At two years and ten months (she’ll tell you her age upon request), Miriam knows pretty much all her letters but isn’t actually reading or writing yet. She can’t sound anything out. The one word she knows though is “off” (“O F F spells ‘off’!”). Because it’s a button on our phone.

She can on occasion read the word when we write it out or see it somewhere, but she generally has to be reminded to say the letters, then she recognizes it.

Miriam loves to “write” and will scribble happily and tell you it’s a certain word (or picture) and she enjoys her refrigerator magnet letters and will arrange them randomly and say they have particular meanings.

But today she said she was going to write the word “off” and then she did it! I didn’t help at all and it was her idea, not mine. The letters were all over the place and she moved them up out of the way and brought down the ones she wanted. Never mind that it’s backwards (she couldn’t understand why I said it was “F F O”), it’s a word I tell you!

And here’s a bonus picture from a couple days ago. I couldn’t resist!

I’ve made these fish rolls a few times and they always come out great. This is a good way to use up a lot of greens too. Because they are reduced, you’re eating far more than you think.

Dover sole is the best fish to use for this recipe because it comes in flat boneless pieces and has the right firmness with a mild flavor. It is also wild caught, inexpensive, and fairly easy to find. Technically, it’s not Dover sole, but that’s how it’s labelled. I get it fresh at Costco and you can find it frozen at Trader Joe’s too.

Don’t feel you need to follow this recipe exactly. This just happens to be the one variation I wrote down (and photographed).

Recipe:

24 oz fresh mushrooms (I use crimimi)
2 stalks celery
1 lb fresh baby spinach (frozen would be fine too)
2 2/3 lbs fresh Dover sole
1 TB cumin powder
1 tsp chili flakes
Salt and pepper
Olive oil for greasing the pan

Wash mushrooms, cut in half, and chop finely in food processor. Transfer to a pan to cook out the water.

Food process the celery and spinach.

Add the vegetables to the pan to cook down (the idea is to release water, not overcook, so do it slowly with a lot of stirring). Add the seasonings.

Transfer the cooked filling into a bowl. As you do this, squeeze out the excess liquid with the spatula. There will still be some but you want the filling to be reasonably solid. You’ll use the liquid later.

Rinse and drain the fish and put in a container on the counter near the filling. Oil your cooking pan and place nearby. Now you’re ready to roll.

Place a piece of fish in your hand.

Put a spoonful of filling on one end.

Roll fish over once.

Repeat with another spoonful of filling.

Roll completely and place in pan.

Take the leftover filling and spread on top of the fish. Pour the saved liquid in to the pan.

Bake until done. Yeah, real helpful…try 350*F for about 45 mins. But keep checking the fish. It’s hard to give exact times because it depends on your oven, the pan, the thickness of the fish and the filling, and so forth. It won’t really flake like plain baked fish but it will come apart with a fork and will lose its translucent quality.

Now eat!

It’s great cold the next day too.

A newer version (2013) of this post is now up:
http://norwitz.net/blog/2013/03/18/spaghetti-squash-2/

Sorry, no pictures with this one. No measured recipes either.

Spaghetti squash is a type of winter squash that gets its name from the fact that, if you cook it just right, it will fall apart with a fork into long spaghetti-like strands. Okay, here are some pictures and more info: http://www.fabulousfoods.com/features/featuring/spagsquash.html

What’s so wonderful about it is that it’s a way to eat more vegetables, it’s lowcarb, and it’s really good too.

The above website and many others have cooking instructions. I like to bake it. About an hour in a 350*F oven, turn once or twice during cooking. Do not forget this step: prick deep and well with a knife every few inches before cooking. All it takes is once to realize the importance of this (yes, it explodes). A dozen pricks 2 inches deep are plenty.

It is done when you can put a fork through the skin with ease and through the flesh with slight difficulty. If it doesn’t turn into spaghetti after opening and scraping, cook it longer. If you cook it too long, it turns to mush (but still tasty and it makes great latkes).

When done, cut in half lengthwise. When cool enough to handle, remove seeds and the gooey bits surround them (you can bake the seeds like pumpkin seeds). Then use a plain dinner fork lengthwise to scrape out the flesh into strands.

Spaghetti squash goes very well with garlic. You can make a very nice and simple side dish by browning chopped garlic in butter or olive oil and then stirring in spaghetti squash to warm and coat. It also goes well with tomato-based pasta sauces. It’s a great thing to bring to a spaghetti dinner if you can’t have regular pasta due to the wheat or thecarbs.

I cooked up a huge spaghetti squash the other night. I used half then and half tonight.

For the first half, I sauteed some mushrooms (crimimi) and thinly sliced stalks from daikon radish leaves (nothing special about them, I just happened to have them in the fridge). I seasoned with some Mediterrean-type herbs and then added a can of diced tomatoes, red wine, and the chopped radish greens. Then I let it simmer.

I’m not doing the recipe justice but I rarely write stuff down and I change how I make things each time. When we were ready to eat, I stirred some squash in with the sauce to coat it.

Silly me, I realized too late I’d forgotten the protein. Not something I normally do but I am so used to soy pasta these days, which is its own protein source. It was still filling and good.

Tonight I used the rest of the squash. The dish was similar but not the same. I sliced some carrots and sauteed them in olive oil with a couple ice cube-sized hunks of frozen grated ginger. When the carrots were slightly brown, I added some very firm tofu, ground up with my fingers as I held it over the pan. I seasoned this with salt, chipotle pepper powder, cumin, turmeric, and dill. I would have used curry if I had any. Miriam insisted that I add some mustard, which I agreed was a good idea.

I put that all into a bowl then sauteed the sliced stalks of some rainbow chard (I saved the leaves for another day) and seasoned with salt and lots of black pepper. Then I added the spaghetti squash and half a jar of Seeds of Change Marinara Sauce. When that was warm through, I added back the tofu.

I’m a big fan of one-pot meals, I just eat more of them than if I had side dishes. But there’s no reason why you couldn’t serve this with greens or salad or anything else you like. If you leave out the tofu, it becomes more of a side dish itself. If you eat meat, you can use ground beef or turkey instead of the tofu. You could even add beans instead. Your choice. Spaghetti squash will accommodate you.

