Vegan Vacation: Austin, TX

A few weeks ago, I detailed my Lentan Challenge: Veganism.

This included three pre-planned BYE meals - simply because I'd planned for and/or paid for them before deciding to go Vegan for Lent.

As part of my Spring Break, I took a few days off of work, and went to visit a dear friend of mine who now resides in Austin, TX.  She lives very close to the Whole Foods featured in Top Chef Season 9: Texas, when the chefs were in Austin, which is also the Whole Foods Headquarters.  She also showed me that Austin, TX, is a very vegan-friendly city.

Additionally, two of my BYE meals were Austin meals.

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First, the true Vegan options we really looked into were Whole Foods and Kerbey Lane Cafe.

This Whole Foods was amazing.  It was huge, and included things I don't normally see at Whole Foods (like clothing).  It also had a larger variety of bars and seatings than the local DC Whole Foods. I discovered their breakfast taco bar, which included vegan salsas and vegan chorizo.  I similarly discovered that the vegan soy nuggets (pre-packaged) at Whole Foods are amazing.  If you are otherwise a meat-lover, they taste a lot like really good chicken nuggets.

Kerbey Lane was a final day brunch experience.  They have a separate Vegan menu, so I got their breakfast combination which included: Tofu Scramble (like eggs), "Soysage" (soy sausage... totally worthwhile for its name, alone, but also quite delicious and sausagey), blueberry vegan pancakes.  We also ordered a "vegan queso" - which I think was probably a combination of cashews, nutritional yeast, and spices , but the spices really brought it together (I like anything with heat/a little kick).

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We also went to Bess Bistro, which was not meant to be a vegan option (and is apparently Sandra Bullock's restaurant), but had vegan options!  I had a "Veggie Sandwich" for lunch, which was described as "marinated mushrooms, grilled red onion, squash, eggplant, artichoke and olive salad, aged provolone on focaccia" - I got it without the cheese, and the server was super kind to me and double checked that the focaccia was eggless.  The real money glue of the sandwich was the "artichoke and olive salad," which was tangy and greasy and superbly savory.

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As I state above, I also had two of my BYE meals in Austin.

The first was saved for Top Chef Season 9's winner, Paul Qui (who is also coming to DC on March 31st, with one of the runners up, Edward Lee, to teach an "Asian Fusion Redefined" cooking class with wine pairing at Asia Nine, which is, in fact, my third/last BYE meal) - who is the Executive Chef at UCHIKO, and also has a set of food trucks, EAST SIDE KING.

 

We went to the Uchiko happy hour, and pretty much tried everything on their happy hour menu, including brussel sprouts, various pork belly dishes, and specialty sushi.

We then followed happy hour with real dinner by way of take-out from East Side King at the Liberty Bar.  There, we got "Poor Qui's Buns" (it took us hours to realize it's a word play like "poor [Chef] Qui" and also "porky"), Chicken Buns, and Beet Fries.

This extended dinner was phenomenal.  Everything was different - at Uchiko, the pork belly dishes all kind of melted in your mouth, and the brussel sprouts were tasty.  The specialty rolls were very much justly named in that they were special.  Meanwhile, at East Side King, the buns were pillowy, and the beet fries were substantial - thick, dense, delicious (as long as you like beets, and I love me some beets).  I preferred the pork buns over the chicken - I think it was the sauce.

The following day, we did some shopping, and then, in the middle of a huge thunderstorm, we stopped at the original Salt Lick (open pit Texas barbecue, at its finest, and also featured in Top Chef Season 9 - obviously I am a Top Chef fan).  There, instead of trying to decide among my options, I just got a platter.  The sausage and the ribs were delicious, but my heart really was with the brisket (I was advised to request burnt ends as well, with the caramelized burnt bits) and the turkey.  I also LOVED their sides.  The coleslaw was not this mayonnaisey lump of slaw, but rather this very refreshing light slaw with sesame seeds.  Additionally, the potato salad included more mustard than mayonnaise.  I was a huge fan.

My only regret is that my Vegan BYES were liberal with the meat, but included no eggs, cheese, or other dairy (which are things I truly want to eat all of the time).

Perhaps the cooking class will include some bibimbap (fried egg on top).

Vegan-at-Restaurant Review: Matchbox, Capitol Hill

When I announced to my boyfriend, whom I've coined NinjaManFriend (to go with my pseudonym of VentiSkimNinja), that I was going Vegan for Lent - there were several reactions.  He'd just watched the documentary "Forks over Knives," and was cutting back on animal proteins, himself, so he said it was well-timed.  He also joked that I've now eliminated us going out until Easter (idea being: save money by not eating out because what's there to eat).  Well!  Who am I to let my challenge stand in the way of friends and socializing?  So I decided to share what I can from my restaurant experiences during this challenge.

