Eating our Way through Thailand!

Both Thailand and Vietnam had much to offer for gluten free and vegetarian/pescatarian eating, however, I did eat some noodles that may have been suspect as they did not look like rice noodles. But got no acne as my personal indicator that there was wheat in the noodles-it could have been the side effects of doxyclycline medicine taken for malaria prevention though.  Be aware many dishes use fish sauce and dried shrimp, so if you don't eat seafood, you'll have to ask them to leave off these items. Today's post contains my top 5 must-do's in Thailand and next time I'll share Vietnam's treasures!

1. Prepare ahead of time with the right tools! 

If you speak Thai, or lucky enough to be travelling with someone who does, then this won't be much use to you...however, my travel mate and I collectively just know English, Chinese and a little Spanish. 

For all the cities in Thailand or Vietnam we went, whether large or small, the vendors might know English, or they might not. You may have tried to watch a video on pronunciation but you could still get sideways glances-such much tonal based in the SE Asia languages! I also found some vendors that could neither understand my likely poor pronunciation or did not read/maybe did not have glasses to read-but usually having the following helped me navigate. 

For non-native speakers in either country, it can be helpful to:

• Have written out (in Roman letters and the Thai characters) to verbally ask questions about the dishes (if you have food allergies, sensitivities or preferences) or show the vendor.  
• Download Google translate's dictionary in case your Wi-Fi or network connection is weak. Even in the big cities we had this issue with our phones. 
• Have a cheap calculator to pull out to negotiate prices for your meal if it isn't printed/posted elsewhere.
• Upon returning I came upon this nice resource for vegans  visiting Thailand, downloadable audio clips to play for a vendor. 

2.  Eat Khao Niaow Bing (Grilled sticky rice)

We could find these at night markets and permanent markets in Chiang Mai as well as Krabi. Cheap and filling-but do make sure to ask the vendor which ones are vegetarian or vegan as some use meat or egg. We had sweet ones with banana and taro root.

3. Go for a cooking lesson while you are in Chiang Mai. 

We paid $40 USD in Nov 2018 for Benny's Home Cooking school for a ~6 hour lesson that includes transportation and samples too. She had hundreds of glowing reviews on Trip Advisor. All expectations were met.  While at the market she had us sample Chiang Mai sausage-not vegetarian though- the grilled rice, and a rice-based Thai pancake.

We made five different dishes: appetizer, soup, noodle dish, curry and dessert. She will accommodate everyone-vegetarian, gluten-free, peanut allergies, you name it-no menu depending on which day you go-you'll make what you want from her extensive choices any day she is having classes. My friend and I also got hooked on the fun blue peaflower drink (she sells the mix there as well)-it's a cool party trick or if you have kids I think they will really enjoy it. You can get her pre-made curry paste for days when you don't have time to hand-grind  or source all the ingredients.

She gives a nicely printed book with all of the recipes inside. She gives clear instructions and demonstrations, the class size is limited to ensure she/her helpers can get to you, and has great pacing skills.

Go to Trip Advisor to see available dates (link above) and sign up! She does fill up! 

Yes, you get to grind the fresh ingredients for curry!

Beautiful Soups

Stunning spring rolls with the peaflower 

Hot wok! Beware of the Pad Kee Mow (Drunken noodles) you could get chili aromatics up your nostrils!

In the foreground, this is the chef/teacher Benny!

4. Eat Khanom Krok (Rice pancakes)

Look for the cast iron equipment to find these beauties. Chef Benny told us that Thais often enjoy dishes involving both sweet and savory together. These bite sized gluten free pancakes that use rice and coconut milk as a base also have green onions inside. 

5. Wua Lai Road/Saturday Night Market in Chiang Mai

When you arrive in SE Asia, you will immediately understand why night markets! For the climate factor and the pure size compared to outdoor markets I've seen in the US. Los Angeles and Bay Area folks may be able to better shed light on Asian night markets in the US though. More so I check out farmer's markets wherever I live and travel.