An earlier version of this recipe was posted to rec.food.veg September, 20, 1991 and to my lowcarb website February, 28, 1999.
Other listings: lowcarbvegetarianrecipes & here (also on their most saved article list & most 20 highest rated)

I was looking for a nut loaf recipe that was vegan, high in protein,
gluten-free, and not soy based (I can eat soy just fine, but wanted to have
some non-soy dishes in my repertoire). I only found one that looked adaptable for my needs in a search. http://www.recipenet.org/health/recipes/veggie/nut_roast.htm
Many thanks to Lorraine Picot for a yummy dish.

Recipe:

1/4 lb mushrooms (I use crimimi)
1 1/3 cups hazelnuts
1 large onion
2/3 cup brazil nuts
2/3 cup walnuts
12 oz tomatoes (canned or fresh)
1 tsp dried herbs (original recipe calls for basil and oregano)
or 1 TB fresh herbs (I use rosemary and oregano)
1 tsp sea salt
1 egg or egg equivalent (I use flax goo)
1 TB olive oil, plus some for cooking mushrooms and greasing the pan

In the food processor, chop the mushrooms until they are in small pieces (no more than 1/4″ across). Add them to a pan with some olive oil and cook at low to medium heat with frequent stirring to release some of the water.

Put the hazelnuts on a tray and bake until the skins are loose. I found that 6 minutes at 425*F or 8 minutes at 350*F in a convection toaster oven did the trick. Be careful not to burn them.

When cool enough to handle, rub off the skins. You won’t get them all. I have tried a batch without removing the skins and there doesn’t seem to be much difference (the skins add a slight bitter taste), so feel free to skip this time-consuming step.

Back in the food processor, chop the onion finely then put into a large bowl. Then grind the brazil nuts and walnuts fine and add tomatoes and seasoning. Most of this will be paste-like, which is fine. Transfer to bowl. Add the mushrooms.

Add your egg or egg equivalent to the bowl, along with the oil. To make flax goo for the egg, use 1 tablespoon flaxmeal and 1/3 cup water in a large glass container. Microwave for a minute or so (it will boil over a small container). Let it sit for a few minutes.

Grind the hazelnuts in the food processor. I like to do them separately so I can leave them slightly coarse for texture (like the pieces of nut in crunchy peanut butter). Add to the bowl and mix everything well.

Transfer to a greased bread pan (2 lbs).

Bake for 45 mins at 425*F. Then turn down the oven to 350*F and cook for about another half an hour. Let it cool for at least 10 mins before serving. The loaf is very tasty but soft and delicate. It doesn’t hold together that well but you can slice it, if you’re careful. It’s also good cold the next day and it will hold together better then.

Although it’s moist, the loaf tastes better with a sauce. I’ve served it with both roasted cabbage and with a salad, each with a balsamic vinegar dressing.

Some notes: If you only have white mushrooms available, use more of them and cook them longer, as they have a lot more water in them. I made it once with carrots instead of mushrooms, since I was out, and it was mush. Not bad but not a loaf.

Todai is a small buffet chain specializing in sushi and a variety of Japanese and Chinese foods, with a smattering of other things. They started in Hong Kong I believe and had a strong presence in California. But they’re growing. They have many restaurants in South Korea, a couple in mainland China, and one in Malaysia. Aside from one opening in Vancouver, Canada soon, the rest are in the United States. Mostly in California but also Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Texas, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Virginia, New York, and Massachusetts. Expect this list to be out of date soon (many of the above aren’t open yet at the time I am writing).

I mostly eat at their Daly City (just south of San Francisco) location but have been several times to Concord, CA and a couple locations north of San Jose. I have eaten once in Los Angeles. We generally go three times a year: on each of our birthdays and on Christmas.

Prices, hours, and specials vary some depending on location. Here is the current information for our closest location, subject to change:

Daly City, CA Pacific Plaza 1901 Junipero Serra Blvd. #A Daly City, CA 94014 Tel: 650-997-0882 Fax: 650-997-0822

Restaurant Hours Lunch 11:30am – 2:30pm (Mon – Fri) 11:30am – 3:00pm (Sat, Sun & Holidays) Dinner 5:30pm – 9:00pm (Mon-Thurs) 5:30pm – 9:30pm (Fri-Sat) 5:00pm – 9:00pm (Sun & Holidays)

Price <effective from August 1, 2007> Adult Lunch $14.95 (Mon-Fri) $16.95 (Sat, Sun, Holidays) Dinner $24.95 (Mon-Thurs) $26.95 (Fri, Sat, Sun, Holidays) Children(Under 12 yrs. Old) Lunch 5 feet & under 1/2 Price 4 feet & under $ 5.95 3 feet & under Free Dinner 5 feet & under 1/2 Price 4 feet & under $ 6.95 3 feet & under Free

*20%Off – Seniors 65 or Older (Dinner only) *Soft drinks included

Specials: A complimentary half shell Lobster per adult buffet ( Added value, Fri-Sun Dinner only)Birthday Promotion – Free Birthday Meal on your birthday Valid Photo I.D./ Must be accompanied by at least one paying adult

Promotions: KIDS EAT FREE- MONDAY THRU FRIDAY (Limited Time Offer) Children under 12 years old and under 5ft./ Must be accompanied by one paying adult per child“Christmas Special“* (Tuesday,December 25th,2007 ) – Open All Day 11:30am – 9:00pm / All Day Serving Dinner & Special Menu : $26.95 per person – Special Menu:Turkey, Prime Rib, Lamb Chop, A complimentary half shell Lobster per adult & much more… – Special Promotion – Kids eat FREE with one paying adult. – Buy one Beer, Get second one for $1.00 (S) & $2.00 (L)

There is enough there that people eating only sushi will have plenty to choose from, and friends who hate both sushi and seafood can also be satisfied. It’s kid friendly (be sure to ask for a balloon!) and they’ll sing happy birthday to you (also free on your birthday if you come with a paying adult).

We discovered this place when living on the San Francisco peninsula. A friend and I had a habit of eating at a Palo Alto sushi buffet on Christmas day (thus keeping alive the rule that Jews eat Asian food on Christian holidays…Chinese (and in areas that have them, other Asian) places tend to be all that’s open). All of a sudden, our regular spot started closing on Christmas and we drove around looking for an alternative, and found Todai. Now it’s Michael’s and my tradition, and one we’re teaching our daughter.

It used to be that Todai, and other open restaurants, were a haven from Christmas madness. They were their ordinary selves, filled with fellow Jews, Asian immigrants, and others who either weren’t Christian or chose not to celebrate. Now, Todai plays Christmas music, decorates the place, has special “American” food, and warmly greets customers with “Merry Christmas.” Fortunately, the food is still good enough to make up for those changes.

