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Top Chef Finale Recap: Battle of the Amuse-Douches

By DahlELama and The_Obvious

This is the true story of five All-Stars, picked to cook on an island, work together, and have their lives taped. To find out what happens when people stop being polite and start being total culinary douchebags… you should probably keep reading.

It’s been such a long journey to the finale that we could just mise en plotz! But before we do, it’s time to crown Top Chef’s first ever “Best Chef of All the Chefs Who Proved Not to Be the Best in Other Seasons,” and before we do that, we need a little background on the season that was.

The season started with 18 chefs, but the combination of too much salt and too much crazy quickly whittled the contenders down to the five (it was supposed to be four, but apparently, no one sucked enough to get booted, which was super convenient considering how many episodes were left in the season!) who’d be going on to the finals in the Bahamas:

In this corner, we have the itch you can’t scratch, the rash that refuses to go away, the houseguest that won’t leave, Tiffany “I’m From Beaumont, Bitches” Derry!
In this corner, weighing in at five-foot-awesome with three ounces of pot, we have Antonia Lofaso, Purveyor of Perfect Food, Champion (well, 4th place) of Chi-Town, Tigress of the Toque! (And the toke, too!)
In this corner, hailing all the way from Fraggle Rock, the Selcouth of the South, the Chicken Pot Pie Perfecter, the Spectacle in Spectacles, Carla “Hootie Hoo” Hall!
And in this corner, weighing 145 pounds…more than he did last season, the Robber of Recipes, the Beast from the East, Mike “I’m with stunad” Isabella!
And, in the center of it all, stands the Lord of Liquid Nitrogen, Atlanta’s own Jimmy Neutron, the super-flammable Richard Blais!

Final Five Top Chef — From L to R: Tiffany, Richard, Mike, Antonia, and Carla

Of course, only two would remain standing for the finale, and after cooking for Bohemian royalty, rocking out with their conchs out, and cooking last suppers for some lusty chefs, MikeyNeck “Jersey Douche” Isabella and Richard “When did he become such a dick?” Blais emerged victorious. Let the games begin!

The big challenge is essentially a mini-variation on Restaurant Wars: Cook the four-course meal of your life and put it on the menu of a pretend restaurant with a pretend name even though you’re serving it at a real restaurant with a real name. The two cheftestants immediately get to discussing which of the previously ousted chefs they would take on as sous chefs and writing slanderous comments about them in their Burn Book. After a few games of MASH and doing each other’s hair, they discuss their super secret strategies for the competition, because nothing screams “brilliant competitors” like discussing your plan with your opponent. (Although, to be fair, if they didn’t, Mike would’ve just stolen Blais’s from his notebook anyway.) Mike immediately declares that he would ~~bang~~ choose Jenn Carroll, because despite her crazy blowouts and monumental exit, she’s still ~~hot~~ a great chef. As it turns out, Blais too wants Jenn C, though not necessarily in a sexual way, as well as Angelo, also not necessarily in a sexual way.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter who they think is awesome, because they’re forced to choose blind: each previously ousted chef’s amuse bouche is laid out before them, and they are to choose their teammates based on whose bouche amuses them the most. Mike is pretty blatant about simply attempting to pick out which one is Jenn’s (and which one isn’t Marcel’s) but the static generated by Blais’s hair interrupts their BFF connection and Mike ends up with three non-Jenn ladies, in the forms of Tiffani, Jamie, and Carla. (H/T to Psshwhatever for her brilliant and oh-so-telling tweet: “Funny that Mike always denigrates the female chefs and then just picked 3 of them, blind, based only on their food to help him.”) Blais gets a little closer to his original wishlist, successfully selecting Angelo in addition to Spike and Antonia. As Marcel leaves, everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief and toasts his departure with champagne and an impromptu dance party.

Now comes the important part: naming their restaurants. Blais, ever-the-whimsical (as he’ll be the first to tell you in a super serious voice as he comes close to tears and is clearly on the verge of vomiting), selects “Tongue & Cheek” as his restaurant’s name, which is both cute and kinda gross. Mike, in tribute to his youth, names his “Restaurant Iz,” after what we can only assume is his pre-op moniker.

