Plant-based diets can have a dramatic effect on blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol. They are associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality. For your health, plant-based is the way to go.
But eating out can be a challenge.
If you’re committed to a plant-based way of eating, there will always be that little pang of anxiety when going to dine at a restaurant. Will they have something on the menu you can eat? If not, will chefs and waiters treat you like a demanding member of a fringe cult?
Let’s get the bad news out of the way. Most high-end restaurants in this area are heavy users of meat and dairy. They’ll offer a vegetable appetizer or salad, but the imaginative entrée dishes are rarely plant-based. The most common plant-based item is pasta primavera, but even then, the pasta is often made with eggs. Recently, at a popular Italian restaurant in Chapel Hill, my dinner was a gluten-free pasta, mushy and nearly inedible. And one does get tired of pasta.
So, I scan the menu, and find a dish that is mostly plant-based. “I’ll have that without XYZ, please.” I sigh deeply while saying “without,” since XYZ could be the one ingredient that added flavor to the dish.
You can ask the server to consult with the chef, but hold your breath because the results are unpredictable. Imagine the kitchen on a busy night, their well-oiled system disrupted by the request for a completely plant-based entrée. Once, the waitperson returned with a bowl of macaroni and carrots, drenched in olive oil. Another time, I was served a plate of mushrooms and broccoli–at most 80 calories, not even enough for a lethargic toddler.
However, the good news comes in two parts.
(1) Menus are online, and you can find….
(2) Restaurants with plant-based menus.
So do a bit of homework. The best places are restaurants where the cuisine has been plant-based for centuries: Japanese, Chinese, and Indian. The dishes were designed from the get-go without meat, have evolved into something tasty and delicious. You won’t feel like you’re missing out.
If your only options are chain restaurants, Chipotle is a perfect fit where you can build your own bowl or burrito with rice, beans, vegetables, guacamole. Panera will modify any of their sandwiches with substitutions, and also offers a couple of plant-based soups and salads. If you’re stranded in fast food hell, go to Taco Bell for the seven-layer bean burrito (hold the cheese & sour cream), or tacos with black beans instead of hamburger.
Locally, I often buy a quart of Angelina’s lentil soup for the freezer, after I’ve gone to Pittsboro for her lunchtime rice bowl. Living Kitchen and Vimala’s Curry Blossom, both in Chapel Hill, have many delicious plant-based items. I am always delighted by the menu at The Spotted Dog in Carrboro. The Provincial in Apex offers a plate of a dozen vegetables cooked to perfection. Also in Apex, there’s Vegan Community Kitchen where you can order anything on the menu!
It’s a chef’s mindset–that vegetables, treated with imagination and skill, make lovely entrees.
Here’s a flavorful dish that I first tasted in a Spanish tapas restaurant. The almonds add texture and crunch.
Garbanzo-Spinach Bean Stew
Ingredients
- one large bag spinach about six cups or more, it cooks WAY down
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ cup almonds chopped fine
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 can chick peas drained (1-2/3 cups, cooked)
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 bell pepper chopped
- ½ cup tomato sauce
Instructions
- In a large non-stick skillet, cook the spinach with two tablespoons of water until just wilted. Transfer to a bowl.
- Heat a teaspoon of olive oil, then add the garlic. Sweat it for about five minutes over very low heat. Add the almonds, spices, and salt. Stir and cook about three more minutes until the almonds are golden. Add to the spinach.
- In the skillet, sauté the onion and pepper. Add chickpeas, tomato sauce, and ½ cup water. Simmer about ten minutes.
- Add the almond mixture and wilted spinach to the chickpeas, and simmer another five minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more cayenne if you like spicy.
- Serve over rice or with crusty bread.