Note/Disclaimer: I am, in no way, affiliated to any restaurants mentioned in this blog, other than as a loving patron.

Vegan-at-Restaurant Challenge #1:

BRUNCH at Matchbox on Capitol Hill:

This past weekend, some friends I decided to meet up in Eastern Market/Barracks Row for one meal that I think is a key piece of DC foodie culture (both classic and trendy, and done so many different ways, and generally delicious): Sunday Brunch.

We ended up at Matchbox (521 8th St, SE).

I had scoped many of the restaurant's menus, and didn't have super high hopes for vegan options.  But it wasn't a "buy" meal, so I wanted/needed to just make it work.

Our server was super nice to me about it, especially considering I pretty much introduced myself as "I'm sorry I'm going to be a pain in your ass, but I just went vegan for 40 days, and have to ask you a lot of questions." 

By this point, I'd narrowed down the few options that seemed to have vegan potential.

On the actual brunch menu, there are no vegan courses.  It's brunch - so there are a lot of eggs involved, and meats, and butter, and cream.  As a result, I looked straight to the sides, where it seemed my vegan-potential was in the seasonal fruit, the ciabatta with butter (if hold the butter), and maybe the breakfast potatoes.  I also looked at the regular menu and saw two salads: a three-beet salad (hold the goat cheese fritters), and a warm mushroom and lentil salad.

So our server took this list of potential (thank you, and I'm sorry I didn't remember your name, because you were so good to me) - and brought back the following report:

• Breakfast potatoes - cooked in butter = No go.
• Ciabatta bread is from a distributor, unsure what's in it = No go, to be safe.
• Beet salad is fine if hold the goat cheese fritters = Safe, without goat cheese.
• Warm mushroom salad is fine but comes with fried something (I think carrots) that are fried in the same oil that fries meat = Safe, but hold the fried garnish to be legitimate.

So I asked him which of the salads he preferred, and he said definitely the mushroom.  Ordered.

He did not steer me wrong. 

The "warm mushroom salad" of "chanterelle, oyster & cremini mushrooms / swiss chard / red lentils / fingerling potatoes / sherry vinaigrette," for $12, was delicious.  It was subtle and earthy, and provided good brunch warmth, with this really hearty seasoning.  The lentils and swiss chard were both really great complements to the mushrooms.

It was small though.  When ServerDude, maybe jokingly/maybe no, asked if I wanted to order another, I almost jumped at the chance with a resounding "yes!" but refrained because we were planning to walk through the market and I thought there would be other vendor food I could buy (this proved to be a mistake when everything had eggs or butter in it... other than pickles).

Overall Vegan Report: Matchbox:  

 (out of 5 veggie-stars)

• Though the vegan-able options were delicious, the selection was incredibly limited.
• Left happy but still hungry.
• Server was incredibly helpful.

Funniest exchange during meal:

After I finally place my order, ServerDude turns to NinjaManFriend, who orders the steak and eggs.  ServerDude asks "how would you like that [steak] cooked?" and NinjaManFriend answers, "Vegan."  Zing!  Point.

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ADDENDUM added March 13, 2012:


I returned to Matchbox for another brunch after a trip to Austin (a vegan friendly city where I had two of my pre-planned Vegan BYE meals, to be featured in my next post).

I had the same server (Chris), who remembered me and told me the Chef also remembered my vegan questions.

Matchbox officially gets another veggie-star, totaling it at 3:


Here's why:
It turns out there is no dairy (no eggs, which was the big surprise to me) in the Matchbox pizza dough.

There is a vegetable pizza, that generally is made with pesto and cheese and EVOO (with vegetables on top) - I got it without the cheese, and with red sauce instead of pesto (since there is cheese in the pesto).

It was fantastic.  And I wasn't still hungry upon exiting the restaurant.

So now the list of vegan-friendly brunchable items at Matchbox:
- Fruit
- Beet salad, without the goat cheese fritters
- Mushroom salad, warm, without the fried carrots
- Vegetable pizza, no cheese, and replace pesto with red sauce

Vegan Challenge: Week 1

I love challenges that are shaped as 21-, 30-, and X-day challenges.
I especially like them to try new things, even ones that won't stick.  They provide a nice temporary change of pace, and help me open up and expand beyond my own routine (i.e. I gave up wheat pastas once, and it made me realize that my weekday routine included multiple nights of pasta because it's what was most convenient, and also forced me to expand into non-pasta convenient meals).

