What we ate-Day 1

Here’s what we ate today, June 11! If you missed our profiles, check them out.

Sherita

Breakfast
Oat groat with rice milk bananas and raisins
Sprouted wheat bread with coconut oil
(I soak the steel cut oat groats overnight in filtered water. I drain them and add the rice milk and fruit)

Lunch
Roasted garlic hummus
Pesto and sundried tomato pita chips

Snack
Fresh carrot and apple juice
Veggie potato chips
(I try to juice at least 4 times a week. I like carrot as my base and I’ll add different veggies such as spinach and cabbage)

“Dinner”
Rice dream with a vegan brownie
(I was not really hungry for dinner so I just ate the “ice cream”)

Rhea

Breakfast/AM snacks
Honey Bunches of Oats with soy milk
Cornmeal pancake with mulberries and chocolate chips
Coffee (office coffee perhaps redeemed by the organic milk and raw sugar)
Leftover part of a vegan cookie (can’t let such a thing go to waste!)

Lunch
Brown rice with sautéed collard greens, onions, garlic, sauerkraut and a hardboiled egg
Cherry Pie Larabar
Mixed nuts

Water

Dinner
(at Sticky Rice on H Street)
G.I. Jane roll (cucumber, cream cheese, nori, and rice rolled in crushed wasabi peas)
Jolly Green Wontons (filled with edamame and wasabi)
Tater tots with creamy dipping sauce
Veggie spring roll with peanut sauce
A couple glasses of shiraz

Water
Kumbucha

Kobayashi

 

 

 

Breakfast

6 Morningstar vegetarian sausage links, seasoned.
1 cup of blueberries
16oz of protein shake w/ mango, pineapple, and orange juice
2 slices of 12 grain bread

Lunch

1 serving of baba-ghanoush
1 cup of vegetarian chili
1 Falafel wrap w/ hummus

 

Late Afternoon Snack
2 banana
1 packet of trail mix nuts & cranberries

Dinner
2 cups of lentil salad w/ cranberries
1 serving of grape tomato and soy mozarella cheese caprese salad
2 mangoes

The Nude Pantry Project – DMV Edition

Three vegetarians… two days… one place to see it all.
I warned you, and now the Nude Pantry Project is here! Today and tomorrow, myself and two other veggies from DC, Maryland, and Virginia will tell you every little thing we eat. Our food logs will be posted here tomorrow and the next day.

Please tune in to comment, ask for recipes, inquire about where we find this or that ingredient, or tell us what you really think of our eating habits. Think of the NP2 as American Idol meets America’s Test Kitchen.

Before I start posting the logs, I’ll give you a chance to get to know us.

Sherita

Interpreting service program support specialist, realtor, and event planner/coordinator living in Maryland

I am not sure if I am truly classified as a vegan. Although I do not consume nor use on my body nor my home, any animal products, I do wear leather and fur. Some say I’m not a true vegan, but I believe the term best describes me.

As a teenager I decided that I didn’t want to eat meat such as beef and pork. However, it wasn’t until three years ago that I decided to stop eating poultry, fish and dairy. The decision came because I was searching for an alternative to traditional medicine for my niece who became very ill. I attended my first workshop on vegetarianism, veganism and holistic medicine and knew immediately that I would change my life. I began my vegan life that day and haven’t regretted it.

I eat mock meats such as seitan, tempeh and textured vegetable protein. I also eat raw foods mostly from recipes by Alissa Cohen. Juices and smoothies are part of my daily meals. So I have a large variety of meals and even enjoy vegan desserts.

More about me: I am a realtor with Long & Foster specializing in first time home buyers assistance. Most of my work is in Maryland and I do presentations in sign language for Deaf consumers on various real estate topics. I also am an event planner/coordinator. I’m currently working on a project with a client in the Caribbean to plan a launch party for a new lounge grand opening. I am living in Maryland and although my family is in Georgia we are very close and I speak with someone everyday.

Rhea

Public relations writer, graduate student, and food blogger living in Washington, DC

After 14 years of eating everything from brown rice to blood sausage, I went vegetarian. A year or two later, I became vegan. A semester of study abroad in West Africa led me to widen my food options to include eggs, dairy, and the occasional bit of fish or chicken stock as a way to invite a bigger range of culinary adventures. I stay strictly lacto-ovo vegetarian at home, and let things slide now and then when I smell an adventure. This system has come in handy during subsequent trips to the West Indies, East Africa, Mexico, and China. Even after my years of veganism ended, though, I avoided buying leather and silk and kept my dairy consumption down.

I now define my diet by what I DO consume, namely whole grains, seasonal and local produce, a few more exotic staples like coconut milk and seaweed, raw and/or organic dairy, and the occasional junk food.

A little more about me: For about four years, I had a personal chef service called Braisin’ Greens. It’s now on hold while I’m in grad school. I’ve written the blog you’re reading now (and taken some of the ravishing photos you see) since 2007 and have also written food-related posts for The Jew and the Carrot, EcoDeaf, and trEYE Stories. I like running, biking, gardening, swimming, going to the beach, and watching addictive TV series.

Kobayashi

Strategy consultant for a private consultancy living in Fairfax, Va.,

Kobayashi* was born into a family with a long tradition in vegetarianism. At the tender age of twelve, his parents told him they’d be supportive if he chose to give up vegetarianism.

Despite his proclivity to iconoclasm and irreverent curiosity he decided to remain one after much consideration for ethical, environmental, and nutritional reasons. La Commensal in Toronto is his favorite vegetarian restaurant on earth and he says he enjoys the simple things most – fruit and nuts. He is trying to cook up a recipe using synsepalum dulcificum berries.