Blais Hate — Source: Videogum. Obviously.

On to the menus! Over on Team Iz, Mikey’s Angels’ suggestions are being roundly ignored by Captain Douche, who knows exactly what he wants: chocolate vinaigrette, plus some other stuff. Team Blais, on the other hand, is “ultra-collaborative” from the minute that tank of liquid nitrogen is opened. Blais’s plan is a protein explosion of sorts, to be capped off with a delicious Cap’n Crunch ice cream–wait, what’s that? I’m sorry, we’ve just gotten word from the godawful-decisions portion of Blais’s brain that he’ll be replacing Cap’n Crunch ice cream with foie gras ice cream instead. Fantastic. No chance that’ll turn out disgusting and lead all the judges to vomit on camera. None at all.

Enter Tom, who informs Mike that no one saw him getting into the finale. Like, nobody. His own mother is surprised that he has any skill. Shockingly, he has no such words for Blais, who’s pretty much been the favorite since before the cast was even announced. Now exit Tom, because it’s time for judging!

The cheftestants are set up at two different restaurants, each one with its own panel of judges. (Don’t worry—they’ll switch when they’re done!) Padma is captain of the blue team, which consists of legendary chefs Lydia Bastianich and Hubert Keller plus another guy who just so happens to be the man behind all the ridiculously unsubtle wine product placement. They begin at Tongue & Cheek and are treated to Blais’s “surf ‘n turf” menu which consists of:

Raw oyster with crème fraiche pearls
Raw hamachi with fried veal sweetbreads, garlic mayonnaise, and pickled celery
Pork belly, black cod cutlet, bone marrow, beets, Brussels sprouts, and kumquat
Beef short ribs with mushrooms, red cabbage marmalade, and celery root horseradish puree
Foie gras ice cream with cornbread and whipped mango

The dining went well, and we saw the judges thoroughly enjoying the food. You know who else saw them enjoying the food? Top Chef’s own Spike “Mata Hari” Mendelssohn, aka Spy-ke, who eavesdropped on the judges comments with all the subtlety of Ke$ha while rocking one of his trademark Carmen Sandiego fedoras. However, his skills as a ~~dick~~ secret agent proved to be extremely useful, as he convinced Richard to fix up his revamped dessert to make it look a little more fit for a fancy feast instead of just looking like Fancy Feast.

At the same time, Tom and his crew—Gail Simmons, Art Smith, and host of the upcoming Top Chef Masters and all-around hot guy Curtis Stone are being served Mike’s Italian-influenced menu (did you know Mike was Italian? In other shocking news, Tiffany’s from Beaumont) of:

Spiced beets with mozzarella truffle and chocolate vinaigrette
Halibut with kumquat marmalade, cauliflower puree, and pancetta crumbs
Glazed pork shoulder with pepperoni sauce(!), roasted cabbage, and turnips
Rosemary caramel custard and pine nuts with citrus, celery, and apple

After catching their breath from multiple foodgasms, the judges took their place at the judgement table that totally hides the fact that they are wearing pajama pants. The judges had high praise for nearly all the food, which is especially meaningful for Mike because it is the first time he has actually pleased a woman. Gail admits to bathing in Mike’s pepperoni sauce because it makes her skin glow and rack huge. Tom can barely contain himself, exclaiming to Richard, “Hachi machi! That was some great hamachi!”

It’s time for the big announcement and friends and family gather around for the results. Noticeably absent was Richard’s wife who was only moments away from giving birth to a fauxhawk. Fortunately, Mike’s wife, who is 69 times more attractive than he should be able to get, could make it because she refuses to spawn with Mike as giving birth to a child who inherits his neck-size is not a risk she is willing to take. Channeling her inner-Seacrest, Padma pauses dramatically before revealing who will win the 200,000 Buitoni raviolis. The winner is… RICHARD BLAIS! Mikey rolls his eyes, Richard tears up, Antonia smiles with a blunt between her lips, Padma and Gail make out, Tom and Tre rub each others bald heads, and Carla runs around in a circle screaming “Beeeeeeeeef Tongue.”

