liamsaunt

Purple Carrot #3: crispy turnip cakes with za'atar yogurt and kumquat quinoa tabouli. That's for for box #1, so it's back to my own ideas for dinner for the next few days.

Purple Carrot #2: ramen bowl with gingered amaranth greens, roasted broccoli, and watermelon radish. I de-veganized it with an egg. It was pretty good but I like my usual recipe more.

I've been bringing salads to work for lunch recently. This one had pears, apples, almonds, turkey and Gorgonzola dolce Yesterday I brought tuna with olive oil, capers, pepperoncini and almonds and today I have roast salmon with plums, feta and almonds in a berry vinaigrette

Roasted salmon and vegetables over white lentil risotto with cashew gremolata The salmon was my addition to a Purple Carrot meal. My husband signed us up to get three Purple Carrot meals a week. They are based on a vegan, gluten free, low soy and who knows what else diet that New England Patriot Tom Brady follows. To say I was skeptical is an understatement. However, this first meal was actually really good! I ended up saving my salmon for lunch today and just ate the lentils and vegetables. I doubt we will keep the subscription for very long, but for now I guess I won't mind experimenting with whatever comes in the box. I have the capacity to recycle all of the packaging, which is a plus.

Last night, haddock veracruzana style

I did not know you were from Westerly. I lived there as a young person. Went to elementary school before we moved away. The town library is so nice, and the adjacent park (Wilcox?) with the skating pond was lovely. And of course the town owned beaches were a great asset. I was furious when we moved out of there! It's such a cute town. Nice price on the squid--it is much more here in MA. Tonight we had Thai style fish cakes made with the last of the pollock from this week's fish share and a cucumber salad and rice

Reuben made with pollock

My sister and her kids eat meatless on Fridays during Lent, so I made a spinach and artichoke strata and a roasted tomato salad Mushrooms too, but I forgot to take a picture of those.

Roast salmon banh mi

It's a tough job but someone has to do it ;-) In all seriousness we called our share and paid for the second pound of scallops. We certainly ate them! Sand dabs stuffed with scallops and mushrooms with some spinach and baby potatoes

Everyone's dinners look great as always! Last night I made flatbread with seared scallops and arugula. My fish share accidentally gave me too much fish, and I ended up with 2 pounds of scallops instead of the one pound I ordered, plus 2 pounds of sand dabs, and two pounds of Faroe Island salmon! I gave half of the salmon and dabs to my sister, and she took a few of the scallops, but we still have more scallops to eat. I am thinking of stuffing the sand dabs with scallops for dinner tonight.

Cinnamon Bay is in the midst of a major renovation. The tents will now be larger "eco-tents" and the cabins are being expanded too. Details on exactly how that is going to work are fuzzy--they cannot change the footprint as per National Park rules, so it sounds like they will be going up--with a lofted bedroom and possibly even a private bath. Prices will rise accordingly of course. My husband flat out refuses to camp, or even to glamp, so we won't ever be staying there. I agree that Cinnamon is a gorgeous beach. We did not visit this time because the North swell was up, but I'll be there a lot this summer. I've been out to Reef Bay but not this time. My husband is dealing with a pulled tendon in his ankle which would have made hiking down there impossible. Fatty Cue is long gone. It was actually called Fatty Crab. I ate there around four times, but it never caught on with the locals. My island friends thought it was funny that the restaurant was called Fatty Crab but they never served any crab there :-) Skinny Legs is still going strong. I am not a big fan--I don't eat red meat so my options there are pretty limited--but will probably go there this summer anyway. I've been trying to track down a copy of Grandma Raised the Roof for quite a while with no luck. I know the story though. Her house is still there! Last meal....we headed back to Caneel Bay to take the ferry to the airport. We did not have a lot of time, so opted for some more sushi. A repeat of the delicious yellowtail koi A repeat of the tuna island salad Tuna tataki and tuna-crab wontons and then it was time to go... I'll pick this report back up again when I return this summer. There will be a lot less fine dining and a lot more casual food and villa cooking, so you will get to see some new places. Thanks for looking.

