This was a side dish that worked really well with some grilled albacore tuna steaks. For the fish, I made a quick topping of kalamata olives, green olives, cherry tomatoes, red onion, olive oil, lemon juice and feta cheese. So, it was a Mediterranean kind of a thing (one of my favorite kinds of things).

The zucchini grilled while the fish rested. I think the scores in the zucchini are to let the buttery goodness soak in. This recipe is easily halved or even quartered. I did the later with 2 tbsp butter, 1/2 tbsp lemon, 1/4 tsp each of the spices and a pinch of curry. Oh and yes — there was cheese!

Grilled Zucchini with Garlic and Lemon Butter Baste
recipe adapted from Bon Appétit magazine
8 medium zucchini (about 2 1/2 pounds), trimmed, halved lengthwise
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp powder
grated Parmesan cheese (optional? no, not really…)

Preheat barbecue (medium heat). Alternately, heat up a grill pan over medium-high heat. Score cut side of zucchini halves diagonally about 1/4 inch deep at 1-inch intervals.

Melt butter with lemon juice, lemon-pepper seasoning, garlic powder, oregano, and curry powder. Do this either in a small pan or a microwave-safe bowl.

Brush seasoned butter on cut side of zucchini. Season with a little salt.

Place zucchini on grill and cook until charred on all sides and just beginning to soften, about 10-12 minutes.

Transfer zucchini to platter and sprinkle with the cheese.

***

Last Weekend’s Random food around Portland:

Latte at Albina Press on Hawthorne

Last weekend we saw Cinematic Titanic (most of the MST3k people) and it was so funny. Such as — Convoluted Man!!!

Okay, back to the food. Before hand, we hit Veritable Quandary for dinner. Excellent choice — we need to go there more often.

Awesome salad at Veritable Quandary. Specifically: Poached Egg, Smoked Bacon & Butter Lettuce on Crispy Cornbread, with Pickled Onions and Buttermilk, Chive & White Cheddar Dressing.

jwa’s meal: Crispy Trout with Toasted Pecan Butter, Dungeness Crab, Sweet Corn, Spinach & Scallions

My meal: Alaskan Halibut Cheeks, Creamy Quinoa, Local Asparagus, Cipollini Onions & Pea Shoots

Tábor
Downtown at SW 5th and Stark
503-997-5467

Mmmmmmm…schnitzelwich
Before I even tried Tábor, I thought it was the lunch cart with the most personality. The colorful Eastern European cottage facade, the music from the outdoor speakers … cute! After reading the little write up in Portland Magazine I finally managed to stop by for lunch and now I am in love with the schnitzelwich.

Breaded pork loin or chicken breast in a Ciabatta roll with lettuce, paprika spread, sautéed onion and horseradish $5.00.

It is, first of all, huge. H-U-G-E. I eat half for lunch, wait an hour or so, then eat the rest because I loved the first half so much. Crispy chicken, caramelized onions and horseradish, you say? Fabulous. Sign me up.

I need to try a few of the other items on the menu — the potato pancakes and chicken paprika are especially calling to me — but it’s hard to not order the sandwich. They have all sorts of authentic Czech food including goulash, soups, dumplings and sausages. They also cater and (their web site says) will offer cooking classes. Fun! I try to go there once every couple of weeks, as I know my desire for hot, crispy, big sandwiches will leave me once the weather gets warm. Stupid summer.

When I visited during the snow storm yesterday, before getting to go home early, the owners were telling me how they got in early that day, before all the snow and now they were stuck at work. Bad for them but good for me. I got my schnitzelwich.

Schnitzelwich. Schnitzelwich. So much fun to say too.

I had no idea that it was supposed to snow today, Neither, apparently, did Trimet. It started out as a nice walk in the snow at 7:20 AM, down to the bus stop at 34th & Hawthorne.

Once there, I only had to wait about 5 minutes before a bus came. It was packed but I got a spot right in the front, standing just a hair behind the yellow line. Good for me but bad for everyone at stops past 30th, as we had no room and he didn’t make any other stops.

Once we hit Madison though, it was all backup and no bus lane. So, I decided to get off at Grand and walk the rest of the way into work. So did a lot of other people. I even beat the bus across the bridge by walking it.

Got to work at 8:20 so it took me about 60 minutes. It usually takes 30 minutes so not too bad.

Another bridge picture.

View from my office window.

Around 11:10 I decide to go out and forage for lunch, walk around and take a few pics.

Snow covered octopus outside Greek Cusina.

Snow outside Tabor Cafe where I grabbed some lunch

Art-y snow pic back by office, across the street from Mother’s.

The awesomeness of the Schnitzelwich — more on that tomorrow.

Get back to work and find out we all get to leave at noon. Yay! Eat half of lovely schnitzelwich and tasty sobe green tea and check the Trimet page for bus tracking. It said there was a Hawthorne bus due at the corner of SW 2nd and Alder in 10 minutes. I’m somewhat skeptical, though, as it had said this for the last hour. Got my stuff and started out anyway.

When I get there, it’s chaos. There’s 25 or so people standing about and a Trimet dude trying to help people with the new bus stops downtown. I asked him if the transit tracker was lying when it says there was a 14 coming in 10 minutes. Two ladies waiting for the 15 laughed. They had been waiting for the Belmont bus already at this stop for 1 1/2 hours. They had not seen a 14 come by in all that time. In fact, no buses had been by at all. I start walking home.

