Veggie Restaurant recommendation

I just had dinner at a little restaurant called Viccino's on Charles Street, near the Meyerhoff (where we had just enjoyed the BSO performance of City Lights, a Charlie Chaplin film with music by Chaplin). My husband and I walked over to the restaurant and found, to our delight, that it wasn't too crowded. We were seated right away, the service was terrific, and best of all, there were veggie entrees. We both had the vegetarian special, which featured a stuffed yellow pepper with pesto orzo, and a tomato stuffed with couscous. The pepper was outstanding, the tomato also very good. Sides we tried were asian slaw, braised sweet potatoes, and garlic-y mashed potatoes, and we loved them all. The asian slaw, in particular, had just the right blend of vinegar in the sauce, and was a real rainbow of color from the carrots, cabbage, and other wonderfully fresh and nicely crunchy ingredients. We also tried a lovely chardonnay by Stonehedge. The outstanding dessert was beignets with hazelnut chocolate sauce. This was a memorable experience. You gotta go!

To attendees of the Passion session

I really enjoyed meeting all of you on Saturday, and learning about your interest in vegetarian cooking and eating. I know I learned from you, and I hope you learned something new from me! I did want to let you know where to shop locally for veg products.

There is a Whole Foods Market in Mount Washington, and it is on the Light Rail which you can pick up at Falls Road. See this map for stops on the Light Rail Be sure to take your own canvas bags with handles so you can carry your purchases and save on paper and plastic!

Trader Joe's is also excellent and fairly close if you have access to a car. It's at the Woodholme Shopping Plaza and Reisterstown Road near the Beltway entrance (the cross street is Hooks Lane).

If you are feeling adventurous, you might try taking the Subway (there is a map at here) as far down as the Shot Tower stop, and walk over to Whole Foods in the Harbor East area on Fleet St.

Farmer's markets with lots of fresh produce, as well as baked goods and other items to delight you are held under the I-83 ramp in downtown Baltimore on Sunday mornings, and in Waverly (near Johns Hopkins Homewood campus) on Saturdays.

I have never done this one, but you might check out the Chestnut Ridge Farm Market at 12124 Greenspring Ave in Owings Mills, MD 21117. Call (410) 252-9100 first to find out the hours and days.

One of my favorite places to shop for produce and other things (like Farmer Cheese) is J's Produce Market in Reisterstown at 11822 Reisterstown Road. They have very good prices and interesting stuff from New York city bakeries like bagels and such.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

Finally, Jenn from Campus Life recommends the College Students' Vegetarian Cookbook. Sounds good to me!

Learn to substitute and adapt

As you gain experience in cooking, you will have fun adapting any recipe: I watch Food TV shows all the time and think of ways to adapt the recipes to my vegetarian palate. Almost all of these require much less cooking than meat, so read the labels and follow recipe instructions carefully. Here are some easy ways to substitute meat for non-meat ingredients:

Ground Beef: substitute frozen, thawed tofu or soy crumbles (available in the grocery freezer section)

Sausages: substitute veggie sausage. I like Morningstar Farm brand

Chicken: substitute tempeh (this is sort of an advanced ingredient you may want to try first before springing in on dinner guests!) or my favorite Quorn (in your grocer's freezer case: it's made from mushrooms!), or just tofu.

Beef cubes: I like seitan. Made from whole wheat. This is available in tubs in the dairy case at Whole Foods and probably in some health food stores.

Burgers: veggie burgers. In the freezer case of your grocery. You can also make your own. Look for recipes on some of the suggested websites I posted earlier in this blog.

Hot dogs: Tofu Pups and other soy substitutes. These cook really fast and you must be careful not to subject them to high heat. They are generally a little softer in texture than a regular dog, but they are tasty!

Bacon: I used to be a real bacon hound, so it was tough to give up way back when there was no substitute! Now Morningstar Farms has a terrific bacon product made from soy that cooks quickly and tastes great: you can cook it in the microwave in just a few minutes and it comes out crunchy! Even my dogs like this!