I liked having fruit shakes/smoothies for "survival". I know some relatives were concerned about food sanitation while I went abroad, but I had also read some blogs/online articles that most major cities are safe with their ice -I didn't have any stomach problems until the last 3 days of my trip while we were in Vietnam. Anyway, you can get the shakes at night markets, restaurants or street vendors. It varies as to whether they have real fruit, have powders for the boba type drinks or syrups. The quality varies too-how much ice is put in vs fruit. I have no real tips for this-just be prepared to have varied experiences. But you are paying about $2 USD for smoothies you'd probably get for $4-6 in the US.

Also pick up giant bottles of water at the Circle K or convenience store to hydrate. You can find the Eno-salts at the stores for electrolytes, or maybe you are a bit of a pack-rat like me and brought Emergen-C for the plane so that can also help with dehydration. We had so many different tropical fruit smoothies during our trip to Asia! I think my favorites were kiwi (pictured below) , passion fruit and jack fruit.

 You may also find some unusual eats at this night market. I was too chicken to try the insect. All kinds of other meats, seafoods or mushrooms on skewers if you aren't so adventurous. 

One tip I read online for vegetarian/vegan food was to look for yellow background with red lettering on signs-this was handy for navigating the sea of food stalls at the night market. Usually it means vegetarian/vegan. I really only found one vendor specifically with vegan/vegetarian only menu. This vendor at the night market also had designated table for "chay" (vegan) patrons. I had spicy mushroom glass noodles that had a zippy lime dressing. 

Be aware, even with the printed price, vendors may ask you for more-this could be because I was obviously not Thai or it could be because their menus were outdated. I wasn't saavy/ready to negotiate on my first day there so I just let it be. 

Hope you enjoyed a peek into the highlights of my first week in Asia. 

Questions to readers:

1. What is the oddest item you have eaten on your travels?

2. Have you recreated any dishes that you ate while on vacation?

Eating Out in the Central Valley California (Modesto and Fresno)

No, we're not SF, LA or SD. We don't claim to be. Population-wise we look at about 200,000 in Modesto and 400,000 in Fresno. I grew up in Modesto and spent some time here last year during my summer internship and also after graduation studying for my boards. I am back again while I reboot  the job hunt after a glorious 2 weeks in Asia for fun with a friend. I am pleasantly surprised by some of the food offerings here, and hope to keep the creative, healthy restaurants around-in part writing Google reviews and a smaller part here in case anyone comes through the valley on business or en route to visiting friends in the bay area/Sacramento...or for anyone ending up moving to the lesser known central valley.

Spending time in Fresno made me happier than I imagined-most of you I know from San Diego...so that might be hard to believe coming from beach-city, pleasant weather 90% of the year. I mentioned fresh produce availability in my last post, but the variety of dining out is enough for eating out 1-2x/week. If you LOVE national parks, then Fresno has 3 within 2-4 hours of driving depending what part of the parks you want to be in. But I digress-on to the food related!

Armenian
Phoenician Garden (Fresno), 1025 Herndon Ave, Suite 106. I am in love with their fish kabobs, gotten them all 3 times I have visited and brought 3 different groups of friends or family here.


Chinese Food
Hunan (Fresno), 6176 N Cedar Ave, Suite 104. The staff was helpful when I explained I needed to have noodles made with rice and no added flours-we got a seafood noodle soup that was messy but delicious. I cannot speak to soy sauce as I am not sensitive to wheat/gluten on that level.

Imperial Garden (Modesto), 2045 W Briggsmore Ave, Suite A-1. A family favorite. I enjoy their sizzling rice with shrimps the most.  My mom always orders the spicy green beans. Again I don't speak to soy sauce use...sorry readers here for that.

