Costco gets real chapatis

Last weekend, I saw what seemed to be real wheat chapatis in the refrigerated section of a Costco location here. They were called "roti-chapatis".

"Costco chapatis" have been popular among many Indians. What we called Costco chapatis were really the Tortilla-land brand, uncooked flour tortillas. They were much better than the cooked tortillas you find in most stores and very convenient to make. Especially when you have a large group to cater to. However, it's not very healthy as it is made with enriched wheat flour.

Now, Costco seems to have a healthier option for all the lazy Indians out there who won't make their own chapatis from scratch - "roti-chapatis" from Roti-land! From the branding and the packaging, it is definitely targetted at the Indians and Indian-foodies. It's made by the same people in San Diego, who made the Tortilla-land tortillas. The front of the pack says it's made with 'durum wheat floor'. The back says it's made with both enriched wheat flour and durum wheat flour - no word about the relative proportions.

So, what's the verdict on taste? Pretty good. Very similar to home-made chapatis. The size is somewhat smaller than the old flour tortillas. It also costs more - $6.99 for 30 pieces, compared to $6.29 for 44 of the flour tortillas.

Not sure if this is available at all Costco locations. If you find it in yours, definitely try it out.

Fresh Pomegranate Juice!

Fresh pomegranate juice! I got to taste it when I was in Bangalore last month. I have to tell you the fresh pom juice kicks the packed stuff you get here in the US many times over. I don't know if it was the freshness of the juice or the variety of fruit used to make it, I was just bowled over by the taste. It was brimming with fresh sweetness compared to the stale tartness you get in packed pom juice in the US.

December Lunch

My lunch today was a six-course meal:

1. Slices of green apple, marinated and grilled portabella, grilled eggplant & red pepper, avocado and spinach, wrapped in a spinach tortilla with pepperjack cheese, dijon mustard, oil and vinegar. Lightly toasted.

2. One the side: lentil-potato-carrot salad & Cholula hot sauce.

3. One-third cup of sweetened lemonade mixed with two-thirds cup of unsweetened black iced tea.

4. A blue sky half covered with scattered clouds in all shades of dark, grey and white, and in all shapes and sizes.

5. Warm sun rays caressing my skin from between the clouds. Chilly breeze trying to get under my clothes.

6. Vista of the Northwest metropolitan Valley sprawling below me, with mountains beyond, everything covered by a patchwork quilt of cloud shadows.

To enjoy this lunch using a wall-buttress as a stand-up dining table, on the parking lot's 9th floor rooftop: the perfect beauty of the moment filled my stomach, heart and soul.

Curry leaves are banned in the US

Curry leaves are an important ingredient of Indian cooking. For the past couple of months, I had not been finding curry leaves in the stores from where I usually get them here in the US. This was just one more symptom of the world-wide food scarcity. But a curious Google search revealed that this important ingredient has been totally banned from the US because a pest called Asian citrus psyllids was found in a shipment of curry leaves coming into California from Hawaii!

Source: Pest found in curry leaves halts shipments.

Wonder how long we will have to wait until the ban is lifted. Hope it is lifted soon. Many South Indian recipes just don't taste right without curry leaves!

Singapore Sling

I had four of this drink called Singapore Sling, on the Singapore Airlines flights from Los Angeles to India, this past weekend! I remember tasting it once before on a Singapore Airlines flight, but this time it really got to me. It is sweet, fruity, with not too strong alcoholic content.

Here's what the in-flight menu said about the yummy Singapore Sling:

Created in 1915 at the Long Bar of Singapore's Raffles Hotel. A concoction of dry gin, Dom Benedictine Cointreau and cherry brandy, shaken up with lime and pineapple juice, with a dash of Angostura bitters and Grenadine.

Webtender.com returns several recipes for the Singapore Sling search. But apparently, the above description is the Genuine Singapore Sling.

Apparently, this drink is popular with the other passengers as well. They had it pre-mixed in a pitcher on the food carts!

