Monday, January 19, 2009

Wow...What an Awesome MeetUp!!!

This was a MeetUp experience not to be missed! The food was awesome, and the gathering of so many like-minded people in one place just fortified, once again, fortified ,and enriched ;-) our goal to convert the world over to a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle! Right?! I'm glad we finally got a description from the waiter on the mysterious, doughnut-shaped item, later identified as Taro Root, because it was delicious and we want to go buy some. Our table became very engaged in lively talk and thanks to the efforts of Joyce and Jeff supplying us with Name Tags made it easy to interact precisely. (is that even possible?) We wish Dave good luck on his goal to open up a fast-food vegan/vegetarian restaurant, tentatively named by Joyce as, No Bull.

That Delicious and Mysterious Doughnut-shaped Object was

taro root
[ TAHR-oh; TEHR-oh ]
A starchy, potato-like tuber with a brown, fibrous skin and gray-white (sometimes purple-tinged) flesh. Taro is grown in tropical areas and is an important starchy food in West Africa, the Caribbean and Polynesian islands. A variety of taro grown in the southern United States since the early 1900s is called dasheen. Taro roots range in length from about 5 inches to a foot or more, and can be several inches wide. Though acrid-tasting in its raw state, the root has a somewhat nutlike flavor when cooked. It's also extremely easy to digest. It should be noted, however, that some varieties are highly toxic unless thoroughly cooked. The taro root has large edible leaves (called callaloo in the Caribbean) which can be prepared and eaten like mustard or turnip greens. Taro root can be found in ethnic markets and some specialty produce stores. Choose roots that are firm and smooth and refrigerate up to 4 days. Much like the potato, the taro root may be prepared in a variety of ways including boiling, frying and baking. In Hawaii, it's used to make the famous (or infamous) POI.

See this link for a few pictures and a description of the experience at the latest vegan MeetUp held a Green Melody!
Please leave a comment either here or there. I'd love to talk about it!


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Awesome food....awesome company....so many interesting things going on at one lunch! Love the photos and reliving the experience...thanks for letting the "lacto-ovo vegetarian" join the group! Love you dad....congrats on the 1+ vegan year!-bridget