Farmer's Markets
Fresno: Vineyards Farmer's Market, 3-6pm on Wednesdays, 7am-12pm on Fridays on 100 West Shaw Avenue. I've only gone on Saturdays. Do yourself a favor and try some of the fresh Mediterranean food-I bought a box of dolmas (made vegetarian and naturally gluten free). Try Bob's honey-thick stuff but yummy garlic-honey or dark-chocolate honey. I enjoy the Japanese lady who sells different mushrooms and sweet potatoes, also tempted to buy her plum wine vinegar. There is a vendor who sells different types of humanely raised porks-it's pricey as most meats of this kind are. Many other great produce vendors!

Modesto (Seasonal), 8am-1pm Thursdays & Saturdays on 16th Street between H and I: Last one Dec 15, until late spring I believe. This place has really grown since my middle school days. Not only produce now, but among my favorites are: MJC students bring their chicken eggs, a bay area person sampled shiitake mushroom jerky, tamale vendor with vegetarian options (including no lard in the dough), candles, DragonFly tea room. If you like papusas-got to try eating one fresh at the market here. They have a restaurant in Riverbank, CA but for some reason it tastes 10x better at the market IMHO.

Sushi
Have to say verdict is still out on this one for Fresno. I tried a few but I feel the sushi rice isn't done the way I like (balance of sweet and sour, Dad taught me to do 1:1 ratio).

In Modesto, my family's go to is Sushi Garden, 3500 Coffee Road. They used to run a restaurant in Stockton which we would drive 40 minutes for with our family friends we called the "DR's" . I recommend the simple sushi chirashi if you're ok with raw fish, or if you're like my dad and do not do egg or do not like seasoned sushi rice, then go for sashimi plate. This place does carry gluten-free soy sauce! Just ask for it.

Tea
Tapei 101 (Fresno). Quiet place nice for hosting meetup.com meet and greets. Comfy couches and decent sized table to hang out at. My favorite drink to order is the REAL avocado smoothie. You can order snacks here as well, but most are deep fried or meat-centric so I cannot give recommendations on that. They have some adorable office type supplies for sale when you walk in as well. I forget to take a close look since I usually meet friends here but...one day.

Dragonfly Tea Room-Afternoon tea set sweet version. Which they apparently no longer have as of December 2018 when I last visited. But you can pick savory too plate with 3 tea sandwiches, fruit , a scone and a pot of tea of your choice for $15 or $17 (picture below).  Check ahead for gluten-free availability. 

Mom ordered a regular sized and crust included sandwich and salad. These were not gluten free.

Sister ordered a nice big fruit and nut salad. 

Dragonfly Tea Room (Modesto), Tues-Fri 10am-5pm, Saturdays 8am-5pm, 835 W Roseburg Ave.
My meetup.com friends introduced me to this establishment and it is a lot of fun! The tea menu is extensive. They also have "happy hour" and daily teas that are on sale. You can buy loose leaf tea here as well. I enjoy that they have gluten-free dessert options, and they were able to accommodate my friend who has nut allergies.

Thai
Pad Thai (198 Shaw Avenue, Clovis-pretty much Fresno): Generous dinner portions-prepare to take home 2-3 portions of leftover-possibly even if you and another person share two dishes! Enjoyable flavor. I have had red curry, noodles  (pad see ew and drunken noodles) and tom yum here. All solid choices.  I did not ask them if they can swap soy sauce for gluten-free soy.

Lao Thai (4937 E Kings Canyon Rd, Fresno). Ate here because one time my lunch got thrown away as someone made good on cleaning out unlabeled items in the work fridge. Really enjoyed the rich flavors of pad see ew. Not yet vetted for true gluten free options.

Until next time readers, and I still plan to give a rundown on some of the foods to try should you go to Thailand or Vietnam!

Questions for you:
1) Is there a cuisine or dish you've tried this year that you can't stop thinking about?
2) What is your favorite winter recipe?
3) Has anyone successfully gotten a restaurant to switch to more eco-friendly to-go containers?

The tale of two okras: Bhindi & Luffa/Sinqa (Chinese Okra)

Whoops, a year has passed since I last wrote! I am sorry by now okras are not in season, I drafted this and promptly forgot about it. Life of a new grad and working full time, living in a new city!