And so, another season of Top Chef comes to an end. Blais can finally emerge from the padded cell where he’s spent the past two-and-a-half years in his rocking chair, contemplating his loss, and Mike and his wife can finally consummate their marriage, much to her chagrin. But, since only Blais leaves the show with a prize, we think it only fair that Mike at least get a musical sendoff, and so, from one New Jersey-ite to another… goodbye, JD. You truly did go down in a blais of glory.

DahlELama and The_Obvious both wanted Richard to win, but, more importantly, wanted Mike to lose. They hope that Carla will one day get her own show, preferably a variety hour featuring humorous skits, whimsical songs, and animal guests. They wish Antonia many happy snacks and choose never to think about Tiffany again.

Baby Name Roll Call as Momof3 is Expecting…. 12 New Baby Chicks

In addition to hoarding silver and gold (thanks Glenn!), our family is preparing for the apocalypse by producing our own food. I have already started my veggie seedlings under grow lights, planted my kale in my raised beds and tomorrow or Wednesday twelve new baby chicks will be arriving via post — yes, they are mailed to me. They will be a welcome addition to the ten gals I have already.

I ordered from Mypetchicken.com the following breeds:

Buff Orphs Two Buff Orphingtons. These friendly, gentle birds are dual purpose — meaning good egg layers and good eating, but we will only use them for eggs. They aren’t flighty and are good egg layers. The only unfortunate thing about them is that their pretty buffed copper color really stands out on my lawn. It makes these trusting fowl a major target for hawks and other predators. The one I had last year, Gigi, bit the dust in the great fox massacre of 2010.

One Easter Egger. This is a hybrid variety of the Araucana breed that Martha Stewart made so famous. They lay blue, green or even slightly rose colored eggs — thus the name. When fully grown, they can look very different from each other. The distinguishing feature they all have is pale green legs. That is unique in the bird world.

Salmon Favorelle Two Salmon Faverolles. I’m very excited to be getting these beautiful birds. Very shy and sweet-natured, I’m going to have to watch out that these two don’t get picked on by the others. I will probably keep them under the heat lamp far longer than the others I am bringing in this week. Beautiful salmon colored feathers with some white lacing make these hens out to be some serious eye candy for the backyard. They are prolific layers of light brown to cream eggs.

Cuckoo Two Silver Cuckoo Marans. Another breed I am excited to add to the flock. These beauties lay dark chocolate brown-colored eggs. The eggs taste the same as all the others, but are stunning to behold.The birds are good natured and good layers.

Choc eggs

Sussex Three Speckled Sussex. Great layers of brown eggs and they are good cold weather layers. They tend to get heavy so they end up not being too flighty. Very curious in nature and will often come right up to you to ‘beg’ for a treat. Their speckled plumage offers protection from predators.

Two Wild Cards. Although I am a planner, I love surprises too. So I choose an assorted rare breed where My Pet Chicken gives me what’s available from a rare breed list. I’m hoping I don’t get a Naked Neck.

So I need some help naming these ladies. Girls names only please as I am guaranteed hens. The top twelve ranked names — vote with your Fonz — will get the honor of being my gals’ names. Names already accounted for: Roberta, Oprah, Carol, Hestia, Blaze, Pinstripe, Aimee, Eileen, Patsy and Judy. EDIT: These are names for chickens I already have.

Recipe Sunday: Prosciutto, Dill and Cheddar Popovers

When we first started our cooking blog, one of the first posts was about popovers. At the time I was convinced that cold-oven popovers were the best choice over popovers made in a preheated oven. The science made sense (cold batter brought slowly to a very hot temperature would create steam to make them pop) and to be honest, I had only eaten/made cold-oven popovers. And my husband and I loved them, and the cats vied for scraps.

But, with the new year, a sad thing has recently happened to our oven; It takes forever to heat up now and recent attempts at making popovers have been a gooey mess without a crisp crust, or any height.

So, I decided to make popovers in a hot oven and … wow.