Warnings for New Vegetarians in America

When vegetarian Indians come to the US, at first, most of them do not venture out to try the non-Indian food which is available in abundant variety here. The predominance of meat and meat-based items in menus everywhere does not encourage us to get adventurous. In fact, even many non-vegetarian Indians live in the US for a long time (years in some cases!) without sampling most of the non-Indian cuisines.

The first two times I came to the US were for 3-month visits during which, I lived with Indian roommates and we cooked at home. The few times I ate outside during these visits, I had vegetarian food from only Indian restaurants. Except may be, "burger with no meat" from McD's on a couple of occasions.

My third visit to the US was long term (I've still not returned almost 6 years later!). This time, I started to live alone. The combination of lethargy and lack of enthusiasm to cook alone, just for myself, caused me to eat out a lot more often. For the first 6 - 7 months of my third visit, I tried almost exclusively non-Indian food whenever I ate outside, which was pretty much everyday for lunch! This, despite my being a pure vegetarian - during those days, I even avoided stuff like pastries and cookies, which have eggs in them!

The point of this long-winded introduction is that, yes, it is definitely possible for vegetarians in the US to find a variety of eating choices, outside the home. Certainly not as many choices as non-vegetarians (especially those who don't mind eating pigs and cows) have, but the choices are still there. You just need to know what to look for, where and how to order. Nevertheless, during my 6 years of vegetarian life in the US, despite being very careful, there have been occasions when I have discovered that there were animal pieces/products in the food I was eating or had already eaten. It is hard to describe the awful feeling of personal violation I felt during those times.

The following is not only a rant about those occasions when I learnt that the 'vegetarian' food I ate contained animal products, I hope this will also serve as a warning for other vegetarians to know what to avoid or be careful about.

• Contradictory Disclaimer: If you want to strictly avoid accidental ingestion of animal products while living in the US, the only solution is to make all your food at home, preferably from scratch and read very, very carefully, all the ingredients which go into making the few packaged food stuff you might buy. Or, if you cannot avoid eating outside, eat only raw fruits and vegetables, preferably cut with your own knife, without any type of dressing. Or, you might get lucky and find a vegan restaurant with highly enlightened and principled people running it. This might sound like a contradiction of what I wrote above about having vegetarian choices to eat outside in the US, but this is also the reality.



• Non-vegetarian by accident: If you go to any restaurant which serves meat or meat-based food, accidental introduction of meat particles into your order might happen at some time or the other. This is true of Indian restaurants also. I have come across pieces of meat in what was supposed to be "vegetarian biriyani" at an Indian restaurant. On another occasion, I found a small piece of meat in the refried beans that filled my Taco Bell "chalupa with no meat".



• Non-vegetarian by association: Even if the actual piece of meat does not end up in your order, the cutlery, utensils and hands would have handled meat before handling your vegetarian food. For example, in Subway, they use the same knife to cut every sandwich that needs to be cut. I mentioned Subway as just a random example. This point applies to most other restaurants.



• Vegetarian by customizing: There are restaurants where you can take a meat-based dish from their menu, and order it customized for you, "with no meat". In Taco Bell, for example, you can order almost any dish on their menu and ask them to leave out the meat. Recently, I visited a Thai restaurant which had a note at the bottom of the menu saying that they could make any dish on their menu vegetarian. When you customize this way, be sure to order clearly and assertively, ensuring the person taking your order understands your requirement. And, when your order is delivered, be sure to double-check yourself that there is no meat before you start eating. Mistakes on customized orders are too easy to make. I once ordered a combo-meal of chalupas and tacos at Taco Bell, repeating at least two times that I want 'no meat' in my order. When my order arrived, I found that my chalupas indeed had no meat, but the tacos were filled with beef. Fortunately, I noticed this just as the Taco was about to enter my mouth. Incidentally, for some reason, most people taking orders in the US seem to hear and understand "with NO meat" more readily and easily than "without meat". I still don't know why!