I graduated from school in Texas and from May to November did travel occupational therapy in the central valley of CA . I grew up in the valley so I am seasoned to the 100+ degree summers. The fires in nearby Yosemite made the sky smoky and brown most days when the wind shifts just such. I hoped each day people could get out and the fire fighters come home at the end of the day.

In a future post, I will give my recommendations for gluten-free eating out in the central valley (Modesto and Fresno) where I spent my summer/fall. I recently traveled to Thailand and Vietnam with one of my close friends Yanny, and will highlight some foods eaten, recommend cooking schools and general travel itinerary for 1 week in each country. Likely these will be separate posts and hopefully sooner than another year from now!

Surprisingly enough I enjoyed Fresno-even the hot weather gives me some opportunities to do indoor activities I might not otherwise: Get up at 5am to get bootcamp done before it's like an oven (no excuses!), catch up on some Netflix shows (Orange is the New Black, also convinced to try Queer Eye Reboot-I get the feels from this one), make time to do phone calls/video chats with out of town friends.

One of my favorite things about Fresno is the abundance of farmer's markets and all the produce is SO fresh! It can keep for 7-8 days before looking wilty! Over summer, I found the okra I'm familiar with from Cajun cooking and an unfamiliar Chinese okra (aka luffa or sinqua). With the former I based a pan fried dish on My Heart Beets recipe for Bhindi, an Indian okra dish. As the blogger states, you must cook okra long enough to get rid of the slime- much like nopales (cactus)

Simple dish, very fragrant have your fan on/windows open! Tasty with scrambled egg and rice. 

Bhindi- Indian pan fried okra

Serves 3

Materials needed: large frying pan, measuring spoons, knife & cutting board

Ingredients:

Garam Masala -spice mix recipe in link or you can buy it pre-made at an Indian grocer. Use about 1-2 tsp or to taste

Okra-3 cups chopped into 1/4" pieces

Ginger-1 tbsp -I used a paste from Target, but I'm sure fresh tastes even better

1 jalepeno finely diced if you like some heat

1 clove garlic finely diced

Oil of choice for pan frying-I used  1-2 tbsp

1. Wash and drain your okra before cutting. Dice your jalepeno and garlic keeping them separate from the okra.

2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in large frying pan for a few minutes on medium heat. Then add the garam masala, jalepeno, ginger and garlic saute until garlic gets golden but not burnt. Remove to a plate. 

3. Heat another tbsp of oil in the frying pan for a few minutes. Add the okra and cook 10-12 minutes until slime is cooked off and vegetables are crispy/browned. 

4. Take the pan off heat and add back the garlic-jalepeno mixture. Serve hot with rice or carb of your choice.

Where's the other recipe you ask? Well, I tried making the sinqa (Chinese okra) and it was too bitter for my liking. So any one have recommendations for making it less so or picking a less bitter one? Or is there an ingredient/recipe that helps complement the bitter? 

Let me know, how was your summer? Highlights of fall? Was 2018 a year to remember or say adios as fast as possible?

Roasted Eggplant and Creamy Rosemary Quinoa Salad

As you can tell from a lack of posts, occupational therapy school has overtaken my life. I do still cook, very often in fact. But finding the energy for shopping specific ingredients, jotting notes, taking photos, finding recipes or making up I truly feel like sharing all have to align.

 What I can say is if you know someone in graduate school, check and see how they are doing. Surprise them with a phone call, or old-fashioned letter. Find out something they might appreciate that you could send electronically even-like an easy recipe if they cook, a song you recently heard that could energize or calm them down, recommend a fun read or podcast for a brain break. Maybe if you want to send a physical item, think about what they've been talking about the weather there-sending a knit hat or a creamy lotion to combat arid climates. It makes me laugh but a friend of mine who did law school said buying her own extra pairs of undies so she didn't have to do laundry as option helped keep her sanity. Funny those gifts we didn't appreciate as kids can be so comforting in stressful adulting times. Off topic from food... so here we go back on track.