What a difference starting off at 400 degrees can make.

Here is the photo that accompanied the cold oven method. They had popped, but they weren’t killing themselves being overly ambitious.

And here is a close-up photo of a popovers using the hot oven method.

All six of them looked like Tomoyuki Tanaka movie monsters.

And their height and airiness was even more surprising considering the fact that they had prosciutto, dill and cheddar in the batter.

Prosciutto, Dill and Cheddar Popovers (Hot Oven Method)

1 cup of milk (warmed in the microwave for 45 seconds)
1 cup of flour
2 eggs
3 tablespoons finely chopped dill
¾ cup of shredded cheddar cheese
2 slices of finely diced prosciutto
1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of black pepper
2 tablespoons of butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Pan fry the prosciutto in olive or grapeseed oil until brown and crisp.

With a pastry brush use the melted butter to grease the muffin tin cups, and place the pan in the oven for a couple of minutes until the butter is sizzling.

Add salt, pepper, cheese, prosciutto, flour and eggs to the warmed milk.

Take the pan out of the oven and drizzle the rest of the melted butter into the bottom of the tins. Pour the popover batter into the tins until they are approximately 1/2 to 3/4 full.

Place the muffin tin into the hot oven and tiptoe away from the stove for 35-40 minutes. (Even if they aren’t done at 35 minutes, they won’t collapse if you take a peek and decide they need to brown a little bit more.)

Happy Recipe Sunday. Let’s talk about food.

Recipe Sunday: Sour Cream Pancakes

While staying at the Peabody Hotel recently, I was introduced to the best pancakes ever (sorry Alton Brown): sour cream pancakes. The consistency is hard to explain, they are dense and fluffy at the same time. I have been thinking about these pancakes for a long time, and decided to look up a recipe. The always awesome Ina Garten had a great Banana Sour Cream Pancakes recipe that I decided to tool around with. I am including my version in case you are feeling adventurous this weekend.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup unbleached flour
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of Kosher salt
1/4 cup sour cream
1/3 cup plus a tablespoon vanilla almond milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a splash of lemon juice
stick of butter for the griddle

Preheat the electric griddle to 350F. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients thoroughly. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until the dry ingredients are incorporated, but don’t over-beat the mixture. Once the griddle is hot, coat with butter and use a paper towel to wipe the griddle down. Scoop a large spoonful of the mixture (which will be considerably thicker than regular pancake batter) onto the griddle. Turn the pancakes when bubbles form on the top surface and the edges set. Cook pancakes until bottom side is light golden brown. Serve with real maple syrup.

Tips: you can substitute regular milk for vanilla almond milk. Also, if you like your pancakes thinner you can add more milk. If you want to add chocolate chips (a staple in our house), add them to the batter right before you pour it onto the griddle.

Grand Rounds: Phat Edition

Today we sit on the couch watching Penguins of Madagascar and eating Girl Scout cookies whilst perusing medical news related to obesity.

Does adding sugar to virtually every processed food contribute to obesity? Consumption of added sugars (sugars not naturally occurring in foods) has increased along with BMIs over the last 30 years says an AHA study. Does this correlation equal a causation? Epidemiologists say likely. Big Sugar says no.

Too little sleep makes you overeat. More evidence that adequate sleep is important. This lines up with other studies that show lack of sleep (often related to shift work) can contribute to obesity and diabetes. The 20 pounds I put on working nights confirms the hypothesis.

Religion has been linked to obesity in young adults. It’s not clear what the causative factors are. I suspect Peggy Hill’s Frito Pie. Stick with the Lutefisk, but don’t light a match in the bathroom.

A University of Missouri researcher has found a plant fat that may help reduce deep belly fat that leads to the health complications of obesity. Hopefully it won’t cause anal leakage like the last time we got our hopes up.

Get up off your lazy ass!

And finally, Eric Cartman was right.

Making Homemade Ricotta and then Italian Bread With The Whey

This fall I stumbled on a recipe for homemade ricotta. I had no idea that making ricotta was even an option in an apartment kitchen, let alone a kitchen that can barely fit two people standing side-by-side. But there it was – an incredibly easy ricotta recipe on Epicurious. And, in the comments following the recipe, a woman talked about making bread from the whey left over from making the ricotta. Holy shit.