• Vegetarian / non-vegetarian by definition: In India, especially in South India, the word vegetarian has only one interpretation - no meat or eggs. Unfortunately, this is not so in the US. Different people interpret the words "vegetarian" and "with no meat" differently. The person taking your order or answering your questions at a restaurant is no different. Rather than assume that the other person's interpretation of the word vegetarian is the same as your own, you are better off clarifying exactly what you are looking for. Eg: "Would you be able to make this dish for me without meat and eggs? What do you recommend on your menu that has no animal products at all in it?"



• "Vegetarian" (or not!) by subtraction: The other thing to remember is that some people are truly naive or unaware about why you are ordering something "with no meat". They might think that simply removing pieces of meat from a dish which was originally cooked with meat, or the vegetable soup made with beef broth without actually adding pieces of meat into it, will both satisfy your 'with no meat' criteria. I heard about the removing pieces of meat from a non-vegetarian dish incident from someone. The vegetable soup with beef broth thing actually happened to me!



• Non-vegetarian by deception: This is by far the thing you need to be most careful about. When I say deception, I mean that vegetarians get deceived into eating meat products because it is so inconspicuous and not easily noticeable. I certainly don't mean that somebody is deliberately trying to deceive vegetarians into eating meat products. There is no way for me to list everything which appears to be a vegetarian dish, but is actually not. So, I will just list the stuff I come across most often, and will keep this list updated if I come across anything else later. If my readers would like for me to add/correct something in this list, please leave a comment.
  • Cheese - most of the cheeses are made with animal-based rennet enzymes.
  • Tortilla chips - in some (not all) Mexican restaurants, these are be fried in beef lard. Best to check before you eat.
  • Spanish rice & refried beans - another common item in Mexican restaurants. They are almost always cooked in chicken/beef broth. There may be exceptions. I have heard that black beans are not usually cooked in any animal broth. In any case, it's best to check before eating.
  • Fish oil in Thai restaurants - I have heard that Thais use fish oil in most of their dishes, just like Indians put hoggarenne or thadka in many of their dishes. Yes, they could use fish oil in even vegetarian dishes such as vegetable Pad Thai or fried rice, as well as vegetarian soups and curries. Best to clarify.
  • Grilled / Fried vegetarian stuff like veggie burgers or fries - if you are ordering these in a restaurant that also serves meat, you can pretty much take it for granted that your order will get grilled / fried on the same hot plate, skillet or utensil, and probably in the same oil, in which some other meat-based dish was cooked. Your order will come smeared with animal fat and particles.
  • Meat with strange names - the English language has too many strange and unfamiliar names for different types of meats, and one might get deceived by that. It is almost as if they don't want people to know or remember exactly which animal they are eating. I have heard of Indian vegetarians eating pepperoni pizza without knowing that pepperoni is a type of pig meat. It has the word pepper in it, for god's sake!
  • Sauces and salad dressings - there are too many sauces and salad dressings which might contain animal-products in them. A lot of salad dressings have eggs in them. Original Caesar salad dressing is supposed to have anchovies (a type of fish). Worcestershire sauce, which I allowed someone to add to my food once, has anchovies too. You can be pretty sure that tomato, soy and most chilli sauces don't contain any animal products. Most Italian salad dressings and vinegar-based dressings are also probably safe. Everything else should be questioned and consumed only if you are absolutely sure.
  
