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A few of our favorite pictures of Valencia

Our first stop in Spain took us to Valencia, Spain’s third largest city. Few of the people we surveyed in preparation for our trip had much to say about Valencia. Friends who have traveled to Spain focus their adoration on either of Spain’s two urban hubs – Madrid and Barcelona. Too bad! We loved our time in Valencia and would recommend it to anyone planning to spend time along Spain’s Mediterranean coast.

The biggest food market in Spain. So much food, so little time.

The cab ride from the train station to the hotel was quick. We checked in, unloaded our things and headed out to grab a bite to eat in the Placa de la Reina. First stop, the pintxos bar La Taberna de la Reina on the square where we found all kinds of delicious bites of meat, fish and cheese atop slices of baguette. These ubiquitous morsels can be found all over Spain, and while the main event was yet to come in San Sebastian, we thought it worth a visit to get a sense of how it works before we find ourselves in the serious pintxos bars later in our journey (more on pintxos to come).

An array of tapas.

Feeling sated, we wandered the ancient narrow streets in Valencia’s old city center around the cathedral where we found innumerable cafes, tourist trinkets, and massive colorful graffiti-covered stone walls. All that walking worked up an appetite so we scouted about to find our next bite and happened upon Boatella Tapas, a tapas bar and cerveceria across the street from the Mercado Central, Valencia’s fresh food hub and one of the largest food markets in Europe. The tiny corner bar has a small counter and seating area indoors and a few tables set out on the sidewalk. Atop the bar inside is an array of platters with piles of various fish, some fried, some roasted, all incredibly fresh and delicious. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs and Steve’s Spanish language skills were just good enough to get the servers attention but not quite good enough to explain that we simply wanted a mixed plate of various items from the bar. The “medium” plate of food he thought he was ordering ended up being several medium sized plates of each of the things he pointed at on the bar. We had a big plate of fried whole small fish, a plate of grilled squid salad, a plate of fried shrimp in their shells, a full plate of padron peppers and a nice big plate of chicharones. There was no way we were going to eat it all!

Valencia has the best paella in Spain.

Paella is a Valencian specialty. The rice most commonly used for paella, Bomba rice, grows in rice paddies near Valencia and the sea provides all the delicious squid, muscles and langoustines needed for a traditional pan of saffron scented rice. We had the best paella of our visit at Restaurant El Rall, a great little place tucked away in one of Valencia’s many medieval squares. While we waited for our paella for two, we noshed on a favorite Spanish blood sausage that had been topped with a dollop of pureed ham and cheese then toasted under the broiler. They were delicious. The paella was exquisite and we were careful to delicately scrape our servings from the top, avoiding disturbing the bottom of the pan so that the rice could continue to cook and ultimately crisp up. That crunchy, brown rice at the end is the best part of the paella. Ours was perfect!

The best tapas in Valencia. It was worth the bike ride to find this place.

Perhaps our most memorable meal in Valencia, lunch at Bodega Montana, was satisfying in every way. The bodega has a great atmosphere with its marble bar and several barrels lining the walls from which wine and sherry is dispensed. We stuffed ourselves with an assortment of perfectly executed tapas. Standouts included the marinated tuna, the anchovy stuffed green olives, the bacalao (salted cod) potato puree and the fried stuffed red peppers. But that wasn’t enough. We also snacked on slices of Manchego cheese and thin slices of Iberico ham – perhaps the best we’ve ever tasted. As with many of our meals in Spain, we washed it all down with glasses of rosé and beer.

Hot chocolate and churros. A must try when in Spain.

We took a break from traditional Spanish food on our last night in Valencia, settling instead for Italian at La Papardella, just a couple of blocks off the placa near the cathedral. But this was not our last meal in Valencia. Before cabbing to the train station on departure day, we got up at 6 a.m. and headed over to the L’Orxateria next to the main entrance of the Mercat for churros and chocolate. The outdoor temperature at that hour was just cool enough to make this decadent breakfast of fried pastry and thick hot chocolate the perfect sendoff.

Next stop: Barcelona!

All the flavor without the guilt.

To paraphrase the 80’s hit, “Turning Japanese,” I think we’re turning vegetarian. Yes, we do eat meat and fish, but for the last few weeks, ever since our first juice fast, we have eaten so little meat, fish, and dairy, that multiple days have gone by without any animal products showing up in our meals, and without either one of us conscience of our eating habits until days later. It’s been such an unusual change in our dietary habits that we’ve even started eating at vegan restaurants and, gasp, liking it!

In the midst of all that juicing and fasting, our thoughts drifted to daydreams of big juicy burgers. A trip to [your favorite burger shop] was tempting but we knew that if we were to succumb to the temptation we’d regret it.

Now, veggie burgers are not the sort of thing that either one of us likes to eat – usually – but after purchasing a big container of crimini mushrooms, Jason’s thoughts turned to creating the meatiest, meatless burger he could muster. Using a basic veggie burger recipe from a Vegetarian Times he swiped from the laundromat as a template, an idea began to take shape. The burger that was created has a similar taste and texture to ground beef but without the meat. Mushrooms, miso, and soy sauce gives the burgers the umami that many veggie burgers lack.

For those of you who are die hard carnivores, and aren’t willing to exchange a veggie based patty with your beloved beef, nothing we say is going to make you want to try our burgers. But if you’re willing to try something different, or if you’re looking for a hearty but easier to digest fast breaker, we suggest you break one of these burgers. It will help you ease back into the meat world and you won’t feel guilty for breaking your fast with that greasy cheese burger.

From beans to burger.

Black Bean, Mushroom & Quinoa Burgers

½ cup quinoa
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces Crimini mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup Miso
1-2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2 cup cooked black beans (1 15 ounce canned rinsed and drained)
Salt & pepper

Rinse quinoa in several changes of water. In a small saucepan, add rinsed quinoa with 1 ¼ cups water with 1/8 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 20 minutes (all the liquid should be absorbed when the quinoa is fully cooked). You should have about 1 ½ cups cooked quinoa.

Peel and rough chop the onion and add it to a food processor. Clean the mushrooms and add them to the food processor. Pulse the processor 5-10 times or until the onion and mushroom mixture comes to a small rough consistency.

Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the mushroom onion mixture and a pinch of salt, to draw out the moisture in the vegetables, and sauté until the mushrooms and onions are dry, 5-10 minutes. Add the soy sauce and miso and mix together. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

In the food processor, add the black beans, quinoa, and mushroom mixture. Pulse about 10-15 times or until thoroughly mixed together. Taste and season with salt and pepper or more soy sauce to taste.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. With about ½-3/4 cup of the bean mixture, form the patties. You should get about 8. Place the patties on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the patties are crisp on top, then flip the burgers. Bake for 10-15 minutes more, or until the other side is also crisp.

Serve on top of a bun with all the usual “burger” condiments or on a bed of lettuce with a crumble of goat or feta cheese.

Note: The bean patties can be frozen after shaping. Add 10-15 minutes to the baking time for frozen patties.