B5
THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2021
Pickling: Ra participates in the North Coast Food Web
Continued from Page B1
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Pints of pickled beets sold by 9th &
Q. A large batch of red beets from Glory B Farms during the
pickling process. Ra’s plant-based Chickpea Salad combines
bread and butter pickles on kale, with toasted pumpkin
seeds. The dish is a vegan version of an egg salad.
and prepared food with
others.
“People really need to
get reconnected to where
food is coming from,”
she said. “I’m passionate
about connecting food to
community.”
Much of the produce
Ra uses in her recipes are
sourced from organic, local
farms around the coast.
“The quality from these
smaller farms is just so
much better than what
you’ll get elsewhere, even
your local co-op,” she said.
“I think it’s very powerful
as far as physical and men-
tal health.”
Ra also has a young
daughter, a massive fan of
her mom’s homemade gra-
nola. Ra hopes she will one
day learn how to grow her
own food, too.
She participates in the
North Coast Food Web, a
local organization dedi-
cated to fostering healthy
communities through food
and agriculture. Ra has sold
online through the food web
in the past.
Four major varieties have
become popular among
Ra’s customers: red beets,
pink onions, turmeric cau-
lifl ower pickled with fresh
ginger and garlic and bread
and butter pickles.
“I feel like I can pickle
pretty much any vegetable
at this point,” Ra said.
The red beets, Ra’s per-
sonal favorite, are the most
labor-intensive vegetable
she works with. Other veg-
etables are easy to process
raw, but beets have to be
poached, peeled, chopped
and brined.
“They’re defi nitely a
labor of love,” she said.
Ra says her pickled pro-
duce has a long shelf life:
it can live for months in the
refrigerator .
“There’s a basic rec-
ipe I follow as far as vine-
gar to sugar to water rations
and then it’s just been learn-
ing as I go with spices and
blending diff erent kinds of
vinegar,” Ra said. “It’s a lot
of experimentation.”
9th & Q’s dips, some of
which are vegan, are also
popular. Ra also started
building cold, grab-and-go
style salads into the rota-
tion that incorporate vegeta-
bles she pickles. One of her
recent creations included
beets, kale, goat cheese and
pumpkin seeds.
9th & Q is on a brief hia-
tus from pickling, but Ra
anticipates diving back into
it with new recipes once the
holiday seasons pick up.
Zoë Buchli is a contribu-
tor for Coast Weekend and
The Astorian.
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Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber
Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA
Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
Olney Grange
BEEF BAR-B-QUE
Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021 • 12:30 - 5:00 PM
Adults $ 15 00 • Children (under 10) $ 8 00
Beef Only $ 9.00/lb.
Take out available
Highway 202, Astoria • Public Welcome