  
• Egg on your face: Eggs! These compete neck-and-neck with the stuff in the list above, for things you have to be most careful about... that is, if you are a vegetarian who does not eat eggs. It is amazing the number of food items in which the egg turn up. This is one thing which has defeated me in America! When I was new in the US, I avoided eating cakes and cookies, and thought I was safe from eggs. Turns out that eggs were present in so many other things which I was already eating - pastas, ice-creams, certain types of breads, pancakes, waffles, even salad dressing, for god's sake. There I was, stuffing my face with salads, trying different types of salad dressings and thinking I was safe, unaware that many salad dressings were leaving egg on my face. Yes, a lot of salad dressings have egg in them. If you want salad dressings with no egg - Italian dressing and many of the vinegar-based dressings are safe in most places. Also, when you order vegetarian fried rice or vegetarian Pad Thai or most other vegetarian dishes in Chinese and Thai restaurants, be sure to say 'no eggs'. A large number of people consider eggs to be vegetarian! Once I saw something called "egg substitute" in a breakfast restaurant's menu. Great! It looked like something that would be used in place of eggs. I asked the waitress what it was made of - she could not answer me properly. She was already too hassled at that busy hour and I did not want to take up too much of her time. I thought egg substitutes may be made with soy, considering that soy is used as a substitute for so many animal-based food products. Only days later, after I had relished my order made with "egg substitute", did I learn that the main ingredient in most egg substitutes is... ta-da... EGG! Yes, yesss - egg substitutes are made with eggs. Egg substitute is this powder which (mixed with water) is used in place of real eggs to lower the fat and cholesterol levels. But most egg substitutes have egg-whites in them! I have managed to avoid meat in the US, but it is really tough to avoid egg, simply because it is used in making so many things. After having consumed eggs without being aware in so many different items, I accepted defeat. Now, I eat things like cakes, cookies, etc. which might contain eggs in them in disguised, invisible form. But I still don't eat eggs in direct, visible form - boiled, scrambled or in any other way.

Whew! That post turned out longer than I expected. I will stop here. I hope this list is of use to new vegetarians in the US. But before I close, I do want to reiterate that all hope is not lost - there are still lots of safe choices for vegetarians in the US. Just browse through the posts labelled "Food" on this blog, and you will see a small sampling of a variety of vegetarian choices, in my "Vegetarian Lunch in America" series.

Sexuality of Vegetarian Food

We don't give this much thought, but almost all the vegetarian food we eat is quite frankly sexual in nature.

Most of the vegetarian food the humans eat is comprised of fruits and seeds of plants. And these are the sexual organs of plants, the parts from which they reproduce. Even when we eat roots of plants such as potatoes and carrots, we are eating the parts from which these types of plants reproduce.

In contrast, most non-vegetarian food is comprised of the non-reproductive parts of animals. Except for eggs.

Humans are quite unique in their almost exclusive preference for the sexual organs of plants as food. Most other herbivorous (vegetarian) animals eat other parts of the plants, apart from the fruits and seeds. I find this fascinating in a weird sort of way.

Also fascinating is the fact that plants seem to store their best qualities in their reproductive organs. The flowers, fruits and seeds of plants are the parts which have the most compelling colors, textures, aromas and taste. They attract and invite us to pick them and eat them. We like them so much, we try to grow them in ever-increasing quantities. It's almost as if plants are using us to help them reproduce in higher quantities. Quite interesting.

I wonder if this excessive consumption of sexual food is what makes humans the most highly reproductive species in the world. I can't think of any other species which mate and have babies every second of every day, all through the year.

Desi Frozen Food in Walmart

I don't know what took so long, but it had to happen eventually: desi frozen food had to make its appearance in American grocery stores.

I noticed the above two items - mattar panneer and palak panneer - in a local Walmart. Apologies for the quality of the pictures. They were taken in a hurry using my cellphone.

These were just two items. But this is still a start. Now, I can't wait for the day when Indian grocery items - spices, daals, etc. - will appear on the standard grocery store shelves.

There are very few Indian grocery stores in American cities. The problem is that the Indian merchants don't think big. They are too busy establishing and running small mom-and-pop type Indian grocery stories.

I wish some enterprizing businessman would instead supply Indian grocery, spices, frozen foods, etc. to national grocery food chains and convince them to sell them. Almost every big grocery store in the US has aisles dedicated to Hispanic and Chinese food. There is no reason why Indian items should not occupy some of that shelf-space. They are sure to sell well. They are good for the Indian suppliers, good for the grocery stores and good for us consumers. We don't have to buy goods with expired dates or dubious quality from the desi stores.

