On 8/20/07, becca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <becca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> wrote:TVTom wrote:
> The best sources of protein are beans of all kinds, raw nuts and
> seeds, and green leafy vegetables (which have more protein per calorie
> than meat, but not per serving, because they are not calorie-dense
> foods). Also whole grains contain protein and are filling.
Okay, but where do you find good foods like this when you're in an
unfamiliar place and eating in restaurants? That's when I have problems.
Yeah, one cool healthy eater I know remarked the other day that after committing to only eating good food, she almost couldn't eat out anymore.
Well, tonight I was by myself, hadn't been shopping this week so didn't have my normal salad stuff to make and didn't feel like cooking anything as I'm really tired today, so I went to my favorite default restaurant with good food, Ruby Tuesday's, and had just the salad bar for $8 bucks and had 4 platefuls. They had all sorts of good things, from green leafy lettuces and spinach leaves and tomatoes, sweet peppers, cukes, green soybeans, peas, and dried cranberries, and cous cous and pepperonici peppers and grapes and I don't remember what else. So there are places out there; you just have to find them.
There's something vegetarian on almost every menu, but often it's low in
protein. Beans are rare in restaurants (other than Mexican and Middle
Eastern), raw nuts and seeds are even rarer, most salads are mostly
iceberg lettuce, and most grains are non-whole. Sometimes at turnpike
plazas or in small towns, there's only one restaurant. McDonald's, Roy
Rogers, Bob Evans, and some of the other chains just do not have a good
veggie option for lunch or dinner. (If you eat eggs, which I do, at least
you can get some protein during breakfast hours.)
---'Becca
That reminds me that I had a project which I'd forgotten about, which was to get all my vegan/vegetarian friends to give me a list of their favorite nutrition-rich restaurants in the DC/MD-suburban area, and then compile the list -- as apparently there are quite a few places that are great around here, and I know of very few of them. One someone recommended to me recently was fantastic -- the Vegetable Garden on Rockville Pike. Of course, even with such a list, being in an unfamiliar place or city is going to put you back into the same dilemma again. I wonder if anyone has created a website for people to add reviews of good, nutritional vegetarian restaurants? I know there are such sites for finding places that sell good beer on tap -- why not for good vegan food as well? There must be sites out there on this subject. Anyone know of any?
-TVTom