You can look at their menu online, but the offerings change frequently, and no location has everything at once. They have sushi and sashimi, cold salads, raw and cooked cold seafood, fresh cut fruit, various hot entrees and side dishes, soup and udon, and desserts.

They make most of their foods on site, which makes it a lot easier to navigate dietary restrictions. Although some of the components for their food arepre-made (and many are frozen), they cut up their own fruit, put together their toppings, and make the sushi. I’ve found the staff to be very helpful and kind. They offer to special order foods if they’re not horribly busy and the staff who doesn’t speak English (perhaps half, in my experience) takes the time to bring you someone who can.

If you’re used to paying top dollar for high quality sushi, this is not the place for you. The food is good but it’s not great and you will likely be disappointed. Still, it has a homemade flair to it, is mostly fresh (with some frozen elements), and isn’t nearly as junky as most restaurant food of its class. I react badly to preservatives and such, but always do fine there.

If you’re gluten sensitive, beware. Many dishes have soy sauce added. The sushi is pretty safe (avoid the one with tempura batter) and the staff will tell you which one or two (if any) have a soy sauce topping. The hot foods often have soy sauce and of course some are breaded. They don’t blink an eye though to your bringing outside foods, so go ahead and bring some wheat-free tamari and enjoy your sushi. I asked about the tempura once and it is possible it is gluten-free, but I can’t remember for sure. The batter has egg so I couldn’t eat it anyway.

A surprising number of foods there have egg. The fried rice and the Thai noodles both did but there was another noodle dish that was safe, along with the plain rice. My favorite offering there is the lobster, which is only available for dinner on weekends and holidays. I gave it up a while ago when I discovered the topping was a mixture of miso and egg yolk. But this last Christmas I asked if they’d be willing to make some without the topping and they did. It tends to be a bit dry, so it needs something, but it was still good. And Miriam didn’t get sick from that meal (she will if there is the slightest trace of egg in anything). I don’t know if their miso is gluten-free…Miriam and I both can cheat with gluten and dairy once in a while, just not orange or egg.

This floored me, and will turn away any serious sushi fan, but many of the rolled sushis have mayonnaise in them. The plain fish over rice kind are safe, but maybe 2/3 of the rolled ones have mayonnaise. Some have cooked egg as a filling too. And watch out for fake crab which has egg. Again, the staff is great and, since they made these themselves, they know what is in them. Fortunately, the selection is large enough that I had at least a dozen kinds I could eat. Some of the Todai locations have a smaller sushi area than Daly City and there are only 4-6 kinds I can eat.

Being an Asian restaurant, there isn’t a lot of dairy, but you will need to ask. The crab legs (the warm ones, not the cold ones) were swimming in butter and there is cream cheese in a couple of the sushis . Sometimes one of the cold salads has cheese in it. Most of the dishes are okay; it’s the more American ones that generally have butter or cheese.

If you eat seafood but not meat, or if you’re avoiding raw seafood, or perhaps just shellfish, you will have no problems finding a good selection of foods. There may be some cross-contamination with shellfish, so be careful if that is a concern.

Now, if you are avoiding all animal foods, you’ll have less to choose from. There will still be a couple of sushis. They always have the rice in the tofu skin and one or two purely vegetable rolls. You can ask them to make you some fish-free rolls too and they probably will if you explain why (they don’t do foods to order there like a sit-down restaurant, but they’ve been very accommodating of allergies and other food restrictions). There will be rice and noodles and salads (not just basic lettuce, but some delicious and interesting ones like seaweed) and probably soups (I haven’t asked about stock). If you eat egg, there is vegetable tempura too.

Lowcarb is quite possible here too. Sashimi and raw shellfish, some of the cooked meats and fish, seaweed or cucumber salad, green salad, stirfry vegetables, edamane, and melon for dessert.

Drinks there are basic. Soft drinks, coffee, and tea come with the meal but I don’t drink any of those so I can’t review them. For an extra price, there is juice, beer, sake, and some other things. They usually have a special on one or more alcohol.

Then there is dessert. The fresh fruit is usually near the sushi, not the dessert area. Unfortunately, they choose the same set of fruits over and over so they’re not always in season. You can see them cut them up from a whole piece of fruit but that doesn’t mean they are any good. The watermelon I had on Christmas was so bad I nearly spit it out, but my daughter loved it and asked for more. The honeydew was barely tolerable. But if you get these in the summer, they’re fine. They often have a cooked banana and cream dish.

Watch out for shared tongs if you react to any of the fruit. Some places are more separate than others. For the Los Angeles Todai, I didn’t feel comfortable with any of the fruit because of shared tongs near the orange slices. But the staff brought my daughter a big plate of freshly cut melon from the kitchen.

They usually have a crepe area and they are good (but not for us anymore due to the eggs, and wheat). They cook them to order and add whipped cream and/or fresh or canned fruit.

There is generally also an ice cream dispenser. They used to have a green tea ice cream (possibly it’s still in some locations) that was not only good but vegan too. I really miss it. Now they have nonfat (lowfat?) vanilla and chocolate ice cream that has milk but no eggs. We had some vanilla on Michael’s birthday last September because we wanted something to stick a candle in that Miriam could eat. It was watery and overly sweet and tasted like chemicals. Miriam enjoyed it but Michael and I thought it was pretty nasty. Do ask at your location because you might have something different.

The standard dessert display is really nice. Many cakes and tarts all in bite-sized pieces so you can have several without filling up. They are frozen and the restaurant cuts them up. They generally have cookies and often creme brule and white chocolate. We have checked a couple of times and every last one of these things has egg in it. I haven’t asked about gluten or dairy. My guess is that there will be several choices for those restrictions. Okay, on Christmas they did have one egg-free dessert: tapioca pudding. Which would have been fine except it was bright green-blue and I wouldn’t let Miriam so much as see it. Fortunately, she’s happy with fruit.

All in all, I enjoy my outings there and always have a huge variety to fill up on. My favorites are lobster, broiled oysters, sushi, sashimi if they have the seared ahi which is amazing, and cold salads, especially the seaweed and cucumber. I look forward to being able to eat eggs again some day (I’m not allergic to them myself) so I can have more sushi and tempura.

I couldn’t eat there too often, but it is a fun three time a year treat.