Buffet at the Olives Restaurant of Hotel Deccan Plaza

Hotel Deccan Plaza has a restaurant in it, called Olives. I discovered that the restaurant had a fabulous vegetarian buffet dinner for Rs. 265 (just over $6 American). I really loved the buffet. They had some traditional South Indian such as vatta-kozhambu, koottu and a drumstick-brinjal curry, along with mini-dosas. Traditional North Indian dishes included aloo-palak, paneer-makhan masala, daal, etc. , along with naans. They also had some non-traditional items such as breaded mushroom fry, pineapple tikka and salt-and-pepper-fried tinda. There was also a soup (mulligatawny today), mango juice and a flavorful, aromatic jeera (cumin) drink (it was not jal-jeera, at least not the usual variety). And of course, they had an assortment of desserts – Indian sweets and ice creams and fruits. Everything I ate tasted really good. I was told that the buffet is available for both lunch and dinner every day. I highly recommend it, if you are in Chennai and looking for a good place to eat.

Housewarming Party

...or how to feed over 30 people with 3 vessels and 1 rice cooker?

I finally had my housewarming dinner party on Christmas Eve, for the house into which I moved in June! It was originally scheduled for New Year's Eve, but many people said they would not be in town that weekend. So, I changed it to Christmas Eve. I thought (rather foolishly!) that more people would be free to make it to the party on Christmas Eve, since they celebrate Christmas Day with their families at home, and so would be in town. As it turned out, more people could not make it on Christmas Eve. I did not want to move the dates around too much. So, I just went with Christmas Eve.

I decided to make all the party food at home - except for the chips and dips. The challenge was to prepare food for over 30 people with just three cooking utensils and one rice cooker. For a single person's lifestyle, these are more than enough. But would these be enough to feed over 30 of my guests? With the menu I designed, it turned out to be just enough:

• Appetizers
  The chips and dips went into a couple bowls. Crackers went on a big platter. I made fruit chaat in a big aluminium disposable tray. The fruit chaat was a hit - it was made with apples, pears, bananas, papayas, pineapple, green grapes, oranges, lemon juice, pineapple juice, a few mint leaves, sugar, salt and chaat masala.



• Main Course
  Vegetable Pulao - Fried onions, bay leaves, cardamom in ghee, in one medium vessel. Masala paste was made by grinding coconut, cilantro, mint leaves, tomatoes, green chillies and ginger-garlic paste in a blender. (My blender died after all that hard work!). I mixed the fried stuff, the masala paste, uncooked rice, vegetables, salt and biriyani masala powder in the rice cooker, and cooked them all together. Four batches of this pulao were transferred from the rice cooker to the aluminium disposable trays, mixed with fresh-squeezed lemon juice and served with raitha mixed in a plastic bowl.

Curd Rice - Two batches of rice cooked in the rice cooker were transferred to the aluminium trays, mixed with curds, salt, green grapes, pomegranate seeds, green chillies, cilantro and seasoning made of fried mustard and curry leaves. Used one big vessel to make a gallon of curds in. This was served with mixed-vegetable pickle from the store.


• Dessert
  Seven-layer dessert, assembled in a couple of aluminium trays. Used one small vessel to mix the custard in.

Needless to say, drinks and cocktails flowed liberally. I had a whole drinks menu consisting of:
Non-alcoholic

• Masala Soda
• Orange Juice, Apple Juice
• Coca Cola, Sprite, Ginger Ale, Club Soda

Alcoholic

• Heineken
• Vodka, Tequila, Jagermeister

Cocktails

• Hot Heini
• Long Island Iced Tea
• Margarita
• Tequila Sunrise

After shopping trips spread over 3-days to 6 different stores, the cooking started at 10:30 AM on the day of the party and went on until 7 PM, with a lunch break in-between! I had invaluable help from a friend-colleague, without which I might not have gotten everything done in time. I am very grateful to her for all the help.

Everyone had a lot of fun at the party. Almost everybody who could drink, got drunk. And, there was much dancing all around! I am glad the party was a success, if I say so myself!

