Restaurant Challenge #003: Lucia's

Veggie-Bacon Restaurant Challenge #003

Lucia's

Herndon, VA (www.restaurant.com/LuciasRest)

Lucia's is one of those small family-owned neighborhood Italian restaurants that are so common in places like New York, but so rare in Northern Virginia. In fact, it's rare pretty rare to find any restaurants at all in Northern Virginia that aren't boring chains. For this reason (and other reasons), we think that Lucia's is a find. They have great pizza and sandwiches, as well as some really good traditional Italian entrees. One of my favorite things to order at Lucia's in their Linguine con Pesto...basic but fabulous.

As we've said before, Italian restaurants are easy places to go as a vegetarian, because they almost always offer a wide selection of vegetarian dishes. Lucia's is no exception. For meatless entrees, they offer:

Pasta with marinara sauce

Pasta ala Norma (with fried eggplant)

Penne al Arriabiata (with spicy marinara sauce)

Cheese Tortellini

Fettucine Alfred0

Penne con Funghi (with mushrooms)

Linguini con Pesto

Gnocchi

Baked Ziti

Cheese Ravioli

Manicotti

Spinach Lasagna (which is wonderful, and available on Monday nights for half price)

They also offer a Cheese (provolone and swiss), Caprese (fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and pesto), Agrigento (grilled peppers, fresh mozzarella, olive spread), primavera (roasted peppers, eggplant, fresh mozzarella, olive spread), Giardina (grilled vegetables and melted cheese), and Eggplant Parmigiana Sandwich. For lunch, you can get any sandwich with fries and a drink for $7. I think this is a great deal.

Last time we went to Lucia's, Katie and I split a Large Mediterranean Salad and a Unique Veggie pizza. We also ordered Whole Wheat Penne with Pesto. The penne never came, but that didn't matter, because we had a ton of food with the pizza and the salad. We also split a carafe of their house chianti, which wasn't all that cheap, but was very good. We love the Mediterranean Salad at Lucia's, which comes with olives, feta cheese, and giardinera (Italian pickled vegetables). I often order a mediterranean salad and their homemade minestrone for lunch. The pizza was great too. It comes with roasted peppers, spinach, artichokes, and tomatoes. It could have used a bit more spinach, but the vegetables all tasted great, the cheese was good, and the crust was chewy (in a good way!) and tasty.

Despite forgetting the penne, the staff was very helpful and friendly. Our waiter actually gave us a discount on our pizza - we like to think it's because we're cute, but sadly that probably had nothing to do with it :)

Veggie-Bacon verdict: Lucia's is a great find, and we find ourselves going there again and again. The staff is friendly, the food is good, and there are a lot of options for both vegetarians and carnivores.

The Windows 7 Whopper

This is absolutely disgusting (sorry to the guy in the picture, but come on!)...

I'm certainly not one to judge you for eating a burger, but I can't even begin to imagine what eating what...almost 2 lbs (?) of Burger King beef in one sandwich does to your body. PLEASE...if anyone out there eats one of these, send me pictures to post (amandalriley@gmail.com)!! Maybe we'll create a vegetarian version and have a ridiculous regular burger vs. veggie burger competition! Is it coming to the U.S.? I think you can only get one in Japan so far.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1222380/Burger-King-marks-launch-Windows-7-SEVEN-patty-Whopper.html

Black Beans

Beans are another excellent source of protein for a vegetarian diet. Black beans are a good choice, because of their high levels of antioxidants.

Check out the article below for more information on why black beans are great for you...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/12/031205053236.htm

Nachos

Nachos are one of Ace's favorite football foods. He asked me to make them tonight to eat while we were drinking beer and watching Virginia Tech play Georgia Tech. Unfortunately, the Hokies lost to the Yellow Jackets 28 - 23, but at least the nachos were good.

Black Beans - 1 15 oz can, drained

Yellow Onion - 1/4 of a medium onion, chopped

Garlic - 1 clove, chopped

Olive Oil - 3 turns around the pan

Cumin - 1/4 tsp

Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt and Pepper - to taste

Heat olive oil over medium heat in saute pan. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add beans and garlic. Saute for approximately 10 minutes, until liquid from beans is evaporated and mixture begins to thicken (mash beans a bit with a wooden spoon as you are cooking them). Add cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Turn heat to low and keep warm.

Avocado - 1, chopped

Lime Juice - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Place in medium bowl and mash with a fork. Set aside.

Preheat broiler to high.

Tortilla Chips - 1/2 bag

Cheddar Cheese - 1 cup, grated

Salsa - 3-4 big spoonfuls

Pickled Jalapenos

Black Olives

Sour Cream - 3 big spoonfuls

Cover a cookie sheet with tortilla chips. Top chips with bean mixture, jalapenos, olives, salsa, and cheese. Broil until cheese is melted. Top with guacamole and sour cream. Serves 4+. If you're classy, scoop the nachos off of the cookie sheet with a spatula and place them on a platter to serve. If you're like me, make your man eat them off the cookie sheet.