All of the above are processed foods, so take it easy with these: being healthy involves eating mostly fresh and unprocessed foods, so try to limit your intake on these.

Getting your taste buds accustomed...

When first starting to explore vegetarianism, sometimes it can be daunting reading recipes with unfamiliar ingredients. Here are some ideas for getting started:

Potato-Mushroom Delight: this recipe has familiar ingredients like hardboiled eggs and canned mushrooms. You can try it without the buttermilk this version of the recipe calls for; just use regular lowfat milk.


Layered Bean Dip
Make sure to get vegetarian refried beans: most refried beans are made with lard.
This is delicious eaten with baked chips (if you are trying to eat healthily) and raw veggies.

Eating out or in the Dining Hall

I personally like the black bean quesadillas at the Mustang Grill here. They taste awesome! Other suggestions are the salad bar and the vegetable side dishes. If you feel that the dining service needs to offer more vegetarian options, speak to the manager. There is a feedback form on the Sodexho website (Go to the Dining Services website).

At restaurants, feel free to ask the wait person to request that a dish be made vegetarian if there isn't anything appealing on the menu. I have been delighted by the creative dishes I was served at restaurants when I bothered to ask.

Remembering Diet for a Small Planet and Laurel's Kitchen

I remember when I first decided to go veg: I was in my twenties, and reading Frances Moore Lappe's Diet for a Small Planet, which was updated in 2002 under the title Hope's Edge (Villa Julie Library has this, call number Location: TX392.L28 2002). I learned how eating veg consumes less resources than those needed for meat production. (Read more about Frances Moore Lappe in the Wikipedia entry). This is obviously still a critical world issue and I feel passionately that we need to consume less and give back more to the planet.

Another favorite book from my early veg days was Laurel's Kitchen by Laurel Robertson.
I remember reading it while I rode the bus in to my job at the University of Pittsburgh. It has been updated 2 or 3 times since then and I just ordered a new version via a second-hand book dealer online: can't wait to start reading it. Laurel had some great suggestions for steering away from processed and prepackaged foods, and I bravely learned to make my own homemade mayonnaise and baked whole grain bread. A couple of her recipes became favorites: one was a lasagne-like rollup recipe in wich you spread the ricotta cheese on each lasagne noodle, set it vertically in the pan, and spoon sauce over the top, sprinkling the rollups with sunflower seeds. It's more healthful and has fewer calories than regular lasagne. Another fav was potato mushroom delight, with a cheese sauce. Anyway, I highly recommend both of these classics if you care to read more about vegetarianism as a lifestyle and a social choice.

My Fav Kitchen Tools

Microwave Rice Cooker: I got this for about 5 bucks at Wal-Mart, and it has been a life saver over the summer. I hate heating up the stove unnecessarily when the air conditioner is running: it wastes energy. In about 7 minutes, this little baby cooks a cup of Jasmine Rice to perfection. It works for brown rice too, just takes a bit longer.

Whisk: can't live without it to make great emulsions such as homemade vinaigrette or tahini-lemon salad dressings: the whisk ensures a very smooth, no-lumps product.

Enameled cast iron skillet: I got mine from an overstock store for a very good price. I like it because it is non-stick (and does not lose its coating unlike standard teflon pieces) and because it is very efficient at retaining heat. This is wonderful for creating fritattas, which are fun to make with eggs and tofu, adding whatever you happen to have in your pantry: I usually add roasted potatoes (regular as well as sweet potatoes work well), broccoli or cauliflour, frozen peas, fresh or drained canned tomaoes, and cheese. I microwave the vegetables and drain them, mix up a couple of eggs and mashed regular tofu, with seasonings, throw everything in the skillet, add cheese, and cook for a few minutes on top of the stove. Then I put it under the broiler for 5 minutes and it comes out great! Serve with a side salad and some nice artisan bread, and it's a feast!

My hand blender: this little gadget is terrific for making fruit smoothies as well as other jobs you would normally need a regular blender for. It's cheap and doesn't take up much space, and it's a cinch to clean up.