Sweet and Natural: More than 120 Sugar-Free and Dairy-Free Desserts
Meredith McCarty
St Martin’s Press, NYC
1999
(this review was written October 8, 2006)

The first thing about the book is that the title is misleading. The recipes are actually vegan, not just dairy-free, and most of them are full to the brim with sugar (not white sugar, but sugar none-the-less). Her main focuses are vegan ingredients, natural ingredients, and low fat.

What makes the book interesting is the discussions of how to substitute ingredients (mostly alternatives to traditional sweeteners, dairy, and eggs, plus reducing fat and using whole foods when possible) along with the ample trial and error from the author’s kitchen. Some books may suggest you can use X instead of Y, but McCarty tests it and tells you how to change the recipe to accommodate Y and also if Y doesn’t work.

Many of the recipes are gluten-free by virtue of what they are (sorbet, for example) but most do contain wheat. McCarty discusses wheat alternatives and gluten-free flours but the testing isn’t as extensive. There is a gluten-free cake recipe and gluten-free cookies, plus tips for pie crust. Many books dedicated to gluten-free will use eggs (and often dairy) so this is a good complement to those if you need to avoid both.

Although the recipes look good (I haven’t tested them and I don’t know if her tips are accurate, but I have no reason to doubt them), McCarty’s nutritional advice can be a bit off. She spouts old scientists’ tales that have been disproven (like the myth that dietary fat causes breast cancer) and she’s one of those vegans who feels it isn’t enough to simply not eat animal products.

I’m vegetarian for ethical reasons (both for the welfare of the animals but also for the environment, resource allocation, etc) and that’s enough. There are health considerations, but I’ve never felt the need to turn animal products into some health-destroying conspiracy. Some of her “facts” are on the ball and others are overkill.

The recipes are fairly clear, with ingredients explained (though you often have to go to other sections for that). If one recipe depends on another, there is a page number reference. Each recipe has a sidebar with basic nutritional information.

Recipe Categories:

• Fresh Fruit Desserts
• Sorbets
• Pies and Tarts
• Crisps and Cobblers
• Cakes, Tea Breads, and Muffins
• Cookies
• Puddings
• Nut Milks, Pastes, and Creams

(This review was written Jan 21, 2007.)

Ethnic Cuisine: The Flavor-Principle Cookbook
by Elisabeth Rozin
Revised edition, 1983 (original 1973)

This is one of those books that all cooks should be exposed to at least once. It organizes the world of food in a completely novel, but understandable, way. The idea is that each cuisine builds off of a few basic differences that set it apart from other cuisines. Choice of ingredients, cooking techniques, and flavor principles. The book concentrates on the last one.

Flavor principles are the way in which a culture combines ingredients for a unique taste. For example, Italy combines garlic with tomato but in Greece, they add cinnamon to the tomato instead. The difference between Korean and Indonesian cooking which both use soy sauce, brown sugar, and chile? Koreans add sesame and Indonesians add peanut.

For any cook, or anyone who enjoys eating different ethnic foods, Rozin’s book helps to clarify and enlighten. For a cook dealing with food restrictions, the book can be extremely practical. It’s easy to get stuck in the flavor principles we’re used to. So when we suddenly can have a particular ingredient, we feel trapped and end up with food that just isn’t right, though we can’t figure out how to fix it.

Each cuisine illustrated in the book is rich and full with the ingredients that they have. So if you want ideas on creating flavor without garlic, for example, there are many alternatives you may not have thought of (who thinks to add cinnamon?). The majority of the cultures listed don’t use dairy at all and many don’t use wheat, and the sample recipes reflect that. If you find a cuisine you like, now you know how to name it and you can go get books with a broader range of recipes.

The book does have its flaws, though they are mostly in leaving you wanting more. A map would have been nice. A chart of the flavor principles by region, not just a list. Better indexes and table of contents. And simply more of everything. More cuisines represented, more flavor principles, more details, more about cooking technique and ingredient choice. In short, I love this teaser of a book but I want to buy the encyclopedia.

(note: the books are out of print and both pictures link to the 1992 version depicted on the right)

(This review was written September 1, 2007)

I got the recommendation for Alive last year, when Michael and I were planning a special dinner for our first wedding anniversary. But I got very ill and we canceled. This year, our second anniversary, we found ourselves needing to be in San Francisco the day after our anniversary, with time to kill before evening rush hour was over. So off we went.

Not exactly a romantic celebration with a 2 year old along, but what can you do? I told Miriam we were going to a place with lots of fruits and vegetables and she spent all day excitedly asking where the vegetables were.

Alive Restaurant
http://www.aliveveggie.com/
1972 Lombard St
San Francisco, CA 94123
(415) 923-1052

Alive is a vegan raw restaurant tucked away in northern San Francisco, a very easy on and off to the Golden Gate Bridge. Parking is difficult, though the website shows some garages, but it’s not one of the busier areas, for cars or foot traffic.

The restaurant is small, very small. One padded bench along the side wall was half the seating for all but one table. There were 4 tables for 2 and 1 table for 6 (8 if cramped). On the other side of the room was a round table with 3 chairs (4 would fit only by blocking the walking space).

I’ll have to start with the negatives…for a place concerned about health, they are quite unhealthy. In that small space were a dozen or more paraffin candles, all lit and burning. Since the ceiling was high, this wasn’t so bad. The larger problem was the bathroom, which had an oversized blue candle with some sort of synthetic scent. It clung to me all evening.

As I ate my meal, I kept smelling that candle. I couldn’t figure it out. Then I realized it was on my hands. I never use soap in public places; I only washed my hands with water and rubbed them dry with a paper towel. I figured the paper towel had picked up scent from the candle. It was distracting and I was starting to get a migraine.

It wasn’t until most of the way through the meal that I discovered the smell was actually from the cloth napkins. They were all washed in some horrid scented detergent! What a shock. I’ve never seen that at a restaurant before. Usually places who care about the smell and taste of their food try hard not to have competing smells, especially synthetic and banal ones like detergent.

I asked for paper napkins and dipped them in my water glass to scrub my hands. But the damage was done. That detergent (and the bathroom candle) was all I could smell for the rest of the night. My head hurt, I was a bit spacey, and I know I didn’t get the full food experience I was paying for. Despite washing my hands with some water at the car, I had to smell that for the hour drive home. I was not in good shape when I arrived.

The food, at least, was pretty good. We shared everything and gave bites to Miriam on a separate plate. Service was very good and we had no trouble getting additional plates and bowls and etc as needed.

