Miss Rachel

Last Saturday, my mom and sister and I went Passports Restaurant in Gloucester for lunch.

It’s a pretty restaurant with a very charming atmosphere, but I didn’t get a very vegan-friendly feeling from our server. I know waiting on tables is a hard job (I’ve done it) so I always try to be very polite, but I got a sense that the waitress, once hearing that I was a vegan, was focused on what I couldn’t have, and didn’t seem very helpful about what I could have. The veggie wrap was really the only vegan choice, but first the waitress told me I “couldn’t eat” the wrap because the tortilla probably wasn’t vegan. But she checked and found that it was and then offered my choice of sides saying I “couldn’t have” the macaroni salad. She was right about that: I asked her why I couldn’t have that and she said it had mayonnaise in it so I said I’d have the pan-fried potatoes. I also asked her to include any kind of vegan condiment so my plate came with a big dollop of yummy mustard. Despite the limited menu, my lunch was tasty, and I enjoyed being there with my mom and sister.

On the way home on Sunday, I stopped at a rest area to buy gas, and I also noticed there was a farmer’s market advertised. There were only two vendors, one selling produce and the other honey. I like to support local farmers so I bought some zucchini. On Monday night, I cooked it my favorite way, as “fries” in the oven. I served it alongside quinoa and Gardein “Beefless Tips” with barbecue sauce.

I was never a big meat eater to begin with so it’s not something I feel needs to be substituted, but I serve vegan meat products sometimes because they do taste good and offer protein. I try not to have them too often because they’re highly processed. Vegan meat is also usually made from soybeans, and there is a lot of debate now as to whether soy is good or bad, but I think it’s safe to say that too much of anything is not good, and if you’re going to eat food made from soybeans, the less processed it is, the better. Here is an article from vegan author John Robbins that presents a reasonable perspective and debunks some of the most damning claims that have been made against soy: What about soy? It’s a bit long, but well worth a read.

How do you feel about vegan “meat?”