Vegetarian Logic

No. of Pizza Lunch meeting attendees: 11
No. of Indians (assume non-pepperoni eaters): 4
No. of others: 6 White Americans + 1 Oriental Type
No. of people who did not eat anything: 1 Indian + 2 White Americans = 3
No. of people who did eat: 8
No. of confirmed non-vegetarians: At least 4 (including 2 Indians), probably more.
No. of confirmed vegetarians: At least 1 (Myself)
No. of pizzas ordered: 2 Pepperoni, 1 Chicken, 1 Veg
No. of pizzas left at the end of the meeting: 1 pepperoni, 80% of chicken
No. of tummies with a hollow space where there should have been food: At least 1.

No. of conclusions: 3
1. Ratio of vegetarian to non-vegetarian food consumed is ALWAYS GREATER than the ratio of vegetarians to non-vegetarians. (Unless your non-vegetarian guests are all cats and your vegetarian guests are all horses!)
2. Vegetarians eat vegetarian food only. Non-vegetarians eat both vegetarian AND non-vegetarian food.
3. At least 50% of a non-vegetarian's lunch or dinner is made of vegetarian items. This number could be even higher if all your non-vegetarian guests are Indians.

No. of lessons: 1
When ordering food for a group, order enough non-vegetarian food for the non-vegetarians. Then, order enough vegetarian food for 100% of the vegetarians PLUS at least 50% of the non-vegetarians.

Background (with prediction!):
Vegetarians get the stepmotherly treatment again!

Vegetarian Lunch in America 20: Eggplant Tofu Curry & Rice

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Today's vegetarian lunch: A really yummy Eggplant Tofu curry and white rice, with hot sauce, sweet sauce and soy sauce, from the Asian Fusion restaurant at Park Central complex in Central Phoenix. Asian Fusion is a new Asian fast food restaurant, owned by an Indian. They serve the typical Chinese dishes with a Pad Thai thrown in. I am not a big fan of Chinese food, but I like the Chinese eggplant dish and the fried rice, when made right.

Today's Eggplant Tofu curry tasted really good and the portion was huge. I could not finish it for lunch. The above picture was taken of left-overs I had for dinner. The rice portion was small though, at least for us Indians, since we eat a lot of rice. They were kind enough to offer a second helping of rice for me to take home with my left-over curry, at no extra charge. However, I still think they could make reduce their lunch special costs and make the portions a little smaller.

Cost: $7.51 (includes $0.52 tax), about 330.44 Indian Rupees.

Vegetarian alert: None for today!

Background: Vegetarian Lunch in America.

Vegetarian Lunch in America 19: Nachos

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Today's vegetarian lunch: Nachos from the Plaza View Cafe, the cafeteria in my office building.

Nachos is a Mexican dish. It is more of an appetizer, but you can also have it as a meal. In America, you can have almost anything as a meal! Nachos is nothing but tortilla chips topped with refried beans, shredded meats, salsa, chopped jalapenos, olives, onions, shredded cheese, guacamole and sour cream. I ordered my nachos without refried beans and shredded meat. I had it with my favorite Cholula hot sauce.

Cost: $4.97 (includes tax and office discount), about 218.68 Indian Rupees.

Vegetarian alert: In some Mexican restaurants, the tortilla chips may be fried in beef lard. So, gotta be careful about that. The refried beans might have chicken broth in it. The beans in my cafeteria did, and so I did not add them to my nachos. Nachos traditionally contains refried beans and shredded meat. So, you have specify what you don't want, when ordering it. Also, the usual warning about animal rennet in cheese applies.

Background: Vegetarian Lunch in America.

Vegetarian Lunch in America 18: Chile Cheese Quesadilla, Mexican Cole Slaw & Thai Watermelon Salad

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Today's vegetarian lunch: The Plaza View Cafe, lunch special today consisted of Chile Cheese Quesadilla and Mexican Cole Slaw.