We had:

– Shitake Mushroom Miso Soup with Pumpkin (Hot, Cooked) $9.95

This was the one non-raw thing on the menu. It was good but simple. We needed something warming after spending some time in the San Francisco summer winds, and it did the trick. It wasn’t anything special though, just a basic broth with chunks of pumpkin and other vegetables.

– Rapini King Trumpet Mushroom Salad with an Almond Miso Sauce $9

A very nice salad. The dressing was quite good and there was a yeasty pungent flavor we couldn’t quite place that made the salad taste like it had blue cheese on it.

Alive does salads beautifully. Every ingredient is fresh and cut perfectly. Cutting vegetables doesn’t seem like a big deal, until you compare a basic salad with a well-done one. The salad had a mix of textures yet every piece was just the right size and wasn’t difficult to eat. You didn’t feel like you were chomping your way through rabbit food…it was delicate, crunchy, and fresh.

– Spicy Korean Chili Zucchini Ribbons with Seasonal Vegetables & Pinenuts $12

We were hoping for a noodle dish here, but it turned out to be another salad. The noodles (thin strips of zucchini) were there, but just a small layer on the bottom. It was a delicious salad, don’t get me wrong, but it left us feeling like we had a bunch of salad for dinner, with a couple of sides.

The dressing here was good but not particularly spicy. Miriam wanted more soup, but it was gone, so I gave her dressing in a bowl and she loved it. The dressing and the vegetable/nut mix were different from the first salad, but not so much that it felt like we were eating more than one dish.

– Sun Dried Tomato Shitake Mushroom Torte $15

I’m not sure what made this a torte, but at least it wasn’t salad. Here we had a base of crunchy nut cream (thick enough to stand on its own but not so thick that it set up like a quiche) with mushrooms and tomato puree on top. It was the only dish that felt like a meal. I liked it but it wasn’t anything special. It felt unfinished…like something I might make at home because I don’t have experience with the subtleties of raw “cooking.”

For dessert we shared:

– Almond Cheesecake (not on the online menu)

Very nice. And I felt like I was getting some protein here. The texture was amazing, like a medium to light cheesecake (no New York cheesecake here, but even places that use dairy and eggs can’t usually achieve that). The crust was incredible and I want that recipe! It was carrot based and I believe it had some nuts in it too. It had the texture of a gramhn cracker crust and a nice nutty flavor. The cheesecake was topped with a raspberry sauce that was rich and flavorful.

The cheesecake itself was good but, unfortunately, it had that same yeasty flavor the mushroom salad did. Michael didn’t mind it but I don’t like cheesecake that tastes like blue cheese (and, in this application, it tasted more like yeast than blue cheese). It didn’t keep me from polishing off my half, but it was distracting.

We only drank water (filtered or spring water at just the right temperature, slightly cooler than the air). One of the dishes, I’m not sure which, came with some seed crackers. Nice but not extraordinary.

All in all, I have to say I was disappointed. It’s not that the food was bad (indeed, I liked the food very much), but I was expecting so much more. I was lucky enough to have had a lunch catered by Roxanne’s (a now defunct vegan raw restaurant in Marin County) a couple of years ago. The food was sublime. Combinations you never would have thought of, with amazing textures and wraps from unusual sources. A lot of thought went into their food.

We chatted with the owners of Alive after our meal (since we arrived just after 5pm for dinner, we were the only customers). I asked a few questions about ingredients to pass along to my allergy-laden friends. The owner/chef (not sure who was who) said some things that surprised us.

This sort of food was “transitional,” he told us. Most raw foodists just eat salads. The food served here was generally only for people getting used to eating raw and for special occaisions. We found that odd. Of course almost no one eats daily with the special flourishes a good restaurant puts on their food. We generally simplify.

I’ve known raw foodists who eat nothing but whole fruits or vegetables or a few nuts. They never “cook.” And I’ve known raw foodists who love to create unusual and complex dishes on a regular basis. But I have never heard of anyone who is making a living with raw cooking but puts it down.

Unfortunately, this showed in the food. The energy, the love of cooking and food, the art that I saw in Roxanne’s food (even without going to the restaurant) was absent here. It’s not that they didn’t take care in preparing our meal; they did. It’s that the dishes were simple and without imagination. This isn’t a bad thing, but it’s not what I was expecting.

Aside from the crackers and the cheesecake crust, nothing appeared to be dehydrated (not counting sun dried tomatoes), which is supposedly a hallmark of raw cuisine. The cheesecake and torte had been blended or food processed but pretty much everything else seems to have been just cut up. Expertly cut up, mind you, but nothing much else.

As for allergies…of course there is no meat, fish, eggs, or dairy here. No traces of it either. They use soy sauce and it is wheat-free. Their miso is wheat-free and they avoid gluten (barley in this case) too. Two of the dishes have some gluten in them but they can easily avoid it for anyone who asks. Soy is a bit harder but I believe the soy sauce was the only source and it may have only been in salad dressings.

Only one dish had oranges in it and I didn’t see a lot of citrus. I don’t think there were legumes beyond the soy sauce, and they don’t use grains. Because everything is made from scratch, you avoid preservatives, additives, and the staff can tell you what contains what.

Overall, I enjoyed the food and would happily eat it again, though I would balance the dishes better to have more things other than salad. The prices were a bit high for a regular meal though, and higher than seems reasonable to me for “lunch food.” You do need additional dishes to get a full meal and I was hungry a couple hours later, despite eating a decent lunch with protein in it.

I could not go back, however, until the restaurant addressed the chemical issue. Since it’s impossible to wash fragranced detergent smells out of fabric, this would mean waiting a year or two after they switched detergents so they could cycle through their napkins and get new ones. The scented bathroom is another issue, since the restaurant is a distance away from me, but it’s not as vital as being able to have a scent-free meal.

(This review was written October 12, 2007)

We had an appointment in San Francisco last Wednesday and got together with friends at a Korean restaurant I’d read good things about on the net. It did not disappoint.

Han Il Kwan
1802 Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA 94118
(Outer Richmond neighborhood)
(415) 752-4447

Review & Menu

Our party consisted of me (no eggs, dairy, gluten (some soy sauce ok), oranges, or meat), my husband (no pork, prefers no dairy or red meat), my 2.5 year old daughter (same restrictions as me plus no chocolate), a friend from Canada (celiac–no traces of gluten, no traces of dairy or egg, nothing spicy), her husband (no restrictions), and a local friend (no scallops).