So we are one week into Lent.
Note: I am not very religious.  I have no intention to discuss religion, and Lent really requires/includes prayer and a lot of things I am not going to discuss in this blog.
But every year, I use the 40 days of Lent to challenge myself to sacrifice something I thoroughly enjoy, and treat it like a 40-day challenge.

This year, my Lentan challenge was to go vegan.

I made this decision on Fat Tuesday, to start on Ash Wednesday (the following day).
I gave myself three "buy" meals.  These meals are really just because, long before I made the decision to make this sacrifice, I'd committed myself (and possibly already spent the money) to three meals that will not be remotely vegan but will take place before Lent is over (Easter).  Anything beyond these three "buys," however, I have to just Veganize.

I can probably live without meat, though I do really enjoy it.  But I was in the middle of an egg phase, and am also a lover of cheese and other dairy.  I use a lot of meat broths, even if there's no meat in my actual cooking.  If nothing else, I figured this will be interesting and full of lessons learned.

I knew I didn't want to be a person who resorted to just bags of fried potato chips and candy while I waited out my 40 days as a vegan.  Luckily, I have a friend who's tried pretty much every form of diet out there (she is the one who inspired me to take on this challenge and the challenges I am also considering for the summer) and has been eating vegan for quite some time.  She was a valuable resource, and taught me my very first lesson:

Keep it simple.

Another lesson I learned immediately, from one meat and dairy lover to any other who tries to go vegan or even just cut way back on animal proteins: Do not make the decision randomly in the middle of the week when you have no groceries and are completely unprepared.  That might be pretty obvious, but I ignored it and did it anyways, which left me hungry and frustrated for two days, while making regular runs to Whole Foods to hit up their salad bar.

My friend also pointed me to a fantastic vegan cooking blog: Oh She Glows.

I took a necessary moment to plan out a menu for the week, and then used a lunch break to grab all the groceries I needed from Whole Foods.  The first trip to the grocery store was expensive - but to be fair, it included things that will last me awhile, like probiotics and nutritional yeast and cacoa and dairy-free milks (I went with unsweetened almond and vanilla rice).

I like to cook just one or two days of the week, and then have food preparation be quick throughout the rest of the week (i.e. microwaving, mixing, putting in bowl, toasting, etc.).  So I set aside some hours to do all of my cooking Sunday and Tuesday, and this week includes these Oh She Glows recipes:

• Layered Eggplant and Zucchini Casserole - I'm a sucker for pasta sauce and both zucchini and eggplant.  I did add Spinach into my bean sauce, and used Cannelini beans instead of Northern/Navy (I kind of think they are the same but haven't really looked into it), and the bean sauce was really fantastic.
• Butternut Squash Mac 'n Cheese - I am also a sucker for butternut squash, and have learned the real value of nutritional yeast.  This doesn't taste like your boxed mac and cheese (either powdered cheese or cheese sauce - which is sometimes what I make on a bad day and throw in hot dogs, tuna, collard greens, or anything else), but it is tasty.  I find that the more bites you take, the cheesier tasting it gets.
• Carrot Apple Ginger Soup - I had previously made a horrendous carrot soup from one of the Cook Yourself Thin books (a series from which I generally love the recipes, but this one just missed my mark), so I was a bit weary of this one. However, this carrot, apple, and ginger combination was really low maintenance (easy) and really tasty - somehow both refreshing and warm at the same time.
• Lightened Up Tahini Lemon Dressing - I was too lazy to put this entire salad together, so I just took a huge bunch of kale, and washed it, chopped it, put it in a salad spinner for a few spins, and then put it in a tupperware.  Every day, I grab a handful and throw some of the dressing on.  Since it's kale, I give it a good mix/toss, and let it sit for a moment.  My friend described this dressing as good enough to make a car tire delicious.  She was right!

I also made this Quinoa Salad with Beets, Chickpeas, Oranges, and Spinach from the Gluten Free Goddess, because I bought two beets on a whim from the market on Sunday.  I love beets, especially roasted, and have been slowly figuring out what to do with quinoa - this salad is really uplifting as we shift from winter into spring (well, in DC - I know there was just a big wintry storm in the midwest so winter is not exactly over).

So there you have it - one week in...
Here are the lessons learned, from a generally-non-vegan, in Week 1 of the Vegan Challenge:

1. Keep it simple.
2. Be prepared - think it through, don't start mid-week without food in your house, do your research to ensure you get your vitamins.
3. Take a moment - plan out a menu.
4. Staples always cost money (it's like buying spices) - don't fret over those first grocery trips.
5. Great blog for vegan recipes: Oh She Glows.