Here's a recipe from yours truly that relatively simple and the only thing ahead you'd want to do is soak the cashews the night before. You can take it to school or work and not have to worry too much about refrigeration as there is no meat or dairy and can eat it cold or warm.

Roasted Rosemary Eggplant and Creamy Quinoa Salad

4 servings, each about 305 cal, 12 g fat, 48 g carbs, 10 g protein. 

Materials:

mixing bowl

roasting pan (1 or 2)

blender or food processor

Small pot to cook quinoa in

Ingredients:

 To Roast: 

1/2 onion (coarsely chopped) 

3 small tomatoes (~1.5 cups chopped)

1 Italian eggplant (~ 4 cups chopped)

2 tbsp coconut oil (melted)

1 tsp ground rosemary

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400 F. Toss all ingredients in mixing bowl, then spread in roasting pan(s). Bake 20 min. 

To boil: the quinoa

1 cup quinoa, boil 7-8 minutes  (until you see the spirals pop off. ) And if quinoa's not your thing, pick a grain of your choice-I personally like barley salads. If you can do gluten/wheat, coucous probably will do well here. Just adjust the cooking time to make sense for your ingredient. 

To blend, the Cashew cream sauce:

Soaked 1 cup of cashews in just enough water to cover it overnight. Then pulverize them nuts using your food processor-add just enough water that it makes a creamy consistency (peanut butter like or thinner if you prefer). Will have plenty leftover from this recipe and as a vegan sour cream substitute.  

For a serving of salad, put 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa, 1/4 of the roasted veggies and about 1 tbsp of the cashew cream. Mix up and eat warm or cool. 

Mexican-American Celebration: Handmade corn tortillas

Did you think you would see me again until graduating my master's program? I wasn't sure myself. But embracing the local culture during summer I session has helped get me back on the keyboard. 

For our community engagement course this summer, we had cultural competency as a learning objective. We are put into 3-4 person groups to give a presentation on different racial or ethnic groups in the US and have the option of making a food or beverage from that culture.

Because my group got Latino/Hispanics to study up on, our classmate graciously offered to teach my group how to make corn tortillas from masa, warm water and an optional bit of salt (she says about 1/2 tablespoon per 2 cups of masa). But she also says in that culture, people don't measure they just do it by experience and feel!

They tasted really sublime fresh (crispy outside and fluffy inside) and we used either a heavy book or rolling pin to flatten the dough rather than a tortilla press.

HAND-MADE CORN TORTILLAS

Supplies:

Large gallon zip-lock bags (said to work better than plastic wrap)

scissors

large mixing bowl

heat-ok container to hold warm water (not boiling to save your hands that will be mixing)

cast-iron griddle is best, but in a pinch can use coated frying pan or one of those pancake griddles. 

rolling pin or heavy books (finally you can use those textbooks that just sit around)

Ingredients:

• Masa-finely ground corn flour (this is different from cornmeal)-the masa bag says 2 cups makes 19 tortillas...it really depends how big you make them. The larger they are the more likely they are to curl when cooking and you must press them down with a tool or if on the cheap using a clean towel folded up (to protect your hand).
• Salt (optional)
• Cheese of your choice (optional, we tried Queso Fresco a mild white firm cheese, my friend says the vivid orange Muenster cheese is also popular as a snack with tortilla) or other toppings you enjoy...salsa, avocados, butter, beans...or your carnivore delights. 

0. Before anything else, preheat your griddle or pan over medium heat.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Take your ziplock bag. Cut along the zipper side and its 2 connecting sides, leave the bottom seam of the plastic bag intact. This will be your non-stick surface for pressing/rolling the tortillas.

2. Put your masa into the large bowl. Add your salt if desired. 

3. Add splashes of the warm water at a time, mixing with your CLEAN hands in between water additions. Keep mixing until you get a play-doh like consistency. The dough is not very sticky and easily holds it's shape. If you accidentally add more water, sprinkle some more masa in there. It's a forgiving recipe and my tortilla guru told me you cannot overwork corn tortillas.