Korean food is a bit more complicated than other cuisines for groups likeours. If we all ate the same things, it wouldn’t be a problem, but with several folks unable to tolerate even trace amounts of certain foods, sharing bowls and cooking space was difficult, but we made it work.

Han Il Kwan follows the Korean tradition of cooking at your table, on a grill mounted in the middle. Some Korean places also have hot pots, others have staff cook your food in front of you, and then there are many that don’t do tableside cooking at all. You order the meat or fish of your choice and then you get soup and about a dozen different side dishes, which vary. You don’t order these extras, you simply get what they have, and you can have refills as needed.

Since we arrived early (before 6pm) we were the only customers in the restaurant. Oddly though, the staff treated us like the restaurant was doing a good business. Not like it was full and busy, but certainly not the attentiveness you’d except being the sole table. As the restaurant filled up (including a Korean tour bus that parked out front and sent a couple dozen people to the back room), the service levels didn’t change at all.

The staff was accommodating, with moderate English, and worked with us to keep the allergic among us safe. They did a good job and the meal came off well.

When my friend with celiac phoned them earlier in the day, they said the only meat that was premarinated was the beef. But it turned out that all the meat and fish was marinated. The basic one was soy sauce and sugar. It wasn’t clear if there were others but the waitress confirmed that all of them had soy sauce (which has wheat in it). Fortunately, it wasn’t a problem to get some of our dishes without the marinade.

We ordered Bul Go Gi (“tender BBQ beef marinates in house special sauce” $17.95), BBQ chicken minus the marinade ($15.95), Seafood mix (“grilled octopus, squid, scallops, prawn with special sauce”; we got oysters instead of scallops; they were marinated separately, $16.95), Broiled marinated mackerel (no marinade), and a large container of soup (hot pot). The soup on the menu was $7.95 but they said it came with the meal, so I’m not sure how they billed us, since we only had 4 main dishes for 5 adults. The soup is “soft bean curd, meat, & vegetable in hot sauce” or so I believe. They made ours with no meat or soy sauce and it contained about 10 small bowls worth.

The fish was cooked in the kitchen but the beef, chicken, and seafood mix were served raw, to be cooked on the gas grill in the middle of our table. Lifting out the cover reduced our usable eating space to very little and it was quite crowded, even though the booth easily sat 6. The grill’s cooking space was perhaps 14″x14″ and each dish was large enough to cover the grill twice.

I can imagine how this is supposed to work, with a table sharing everything. You put a little of each dish on the grill and serve it immediately when it is cooked. Each person gets a couple bites of each dish and, by the time they are finished, the next batch is ready. Unfortunately, we didn’t have that luxury. We had to cook the chicken first, so as not to contaminate the grill with marinade, then all the seafood, then the beef. The grill isn’t particularly hot and the food cooks slowly. I didn’t time it but I would guess a half hour passed between starting the chicken and finishing grilling the beef. The grill had many holes in it but was not mesh. There was no visible oil or grease used. It appeared to be either cast iron or cast aluminum.

We weren’t hungry while waiting though. Not only did we have the soup, but we had side dishes. A good dozen or so of them. The staff helpfully pointed out which ones contained forbidden ingredients. There were some pancakes with pork and egg (and probably wheat but we didn’t bother to ask since non of the gluten-free folks ate egg) but no other meat or egg. Four of the dishes had soy sauce in them, so we kept them all together and we instituted a “clean chopsticks” rule where we took some extra chopsticks and kept them with the no-soy sauce dishes for putting more on our plates.

Soy sauce dishes: There was a fish dish that must have been a paste molded into a block, then sliced. Some crunchy dried anchovies. A cubic rectangle of something that was a cross between jello and soft tofu and was quite good. And a root vegetable.

I can’t remember all the non-soy sauce side dishes but they included 2 kinds of pickled radish. One thick strips of daikon and the other was cubes which the staff said was radish but not daikon. These were my favorites, but I’m a sucker for radish. There was a basic kim chee, pickled bean sprouts, pickled cucumber, and a couple others. Nothing was spicy, though occasionally one of us would get a burst of hotness from the pieces of chili that flavored many of the dishes. Even the simple dishes were full of flavor. Either from the very fresh vegetables or from the sauces, mostly vinegar and tomato. I loved them all (tried all but the pancake).

There was a plate of lettuce but it was too bulky and a bit wet. I love lettuce wraps but the flavors of the other foods were subtle enough that the lettuce just diluted it. The beef dish came with a paste which I didn’t try. And each of us got a bowl of white sticky rice (which went very well with the side dish juices).

I just drank water, which was hard to get and in small glasses. Two of the adults shared Korean beer ($6 for a bottle easily the size of 2 regular beers) and one had a sake, served very hot. I tasted the sake and it was amazing. Smooth. I’m fairly clueless about sake but even I could tell this was worlds beyond what I’ve had before. It was nice at room temperature too, but much better when hot.

For dessert, they brought us bowls of sweetened rice water, which was nice. I thought I saw cookies going to another table, so they may have changed it to accommodate our allergies, which was thoughtful of them.

When I looked up reviews of the various Korean restaurants in San Francisco, the ones with tableside cooking got bad reviews for air quality. This one got raves. There are large vent fans over each table and they are very effective. I barely smelled a thing besides the food. The fans were quiet too…I’m not even sure ours was on.

I was quite pleasantly surprised at the ease at which we negotiated the allergy situation. Had the entire group chosen to share all the foods, it would have been even easier. Eggs are used a lot in Korean food, but we only encountered one dish with it (they may have held some back). The only wheat seemed to be in the soy sauce (and maybe the pancake…there were some noodle dishes too but I don’t know which kind). There was no dairy anywhere as far as I could tell. I believe the only soy was in the tofu
and soy sauce.

We all had a great time. They didn’t mind that we stayed for quite some time chatting. And the overall cost was pretty reasonable considering what you get.

I would definitely return if I had the chance.

Although the restaurant had a variety of foods, I’m tagging it for lowcarb (easy to avoid the rice) and for the various allergens we didn’t have trouble navigating). If this were a full list, I’d add in the meats, but it’s not, so I won’t. 🙂 A vegetarian could eat there (and would enjoy many of the side dishes and the soup) but I can’t guarentee the vegetable dishes were in fact 100% vegetarian and that’s not the focus of the restaurant.