Called jwa and informed him of my new (and improved?) transit plans. He said he’d leave the house now (he had a full, work-from-home snow day), and that we’d meet on Hawthorne and walk back home together. How sweet.

Looking back at downtown.

We met up around SE 18th and stopped in Starbucks so that my legs could warm up, as they were frozen by this point. Got a green tea latte, defrosted a bit and headed back out. Further up Hawthorne, around 25th, a bus has wiped out and was blocking the right, east-bound lane. Now it just sat there, deserted, stuck and forlorn.

Boo.

We got home around 1:30 and now I am going to curl up on the couch with a book, Tim Powers, Three Days to Never, which I highly recommend.

Hmmmm, wonder if tomorrow will be a snow day too?

Not a lunch cart but it’s lunch, alright!

Veganopolis Cafeteria
412 SW Fourth Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97204
503-226-3400

Soup of the Day
Green Split Pea Soup with Carrots, Potatoes, Vegan Bacon and Wasabi. Adaptation of a recipe by the great chef Jacques Pepin.

Bowl with Grilled Baguette $4.50
Solo Cup with Crackers $2.50
Discount Cup alongside Your Sandwich Order $1.95

***

Special Sandwich Today
Spanish Style Vegan Chikn Sandwich with Marinated Chikn Nuggets, Roasted Red Peppers, Spinach, Kalamata Olives and Vegan Saffron Garlic Aioli on Special Grilled Bianca Roll.
Sandwich Comes with Your Choice of Kettle Chips or Slaw for $6.95

This is what I had the last time I got lunch from Veganopolis. How fitting that it is also the special today, November 2, when I’m posting this. Coincidence? I think not. Okay, maybe it is a coincidence.

Veganopolis is about three blocks from my office, so it’s pretty convenient. I just call it in and pick it up. The interior is very nice though, so it also seems like it would be a good place to bring your laptop and hang out (they have free wifi). Stark and minimal with shiny bamboo floors.

Oh, yeah and I should probably mention (if the name of the place didn’t tip you off), that it’s all vegan.

I would probably go there more often but it’s a little expensive. My first experience was a bit underwhelming (I can’t even remember what the soup/sandwich was) but I tell you, this is the daily special to get. The split pea soup soup is hot and chunky with potatoes and carrots and perfect for cold Fall weather and the sandwich is just…awesome. At $8.90 ($8.55 if you don’t get chips with your sandwich too) the sandwich/soup combo is a little high but I think it’s worth for an occasional splurge on a tasty, healthy lunch — especially the split pea soup and Spanish style chikn!

They also have a buffet special each day (today it’s Louisiana Tofu Etouffee, Cajun Dirty Rice and Fresh Organic Local Brussels Sprouts for $6.95/pound), and a Potatoes of the Day item for $2.95 a bowl. But my experience (so far) has been limited to the soup and sandwich.

Speaking of which — if they made the cup of soup/sandwich of the day a better bargain price — say $7.00 - $7.50 for both, I’d go there much more often. Are you listening, er…reading, Veganopolis?

Hmmmm???

Lemongrass Chicken

Thai Basil
Corner of SW Oak & 2nd Ave
Portland, OR
503-330-1010

Well, as I’ve mentioned before, I have a new job downtown and one of the nice benefits of that is the lunch choices. My last position was up on Skyline and my lunch option was…Pizzicato. I mean, that was good, but that was it. That was the only choice nearby.

But now…the possibilities are endless! So, I thought I would start a little review of lunch carts in downtown Portland. The first is Thai Basil, which is right across the street from my office building. How convenient!

Thai Basil Menu
Chicken or Tofu Curry — a red curry, green curry and a yellow curry
Chicken or Tofu Stir Fries — ginger, garlic, veggie lovers, spicy basil and cashew versions
Chicken or Tofu Noodle Dishes — pad thai and two other varieties
Chicken or Tofu Fried Rices — comes in pineapple, spicy basil and with extra chilis

They also have specials. These include Lemongrass Chicken, Pumpkin Curry with Chicken or Tofu, Spicy Mango Curry and Stir Fried Asparagus with Chicken or Tofu.

All of these menu items come with a salad roll and dipping sauce, and a drink (Thai ice tea or water) for $5.00. Oh and a weird little wrapped candy that I’m not crazy about (tastes like lemony caramel).

Yeah, all of this for $5.00!

I have had the pumpkin curry with chicken (excellent and spicy) and I just recently tried the lemongrass chicken, which is my favorite so far. The lemon grass gives it a subtle, Thai-ish flavor and it comes with a spicy peanut sauce, chili sauce and a heavy, molassesy soy sauce. So, so good. I was in dipping heaven. The vegetables with this dish include carrots, broccoli and bok choy (I think or maye some kind of cabbage).

Another nice thing about Thai Basil is that the portions are huge! I spend $5.00 and I have lunch that day, take my leftovers home add some coconut milk (in the case of my leftover pumpkin curry — that one I even had enough to split it with jwa and we both had some) and have a lunch to bring back to work a day or two later.

Chicken Pumpkin Curry

Thai Basil gets 3.3 bowls of rice out of 4.

Coming soon in the “What’s For Lunch?” series: a selection of lunch carts on SW 5th Avenue. Also, here’s a neat little lunch cart map of downtown Portland by Audrey.

***

Je Mange la Ville is going on vacation next week. I’ll get my SHF post up next Friday but that’s probably about it, as we’ll be in Montana most of the week, celebrating my mom’s birthday.