You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'food' category.
I very, very rarely eat Chinese food. There are far too many places that peddle horrible food and you never know what you are getting yourself into at a random Chinese restaurant. For some reason, my father is a big fan, and tries to get it at least once while on most vacations despite being in new and unfamiliar territory. Today was one of those days. I nearly had him talked out of it, but in the end, I was outvoted. I’m pretty sure my suggestions were vetoed simply on principle, because they came from the troublesome (pseudo-)vegetarian that had been making mealtimes difficult all week. I considered going off on my own for some alone time and to find something I actually wanted to eat, after several days of being subjected to crappy, unhealthy, and unsatisfying food. I conceded mostly because my knee is still really bothering me after the trip into the Grand Canyon yesterday and I didn’t feel up to walking anywhere, and in the hope that veggies and tofu would be a fairly safe and somewhat healthy choice.
Fast forward about 15 minutes after I finished eating to me trying not to puke on the sidewalk. Jump ahead a few more minutes to when I was trying not to throw up in our 15 person van, or in the parking lot of the night sky talk we were hearing. Several hours later I am still taking deep breaths, drinking cold water and trying to ignore the feeling in my throat and the lingering bad taste from the meal I never should’ve eaten…
April 24th of 2008 may mark the last time (at least for the foreseeable future) that I ignore my better judgment and make the mistake of having Chinese food.
So, I imagine several of my posts will have to do with the challenges, and as well as hopefully some rewards, that come with traveling and a meat free diet. Those of you who have made a similar decision for yourself know what I’m talking about. The response I usually get when asking clients where I can find a restaurant with vegetarian options is “Oh so and so place has nice salads.” (That, or “Ummm I don’t think there are any around here.”)
Now, don’t get me wrong, salads can be good; they can even be filling. But usually, they suck. I don’t fuck with iceberg lettuce and orange tomatoes, and that’s what you find in most places. That does not qualify, in my opinion, as a “nice salad”. In airports, its even worse, as something like 90% of all salads have chicken or ham on them. Airport food has become one of the banes of my existence.
Today, my airport experience is set in the Detroit Metro Airport. After deplaning, I walked through a section of quick dining and snack options. Most of these joints have the menus posted outside, and I usually quickly scan for something I could eat. I found one sandwich that would work, the Motown Veggie. Now comes the problem of never knowing what you are going to get with a veggie sandwich, particularly in airports. I was told that the veggies included tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, and onions, marinated in Italian dressing. Not too exciting, but it’ll do. Or so I thought. My grilled veggie sandwich more closely resembled a grilled cheese with a couple small chunks of tomato, onion and zucchini and shreds of lettuce. Not OK! It was bad to the point of actually telling the waitress that that’s what I thought of it. Now, I don’t ENJOY complaining about food – but I’ll do it. Honestly, it makes me really nervous about what they might do to my meal when it is out of my sight. But this was just not gonna cut it, and was certainly not a $9 sandwich.
The embarassing part is that I told her I wasn’t comfortable complaining and didn’t want anyone to spit in it. I am SO awkward sometimes haha.
The waitress was very nice about the whole thing, and after a few minutes brought out a new Motown Veggie panini, with extra veggies. It was better it terms of quantity of vegetables… but it still wasn’t good. I hate this crap…
By the way, I am literally LOLing right now at a woman who just walked by – in her 50s at least, wearing very tight jeans that are most likely about as old as I am (25)…. that are red and black, printed. Like… they were printed with the black image (which I unfortunately did not have the time or wherewithal to try to make out) was printed on probably stone or white washed jeans, then all dyed red. She also had ridiculously high clunky red platform shoes on. I effing love people watching in airports.
From a suburb about 20 minutes south of Portland, I headed up to the city for brunch on my way to Tacoma for a visit with a dear friend of mine, Maggie. I decided on a bustling cafe on SE Hawthorne near 22nd St. on the (you guessed it) east side of Portland. Funky modern art brightens up the sand colored walls of Jam on Hawthorne, and the scuffed checkered floors tell of the many that have come before me over the years.
I first learned of Jam from a vegetarian friend who had visited a few months ago. His recommendation was echoed by Portland’s local alternative paper, The Mercury (think the Advocate, Westword, etc). Their menu would appeal to vegetarians and vegans, the average Joe – though I really couldn’t say if there are many of those living in this hip Pacific NW town, and everyone in between. Being a huge fan of breakfast, I have to say I didn’t even really look through the sandwich and other lunch options on the menu. I didn’t need to; I had a hard enough time just deciding between just the breakfasty offerings. Certified humane eggs or tofu can be used in a variety of scrambles or breakfast burritos, and the French toast sounded delicious. However, what really caught my eye, and spoke to my sweet tooth, were the Oatmeal Chai Blueberry (vegan and wheat-free) and Lemon Ricotta pancakes. I often like to ask the opinion of the wait staff when stuck on a culinary decision. My friendly waitress told me that although they have received recognition for the Lemon Ricotta, she preferred the Oatmeal Chai. I still couldn’t pick just one, which must be a fairly common problem, as both types of pancakes were offered in single servings as “side items”. My decision was made!
Jam on Hawthorne is not only vegetarian and vegan friendly, they also make their own jams (hence the name for the less quick among us) and use local ingredients when possible. Both pancakes make use of local blueberries; they are baked into the Oatmeal Chai pancakes, and served as a side of warm blueberry compote for the Lemon Ricotta variety. The Oatmeal Chai Blueberry pancakes are made with DragonFly Chai, brewed in Portland, and spelt flour, and are served with a side of Earth Balance vegan butter and real maple syrup. I *greatly* preferred the Oatmeal Chai Blueberry pancakes. Granted, I haven’t had vegan pancakes on very many occasions, but these were definitely the best I have ever had. They weren’t overly dense as can sometimes happen, and were very flavorful. To be fair, the Lemon Ricotta pancakes were good, but in my opinion, the blueberry compote really overwhelmed the light lemony flavor. Alas, I made the mistake of dumping the warm blueberry mixture onto the pancake before making this discovery. I would’ve liked them a lot more without the compote and served instead with the maple syrup.
Even on a Thursday, this place was packed, so be prepared to wait. In anticipation of this, the kind folks running this joint have set out a coffee station to help make the wait pass by in a little more comfort on those wet Portland mornings – or on the pleasant spring days like today. And yes, they have soy milk ready and waiting. Considering the location, the tasty food and the fact that there are only 11 tables in the place, its confusing why people seem to be shocked by the possibility of a line.
In closing, today I learned that the miraculous Tide pen won’t do shit when it comes to saving your favorite white shirt after its been splattered with blueberry compote…
***Update on the Tide pen***
I take it back, and apologize for blaspheming this little wonder of the modern world. I won’t leave home without one again. Note to readers: although the Tide pen does not claim to be effective against all stains, know that it will continue to work its magic even after you stop rubbing away at whatever mess you have made of your clothes. The blueberry marks are no more after a couple additional attacks!