Written Dec 12:

I got a wooden bed frame with drawers from Freecycle December 9 to use for Miriam. It is quite old and solid wood with some plywood. It was pretty filthy, since it was sitting in a walled-in porch for years. I spent a couple hours yesterday scrubbing it all down. When it was wet, it had a slight smell that was like stale cigarette smoke. I didn’t get sick really but it was unpleasant and seemed toxic. The person I got it from doesn’t use pesticides or air freshener but he had used mothballs in the drawers many years ago (not since) and I’m guessing it was exposed to smoke, though I didn’t ask. I remembered that, back 5 years ago when I bought my floor varnish from AFM, I also got a gallon of Acrylacq which is similar but made for furniture and for sealing. There it was in my garage, unopened with a rusty top.

So I opened it. It was not only still good but it hadn’t even separated. Since I had all the pieces of the bed sitting on cardboard/newspaper in my driveway, dry and clean, I decided to go ahead and “paint” them.

There was very little smell and, despite using it for 1.5 hours, I didn’t really react (very slight background headache). The stuff is like a thick watered down milky (whitish color) but goes on easy, even though much of the wood was on the rough side.

You have to wait 4 hours inbetween coats, and they recommend 2-3 coats. I did the inside and outside of all 3 drawers, except for the fronts, and the front and sides of the bed, the part of the bed where the mattress goes, and one side of the footboard and headboard.

When Michael came home a few hours later, I asked him to put a second coat on the inside of the drawers, the part of the bed where the mattress goes, and the front side of the bed (drawer surround). And to do the other side of the head/foot boards and the front of the drawers.

I think some of it will be okay with one coat and the rest with two. We’ll take a better look at it tomorrow and decide if anything needs an extra coat. Michael had some leftover sealer so he also did our junky wood coffee table.

And, as a special bonus, I lightly sanded the top of my dryer where the cat pee had rusted it out, and applied a coat of sealer to that.

The sealer dries clear but with a yellow tint. I only noticed this on my white dryer. On the wood it is invisible. The wood is darker where sealed, though that may disappear as it cures. I consider that a plus as I like the look and it helped to hide color imperfections.

This is an experiment. So far I really love the stuff but I need to see how it wears. If it peels off or cracks badly, that will be a problem. I was thrilled with how low-toxic it was.

I’ll give it a month or more. If it still looks good, I’ll start covering more wood items in my house. It works on metal too so I might tackle some of those as well.

(The bedframe looks pretty good. Nice even color with a good sheen. The headboard, footboard, and one drawer are not yet installed. And you can see peeling varnish on the drawer to the left.)

Later that evening:

I am quite pleased with it. I can smell it some though. We just moved the bed in from outside because we’re afraid it will rain and we’ve been getting a lot of dew in the morning and some frost too. Miriam’s room is also the computer room, though that will change at some point (she LOVES having her own bed and swears up and down that she’s going to sleep in it, but we’ll see 🙂

So far, it’s stayed dark and even. Looks really really good.

EXCEPT…

When I varnished, it was 48 degrees outside (sensor in the shade but I was in the sun, so I am pretty sure it was warmer) and sunny and early afternoon. When Michael did it, it was an hour or so before sundown and a bit cooler and the driveway was in the shade.

Everything I varnished that we left one coat on looks fabulous.
Everything I varnished that Michael added a coat to looks fabulous.
BUT…most everything he did the first coat on is peeling (white when separated from the wood).

That is a disappointment. I am guessing that it was just too cold and damp for a good cure. And I hope that a light sanding and revarnishing on a sunny day will fix it. Fortunately, the bed frame itself came out perfect, because that one is a PITA to move outside. The peeling parts are the bottoms of the fronts of 2 (of 3) drawers (very easy to move and carry) and the backsides of the headboard and footboard, so we can’t bolt them in quite yet.

When we first went to pick up this free bed, my heart sank as I looked at a worn out piece of sh*t. But the cleaning and varnishing has made a huge difference. It doesn’t look new, but new wasn’t what I was after. It looks nice, at least if you don’t look at the peeling parts.

Now we just need a mattress for it!

(The drawers came out well. Only the fronts (varnished late in the day) are peeling. I wanted the insides sealed because of the lingering odor…which seems to be gone.)

Update Dec 18:

After bringing it inside, I realized that the smell was soon overpowering. We ozoned that room overnight and it made a big difference, though there has been some lingering smell for the week. It’s mostly gone now.

It’s been raining nearly every day since I wrote the Dec 12 entries. I was hoping to post this when everything was finished, but that might be a while. My hope is that if I lightly sand away the peeling bits and reappy the varnish, that it will look as nice as the parts we did in the sun do. I not only need dry days and nights but a nice sunny day so the first few hours of the cure occur in perfect conditions.

I’ll post again when I’ve tried this out.

(These are the pieces that could be better. The sides and inside of the drawer, and the flip sides of the head and foot boards are all perfect. The white peeling bits are the sides that got their first (only) coats of varnish late in the day. Everything that was varnished in the early afternoon looks great, even those with a second coat added later. These pieces are sitting on the junky coffee table I mentioned above. Doesn’t look so bad now. It came out well even though it had a first coat late.)

Update February 10, 2008:

Go to Miriam’s New Bed – Part II

Why is this recipe listed under Chanukah? Because my daughter can’t have chocolate and I wanted an alternative for dreidle gelt. I promised her we’d made cookies for Chanukah (we eat very few traditional sweets). The cookies are gold like gelt with golden raisins and jeweled cranberries.

It was too messy to actually use cookies for the “pot” so we used coins and each one (regardless of demonination) bought a cookie.

Many thanks to Julia of Foodlab for this recipe. It was a winner. I adapted it in several ways. Below is my version.

Recipe:

12 oz palm shortening (I used Spectrum) at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon flaxseed meal in 1/3 cup water (nuked and cooled)
1 cup almond meal
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups dry oatmeal (use certified gluten-free if needed)
1 cup broken walnuts
1 cup combination of golden raisins and dried cranberries

In bowl, mix almond meal, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl combine shortening and sugar, mixing well. Add flax at the end.

Add the dry mix to the wet and mix just to combine. Add and mix the oats. Add and mix the nuts and fruit.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Make balls of dough with a teaspoon and put on to sheet.

Bake at 350 F for about 18 minutes. Do not overcook; they burn easily. It is okay if they are a bit soft when they come out of the oven.

The cookies turned out flat and crispy but really delicious. They were a bit greasy but that was less of an issue after being stored. They kept for several days layered in paper towels in a plastic salad box (no holes).