New Blog

The blogazine which I was a part of recently had to go on an official hiatus.

But I felt like there was so much to say.

So here I am, VentiSkimNinja, with a brand new blog.

In the year since I started blogging, much of my daily life has remained unchanged.

I am still working full time in an office - my job is pretty flexible - as long as I put in my 80 hours every two weeks, and get all of my production and quality review work done, they leave me alone.

That flexibility, eight months of every year, is made nearly moot by my class schedule - four nights a week, trying to get my law degree.

I live in DC (and love it!), and my regular life takes place in the DMV (that's area slang for "DC, Maryland, Virginia").

My beloved googleCalendar is my lifeline - not because I am important, but there are just a lot of people I want to see, and things I want/need to do, and not a lot of time to do it all.

I am still a hard core Capitals fan.

I am still trying to get myself to save money (I hear that is what you are supposed to do with some of it).

Some things are a bit different:

In less than a year, I have dropped anywhere from 30-60 seconds off my mile pace for distance runs (for me that means 6+ miles).

Along with my desire to see everyone I want to see, I am working my way out of what my older cousin has called "The Twenty-Something Itch."  (The Itch is the desire to please and also to do everything, which leads to saying yes to everything, but inevitably having to disappoint someone somewhere because you cannot possibly do everything all the time.)

Since August 2010, I have dropped 22 pounds off my frame.  This is awesome.  Although I am contained in my excitement, because that really means at some point I put those 22 pounds on.. since currently I'm still sitting just above a weight at which I spent my years between college and grad school.

Within all of this, I am also still trying to learn how to balance fitness and nutrition.

And that balance will be at the core of this blog.

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I want to start this off by announcing some goals here in writing for all to see.  They are kind of my grounding point to start this blog, and it helps me to feel some accountability regarding my goals by putting them out there.

• I am running a half marathon with a friend (who is running the entire marathon) on St. Patty's Day.
• My reach goal is to break 2 hours (chip time).
• My "happy with it" goal is to PR (my lifetime PR was over a decade ago and part of a full marathon, but it was a 2:13).
• My "better than nothing; would be really disappointed if failed" goal is to finish faster and feeling better than the I did after the Nike Women's Half Marathon in October 2011 (2:22 and I felt pretty terrible both during and afterwards).
• Goal Deadline: March 17th.
• I am running the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler this year.  This has been my ten miler track record:
• 2010: Did not train at all, was in the middle of putting on all this weight, and was generally out of shape; also forgot own running shoes and had to wear those of a male friend that gave me the largest blisters I have ever experienced.  I finished in 2:06... abysmal by my own standards.
• 2011: Started to train; Achilles injury caused major problems: Did not run.
• 2012 Goal: I'd like this to feel fantastic, as an extension of my half marathon training.  It's also on my birthday (April Fools' Day, because my life's a joke, har har), and it just needs to not be a constant decline each year. Finish time goal somewhere between 1:30 and 1:35.
• Goal Deadline: April 1st.
• I would like to continue to drop some excess weight.
• My reach goal is to lose 14.89% of my current weight.
• My "happy with it"/"would happily settle there" goal is to lose 8.8-11.9% of my current weight.
• Timeline: I was at about my current weight the first time I originally started Weight Watchers in college, and it took about 2-3 months to only barely reach my "happy with it" weight.  That said, I'd like to hit my "happy with it" goal by the end of the semester.  My reach goal is... well in its very nature will be harder to hit, but it would be great if it happened by the time I started class for Fall 2012.
• From a fitness perspective, I want to be in a place where I am regularly working out, and lose the feeling of "do I have to?"
• This has already gotten a lot better.  I had a terrible work and life week last week and missed out on my workouts and training, which is terrible.  But the plus was that, aside from any guilt I felt, I also just felt kind of physically sad and lethargic, so it was clear that I feel better when I work out than when I don't.
• However, obviously brushing off fitness when I get busy is still something that happens.  Similarly, it sometimes still feels like a chore.
• Goal with deadline: Work out every week, during the week, and be positive, by the end of this semester.
• From a fitness perspective, I also want to be in a physical position to be able to take on fitness challenges without starting from zero.  It'd be lovely if, if a friend said, "hey do you want to run this half marathon in two months," the list of things to consider only included logistics (timing and cash) and desire, and did not include "but I'm so far from half marathon shape" or injury concerns.
• Goal deadline: Along with other fitness perspective goal and weight loss goal: By the end of the semester.
• Figure out how to accomplish the above three (weight and fitness) as a person who loves food and loves to eat.
• Goal deadline: Ongoing.

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And here we go!