I loved the hustle and bustle of the corridor.
The best sign is pictured below. My biggest pet peeve is when people at the grocery store squeeze all that gorgeous produce.
My favorite shop carried food that supports the Mediterranean diet I tend to follow. There were endless olives, tapenades, oils, roasted tomatoes, and fresh, house-made mozzarella (my Italian husband’s favorite). This inspired me to make an olive oil infused with garlic for the veggies. We purchased the mozzarella and an olive tapenade and moved on.
As we passed through the various stands there were samples of peaches and seafood stand. A must is Pike Place Fish Market where they throw fish to their customers prior to wrapping the fish up. This is a fun tradition to experience with performances included. I have a video of a customer catching the fish but unfortunately, am unable to upload.
The main dish was roasted veggies with garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and market-fresh basil over quinoa or low protein Aproten fusilli (spirals). Again, while on vacation my pasta options are more limited and if I was home I would have prepared a mix of Aproten Anellini and Cambrooke Short Grain Rice as the combo of the two gives a nice texture that I can only assume is similar to quinoa. I do not like the Anellini on its own so have experimented a little. The infused garlic and parsley in olive oil is pictured below. It worked to serve as the perfect seasoning.
With the mozzarella, I used more of the market fresh basil and tomatoes to make a caprese salad.
For my dish I used the Follow Your Heart sliced smoked gouda. This is one of my favorite low protein cheeses to purchase at the store. This does not have any added pea protein, soy or tofu, which all make me cringe to eat. Ingredients are pictured below.
Pictured below are all the veggies from the market ready to be roasted. I roast on a high temperature with a convection oven for best results (convect bake 425 until crispy). Turn them once so both sides crisp up.
Drizzle olive oil, salt, and pepper on top and serve. Also pairs well with lychee sangria. Post on the way!
