Bread Heaven at the Kilauea Bakery

Well it's true that this island is a garden paradise, but apparently fresh bread doesn't grow on trees.

Since I arrived here on Kauai a few months ago, I've been joyfully indulging in the abundance of fresh, local, organic, supervibrant fresh fruits and veggies this island offers... WOW! Fresh food grown in rich soil with superclean water and air is an incredible contrast from the delicious but nutrient-deficient food I'd been consuming in India most of last year, so I really appreciate it. And on top of all that, it's WINTER right now!!! As a Michigan native I'm still amazed to be on the beach in February and find bananas and avocados growing in my yard.

While enjoying all of that, I have also been searching, without luck, for some great fresh-baked bread. There are a couple of bakeries around the island that stock their organic bread (usually sliced and packaged in plastic) at our "healthy" markets, but I've been disappointed to discover that most of their offerings are not vegan; they often use eggs, butter or honey in the recipe. The few that are vegan-friendly are, frankly, just boring to me once I've tried them once or twice... they're not the big, fresh, crusty, chewy loaf crammed full of grains and seeds that I long for, or a simple whole wheat, or even a real baguette... (come on, someone throw me a crumb... ;) )

So what's a hungry, vegan, bread-loving girl to do?

Lucky for me, one of our Pineapple Yoga students owns the local Kilauea Bakery. I share my bread woes and he tells me he's making a fresh batch of a ciabatta-ish loaf, and it's vegan. I'm so there. After mysore class we head to the bakery and pick up a loaf of this new bread and also a loaf of "Hawaiian Sourdough" and take them home to enjoy. The bread is still warm and it smells amazing! I can hardly wait to tear into it. I decide to make it the focus of the meal and simply slice some fresh tomatoes and avocados, adding macadamia nuts to the platter, then crunchy bean and lentil sprouts and arugula microgreens to garnish. I put out a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and some sea salt, and...

Mmmmmmmmmm...

Bread Heaven.

It's a little crusty and it's fluffy and it's chewy and it's still slightly warm, and as I'm sopping up pools of olive oil and vinegar with this fresh loaf of magic I feel so blissed that I can't imagine anything better. (Am I getting a little too obsessed with my food?!?)

Thank you Tom :)

(Lunch 2/10/11)