Cactus Review

Jason here. The other week we went out to dinner with a good friend of ours. Kayleigh and I have both been wanting to try out some more Bellevue restaurants, so this was the perfect chance. We opted go for a Southwest restaurant named Cactus.

The first thing I liked about Cactus was how convenient it was to get to. It’s connected to the Bellevue Square Mall, which always has plenty of parking. The wait was only around 40 minutes, and we found a nice place to sit and talk around the corner while we waited to be buzzed.

The second thing I liked about Cactus was how gluten free friendly they were. Not only did they have a specific gluten free menu (available online), but the waitress was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. She even let me know the table nachos were not entirely gluten free as they had been cooked in the same deep fryer as other items.

The menu was expansive for all gluten free items, including more than a couple appetizers. I’m always happy when I have a variety to choose from. I ultimately ended up getting the bacon wrapped jalapenos for an appetizer, and the Seafood Enchilada for my main dish.

The jalapenos were tasty, but nowhere near as spicy as I was expecting. In fact, I would say they had no heat at all, which was surprising. I felt sort of goofy eating them as the bacon did want to stay wrapped, and it was a bit difficult to cut properly and not have it all fall apart. The taste is a bit hard to describe. The goat cheese and bacon tasted very standard, but the jalapeno itself did not have any spice. This is probably a good thing considering there were around half a dozen, each as large or larger than my thumb. 

The main course was even better. The meal over all is an easy sell for me. I love cheese, shellfish, and salsa, so I knew I would enjoy it. I even enjoyed the bits of snapper in my enchilada. Maybe my pallet is finally warming up to fish now.

I’m sure the black beans tasted great, but I’m not really qualified to speak on this as I am not really a fan of them. Beans always taste sort of bland to me, unless they are heavily spiced. Don’t get me wrong, I think beans definitely have a place in a meal like this or chili, they just are not something that I can get excited about.

It came with a side of Spanish rice, which was just loaded with flavor. Sometimes rice, even Spanish rice can be a bit bland, but that was definitely not the case here. I would not say they had any heat to them, but definitely in that family of spice.

At the end of the meal I felt stuffed, and completely safe knowing it was a gluten free. I definitely recommend giving this place a shot if you are on the Eastside.

Kayleigh here. Cactus is a great spot for when friends or family have a bit of shopping to do in the mall, or something to pass the time waiting for a table- you can leave your cell phone number with the hostess to make sure you do not miss when your time comes. Out of all the food, I was the most impressed with the sides that came with most of their entrees. I’m really not a fan of the rice that is so commonly served at Mexican restaurants, but I found theirs to be well seasoned and topped with what must have been pumpkin seeds? It was a nice touch. And I always love black beans, particularly served as they were with a light addition of cumin and crumbled cheese. We did not take advantage of it this time, but it seemed that there were a few enticing dessert options, as well as a unique Margarita menu. If you have gotten the chance to try anything else on the menu, leave a comment below and let us know how it was!

Hearty Pancakes for Two Recipe

Kayleigh here. I really love experimenting around in the kitchen and coming out with recipes that are not only great imitations of the regular gluten-filled item, but are just the perfect amount for Jason and I. Cooking for two can get really frustrating when all you can find are recipes that make a dozen, or enough to feed the average family. But more often than not, I find that there's some simple trick or secret ingredient that will let you make a smaller batch without having to toss half an egg or buy heavy cream only to use a tablespoon of it.

While waffles usually end up being our go-to last minute breakfast (boy, I love owning a Belgian waffle maker!), I've found that just using the same recipe for waffles and pancakes just doesn't quite seem to cut it- soft and spongy waffles are great, but that's not what I'm looking for in pancakes. Sure, there's not much of a difference, but it was about time we got to the drawing board and came out with the perfect, small scale gluten free recipe for us.

These pancakes get a heartiness and wholesome texture from the buckwheat flour, but enough leavening from the egg and baking powder to keep it from being too dense and flat. In this batch, I chose to add dried cranberries and roughly chopped pecans to the batter, but add whatever you like! Just don't forget the real maple syrup.

Hearty Pancakes for Two

Ingredients:

1 egg
2 TB Sugar
¼ Cup Milk
Pinch Baking Powder
¼ Cup Buckwheat Flour
1/3 Cup Tapioca Flour
1-2 Drops Vanilla Extract
Pinch Salt
Toppings or fillings (chocolate chips, blueberries, dried cranberries, pecans, etc)

Directions:

1) Combine all ingredients in a bowl, adding any desired fillings after everything else has been stirred together.
2) Butter up a stovetop pan and set on medium heat. For a thicker, fluffier pancake, use a pan with a small diameter so the pancake completely fills it, and put a lid on top so it cooks all the way through. For thinner pancakes, add a bit more milk and use a large pan.
3) Cook on the first side until the top is covered in little bubbles and you can see the sides starting to firm up. Flip, then cook until desired brownness.

Jason here. So to start I should mention I always eat my pancakes with chocolate chips, so on top of the maple syrup this pancake was very sweet. Just how I like it. These pancakes came out with the perfect texture. The outside had a slight crispness to it, and the inside nice and fluffy. I felt the pancakes themselves had a slight sweet taste to them, perhaps from the vanilla extract. I like that the pancakes are quick to make, with little clean up. That and we can make exactly how much we want that morning. I’ve mentioned it before, but I usually like smaller breakfasts so it helps having a recipe that can scale to any number of people.

Enjoy your delicious pancakes, I recommend a nice fresh glass of milk.