Note: Be careful not to burn the chips under the broiler. I'm horrible about this, and usually burn everything that I attempt to broil. As you can see in the picture above, I completely burned the nachos tonight - I actually set off the fire alarm. Peek at the chips every minute or so to be sure not to repeat my mistake. They should only stay under the broiler for a few minutes, tops.

Mushrooms

Many vegetarians eat a lot of mushrooms, as they can be a great meat subtitute. Portobello mushrooms, in particular, have a taste and texture that can convincingly mimic beef. A grilled portobello cap is one of my favorite substitutes for steak or a burger (Katie hates mushrooms, and consequently thinks I'm nuts for loving grilled portobellos.)

Many people are under the impression that while mushrooms are tasty, they don't really have much nutritional value. Not true! Mushrooms are low in calories, and high in fiber, protein, potassium, and selenium (an antioxidant that works with vitamin E to fight free radicals - and cancer).

If you're interested, check out this article on the health benefits of mushrooms...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050218161310.htm

Mushroom Risotto

I love to make risottos, because it makes me feel like such a chef. They're actually not very difficult. They can be a bit time consuming, but basically, if you can stand in the kitchen and stir rice around in a pan, you can make risotto.

Mushrooms - 2 packages (I used cremini and shitake), cleaned, stemmed, and chopped

Olive Oil - 3 turns around the pan

Garlic - 2 large cloves, chopped

Arborio Rice* - 1 cup

White Wine - 2 cups of whatever you have in the fridge

Hot Water - 2 cups

Parmesan Cheese - 1/2 cup, grated

Fresh Thyme - 2 to 3 sprigs, leaved removed from stems

Black Truffle Oil** - 1 to 2 tsp (optional)

Salt and Pepper - to taste

*You can almost always find arborio rice in your grocery store in the aisle with all the other rice. I've never tried to make risotto with any other kind of rice, but my understanding is that you need the starch from the arborio rice to give the risotto its texture. The starch will release as you're stirring and give the risotto a wonderful creamy texture.

**I recently found a small bottle of truffle oil in the aisle with the olive oil at Wegman's. It was a little expensive, but worth the investment. If you've never tasted a truffle before, you haven't lived! Adding truffle oil to your recipes will add a strong, rich, almost buttery flavor that I bet you'll love.

Heat olive oil in large saute pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and saute until slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add rice and garlic and saute until rice is fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add more oil if necessary to keep rice from sticking. Add 1 cup of wine. Simmer, stirring constantly, until wine is absorbed. Repeat with second cup of wine, and then water, one cup at a time. Add thyme, cheese, and truffle oil, if using. Taste, and add salt and pepper as necessary. Simmer 1 to 2 minutes more to combine flavors and melt cheese. Serves 4.

I served this risotto with a side salad of arugula tossed in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

California Trip

Mom and I just got back from a week long trip to Santa Barbara to visit Katie, and I've completely fallen in love with California. It's a vegetarian's dream come true! It blew my mind how easy it was to find great vegetarian food everywhere. There are great vegetarian restaurants with really creative menus on practically every corner, and even the regular restaurants all seem to have alot of vegetarian dishes. The last time I went out there, Katie and I actually found a veggie hot dog at a hot dog stand in Santa Monica. Crazy! Here's the vegetable platter that I got for dinner one night at a place called SoHo:

Being an East Coast suburban girl, I don't think I ever truly understood how amazing real fresh locally grown produce could be. Mom and I went to the farmer's market in downtown Santa Barbara one day while Katie was in class, and I was like a kid in a candy store. I couldn't believe how many local farmers there were, selling the most amazing looking organic produce for so cheap!

We went back to Katie's apartment that night and made an absolute feast out of everything we'd bought. We made a spaghetti squash with roasted vegetables, a beet salad with red and gold beets, and tossed salad with arugula and heirloom tomatoes, and we had this awesome organic Italian wheat bread that we found at the market. It made a ton of food that was amazingly filling, considering it was all vegetables!

Veggie-Bacon Recommendation: If you get to California and you get a chance, visit a farmer's market. They're amazing - you won't be sorry. Oh, and if you're a fan of Trader Joe's and cheap wine, buy a case of Charles Shaw. It actually costs 2 freaking dollars a bottle out there! Insane!

A friend recently forwarded this picture to me in support of our Veggie-Bacon efforts. Thanks, Mike. I would totally be a carnivore...if I was a T-Rex.

Leeks

Leeks can be kind of pain, but they add a really delicious mild onion flavor to whatever you put them in. I used leeks in the soup listed below, and I just wanted to quickly show how I dealt with them.

The dark green tops of leeks are too tough to eat, so you want to start by cutting off the root end and the dark green tops, leaving just the white and light green parts. Leeks grow in sandy soil and have lots of layers, so those layers tend to be filled with dirt and grit. I find that the easiest way to remove the dirt is to chop the leeks first (in half lengthwise, and then into half moons), and the dump the chopped pieces into a bowl full of cold water. Swish them around in the water and let them soak for a minute or two, and all the dirt should fall to the bottom. Fish them out of the water with your hands or a large slotted spoon, and they should be good to go.

