mixed greens

Last night before the Full Plate Diet lecture, we went to Dandelion CommuniTea Cafe. After we talked it up so much, Garrett had our favorite, The Giddyup. Graycen had the enourmous hommus, cucunber, tomato sandwich. It's definitely big enough to feed an adult, too.

The concierge at our hotel needed to direct us to a reasonably fast dinner location. Paul said Italian pizza sounded good, and she made a reservation for us at Salute! on Madison Ave. and then directed us on the best way to get a cab to Carnegie Hall for a beautiful, but long performance of Handel's Messiah. (In case you never knew, the Hallelujah Chorus is not the end of the program, only of Part 2.)

Salute was an amazing restaurant with a bar in the front and lots of tables in the back. The monochromatic color scheme made the room very inviting, and we loved our seats looking out the window.

A kind lady met us at the door and waited patiently while I removed both coats and packaged my gloves and hat so as not to lose them. Then, she led us to a table, that I'm sorry to say was very tipped. However, we were happy to have a seat and the leaning table was never a problem.

Our waitress arrived with menus and took our order for drinks. New York water tastes very good. However, I have learned to order lemon with my water, especially when I'm dehydrated. The lemon never came.

Cost Per Person $30.00

I haven't blabbed about it yet, but the story would make much more sense if I did. Here goes: I am not planning a dining schedule this week for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Paul is gone to a convention, and since he can be so much of an inspiration to me, I'm happy dining on PB&J and fresh seasonal fruit until his return. Secondly, I had a small trip to the ER (As if any emergency trip is small!) on Friday morning and am currently in a position where I am not allowed to be off my feet long enough to make anything other than PB&J, which means I have to sit to cut my orange, too. I tried to move some furniture in the middle of the night (Why would a pregnant woman be up in the middle of the night?) and the furniture won. I broke my toe at the joint where it connects to the foot and have been tied up in a very unattractive, winter boot to hopefully keep the bones in place until they heal back together. Praise God it was a clean break and--unless I don't take care of it properly--will not need further treatment.

So, after a medium-sized walking day at work, I purchased a salad with the last of my Jason's Deli Giftcard in order to eliminate any additional time on my feet. This was only the second salad that I have purchased from Jason's and like the other girl at the bar said, it really does seem like a good deal.

Cost Per Person $6.99

When Paul's folks were getting to Orlando last night, it was near dinner time. I asked Paul if he wanted to meet them somewhere and eat faster. I wasn't surprised with his choice of Dandelion CommuniTea Cafe. We have done a lot of eating there recently, including last month when Paul took a group of fellow attendees at an internet conference there for dinner on a Saturday night. The restaurant is a great choice for individuals who are vegan or who are allergic to dairy or wheat. Since I have pretty much been perfectly happy with salad, grapes and an occasional pizza during this pregnancy, I was more than happy to visit the restaurant for a salad I didn't have to make or clean up myself.

In case we haven't shared a photograph of it before, the Giddyup can be a salad or a wrap in "haystack" style--chili, blue corn chips, mixed greens, tomatoes, scallions, and vegan or organic cheese. We always choose the side of hummus, and Paul adds a ranch-style salad dressing called "green goddess" for an extra $0.50. My salad included a nice variety of vegetables, and I always like the sunflower seed topping.

Cost Per Person $8.50