Homemade Ricotta (via Epicurious)

2 quarts whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Very slowly bring the milk, cream and salt to a boil on moderate heat and stir occasionally to keep it from burning. Then lower the heat, add the lemon juice, stir it constantly and watch it curdle.

At this point you will think, “Wow, what a mess. This was a tragic waste of time.”

But, continue on anyway. Line a colander with the cheesecloth, and place it over the bowl. Slowly dump the curdled mess into the colander.

Let it sit for an hour. Then you will be in awe of yourself. You will pat yourself on the back while simultaneously calling your friends, co-workers, parents, ex or current lovers, your veterinarian, and your old college roommate.

You just made homemade ricotta!

And not just any homemade ricotta, you will have made the best ricotta that you have ever tasted. Slightly lemony, thick and soft, ricotta. (See top photo.)

Take a bow, and then get back to work – because collected in the bowl is a lot of whey, and you’re going to make 3 loaves of incredible Italian bread with it. (Recipe via Eating Small Potatoes with a few tweaks)

Homemade Italian Bread

5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
1 tbl. sugar
4 1/2 tsp. yeast
3/4 hot whey
1 cup warm water
5 tbls. melted butter

Additional ingredients (to your preference) are cornmeal and sesame seeds.

Add dry ingredients to the bowl and stir.
2. Heat the whey and water in a saucepan. Pour butter into the whey/water mixture.
3. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients. Stir well until combined. (At least 5 minutes.)
4. Divide dough into 3 loaves. Pat the dough into a rectangle and then roll up into a cylinder. Pinch seams and edges, then shape.
5. Place the loaves onto a sheet pan sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
6. Paint the loaf with egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
7. Bake at 425F for 30 minutes.

Amaze your friends and astound your enemies with your culinary prowess.

And leave your own recipes, because after all, it’s Recipe Sunday where we are all about food.

Recipe Sunday: Chipotle Chicken With Cumin Cream Sauce

Our anniversary was last week, and to celebrate we walked around Burlington and then we went out to dinner.

It was an amazing dinner. In fact it was so good, that I intentionally left about half of it on my plate to bring home for dinner the next night. But, the restaurant was busy, we had shopping bags in the booth with us, and it took us a while to pile on our layers of winter attire. As a consequence, I didn’t realize that I had left my doggie bag on the restaurant table until we were half-an-hour away.

I’m not going to lie, I was irrationally annoyed.

And I know that, “Something, something, something, is the chipotle chicken of invention.” So I decided to try to recreate the dish.

Chipolte chicken with cumin cream sauce

4 chicken breasts
1 tablespoon of chipotle powder
1 tablespoon of ancho chili powder
1 tablespoon of hot smoked paprika powder
2 teaspoons of cayenne powder

Mix the spices together on a plate.

Cumin cream sauce

1 large diced red onion
1 large sliced shallot
3/4 cup of white wine
1/3 cup of half and half
3 teaspoons cumin

Rub the chicken breasts with olive oil on both sides, and coat the breasts on both sides with the spice mixture.

Grill both sides of the chicken until done and tent the with foil to keep warm.

For the cumin sauce: In a small saucepan saute the sliced shallot and diced onion in olive oil. When the onions and shallots are soft, add the white wine and remove from heat. Stir in the cumin and, when the sauce has cooled for approximately 5 minutes, turn the heat on low and slowly add the half and half. (Letting the sauce cool for a few minutes will keep the sauce from breaking. (Or it least it helped quell my paranoia about the sauce breaking.)

Slice chicken and serve on top of Spanish rice with the cumin sauce drizzled on top.

McDonald’s No Longer Dominating Fast Food Presence

Have you noticed everywhere you look there’s a Subway sandwich shop? Like literally on every street corner, and in every shopping center — there are one, now two, or perhaps three Subway eateries in a single mile radius? Yes? Well, that’s not just a coincidence.

