PDX! part 1

I <3 flying into Portland 

I realized that I have never once taken a carpet photo in Portland. . . so I did!

 I then arrived at this amazing little airbnb. . . 

A tonic to cure jetlag. Or for whatever else ails you. (And super delcious!)

The next day, I headed out for tamales at Tamale Boy (which I had never been to) with my talented sushi chef friend, Yuki

 The tamales were pretty good, but this salad was seriously amazing.
It's not even called a salad on the menu, but rather:
Bruselas Fritas:
I'm not even a fan of brussel sprouts, really, but these were wow.
Sauteed in lime, olive oil, dried chilies and OLIVES! They were topped with grapefruit, chili oil, some thinly sliced radishes and crispy noodels.

It reminded me of one of those huge salads that goes on a communal table in the perfect size bowl, and everyone helps themselves. It was bomb, and it really made me think again about veggie cuisine and how some dishes can actually be better than ones with meat. Actually, my last trip was to Pai in Northern Thailand, where there was an abundance of vegan /vegetarian restaurants, and even though I am currently eating meat, the quality of the food I had there really made me think about eating less meat---- more than that, though, it inspired me in a creative way, in that cooking-wise, I think I'm meant to experiment with veg cuisine more.

Especially coming back to PDX, where there are incredible veg options available (Bye and Bye's soft pretzel bites and vegan queso are literally one of the first things I wanted to put in my mouth once I stepped foot in the airport.) Sometimes simple and plant-based is really best. 

Cheers!!!