Best of 2011: Tastes of the Year

A banner year of fabulous vegan and gluten-free food!

2011 started out a bit rough with a family member ill in Seattle, but there were upsides — lots of game and movie nights and being close to Pizza Pi (see also: Smell of the Year) for take out.

A discovery in home-cooking: miracles can be wrought with raw cashew nuts (vegan alfredo sauce and banana creme pie).

A friend cooked me dinner: walnuts, dried cranberries, romaine leaf with sesame-ginger dressing; rice pasta with sundried tomatoes, zucchini, olives, artichoke hearts; coconut ice cream and vegan, gluten-free brownies; red wine

Who knew there was such good eating in Madison, Wisconsin? At WisCon, I enjoyed: today's tarkari: grilled zucchini, garlic, Ajwain seeds and fried mustard at Himal Chuli; popcorn, fresh rolls and orange-carrot juice from a street vendor, and a free plate of tasty beans and greens from The Dandelion Food Cart.

Trying restaurants in Seattle when it is a bit of a drive can be risky, but there are so many new spots with vegan and gluten free foods: Plum Bistro (avocado roll), St. Dames (tasty curry), and The Highline (sweet potato tots). Cafe Flora (cornmeal waffles topped with apricot confiture or vegan marscapone—see also sights of the year) and Wayward Vegan Cafe (hearty omelets and scrambles with big sides of steamed kale) remained breakfast favorites.

I like a jammy Cabernet —14 Hands, the house wine at my local Irish pub may be a new favorite. But is it vegan? (Update: Eep, no! An egg white fining process is used to remove tannins. The quest for a fav Cab continues...)

The weekly Box of Good from Klesick Family Farms, provides many fabulous sights — the fruits and vegetables are so beautiful‚ but tastes too, of course, a stand out — those concord grapes.

At Thanksgiving, it was the time for the vegan, gluten-free, pumpkin pie taste-off: Wheatless in Seattle had the best gingersnap crust; Flying Apron was sweetest and best warm, two homemade versions were good, but the best discovery was a pecan and date crust — simple and delicious (see also banana creme pie — with walnuts and dates)!

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Shel Graves' Sensorium

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