Cherry Creek Fresh Market, Take Two

Back at the Cherry Creek Fresh Market this weekend, where the number of produce options (and the number of produce stands) had expanded greatly since my last visit.

Lots and lots of summer squash and other veggies...



... along with plums, peaches, apricots, cantalope, cherries...


... and dog after dog, just waiting for some food to drop.

Cherry Creek Fresh Market
Saturdays May 3 through October 25, 8:00 am - 1:00 pm
Wednesdays June 4 through September 24, 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
North Cherry Creek Dr. & University

Ask Before Ordering at Rocky Mountain Diner

Rocky Mountain Diner promises food just like Grandma's. Apparently, "Grandma" used a lot of meat in her cooking. Enchiladas? Stuffed with roast duck. Tacos? Filled with steak. Each sandwich and plate listed on the menu is meat-based (Buffalo Meatloaf, Chicken Fried Steak, Vaquero Cheese Steak...), and even the salads (apart from the house salad and, depending on how you interpret "vegetarian," the caesar salad) have some type of meat component.

The only two dishes on the lunch menu which do not list meat among their ingredients are the chili rellenos and the huevos rancheros. I ordered the chili rellenos during a recent visit. While, in retrospect, the meat-heavy menu should have been a warning, I didn't bother to ask whether the green chili atop the chili rellenos (and huevos rancheros) contains meat. However, a few bites in, it became clear that the green chili does contain meat - giant chunks of pork which seemed to permeate the entire dish.

Although it may be a meat-lover's delight, Rocky Mountain Diner is a difficult place to eat as a vegetarian. It's a shame, because the restaurant appears to use fresh ingredients and to prepare its dishes from scratch. It's been a long time since I've been to a restaurant which didn't include any vegetarian options on its menu - even in meat-intensive south Texas, I was able to order cheese enchiladas or a grilled cheese sandwich. Although it has a great location (in the historic Ghost building downtown) and a nice patio, I will probably not return to the Diner in the future. For vegetarians who do find themselves at the Diner, I recommend telling the server that you don't eat meat, and then asking what items on the menu can be prepared without meat.

Rocky Mountain Diner
800 18th Street
Denver, CO 80202
(303) 293-8383

*****
From Claire at Culinary Colorado: News that the Asian restaurants and markets at Alameda Square are slated to be replaced by yet another modern shopping mall.

Behind the Apron: Beatrice Revealed!

Beatrice, before becoming vegetarian...

This week, Ginger Beat is participating in "Behind the Apron 2," organized by Fiber at 28 Cooks. "Behind the Apron" is intended to help readers learn a little bit more about food blog authors. Participants are instructed to "post a picture of yourself on your blog, revealing as much (tastefully, of course) or as little as you want. Introduce yourself, show us your family, do whatever you want."

A Recent Portrait of "Beatrice"

As you can see, I cheated and didn't include a current photo of myself, although I am posting a recent portrait of "Beatrice." Also, the joke about eating pigeons as a youth might not meet the "tasteful" requirement. Oh, well.

As for the story behind this blog: I've been vegetarian for about 15 years. During that time, my eating pattern has developed from simply "not eating meat" to being fairly vegetable-focused. Apart from the occasional veggie brat, I don't eat a lot of mock-meat. I would generally rather enjoy an interesting vegetable dish than attempt to re-create a traditional meal without the meat.

This spring, I decided to start a blog about options for vegetarians in the Denver area. While Denver is generally pretty vegetarian friendly, it can be hard to determine which restaurants, apart from mainstays like Watercourse, will have decent meatless menu offerings. The blog also chronicles my adventures (or, more often, mis-adventures) in the kitchen.

Questions? Suggestions? Hot tip about great veggie dim sum in the Denver area? Feel free to shoot me an e-mail at beatriceroot at yahoo dot com.

Food blogging will resume shortly. Thank you for reading!

B

Daifuku Manju (Rice Cakes)

The phrase "rice cake" conjurs up images of a dry, crunchy cracker made of puffed rice. But, "rice cake" can also refer to a soft, round cake of glutinous rice flour, filled with a sweet paste.

