Eating well

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

In an old post, veganruthie, had admitted that she sometimes had trouble eating at home regularly and wound up feeling bad about such actions and her supposed lack of discipline. I had commented and mentioned that my rational for eating at home was that my home cooked meals was often million times better than the fare offered at most restaurants. And while I do patronize restaurant that focus on local, organic ingredients, it is not something I can afford to do very often. Besides, my friends don't have to put up with my whining if they eat something I made since I have a policy of never apologizing for what I make - and usually I don't have anything to apologize for.

I had made these beet burgers (pictured below) this past summer. It was based on this recipe and I topped it with some delicious goat cheese.


I had gobs of beets and a general lack of interest in the world of beets (besides the gorgeous color). This was a really good way to consume them.

But this post is not really about my beet burgers. It is about eating well and eating good food. If an amateur like me can come up edible food based on a recipe I found on the internet, I am not off base in expecting good food when I pay hard earned money for it. Every time I think about the cold, hard bread offered as appetizers in restaurants, or the watered down pho, or the unclean forks offered in restaurants, is it any wonder that I will complain about it to anyone who will listen?

I do have to mention a good restaurant experience however. I love Ethiopian food. The injera bread, the lentil curries, the meat dishes are all simply YUM! But this restaurant I recently visited outdid all my previous Ethiopian restaurant experiences. The spices are handground by the owner's mother. The meat is sourced from local and sustainable farmers. The food is cooked slow. The experience is simply sheer pleasure. After the main course, I decided to treat my mouth to some crème brûlée. The perfect portion size, the perfect level of sweetness...what could I say. It was hard earned money well spent.


Ultimately the act of eating is the only act where you pay homage not only to the earth that sustains us, but also to one's own body. Because without good food, what is the point of eating?