4. Roll some balls. Experiment to see what size you want-we made some slightly bigger than golf balls and some that yielded closer to a 5" tortilla). If the dough gets cracks, add a little more water and massage it in. 

5. Place a dough ball on the plastic bag, fold the plastic over and then you can smush using a book or roll using a rolling pin/stick. Use that forearm strength! Make your desired thickness...again your preference.

6. Flip your dough from the plastic onto the griddle/pan. Let the tortilla steam and cook 2-3 minutes each side (or until you can easily flip it to the other side. Cast iron is more likely to give you some charred edges and little black flecks if that is what you enjoy.

7. Remove the tortilla from the pan and let cool just a few moments before you savor with your favorite cheese, avocados, beans or salsa. 

I think the leftovers taste the best if reheated in a toaster oven.

I worked towards one of my goals to reach out to new social groups this summer. I went out on a sunset hike  with a meetup.com group. One person named Jessica and I started talking about food. I had purchased some edible cactus (called Nopales, apparently San Diego has it too but I guess I never went to the right markets) at the Las Cruces farmers market with a classmate---Finally went after being here a year----and wanted ideas of how to cook it. I ended up making a salsa. I'll share it with you next post but it really pretty much is a salsa with adding cactus in place of half of the tomatoes. I'll also try to remember to take pictures of the tart Jamaica tea and share that too. Until next time food lovers!

Have you gone on any physical geographical or food market/restaurant adventures this summer? Please share your latest discovery (positive or negative)  

2 summer vegetarian dishes with one sauce: Rich Roasted eggplant and Lentil-Kale Delight

The original recipe (which I cannot remember if I found on Pinterest or online, can't figure out my phone's browsing history, arg!) dressing is for eggplants plus bell peppers, if you're just doing eggplants probably only need 2-3 tbsp of dressing. But I found it also works nicely on other veggies or I think could make a great lettuce salad dressing too. 

This first recipe will be the best if you can bbq your eggplants in a metal basket to avoid heating up your house, but you can use your oven also. 

Both recipes are eaten cold and are therefore considered by me to be wonderful on a hot, El Paso summer day. 

I will always first remember kale as a decoration in the salad bars that we would use at the dining hall. At the end of the night we would collect them in buckets to be used another day if they weren't wilting yet. Now they are such a trendy food. 

See the little serving of eggplant above the sammie?

Recipe #1 Rich Roasted Eggplant Salad 

Ingredients: 

• 2 Italian egg plants (the big bulbous ones, rather than Japanese or other Asian varieties that are longer. Probably fine to use them but just increase the quantity). Makes about 4 servings. 

Dressing for eggplants (or Lentil and Kale salad)

• ¾ cup of vinegar
• Cumin 1 tbsp
• Salt 1.5 tsp
• Pepper 1 tsp
• 5 roasted garlic cloves-(cooked with the eggplant)

Optional: Toasted nuts. I did about ¾ cup toasted pecans (toast 5 minutes on 300F or on a pan over low). Let cool then break into small pieces to sprinkle on eggplant just before serving

1. Tuck in the garlic cloves whole with the roasted cubed (about ½” pieces) eggplant tossed in olive oil (about 2-3 tsp) in baking dish in a single layer at 400 for 30-40 minutes stirring every 10 until very tender and pieces shrunk to about 1/3 of their original size.

2. Pull out the garlic cloves when soft enough to be easily pierced by a fork. Place dressing ingredients in a blender. Whizzzzzle around until smooth. 

3. Toss with dressing (again try it with just 2-3 tbsp and see how it tastes) and stick in fridge for at least 1 hour to let flavors marinate. Save the rest of your dressing for another meal. Add nuts to each person's serving if you think there will be leftovers so nuts remain crispy. 

Could probably make this more hearty by adding some kind of a bean for protein. Chickpeas perhaps? I went nicely with Liz's tomato-white bean-basil soup (dairy free) and grilled cheese (yay bread maker to have myself a gluten free version).