Has the burger giant been dethroned? Well, yes and no.

Subway has now globally surpassed McDonald’s in store presence, a feat heretofore not accomplished by any other fast food company. The sandwich chain opened 33,749 restaurants worldwide at the end of last year, to McDonald’s 32,737 stores. That’s a lot of five-dollar foot longs.

What does this say about the expectation of our eating habits? Certainly we all recall recent marketing campaigns that tout Subway sandwiches as an alternative to typical greasy fast food choices. Their liberal use of words like “eat fresh,” is used often to combat the growing concerns regarding the copious trans fats and high caloric counts of their fast food counterparts.

Even our friend “Jared the Subway Guy” still appears every now and again to show us that he’s kept the weight off, even though we are well aware that if you eat excessively at any fast food restaurant any and all attempts will be outweighed by sheer input of calories. A bit of slight of hand on the part of Subway? Perhaps. But the nutritional data is solid. It’s true that the sandwich giant does offer options that in moderation are healthier than the typical fast food fare.

For instance, Subway’s “Fresh Fit” meal option includes sliced turkey, lean roast beef, or Black Forest ham, with fresh veggies, (without cheese, mayo, or any of the other sauce choices), on baked whole grain bread, and a choice of apples, yogurt, or baked chips, and a water. Average total calories: 355 to 450. Conversely, McDonald’s flagship Big Mac Meal, which includes a Big Mac, medium french fries, and a large soda, is a staggering 1230 calories. In addition, the newer Angus Third Pounder burger tips the scales at 720 to 860 calories (depending on options) alone.

This is not to say that McDonald’s, in a demonstrated mea culpa, hasn’t stepped up their game to offer healthier options like salads, wraps, fresh fruit, yogurt, smoothies, and other lesser fatty foods, but realistically these fewer options are not what’s driving consumers to eat their offerings. And it shows in their revenue.

While Subway is dominating store numbers, McDonald’s is still the overall revenue champ. The company reported $24 billion in revenue for its last fiscal year. Subway generated roughly $15.2 billion, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

McDonald’s on Tuesday said global sales at established restaurants in February rose 3.9 percent, as strong sales in Europe helped offset a U.S. market that was hit by high unemployment and rising gasoline prices. In addition, February sales were up 2.7 percent here in the United States, helped by strong demand for its McCafe beverages, reports the Associated Press.

So apparently to offset sales lost nationally because people were out of work and couldn’t afford gasoline to get to a McDonald’s drive thru, the company is relieved that some people were able to beat the odds and drag themselves in the stores for McDonald’s new line of coffee sundaes.

Obviously this is the next obstacle Subway has to face in its efforts for complete fast food domination. Sadly, I think there are probably fewer actual “winners” here than both companies would like to acknowledge.

Introduction to Veganism

So you want to learn more about vegetarianism/veganism? Or you don’t, but this article came up and you’re procrastinating at work/school/life so you’ll read it anyway? Good enough! This is meant to be kind of a brief intro to what this stuff is all about, and will respond to some of the main questions that generally come up in this topic. If there’s a particular area of vegetarianism/veganism (veg*nism) that you would like to know more about, let me know! I love talking about this stuff.

The Basics
A vegetarian is someone who does not eat meat. They may still consume dairy, eggs, and possibly fish (but fish is really a meat). Vegetarians have been around forever!

A vegan is often defined as someone who “begins with vegetarianism and brings it to its logical conclusion.” Vegans attempt to consume nothing that originally came from an animal. This includes clothing, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics, and of course, food. The term was coined by Donald Watson, an Englishman who founded the British Vegan Society in 1944.

But Why?
If you’re a vegetarian or vegan, you’ll know that the question everyone asks you (along with the protein question) is “Why did you decide to become a veg*n?” People go veg for a variety of different reasons. The main ones:

For the animals
There is nothing “circle of life” about our modern production of meat. Animals are kept in terrible conditions for the sole purpose of being killed. This is generally where all the ethical arguments against eating animals live. Many people believe that there is no such thing as “humanely-killed” meat. Additionally, the principle of not using animals for our own gain (this can be extended to circuses, rodeos, and even pets) is often used in reasoning against using honey, pearls, and other things that we generally think of as not harmful to the animals.