Potato Leek Soup

This is a really thick and creamy soup that I made for dinner tonight to celebrate the colder weather. Making soup from scratch always sounds impressive, but this is really very easy.

4 Large Potatoes - peeled and diced

2 Leeks - cleaned and chopped into half moons

Milk - 2 cups

Vegetable Broth - 2 cups

Butter - 4 tbsp

Flour - 3 tbsp

Veggie Bacon - several slices, cut into small pieces and sauteed until crisp

Green Onions - a handful, chopped

Cheddar Cheese - a handful, shredded

Salt and Pepper - to taste

Cover cubed potatoes with salted water in large saucepan and bring to boil. Boil 15 minutes, or until fork tender. Heat 2 tbsp butter in second large saucepan. Add leeks and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add flour and remaining butter to leeks, stir until flour is absorbed into the butter. Mash the potatoes with a fork and add to pot with leeks. Add milk and broth, stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. If soup is too thick, add additional broth. Garnish with veggie bacon, green onions, and cheese. Serves 4+.

Five Ingredient Dinner – Baby Broccolini and Butternut Squash with Quinoa

3 cloves garlic
½ red onion
½ lb baby broccolini
½ cup quinoa
1 handful cubed, frozen butternut squash
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper
crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)


First, I chopped garlic and cut red onion into chunks. I put a pot of water on the stove to boil (high heat) while I washed and trimmed the ends off the broccolini. When the water came to a boil, I salted it and dropped in the broccolini. I let the broccolini cook for 5 minutes, drained, and placed in a bowl of ice water to cool off quickly.


In the same pot I just drained (and rinsed out), I added a cup of water to bring back to a boil. Once it came to a boil, I added ½ cup of quinoa. I put the lid back on and reduced to simmer, letting the quinoa cook 10-12 minutes until all liquid was absorbed.


While quinoa cooked, I put olive oil in a sautee pan and added chopped onions and garlic. These cooked 4-5 minutes until softened, then I added cooked, cooled broccolini and defrosted, cubed butternut squash (to defrost the squash, I just microwaved for a minute). Make sure to dry excess water off broccolini or the oil might splatter. I stirred all the vegetables together, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes.
















To put it together, I topped the cooked quinoa with the veggie mixture.
(Serves one hungry girl - if you have a more petite appetite, you might have leftovers)

Walnuts

If you're going to be incoporating more vegetarian meals into your diet, it's a good idea to be conscious of including non-animal derived sources of protein into what you're eating. Eating nuts and nut butters (the more natural, the better - regular peanut butter is full of hydrogenated oil and sugar) is a great way to incorporate more healthy protein into your diet.

I added raw walnuts to the spinach salad below, because I've been reading lately about how great they are for you. They're full of Omega-3 fatty acids, which we could all use more of. If you're interested, this article has a ton of reasons to eat more walnuts...

http://walnutsweb.com/walnuts/Health+Benefits+of+Walnuts

Spinach Salad

Baby Spinach
Walnuts
Red Onion - thinly sliced
Veggie Bacon - Chopped into 1 inch (0r so) pieces and sauteed until crisp

Dressing:
Dijon Mustard - 2 tbsp
White Wine Vinegar - 2 tbsp
Olive Oil - 1/4 cup
Salt and Pepper - to taste

Toss and serve. The tangy mustard and vinegar tastes awesome with the sweetness of the walnuts and red onion and the saltiness of the bacon.

Our Little Tofurky Fan

Our cat, Moochie, loves Tofurky and other various soy products. If this carnivore isn't afraid of vegetarian eating, you shouldn't be either.

Quick Lunch - Spinach Wrap

To make this wrap, I sliced about half of a white onion and sautéed it with two cloves of chopped garlic over medium heat and seasoned with salt and pepper. Once the onions began to soften, I added fresh baby spinach. I kept adding spinach as it wilted until I had enough to fill a tortilla (about 3 big handfuls). I also added crushed red pepper flakes at this point. Last, I put all the cooked vegetables in a tortilla (I used whole wheat) and topped with parmesan cheese. Delicious and super easy.

NY Times Article - "Woman's Shattered Life Shows Ground Beef Inspection Flaws"

Eating a hamburger left this woman paralyzed...

"Meat companies and grocers have been barred from selling ground beef tainted by the virulent strain of E. coli known as O157:H7 since 1994, after an outbreak at Jack in the Box restaurants left four children dead. Yet tens of thousands of people are still sickened annually by this pathogen, federal health officials estimate, with hamburger being the biggest culprit. Ground beef has been blamed for 16 outbreaks in the last three years alone, including the one that left Ms. Smith paralyzed from the waist down. This summer, contamination led to the recall of beef from nearly 3,000 grocers in 41 states.

Ms. Smith’s reaction to the virulent strain of E. coli was extreme, but tracing the story of her burger, through interviews and government and corporate records obtained by The New York Times, shows why eating ground beef is still a gamble. Neither the system meant to make the meat safe, nor the meat itself, is what consumers have been led to believe."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

Amanda and I cooking our first vegetarian meal together - I believe it was plastic.