Eat

Phinney-Greenwood Sustainable Harvest, a branch of City Fruit, has collected more than 2,600 pounds of fruit from surrounding resident trees within their neighborhood.

“We’ve got a group of about 30 volunteers and they’ve really been stepping it up and harvesting the fruit,” Jen Mullen of Phinney-Greenwood Sustainable Harvest said.

City Fruit is a non-profit, grass roots organizations that started last December. Volunteers are involved in taking care of fruit trees, have an interest in tree care and harvest large amounts of fruit in Seattle, said Gail Savina, executive director of City Fruit.

Because most residential tree owners can’t-or don’t -use all of the fruit produced on their properties, much of it falls to the ground and rots, according to City Fruit’s Web site. In addition, much of the fruit grown in urban landscapes is infested with preventable pests.

“There are a lot of problems in trees,” Savina said. “Much fruit is wasted and a lot of them aren’t good because they’re diseased."

She said City Fruit was created to help promote fruit in all different aspects, to care for, help harvest, share and extend the life of fruit.

Sail Transport Company teamed up with Sustainable Ballard on Saturday, Aug. 22 as they hosted Sail Transport’s docking and produce delivery program at Kick-it Boots and Stompwear on Northwest Market Street.

Established in January, the collaboration between the two groups organizes and leads a team of volunteers who haul an array of organic produce and food from Kitsap County Farmers to the public via Ballard’s Shilshole Bay Marina.

At this weekend’s drop-off point event Ballardites were not only able to pick up fresh produce but were also given the opportunity to learn more about the petroleum-free delivery of organic produce via sailboat from Sequim to Shilshole.

There was also live entertainment from local swing band musicians Casy MacGill’s Blue 4 Trio.

The program’s concept is to mitigate peak oil and climate change. The mission of the company is “natural transport for the local economy and community.”

You’re on the road and you’re hungry. But you don’t want to fill up on unhealthy fast food. How do you replace the drive-through's typical meal of burger, fries and soda?

Instead of fatty burgers, think wraps. Use a lettuce leaf or a rice wrapper to hold a tasty filling. Or wrap a corn tortilla around peanut butter and banana. Hummus and pita bread is a great snack.

Or you can make pita sandwiches with mozzarella cheese, red peppers and tuna. Try our recipe for healthy Speedy Wraps that you can fix ahead. Likewise, our Quick Chix Nuggets can be ready to go in your refrigerator to serve with one of the dips below.

Skip the chips! Instead of salty, oily chips, use an air popper for homemade popcorn or try our Brown Bag Popcorn with lots of seasoning ideas to suit your mood.

Replacing the soda in the typical drive-through meal can be easy. Think flavored waters (sour flavors will quench your thirst better), or UHT packaged milk (which doesn’t have to be refrigerated, although it will be more refreshing if it is).

For a special treat, mix up a thermos of our homemade Lemonade. Enjoy!

Brown Bag Popcorn
¼ cup popcorn

Bastille Cafe and Bar
5307 Ballard Ave. N.W.
453-5014
Daily 4:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., Sunday Brunch 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Seattle's a restaurant town, and it seems that Ballard's become the restaurant neighborhood.

The opening of Bastille Cafe and Bar has been enthusiastically anticipated by many as nearby residents watched it being built. All eyes were on Bastille as it took its first steps.

The instant rush of criticism and comments about a new establishment, thanks to the Web and social media, can be rough. New places need time to work out the kinks. But Bastille also made itself a hard act to follow with the stunning environment created by the owners. And with a long pedigree between them (Caffe Fiore, Triangle Tavern, Peso's, The Ballroom) they've already gotten attention from food bloggers, print and other media in the six weeks they've been open for business.

West Seattle residents David and Rebecca Makuen think they have created the world's greatest burger, but they aren't settling for a mere restaurant to house their creation. They've taken their meat national.

The Makuens are the founders of BuiltBurger, a Web-based company that creates and freezes gourmet burgers, ready to be shipped out to customers around the country.

David Makuen said the idea for BuiltBurger was formed about a year ago, springing from a passion for grilling and an inability to find a truly great burger.

"We believe that food is in its most delicious state when grilled," he said. "We were really intrigued by being able to make the world's greatest burger."

The Makuens moved from New York five years ago and have so far found Seattle much more accommodating to grilling due to the milder weather, he said.

"In New York you can grill four to five months a year," Makuen said. "You can grill pretty much year round in Seattle."