Quesadilla is a Mexican dish, which consists of a torilla folded in half, stuffed with cheese and grilled. That is a plain cheese quesadilla. Along with cheese, the quesadilla can also be stuffed with grilled meats or vegetables. For my lunch dish today, it was stuffed with grilled big chillies. I don't know what kind of dressing was used in the Mexican Cole Slaw, but it did not have the sweetish creamy mayonnaise taste of regular Cole Slaw. Apart from the lunch special of quesadilla and cole slaw, I saw some Thai Watermelon salad available in the cafeteria, and I had to have it. Watermelon is one of my favorite fruits. This salad was made with watermelon chunks, basil leaves, little bit of crushed peanut and sunflower seeds, and some kind of Thai dressing. The small cup in the picture with a red sauce is my favorite Cholula hot sauce.

Cost: $5.71 (includes tax and office discount), about 251.24 Indian Rupees.

Vegetarian alert: The quesadilla had cheese in it. So, the usual warning about animal rennet in cheese applies. The Cole Slaw dressing might have had eggs in it.

Background: Vegetarian Lunch in America.

Vegetarian Lunch in America 17: Fettucine Noodles & Caesar Salad

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Today's vegetarian lunch: My Plaza View Cafe lunch special today consisted of Fettucini Noodles Topped with a creamy Sage sauce, served with a Parmesan crusted tomato-half, Caesar Salad, and a dinner roll.

Cost: $4.97 (includes tax and office discount), about 218.68 Indian Rupees.

Vegetarian alert: Although my lunch dish itself had no meat or eggs, the Fettucine noodle pasta might have been manufactured with egg. I think the Caesar salad dressing might have egg in it. Also, the usual warning about animal rennet in cheese applies.

Background: Vegetarian Lunch in America.

Vegetarian Lunch in America 16: Cheese Ravioli & Caesar Salad

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Today's vegetarian lunch: Stuffed-cheese ravioli with pesto sauce on top, Caesar salad and a piece of garlic bread on the side, from the Plaza View Cafe, the cafeteria in my office building. The piece of bread is half-covered with the Caesar salad, and so not clearly visible in the picture above. I added an orange to my meal.

The ravioli is a type of pasta. For my lunch special today, the ravioli was filled with cheese and baked. Then a pesto sauce was poured over it. It was a little too rich for me today, although at just under 5 bucks, it was still cheap money-wise!

Cost: $4.97 (includes tax and office discount), about 218.68 Indian Rupees.

Vegetarian alert: Although my lunch dish itself had no meat or eggs, the ravioli pasta might have been manufactured with egg. I think the Caesar salad dressing might have egg in it. Also, the usual warning about animal rennet in cheese applies.

Background: Vegetarian Lunch in America.

Vegetarian Lunch in America 15: Veg Wrap & Veg Salad

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Today's vegetarian lunch: A vegetable wrap, with a side of vegetable salad and my favorite Cholula hot sauce, from the Plaza View Cafe, the cafeteria in my office building. I also added an orange to my lunch.

Our cafeteria makes some really good sandwiches and wraps. The veg wrap is made with grilled vegetables such as zucchini, eggplant, cucumber, plus fresh tomatoes, onions, spinach and avocado, on a spread of hummus and a slice of pepperjack cheese, wrapped in a large tortilla and grilled for 30-60 seconds. It is excellent and filling. I the veg wrap for lunch about once a week, with different side salads - vegetable salad, pasta salad, potato salad, fruit salad. Sometimes I just have it with potato chips.

Cost: $4.62 (includes tax and office discount), about 203.28 Indian Rupees.

Vegetarian alert: My veg wrap had pepperjack cheese. So, the usual warning about animal rennet in cheese applies.

Background: Vegetarian Lunch in America.

Vegetarian Lunch in America 14: Yakisoba Noodle bowl from Blue Fin

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Today's vegetarian lunch: Yakisoba noodles and vegetables bowl from the Blue Fin Japanese restaurant in Downtown Phoenix. This place is always crowded and I thought they might have some good food. But I did not like the noodles at all. The quantity was also so less. And when I asked them for some hot sauce on the side, they said it was $0.35 additional for the tiny cup of the size pictured above!

Cost of the meal deal: $5.07 (includes tax), about 223.08 Indian Rupees.