Recipe #2 Lentil and Kale Delight: 

It will still heat up your kitchen since a pot is boiling 40 minutes.

Allow yourself 40-50 minutes to cook the lentils. It makes enough for about 6 servings.

Ingredients

• 1 cup of dried brown lentils (rinsed and sorted for any stones)
• 1 bundle of kale (any kind, I used the curly version)-rinsed and cutting off the leafy part from the stem. Curly kale steam is very tough usually, you may save it for making a soup stock or compost it. 
• 2 tsp coconut or olive oil

1. Put lentils in a medium pot covered with water (about 3/4 full). If you have a lid with a steam hole, use it. If not just check the beans more often.

2. Drain lentils once they are tender enough (about 40-50 minutes). Check about every 10 minutes to see if more water needs to be added.

3. Prepare the kale by tossing it with 2 tsp of olive or coconut oil and 1 tbsp of lemon juice.

El Paso, TX Eats

Sampling quite the variety of goods that this city has to offer during our house/apartment scouting trip and after being here 2 months for school. Should you have the "fortune" to visit this dusty but relatively large town neighboring Juarez, here are some of my findings of places to eat.

West side of town

The paper came in hand for my juicy turkey burger

 We can't get enough t-rex jokes.

1. Independent Burger-5001 N. Mesa free range meats, fish, and vegetarian selections. And gluten-free buns. Also a build your own Italian soda bar-will have to try this next time. Just what we needed to fuel an all day housing search. Tradition to have burgers once when we're on travel! A classmate has shared that they have $5 Thursday burgers with fries at 8pm. Get there early!

If you don't feel like the rootbeer float at Independent Burger, head across the plaza for gelato. Pistachio rose flavored was a first for me!

2. Koi Japanese Fusion-5860 N. Mesa. Felt so swanky sitting in a polished wooden booth that faced the bar and the horrendously boring Pacquel v. Mayweather fight. I remember a time when I would watch Monday night fights with Dad on TV. But we were happy just to sit after a full day of driving back and forth across town (8:30 am-6:30pm), the poor waiter had no other customers so he checked on us frequently. Dave thought he sounded like (and sort of resembled) the actor who played Spider Man (that Garfield guy) Delicious New York roll and sunomono salad (above) = cucumber with some other seafood. I think Dave was satisfied with his usual nigiri salmon and yellow tail. I wouldn't say the cheese cake is something you MUST go for (I had to try avoid eating the crumbs too)-but they do give you two slices for one order!

3. Ripe Eatery- 910 E. Redd Road. Hooray for shady patio eating and dog friendly. It's actually seeming like EP is very dog friendly (saw nights to take the furry one to the Chihuahua's baseball stadium, a bar downtown that allows dogs during one happy hour a week, several markets that are friendly to dogs). The portions are ENORMOUS. Share with a friend if you tend to avoid leftovers. Dad couldn't finish his fish and chips (and my Dad can eat a surprising amount), even Dave's chicken Caesar was left with leaves in the bowl. You can make the oink face at me as I finished my Portobello Mushroom Rockafeller (almond red pepper pesto! Yummmmm, can I just get a huge tub of that to take home and freeze?) that included two mushroom caps on polenta.

4. Tara Thai Kitchen-2606 N. Mesa St. I came for dinner this summer with classmates after a friendly table tennis game at the rec center. The food was really tasty and I was happy with my level of medium spice, albeit for a vegetarian dish I was a little floored by the $15 price tag, even for dinner (compared to San Diego standards, supply and demand I suppose). Perhaps their lunch prices are more what I'm used to. Portions are at least large though, my party had leftovers. Only other trouble was their air conditioning doesn't work very well, it was stuffy. I'm wondering if it uses swamp cooling.

Central side of town (just east of the Franklin mountains, a local told me, we're still considered central NOT east)

1. Cattle Baron's Steak and Seafood-1700 Airway Blvd. Honestly went here because we were tired on our first night in from San Diego's flight. Their $9.99 salad bar for a gluten-free, veggie-lovin' person was fabulous. Four different desserts I could have (puddings and mousse), and many prepared and plain fixins for the leafy greens. If you enjoy Soup Plantation, you'd like this place too. They did have at least one other location in El Paso.

