What we ate – Day 2

Here’s the food log for today, June 12. Catch Day 1 here or our profiles here if you missed ’em.

Sherita

Breakfast
Oat groats with rice milk bananas and raisins
Sprouted wheat toast with coconut oil, which is better than butter.

Lunch
Thai Kitchen’s pad Thai noodles. I buy these because they’re vegan and I just add hot water. I don’t microwave so it’s great for me.

Dinner
Marinated spinach. This is a raw dish. The marinade is Bragg’s liquid aminos, ginger, sesame oil, and garlic. I blend this and pour it over the spinach and put it in the fridge overnight. Delicious!

Rhea

Breakfast
Yogurt with service berries (from a neighborhood tree – very local!)
½ bagel with strawberry cream cheese
Coffee with cream and sugar

Lunch
Pizza (1 slice cheese, 1 slice just veggies)
Side o’ mashed potatoes

Snack
Mixed nuts and dried apples

Caramel kettle corn

Dinner
Salad (community garden & Clagett Farm greens, bell peppers, sauerkraut, ground flax seeds, tahini dressing*)
Sprouted grain tortillas
Virgin Mary (tomato juice, horseradish, hot sauce, spices)

*For this tahini dressing, I mixed Annie’s Goddess Dressing—which is too vinegary for me–with tahini, lemon juice, tamari, and water. If you make your own from scratch, throw in some minced garlic and parsley.

Kobayashi

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

Lunch
1 veggie burger
1 avocado
1 serving of lebanese salad
2 slices of oat wheat bread

Late Afternoon Snack
2 banana
1 packet of almond, cashew, and raisin mix
1 bottle of acai & pomegranate juice.

Dinner
2 cups boiled edamame
1 servings of chickpeas and bulgur wheat salad
1 serving of quinoa, raisins, veggie salad
2 mangoes

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

Arranged Marriage?

rhubarb
The marriage of rhubarb and strawberries is known and accepted throughout the land. The stalk and the berry reign side by side through May and June, and no one thinks twice about it.

But might something be wrong?

Sure, the pudgy, red-faced Strawberry can get involved with his pick of shortcakes, jams, or pies, and have private get-aways with any number of air-headed whipped toppings. But the rhubarb is practically banned from the table without her seedy chaperone. Did anyone ask the blushing, green stalk if this is what she wants? Might she harbor a secret wish to roam free?

I urge you: give your rhubarb a choice this year. Offer up the chance for her own private pie, or a cozy crisp. Start with this compote.

Please — just try it. Do it for the the rhubarb, and green young things everywhere.

(recipe after the jump)

Continue reading

Brushes with Fame

So you know that picnic I mentioned in the last post? It was for the birthday of Ms. Abbie Turiansky, who CNN just happened to feature in a segment on Clagett Farm’s CSA last week. It’s nothing new for me to have a friend on the news because, you know, I associate with so many local foods activists and television stars. But I thought I’d pass it on.

And this photo? I took it on that farm. Yeah–I was there, where all the magic happens, just yesterday. No biggie. Just rubbing shoulders with the news makers as always.

Ginger-Sesame Millet

This dish made its debut at a picnic at the Arboretum a few weeks ago and I have been politely but persistently asked to post the recipe ever since. This is a millet-based version of my basic fried rice recipe, and is similarly flexible.

The one thing you may be wondering is: what, exactly, is millet? So glad you asked! It’s a golden-colored, protein-rich grain that you can boil just like rice. When dry, the kernels are tiny spheres.

I think Epicurious describes millet well, though I disagree on the bland taste. It has a nutty, corn-like flavor that gives it more character than other grains you may be used to.

The flavor is strong enough to bring millet from the stuff you put stir fried veggies over to an integral part of the dish. You can use it for pilaf or hot cereal, or even try it in pasta dishes (e.g. toss with extra virgin olive oil, fresh mozz, tomato, and basil). I also like throwing a few tablespoons of uncooked millet into bread dough.

Well, enough intro from me. Here’s the recipe (after you jump the jump!) 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.

Everyday World Saving

It’s happening at Oberlin, and you can do it too! Check out the article on this sustainable house at my alma mater. I had the privilege of touring the place during my college reunion this past weekend. It’s nothing radical–no solar panels or automatic gray water recycling system–but perhaps that’s the charm.

I especially liked their vermiculture. To the untrained eye, it’s just a plastic bin nestled in their kitchen. But a closer look reveals that it’s compost teeming with earthworms pooping out agricultural gold. And it’s true that it doesn’t smell one bit.

Be sure to watch the video, too, and try not to drool at the abundance of ramps in their walk-in! (Sorry, Mr. Brown — those are not leeks!)