Makuen said BuiltBurger burgers stand apart because they are infused with flavor, rather than just flavored on top.

With an increase in demand as high as 35 percent this year and a sharp drop in donations of baby food and formula, food banks across the city are desperate for donations. Solid Ground is hoping a three-day initiative starting Aug. 19 by local junk removal company 1-800 RID-OF-IT Junk Removal will help the troubling situation.  

Trish Twomey, Hunger Action Center Manager for Solid Ground, said there is always an increased demand for food items in the summer because school is out and children no longer have access to breakfast or lunch programs.  However, this summer the situation is markedly worse, she said.

“Families in our community are hungry, and the food banks are not able to cope with the increasing need,” said Twomey.  “Working families are faced with tough decisions and choices, and they are turning to food banks to cover some of their food costs.  This food drive is a great way to help families feed their kids.” 

Food and monetary donations are significantly lower this year, while demand is up on average 35 percent across Seattle, according to Solid Ground.  Stocks of formula and baby food are also down significantly.   

When teenagers hit the front door after school, they are looking for food they can inhale instantly. To them, the perfect food is something they can just open and eat.

No cooking, no dirty dishes, just instant calories, fat and salt. That’s why they view chips as a favorite snack.

A microwave is the after-school appliance of choice—good for popping in a “hot pocket,” mini pizza, canned chili or instant ramen style soup.

Most of these foods (especially in the serving size teenage boys eat) exceed their recommended sodium intake for the whole day just in after-school snacking.

If kids can get to a fast food restaurant on the way home, their sodium intake soars even more. One Big Mac with fries and a shake contains more salt than they should eat in a whole day.

High salt foods like chips are even available in school vending machines. And sports drinks have added salt, which most teen athletes don’t need (unless they are exerting themselves in really hot conditions).

Urban Market
6757 8th Ave. N.W.
206 420-8104
Daily 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.

What better time than these sizzling days to pick up dinner on your way home? The heat wave can suck the joy squarely out of cooking, with even we die hard grillers feeling uninspired about standing over 400 degree embers.

Luckily, Ballard's new Take 5 Urban Market wants to make dinner for us. In fact, not only do they want to, they already have, and all we have to do is go get it.

The focused menu offers an ample variety, without the menu overload that dilutes quality of small delis.

We always wonder how it is that small restaurants and delis, particularly when obviously not overloaded with customers, can offer 30 items and keep it all fresh. Try and ask about the availability of the weirdest item on the uber-menu of some places; if they have it, then you're in trouble. Do they freeze it? Is it five thousand years old?

This year's Ballard Seafood Fest may have hit its peak at early in the weekend.

That's because at 1:15 p.m. on Saturday, 10 brave contestants took the stage to compete in the annual Lutefisk Eating Contest.

Lutefisk is a Scandinavian dish in which fish is soaked in lye until it takes on a gelatinous consistency. It is incredibly pungent and definitely an acquired taste.

Festival-goers packed Bergen place to catch a glimpse of the gastric feat. Sounds of simultaneous disgust and encouragement filled the air.

This year's competition consisted of three rounds. The five contestants who were able to eat a pound of lutefisk quickest were sent on to the second round.

The three who conquered the second-round's half-pound of fish first went on to the championship round.

The final round, consisting of contestants Dora, Keith and Sam, featured slightly more than a half-pound of lutefisk.

After a photo finish and some deliberation, the judges declared Keith the winner over Sam. But both were awarded cash prizes.

Did the judges make the right call? Watch the video and decide for yourself.

Katy G. Wilkens is a department head for Northwest Kidney Center and has a master of science degree and nutritional sciences from the University of Washington. Her columns will be appearing regularly here.

What is this outrageous plant with leaves as big as elephant ears and ruby red stems that are sour beyond belief? Despite poisonous leaves, this plant has the nickname “pie plant.” This plant is rhubarb!

Find rhubarb in your neighborhood farmers’ market or grocery. The color of the rhubarb stalk may vary from deep red to speckled pink to pale green, but it is all good to eat.

If you have an out-of-the-way corner of your garden, buy a piece of rhubarb root, stick it in the ground, fertilize it once a year, and water it once a week. You will be rewarded with a spring and summer supply every year.

Cook the stalks in a variety of ways. Stewed, they yield a tart sauce that can be eaten like applesauce, served over ice cream, or used as filling for pies, crisps or tarts. If rhubarb is a new food to you, try mixing it half-and-half with strawberries or apples. Rhubarb is good flavored with grated orange peel, ginger or cinnamon.