Paradox Cafe

My daughters and I had a delicious lunch at Paradox Cafe. We are having fun exploring different venue's near Erin's new apartment. The cafe is a kitchy, comfortable place with friendly wait-staff. The Paradox prides themselves for featuring sustainable and organic ingredients that are found locally.

Erin had a red bean, vegetable soup served with a slice of homemade herb and onion bread and fries. Megan, being the contrarian, had a plain hamburger with NO lettuce, tomatoe, onion, pickle or anything else considered vegetarian and fries. And I had a delicious Tempeh Reuben – Melted swiss cheese and sauerkraut over tempeh and vegan 1000 Island on rye and small Mediterranean Salad - Organic spinach topped with tomatoes, cucumbers, kalamata olives & feta with a lemon tahini dressing.

There are very many wonderful dishes on the menu that I would love to try. You can find their website here: http://www.paradoxorganiccafe.com/

Paradox Cafe

3439 SE Belmont St

Portland, OR 97214

(503) 232-7508

East Burn Restaurant

I was delighted to be treated to brunch out Sunday. My daughter moved over near the Laurelhurst area and so I was browsing Google for restaurants in the area and found the East Burn. I was delighted to find that there was NO waiting at 10:30 a.m. The bartender was welcoming and I had : the Vivacious Mary- $5 Made with House Smoked Tomatoes and New Deal Distillery-Hot Monkey Vodka. It was delicious and so I had two, actually.

We had the Cow Tipper Omelet -Slices of Marinated Flank Steak, Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms and Cheddar Cheese. Topped with Horseradish Cream. And, Cheffrey’s Corned Beef Hash - House Smoked Corned Beef Brisket with Diced Potatoes and Onions. Served with Two Eggs cooked to order and choice of toast.

The flavor of the brisket was absolutely delicous and the flank steak was cooked to perfection.

As a fun, free starter we were brought a plate of tastes of four different doughnuts... cool !

And, there was great background music flowing and adding to the gread experience.

Restaurant site.

http://www.theeastburn.com/

MySpace page...

http://profile.myspace.com/theeastburnpdx

the East Burn

1800 E Burnside

Portland, OR

(503) 236-2876

Farm Fresh Eggs With Potato, Mushroom Hash

My friend Rachel was sooo kind as to share some of her wonderfully fresh from the coop eggs. I can't remember the name of the hens but the eggs are suppose to be lower in cholesterol and they have the most beautiful color. It's almost like they were dyed for Easter, but that is their natural color. So, I sliced up some onions and crimini mushrooms and sauted them with some thawed potato's O'Brien for the perfect potato, mushroom hash. This was one of the most tasty breakfasts in quite a while. THANK YOU, RACHEL ! ! !

Tasty Tuna Salad w/ Tangy Coconut & Chili Sauce

Made a wonderful tuna salad with celery, red and yellow bell peppers, onion, carrot and chopped cherry tomato's with a mixture of mayo, fat-free plain Greek yogurt and an Indian coconut and chili sauce... Most delicious ! ! !

Whole Wheat, Flax Rotini w/ Sauce

Very healthy whole wheat, flax seed rotini from Trader Joe's combines with homemade pasta sauce. Fresh bell peppers, onions and mushrooms make this a hearty dish.

Delicious Ham And Cheese Egg Casserole

Saw a version of this on another blog (Cooking Closet : http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/2009/02/ham-and-cheese-egg-casserole.html )and had to try it. I basically cut the recipe in half and used cottage cheese, red onion, shredded cheddar, chopped ham, sliced cherry tomtoes and combined it all with beaten eggs. Popped it in the oven for about 45 -50 minutes and it turned out delicious.

Super Bowl Sunday Beef Chili

Did a HUGE batch of chili for Super Bowl Sunday. Added chili powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne and fennel seeds... fennel seeds give a unique yummy flavor... Oh, and chipotle peppers in adobo sause, black and pinto bean... and for a twist, a can of corn. It turned out very spicy, healthy and comforting for a cold winter day.

A combination of minced onion, shredded cheese and/or sour cream lets you control the heat.

Healthy Chicken Vegetable Barley Soup

I had a ton of leftover chicken (roasted two whole birds at once) from doing a "mock" Thanksgiving dinner the other night. So, I needed to get back on the healthy side of things and made this soup.

I simmered the barley and chopped, dried shitake mushrooms in chicken stock for a bit over an hour. Then added the chicken, some poultry seasoning and thyme. Simmered for about 15 minutes more and then added some frozen mixed veggies. Simmered about 5 minutes more.

A very hearty and healthy soup for a cold winter day!

Ham and Veggie Taco's

Well, time again to pull stuff together and use up the veggie bin before going shopping.... decided to add some ham, onion, yellow and red bell pepper, zucchini, mushroom and give a quick saute and add a little cheese for some tasty taco's... Easy, fast and very yummy!

Trattoria Contadina, San Francisco

This was the hightlight of my dining experience in San Francisco. Trattoria Contadina has some of the most personable staff, Alicia, and delicious food in the city. A small, cozy and romantic place. Settling in, I had a delicious MANA'S MOJITO,Cruzan Light Rum, Veeve Acai Liqueur, fresh muddled mint leaves, sugar & fresh lime juice. that was made perfectly. After discussing the menu with Alicia, we decided that a wonderful Grigich Hills Merlot would fit the meal. I started with a Carpaccio di Manzo, thinly sliced raw Filet Mignon with fresh arugula, parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil, capers and lemon accompanied with perfect Italian bread. I was told that being only served a few times a year, I would be in for a treat having their version of cioppino. It was generously filled with mussels, clams, shrimp, squid, salmon and clams. The broth was a delightful blend of tomato, saffron, basil... truely heaven. An etherial experience such as this had to be completed with a perfect dessert to help me finish my delicious wine. I chose the Chocolate Covered Gelato Truffle Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Heart with a raspberry sorbet center and much to my delight the staff offered a delicious after dinner drink of Kalana with steamed milk dusted with cocoa on the house.

As I said, this was the perfect meal with a perfect waitress with perfect weather on a perfect vacation. Alicia usually works on Wednesdays, but with luck you may find her on the weekend.

Trattoria Contadina Italian Restaurant

1800 Mason Street

San Francisco, CA 94133

Telephone Number: (415)982-5728

The Slanted Door Restaurant, San Francisco

Before riding around on some streetcars on my last day, I had a wonderful and delicious lunch at The Slanted Door restaurant in the Ferry Building on the bay. I started with a very generous sized German beer and the Slanted Door spring rolls with shrimp, pork, mint and peanut sauce. Both were light and refreshing. For my entre, I couldn't resist the cellophane noodles with fresh dungeness crab meat... again, light and refreshing and very generous with the Dungeness crab. On my waiter's suggestion, my dessert was a Meyer lemon pot de creme
with ginger snaps. A perfect meal that left me satisfied, yet not too full for a day of traveling.

The Slanted Door

1 Ferry Building

San Francisco, CA 94111

(415) 861-8032

More San Francisco sights.