More about Kobayashi: He studies the Filipino martial arts Kali, Escrima, and Arnis, although he’s taking a break from it for now. He also enjoys shooting skeet, reading non-fiction, and attending film festivals.

*Not his real name, but one with a damn fine food connection.

What’s up with those tomatoes?

You’ve probably heard the news by now: tomatoes are making people sick. Over 160 cases of salmonella poisoning in 14 states may be linked to contaminated ‘maters. Cherry and grape tomatoes and the ones on the vine are likely safe, and of course the ones from your farmers’ market or greenhouse are, too. But beware the others (I’m guessing this means the convenient mid-sized Romas and those beefsteak slicing tomatoes for your weekend barbecue), lest you join the queasy group or the two dozen people who’ve been hospitalized.

From what I’m hearing and reading, the problem came from the handling of these tomatoes. Salmonella comes from people who have eaten food contaminated with animal feces (ick, I know) or who came in contact with the feces and still have traces on their hands. Even thorough washing may not take care of the problem, as the bacteria are pretty tenacious and could have gotten into the tomato flesh. Continue reading

Coming Soon: The Nude Pantry Project

An art teacher once told me the difference between a naked person and a nude is that the nude doesn’t mind being that way. The person poses willingly for you to observe and draw, or stands frankly on a wall for art lovers to enjoy.

That’s the idea behind the Nude Pantry Project, coming soon to You Are Delicious. The NP2 is a pretty simple idea, a kind of low-key reality show for foodies. It will reveal what real vegetarians eat on a few typical days in a few typical American cities. Who they are, what they eat, and new recipes for you to try. And perhaps, for tentative vegetarians or skeptical omnivores, a few revelations.

Stay tuned.

Grandma’s Tub of Lard

Today I picked up a friendly-looking burlap-colored bag in the potato chip section and made a discovery. Unlike Frito-Lay, which is creating a collection of earth tone-colored bags filled with healthier versions of their popular chip flavors, Utz is taking a different tack. Grandma Utz’s naturey bags of snacks are truly old school, in a truly unsettling way. Namely, she fries her “thicker, unrinsed slices” in pure lard! Deeelightful!

I suppose in this enlightened moment, when the skinny and bespectacled Michael Pollan is killing his own wild boar and we’re all riding a passion for “real” food, it makes sense. But lard?? Anti-veggie, un-kosher, cholesterol-and-saturated-fat-filled fat? Whole foods revolution, can’t you do better than that?

Well, at least the customers are happy. WALA!

* * *

To wit:

Lard nutritional profile

Peanut oil nutritional profile

Doritos have their own site that’s worth experiencing

What Makes Mama Happy, part I

Big Mama’s been happy this past week or so. Food adventures abounded, from the ground to the table, and most importantly to my mouth.

Yes, this is the closest I come to a Mothers Day post. I could talk about the breakfast in bed we used to make my mom, garnished with the pink crab apple blossoms that always popped open at the right moment, but, well, I decided radio personalities and wild ingredients are more exciting–and, perhaps most importantly, mush-free.

Here’s what’s been doing:

Gardening at the community garden! And finding a tiny garlic bulb no bigger than the tip of my index finger just hanging in there in the tilled soil. Continue reading

Columbia Heights, Petworth, and Mount P restaurants

A sweet mango, a world of wonder, or the greatest heights? This is the question that confronts many a Washingtonian. Ok, maybe just a few. Or maybe you have no idea what I’m talking about.

A friend recently asked for restaurant recommendations for Columbia Heights and Petworth. So I shared some thoughts, and I’d like to share them with you. Perhaps you’ll see the predicament.

Petworth

Sweet Mango Cafe is across the street from the Petworth station. I’ve never been but have wanted to try it. Organic Caribbean food!

El Torogoz Restaurant–4231 9th Street NW. Salvadoran, Mexican, and Italian food?? The Prince of Petworth doesn’t mention the latter, but seems to really like it.

More ideas here.

Columbia Heights

The Heights14th and Kenyon NW. The name refers to the level of the atmosphere, service, brows of some of the clientele, and somewhat the prices… you’ll shell out for $8-10 appetizers and like $13-$25 for a main dish, but they do give you extra virgin olive oil with a constant stream of really good bread. And they have lower priced sandwich options.

Red Rocks Pizza (couldn’t find a website, but it’s apparently good brick oven pizza — seems popular with the hip young set when I drive by!) it’s at 11th and Park Rd NW.
 
WonderlandBelieve it or not! I like their food. And they have veggie half smokes! 11th and Kenyon NW.
 
If you’re willing to head west, walk along Mount Pleasant Street and take your pick of Dos Gringos, Don Juan’s, Don Jaime’s, or Marx Cafe (which has added some delightful international tapas options). There’s also Haydee’s, which a lot of people like, but I’m not too fond of.

Eat well!

Spread the love

Keswick Creamery‘s stand at the Dupont Circle Farmers Market is where this stuff starts for me, but it can start with any good feta. The recipe below is a spread I’ve been making and highly recommend. It tastes similar to blue cheese dressing, which definitely works in its favor. C’mon, you know you love blue cheese dressing, and and who hasn’t plotted to add more of it to their diet?

You can make a sandwich with this spread, adding some micro greens and roasted red pepper, or use as a dip for sliced winter veggies like parsnips and carrots (for the dip, replace the cream cheese and mayo with 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt). If you thin it with milk or buttermilk, you can pour it on arugula or a baby lettuce mix. (Recipe comes after the jump) Continue reading