I tend to buy daifuku manju (大福まんじゅう) with a plain cake and a sweet red bean paste filling (pictured above, sometimes the rice gluten cake is white instead of pink so read the label!).

However, the rice cakes also come in other flavors, including macadamia nut (white, below at left) and mango (orange, below at right).

The macadamia nut cake was unexpectedly crunchy, due to chunks of macadamia nut in the cake's exterior. The filling was my favorite - red bean paste. The mango cake, with a mango-esque filling, was a bit cloying for my taste.

A Japanese confection, rice cakes can be found at Asian groceries. In Denver, I've found them at the Pacific Mercantile and at H-Mart. Sometimes they are in a refrigerated section (Pacific Mercantile), sometimes in the freezer (H-Mart), and other times they are on the shelf, or even by the cash register. I'm not aware of any reason why the rice cakes need to be refrigerated or frozen; they don't last long in my home, anyway.

Thanks to Deb in Denver for the Japanese translation.

Pacific Mercantile Company
1925 Lawrence
Denver, CO 80202

H-Mart
2751 South Parker Road (Parker & Yale)
Aurora, CO 80014

Chilled Blueberry Lemon Soup

From Mark Bittman, and his blog "Bitten," a recipe for chilled blueberry soup.

One pint (two cups) blueberries are combined with a half cup of sugar and two cups of water, and simmered until the blueberries fall apart. The recipe contemplates that cinnamon will be simmered along with the blueberries and sugar. Because I love the combination of blueberry and lemon, I omitted the cinnamon and stirred in the grated rind of one organic lemon after removing the blueberry syrup from the heat.

The blueberry-lemon mixture then went into the refrigerator to chill for a half-hour, before being blended with 1 cup of plain yogurt, and then returning to the refrigerator to chill some more.
The resulting "soup" makes for a cool and refreshing mid-summer treat. I suspect that it would also be killer served atop vanilla ice cream.

Liks

What's better than ice cream on a hot summer day? Dark chocolate ice cream!

While the flavors change daily, Liks always seems to be scooping least one dark chocolate option. The difference isn't clear from the photo at left, but the dark chocolate is truly darker than regular chocolate ice cream. Whether "plain" dark chocolate, or a flavor like Black Gold or Billionaire that has goodies such as caramel and nuts blended in, the ice cream has a delightfully rich, creamy dark chocolate flavor.

I can't comment on any of the other flavors because I am never able to resist the dark chocolate...

Enjoy your ice cream on the patio adjacent to the restaurant, or in nearby Cheeseman Park.

Liks
2039 East 13th Ave (13th and Vine)
Denver, CO 80206
303-321-2370

La Casita Tamales

Regular readers will know that I've been on the hunt for a decent veg tamale. I was hearing good things about the green chili and cheese tamales at La Casita: that their tamales are truly vegetarian because they are made with vegetable oil, that the tamales are really really good, and that everyone in Denver goes to 44th and Tennyson for tamales...

With great anticipation, I traveled to 44th and Tennyson, only to find this:

Luckily, there is another La Casita location at 36th & Tejon.

The Tejon location appears to be relatively new. During my visit, soul music played from speakers inside the restaurant and on the patio, where seating is also available. The decor inside is minimal, but the space is clean and comfortable.

I ordered three green chili and cheese tamales, with vegetarian red sauce on the side. And what tamales! The proportion of masa dough-to-filling was perfect, and the masa itself had a fabulous taste and texture.

I was puzzled when the cashier/server asked whether I would like tomato and lettuce with my tamales, but when I bit into them, I understood: the chilies in these tamales are hot! Not so hot that the tamales weren't enjoyable, but hot enough that tomatoes and lettuce could provide a welcome contrast.

The tamales are $1.20 apiece; three tamales plus a side order of red sauce came to $4.90 and made for a satisfying meal.

Service was quick and friendly. The tamales are also available to go.

La Casita
3561 Tejon St
Denver, CO 80211
Hours: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. M-F and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sat, closed Sunday