@Thanks for the Crepes you are correct, that is a parrotfish. It was me who advised liuzhou not to eat it. Ciguatera is no joke. We were originally scheduled for another fine dining experience last night, but I just could not do another elaborate meal, so we cancelled. We drove across the island, stopping for a few scenic photos along the way. Caneel Bay--where I am heading in a hour to take the ferry to the airport :-( Beautiful Maho and Francis Bays. I have a villa rented above Francis Bay for this summer's visit and eventually ended up back at Shipwreck Landing Conch fritters Blackened shrimp quesadilla Grouper sandwich We headed back to our condo to watch the sunset and then went to dinner at the Beach Bar Tuna Down Now Mahi tacos I will have one more meal to share with you, but it will have to wait until I am home and enjoying the blizzard that is approaching. I think we might be coming in on one of the last flights in to Boston before the storm starts. At least I have two more weeks of this island in just four months to look forward to while I am raking my roof!

Yesterday I was hoping to go to one of my favorite restaurants on the island for lunch. They have traditional West Indian food as well as regular stuff. I wanted a bowl of kalalloo soup, but it turns out that they were closed because they had held a full moon party the night before. I really hope they will be open when I come back this summer. They always close for a few months in the slow season. Anyway, we ended up back at Aqua Bistro. Calamari Grouper tacos That night we visited the Terrace for dinner. Cocktails On the left is a Mexican cousin (Nuestra Soledad mescal, St. Germain, locally made ginger beer, and lime) and on the right is a Ramble on Rose (frozen Pinot Project Pinot Grigio rose, Grey Goose orange vodka, St. Germain and strawberries, topped with Montes sparkling angel) We shared a roasted baby heirloom tomato tart with chèvre and locally grown greens and an app special that night of tuna tartare My entree was a rare seared tuna with Parisian gnocchi, asparagus, wild mushrooms, and lavender scented port reduction and husband had the butter-poached lobster with roasted corn and grape tomatoes, tuxedo orzo, truffle, and lobster-herb hollandaise We then sampled the camembert beignets with stone fruit compote, spiced nuts and local wildflower honey Today is our last full day on the island, which my mind is sad about, but my stomach says is a good thing. I think I am converting to veganism when I get home :-) Finally, some snorkeling shots from yesterday

Yesterday we had lunch with some friends that live on the island so I have no pictures. They know I take food photos but I think they think it is a little weird :-) For dinner we returned to Zozos, because my parents sent us a gift certificate. Free dinner? I will take it! We started with scallops Rockefeller And tortellini in a bacon-parmesan brodo Entrees were a pistachio-crusted mahi mahi with spinach salad And roasted fluke stuffed with crab, plus broccolini and crispy potatoes, and a roasted pepper sauce Too full for dessert, per usual. A couple of snorkeling shots from yesterday

We went out to breakfast yesterday at High Tide. It's on the beach in town--here is the view I had a standard breakfast with eggs over easy, bacon, and tater tots Husband chose the florentine benedict Then we drove across the island, stopping to photograph one of the beast beaches in the Caribbean (in my completely unbiased opinion, ha), Trunk Bay We stopped into Aqua Bistro in Coral Bay for a snack of blackened mahimahi skewers and tempura shrimp skewers later that evening we went to Drink! St. John for a cocktail. I had a mojito and husband had a margarita. The glasses are slanted and then we had dinner at La Tapa. Bacalao fritters Langoustines Tagliatelle with langoustines, shrimp, and arugula in an albarino cream sauce Tuna with crispy polenta cakes