2. Cuauhtemoc Cafe-6840 Montana Avenue. We needed something close to the airport. I had to call to get hours (get ready to use your Spanish, I surprised Dave "A que hora de operacion?"....no idea if that even makes grammatical sense but had to try again with "Que es las horas abierto?" Hooray high school skills. Will definitely need to brush up going to grad school here) since they didn't have a website. The waitress did speak English, just not the person who answered the phone. Sadly their beans were not vegetarian but I opted for the cheese enchiladas. I savored the salsa, but felt the sauce on the main dish needed some extra zip. So salsa saved the day. Portions were generous.

3. Korea House- 4601 Hondo Pass Rd. Craving spicyness on your lips to last until bedtime? Look no further! Large array of the sides and a good sized helping on the main dishes. I ordered a spicy squid, which the waitress assured me was not made with any kind of flour. The sauteed onion and squash in the squid paired so nicely. I would have shared this dish with another person if I knew the serving size, but the guys were set on having their beef anyway. They had a few kinds of fish I had never heard of, so next time I will be more adventurous. I think they did also have some tofu dishes but I didn't get to ask if they were vegetarian.

4. Kabob House- 7500 N Gateway Blvd. The Yelp reviews cautioned you need to just look for a gas station because it is not presently obvious that a Persian gem lies inside the walls. The owner/chef would like to have something scrolling on the sign outside soon. He actually shared with us that it used to be a Subway but that went terribly awry (very odd business model) but he didn't give up and converted it. I wouldn't say you want to come here if you want a romantic night out. The ding, ding! of the gas station door constantly could spoil the mood. Then again we arrived just when a large tour bus did. Make sure to ask the owner which items can be vegetarian since the description may not be clear. I also had the disadvantage of not being very familiar with Persian dishes. But the man was really gracious and quickly made me a tasty cilantro-bean-lime stew free of beef.  It inspires me to make a mushroom based one in the near future. I hope next time the pistachio ice cream is in stock.

5. Lucky Cafe-3831 Alameda Ave. Came here by mistake meaning to go check out Good Luck Cafe just a few building down. Bright gecko green exterior, you can't miss it. Also open 24 hours. Late night study break? I loved that they had vegetarian refried beans with the breakfast menu and a man providing acoustic guitar and singing. Just the right amount of spicy salsa. They did have chilaquiles which my old-coworkers seem to really enjoy, so I'll have to try that next time. Got your standard coffee, nothing special, not too strong, and smooth.

6. Kiki's- 2719 N. Piedras. A classmate recommended this place, and at least 16 of us came over during prime lunch hour on a weekday after our first grad school exam. We waited half an hour to sit all together, not bad for having no reservation in such a small place. Fantastic green sauce enchiladas and vegetarian beans! My classmates note that the margaritas are made with white wine as they only carry beer and wines at present. Small parking lot, try carpooling...or it's near residences so plenty of parking with a short walk.

7. Chun Ju Korean 3901 Broaddus Ave. Chosen based on Yelp reviews. I braved trying a new dish, "belt fish" which was very bony (and I was warned) and took great effort to eat. It was just lightly seasoned if at all, not what you want to pick if you're looking for a spicy dish. My classmate who is Korean says there is a trick to getting the meat off easily but she failed to show it to me at the time! The sides were wonderful and they offered to refill them. I think overall everyone was happy, though the expert said that they just had very basic dishes (comparing to LA). I'm pretty limited in what I eat anyway, so I am ok with smaller menus as long as it's done right.

PLACES RECOMMENDED TO ME that I have yet to try:
Chopes-Hatch, NM. Enormous portions.
State Line BBQ-I checked, they don't appear to serve free range, but there is fish! We did go to hear their free summer series concerts on a Wednesday night.

Cattleman's Ranch-also have animals to go see and movie sets. Seafood is available.