Vegetarian alert: None for the food. However, my food was most probably prepared in the pan which is also used to prepare meat dishes, as would happen in any restaurant which serves meat.

Background: Vegetarian Lunch in America.

Vegetarian Lunch in America 13: Asian Noodles from Coin Room Cafe

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Today's vegetarian lunch: Noodles and vegetables stir-fried with hot and sour sauce at the Asian Station of the Coin Room Cafeteria in the basement of the Chase Tower (formerly Bank One building) in Downtown Phoenix. My meal deal included a drink (I mixed iced tea with lemonade) and fortune cookie.

Cost of the meal deal: $6.48 (includes 0.49 tax), about 285.12 Indian Rupees.

Vegetarian alert: None for the food. However, my food was prepared in the pan which had been used to prepare dishes with meat. The chef scraped it clean and wiped it before preparing my food, but some tiny parties of meat would have remained.

Background: Vegetarian Lunch in America.

Downtown Phoenix Lunch-hour Secrets

If we are around downtown Phoenix during lunch hour and we are looking for some place to eat which is quick, cheap, with good quality food and nice ambience, we are not merely day dreaming! There are two not-so-secret-yet-not-so-well-known lunch-hour watering holes of downtown Phoenix professionals, which definitely live upto our day dreams.



I am talking about the Coin Room Cafe and the Plaza View Cafe, both located right in the heart of downtown Phoenix. Coin Room Cafe is in the basement of the Chase Tower (formerly, the Bank One building) and the Plaza View Cafe is in the second floor of Arizona Center Two building, whose most prominent tenant is APS.

Since these are cafeterias which mostly serve specific businesses, they are not advertised or listed in the usual places where restaurants are listed. As such, they are not known to many people. Not even everyone who works downtown knows about them. The lack of popularity in no way reflects the great quality of these places. Their excellent food choices and their great dining areas are better than many downtown restaurants. And you won't even notice or mind the lack of restaurant-like full service when you consider the low prices (and no tips) and the staff, who are always nice, cheerful and helpful in both places. You can have a really good meal for around $6 or for lesser. Quite often, for lesser.

Both cafeterias offer a variety of choices for lunch: soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps, pizza, a whole array of sides and the daily specials, of course. They also serve breakfast, which changes daily! Even picky vegetarians like me can usually find something on the menu, or have the very nice staff customize something for us. Just look at their menus for today:

Coin Room Cafe:
Breakfast: Blueberry pancake.
Lunch: Chicken mushroom & swiss steak sandwich, Stuffed Deli sandwiches, Big Stuffed (1.5x meat) Featured Panini's:Fresh mozzarella & tomato, Chicken noodle soup, Vegetable soup, Chili, Spinach & portobello salad, Three melon salad, Prime rib with sides, an asian station, pizza, quesadillas, chicken tenders, wings, and more by the piece or combo, pastas.

Plaza View Cafe:
Breakfast: Denver Omelette with Ham, Green Bell Pepper, and Cheese, Served with 2 Toast
Lunch: Cream of Potato soup, Beef Barley soup, Saguaros - Tostada Grande or Super Burrito with Your Choice of Beef or Chicken with all Your Favorite Toppings, Baked Alaskan Cod Topped with Warm Red Tomato Relish Served with Rice and Fresh Vegetables, "Coachman Sandwich" - Grilled Beef, Cheddar, and Chili Served with Mexican Coleslaw.

The above are just specials of the day, and they are all under $6! Apart from the above, each cafe has a selection of other regular sandwiches, burgers, wraps, pastas and a full salad bar, fountain drinks, coffee, tea, desserts, etc.

Bookmark the below links to check their daily menus:

• Coin Room Cafe - Basement of Chase Tower at 201 N. Central Ave Phoenix. Closes breakfast at 10 AM and lunch at 1:30 PM.


• Plaza View Cafe - 2nd floor of Arizona Center Two at 400 N 5th St Phoenix. Closes breakfast at 8:30 AM and lunch at 1 PM.

While you bookmark and note the addresses, I shall race you to one of these cafes now. :-)