Yes, the fish was fried and it was cole slaw. In this case, the fish was pollock. Not a local fish, but i doubt the boats were able to go out the past couple of days due to weather. Fish reubens are yummy. I am going to a place that makes them with grouper tomorrow, and at one of my favorite restaurants at home (Mac's on Cape Cod) they do it with a pastrami smoked swordfish. Dinner last night was at Ocean's 362. We started with cocktails Bread service A tuna tartare with plantain chips, feta, avocado mousse, and bermuda onion Husband loved this. Local tomato salad Husband had a butter lime curry seared mahi mahi with Caribbean lobster tail, roasted roots, kale, garlic, radish, and cumin aioli I opted for the vegetarian plate, which had farro, roasted roots, greens, pickled carrots, sweet pea and shallot soubise, feta, radish, herbs and leek ash Too full for dessert. Bonus random beach picture. and snorkeling shot:

There are lots of options, but only two "full service" resorts: Caneel Bay (which is the ex-Rock Resort) and the Westin St. John. The Westin is in the process of being converted to almost entirely time share units. You can still rent them though. Caneel is not for everyone. I have heard it described as "summer camp for grownups" and I would say that's pretty accurate. There are no phones or TVs in the rooms, the rooms themselves are not large and not fancy in decor. You are paying for the grounds and the access to their beaches, which are top notch with great snorkeling. I personally love it there. There are a couple of eco options: Cinnamon Bay Campground, and Concordia Eco-Tents. Plus, various smaller condo complexes and inns. However, what most visitors do--and what I prefer-- is to rent a vacation villa. It's more work than a hotel room obviously, since you are self-catering, but the reward is more space, more privacy, and various amenities, great views, upscale furnishings and kitchen/baths private pool, etc. depending on your budget. When I come back this summer I will be staying in a villa, and cooking at least half of our meals at the villa from a mix of things we will bring from home and things we can buy here on the island. Today for lunch we went to Shipwreck Landing. Blackened shrimp appetizer A fish reuben Tuna tacos with roasted pepper salsa

The weather is still lousy but at least I saw a rainbow Lunch at the Lime Inn. Cracked conch Two snapper sandwiches...one blackened with pickled cauliflower salad One with local greens Dinner at Extra Virgin Bistro. Cocktails Housemade ricotta with corn salad Crab cakes (background was the best dish of the night, a scallop and zucchini blossom special) Shrimp and crab pappardelle

I should have qualified in my last post that the last meal I posted was our final meal at Caneel Bay for this trip. We are still here for another week. My husband and I moved out into larger accommodations today. I get really antsy in a hotel room. The weather is lousy today so we had an early dinner at Rhumblines. Our cocktails: husband's was a spicy guava margarita, and mine was a "Rockefeller" which had vodka, campari, grapefruit, and some other stuff. Laurence Rockefeller purchased and then donated over half of this island to the National Park, so I felt compelled to order. Vegetable summer rolls All the shrimp from their "pupu" offerings: blackened, cornmeal crusted, barbecue, tempura, and coconut, with accompanying sauces. Blackened scallops with sesame rice cakes and vegetables Tuna with puffed rice noodles and bok choy Rainy setting

I am currently on the island of St. John, in the US Virgin Islands. I am here for 10 days, and will be back for two weeks this summer, so I thought I would start a new thread to cover the current dining options on the island. Between the two trips I will visit almost every restaurant on the island. Our first real dinner was at one of our favorite restaurants: Zozos at the Sugar Mill. A special of house cured salmon over tagliatelle with broccolini, roasted peppers and cherry tomatoes lobster carbonara jumbo shrimp with fave bean puree and asparagus striped bass with asparagus and salad We are not big dessert eaters so there won't be much sweet in this report. Another day we ate at Caneel Sushi Bar Tuna Island salad with mango Yellowtail koi A crunchy salmon roll a Sandy Beach roll (shrimp) Our final meal was at Turtle Bay Estate House. It was too dark for photos most of the meal, but here is the bread service And the conch chowder

Not really breakfast food but it is what I ate: turkey, Brie, and carmelized onion panino with iced tea

HungryChris love those zucchini fries. I need to make some soon. a much more satisfying breakfast this morning made better by this view

Airport breakfast. Undercooked eggs and toast, overcooked bacon and home fries. Eating prospects will improve this evening.