I was at Whole Foods a couple of weeks ago and they had a tasting and a coupon for Toby’s Tofu pate. Regular price was $4 for container that was 16 oz I believe. My daughter loved it and I thought it was decent, so I got some, thinking, ya know, I can make this better and cheaper.

The original variety has eggs in it (from the mayonnaise) but the other flavors use eggless mayonnaise and are vegan. The tofu is organic but the other ingredients are not. There are no preservatives but there are a few ingredients I’d rather not eat, like canola oil, soy protein isolate, and cornstarch. We bought the Classic Lemon Dill.

Trader Joe’s has a product called Eggless Egg Salad with similar ingredients and texture.

The basic idea is to grind up tofu then add mayo and seasoning. Other ingredients are there to bind and soak up excess moisture. I figured if I started with my usual tofu, the Wildwood high-protein style (it’s extra extra extra firm), I wouldn’t need ways of dealing with excess water because there wouldn’t be any.

The one ingredient I didn’t use but want to is nutritional yeast. It adds a nice flavor to foods, often with a cheesy under-current. But I don’t happen to have any in my pantry. I’m not fond of onion, so I left it out, and the other herbs weren’t easily available, so I didn’t use them.

Recipe:

15 oz tofu (extremely firm)
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons dill weed (dried)
1 tsp mustard (I used Annie’s Horseradish Mustard, but anything not yellow will do)
1 teaspoon turmeric
3 oz (6 tablespoons) mayonnaise (I used Grapeseed Veganaise) (add up to twice this amount for a creamier consistency)
3 tablespoons water (or as needed to get it to blend well)

Put the tofu into the food processor with a regular blade and run it until it is cut up fine.

Add all the other ingredients and run the food processor until you mix them all together and end up with a creamy, but textured, mush.

Put in container for serving or storing in the fridge. That is it! About half the price of the packaged product with full control of your ingredients. And it takes about 5 minutes to make (10 if you count washing the the food processor).

Your traditional latkes are grated potato, diced onion, egg, matzoh meal, and seasoning all mixed together and fried in olive oil. But what do you do when all you can eat is fried salt and pepper? Well, alternative latkes have always been part of the tradition: despite what many think, it’s not just about potato pancakes. Many vegetables work very well.

I’ve made lowcarb latkes for several years with good results. Now I’ve made them without eggs or gluten, due to family allergies. They came out great. But when you are working with different ingredients, you need to follow a few guidelines.

My absolute favorite veggie to use is turnip. Most people don’t think much of this idea…until they try them. Turnip latkes have a lovely sharp flavor but they’re not spicy like raw turnips can be. Zucchini, radish, and spaghetti squash all make fabulous latkes too. And, of course, you can always use potato.

With potatoes, you can just grate them and then mix in your other ingredients. But with lower-carb vegetables, you must remove some of the water or your finished product won’t hold together.

Prepare the vegetables at least an hour ahead of time. Coarsely grate them in a food processor (or by hand if you’re a culinary machocist). Don’t grind or slice them, they will not come out right. Put in a bowl and salt them well (don’t use more salt than you would for taste anyway, but use as much as you can). Toss to get the salt on all parts and let them sit for half an hour at the very least but an hour if possible. Several hours is even better, but there’s no need to go beyond that.

Letting them sit allows some of the excess liquid to settle to the bottom. The salt pulls out even more liquid. This is essential for latkes; without this step you end up with a soggy mess. Just before mixing with the other ingredients, taste the veggies and see if there is more salt than you want in the finished latkes. If so, rinse with a bit of fresh water. Take the veggies one handful at a time, squeeze really well, and put the dry veggies in a fresh bowl. Discard the liquid.

Now it’s time to mix in the other ingredients.

I don’t often eat onions (or garlic or anything in the same family) but radishes make a fine substitute. They can be grated.

Your basic seasoning is salt and pepper. I like cumin with the turnip. You can add anything you like here. Most latkes are fairly simple, but there’s no reason why you can’t make them spicy or any flavor you wish.

If you eat egg, go ahead and use it. But if you don’t, flaxseed makes a nice substitute. Take 1 tablespoon finely ground flax (store in freezer) and put into 1/3 cup of water. Nuke for 1-2 minutes in a much larger container and let sit for a while. This substitutes for one egg and will be the consistency of eggwhite. You can multiply the recipe as desired, just remember it will foam up so use a large container. Or you can cook it on the stove. Or let the flax sit in the water overnight.

The matzoh meal helps to bind the latke but the gluten in it isn’t doing anything special. For a lowcarb latke, use soy flour. Rice flour (I’ve used brown) works very well.

Fry your pancakes in plenty of olive oil. Do not skimp. Chanukah is a holiday of olive oil in particular, oil in general. Traditionally, potato pancakes (made in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe) were fried in goose fat (or, presumably, chicken fat). They couldn’t get olive oil and of course didn’t use lard like their non-Jewish neighbors. Substitute other vegetable oils at your own risk. Very few hold up to the high heat of frying. If you use bacon grease or pork fat, I do not want to hear about it.

Recipes:

Turnip latkes

5 cups (about 2.5 lbs at market) shredded turnip
3-4 eggs or 3-4 TB flaxseed meal in 1 to 1 1/3 cups water
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon cumin powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Zucchini & Radish Latkes

6 cups shredded zucchini (maybe 5 lbs)
1 bunch radishes, roots shredded
3-4 eggs or 3-4 TB flaxseed meal in 1 to 1 1/3 cups water
2 tablespoons flour
Salt and pepper to taste

After mixing everything together, use a spoon to drop balls of mix (about 1.5″ wide) in to a good amount of hot oil. Smoosh down with spatula. Let them brown on one side then turn, adding more oil as needed. Cook on medium-high heat. Turn more if they are not fully cooked. Don’t let them burn but remember that these vegetables need to be cooked more than potatoes or they will taste raw.

The traditional way to serve Chanukah latkes is with sour cream and/or applesauce. Sour cream (and other dairy) would only be used if the latkes were made without animal fat and were not eaten in the same meal with any meat or meat products (eggs and fish don’t count as meat). You can use any topping of your choice, or eat them plain.

An earlier version of this recipe was posted to alt.support.diet.low-carb December, 29, 1998 and to my lowcarb website March, 1, 1999.
Other listings: Dmoz: Cooking: Fruits and Vegetables: Turnips, Nepszabadsag Online & here (Hungarian), eGullet Society, Half the Sins of Mankind (blog), World Culinary Institute, Jewish Search, plus a ton of “link pages” with identical lists.