For personal health
Eating more plants and fewer animals has been linked to lower cholesterol, higher fiber, lower rates of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, and a host of other health issues. For more info on this, see The China Study.

For the environment
Factory farming is incredibly damaging to the environment. Livestock’s Long Shadow (pdf file), published by the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization in 2006, details the many harmful impacts that raising livestock has for the environment. One of the more interesting facts: all factors involved, livestock contribute more to greenhouse gas emissions than all forms of transportation.

ZOMG where do you get your protein?
I figure we’ll just tackle this one right off the bat. First of all, you probably don’t need as much protein as you think you need. The average American consumes about double the protein his or her body actually needs. (Source) So let’s just relax about that. The general formula to determine how much protein you need per day is your body weight times 0.36. So a 140-pound person would need about 50 grams of protein per day. Obviously if you’re an athlete and/or a pregnant or breastfeeding woman you’ll need more. Veg*ns can get protein from legumes, grains like rice and quinoa (kee-nwah), tofu, nuts, and non-dairy milks. However, it is true that while all meats offer complete proteins (they have the 9 essential amino acids which cannot be produced by our bodies), most vegetarian sources do not. Quinoa is one of the only plants that is a complete protein.

Aside from eating quinoa all day (which wouldn’t be the worst thing), us veg*ns can use what are called complementary proteins- where one source is missing an amino acid or two, another one has it, and when eaten together or during the same day, they complement each other. We already form complementary proteins in many of the foods we commonly eat: rice and beans, falafel in a whole wheat pita, peanut butter on whole wheat bread, cornbread and beans. Basically legumes + grains is a good way to go.

Rice grains (IRRI) — What do vegan zombies eat? Graiiinnsss..... graaaaiinnss!!

Some Random Nutrition Notes
Hopefully I’ll get to do a later post on veg nutrition, but for now a few brief things. Being vegan does not necessarily mean eating healthier. A lot of junk food is vegan (and delicious). But that’s not really what veganism is all about, so in between bags of Tings, have a leaf or something.

Even if you’re not looking to go veg, a good guideline for healthier eating is to eat the food as close to how it naturally is as possible. This means eating corn on the cob, not corn nuts. Using rolled or steel-cut oats rather than the instant oatmeal. Basically, when you go food shopping, you should look for food that has five or fewer ingredients listed, or better yet, just one! This way you can better ensure that you’re getting the most nutrition and the least processing possible in your foods. Now, I can’t ignore the cost issues here- it’s fucked up that buying junk food is less expensive than buying broccoli or something, but if you can try to eat more whole foods without going broke, it’s absolutely worth it for your body. Former Jezebel readers beware, but legumes seriously are the shit in this regard. They are cheap and incredibly nutritious. This doesn’t mean eating lentils for every meal every day, but maybe buy a bag of beans instead of that chicken breast. The larger societal and governmental issues of our food system can’t really be addressed right here, but I’ll include some links for those of you who want to read more on this (Food Inc. also addresses this issue).

So that about wraps this up. Do you have a particular food/meal you’d like to share with the group? Good books, articles, films, etc.? Let us know in the comments!

But I want to know more!
Complementary proteins
Sources of protein
Wikipedia on Veganism
Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine protein info
Vegan Action
Vegans of Color
Racism & Speciesism
Mark Bittman, Food Matters (lots of good information)
Compassionate Cooks
Carbon Footprint Calculator

City Guide: San Francisco

I love San Francisco. Like any big city, we have our problems. Yes, we are on occasion a bit preachy and sanctimonious. Our politics can be screwy. We get made fun of for stuff like the Happy Meals kerfuffle. But great things happen here also, sometimes this can be a downright exciting city to live in.

Not only is it a lovely city to live in (most of the time), it’s a wonderful city to visit. Apologies for the length (and number of Italian restaurants, but hey – it is San Francisco), and away we go. Continue reading →