Vegetarian Combo Plate @ LaPita Restaurant

I had the night off from cooking yesterday because last night was kind of special; my fiance and I picked up my engagement ring from the jeweler! We had it custom designed and it turned out beautifully! To celebrate, we went out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, LaPita Mediterranean Cuisine in Dearborn, Mich. This restaurant is where R and I had our second date, and it's been a favorite ever since. He usually orders the lamb chops. I, of course, go veg. The menu has plenty to offer vegetarians, going so far as to mark each veg entree on the menu to make choices easier. Last night, I ordered the vegetarian combo plate #2, which is my favorite. Lots of food for $9.99. Sides of salad and rice, as well as grape leaves, spinach pie, falafel, hummus and baba. The food is always excellent. However, last night the service left a lot to be desired. We've never had such bad service there and it was unfortunate since we were trying to celebrate a happy occasion. :( I told my fiance the restaurant should be glad we've eaten there before, because if last night's dinner had been our first there, we would not be returning.

Homemade hummus

Last night, I made hummus for the first time! After tasting it, I don't know why I waited so long to make a homemade version of this versatile vegetarian food. It was super easy and it tastes fabulous!!! :) I don't think I'll ever purchase hummus from a store again.

Living in a city with one of the largest Arabic populations outside of the Middle East, I've had some pretty good hummus at the local restaurants. But because I do love hummus, I'm happy I found a decent recipe that I can tweak (I'm thinking roasted red pepper hummus in the future!).

I brought a container of the homemade hummus to work today along with some baby pitas ... makes a great lunch!

The recipe is from vegweb.com ... check it out!

Monday's Lunch

I work at a university, and usually that allows me some decent foods choices for lunch... unless of course, it's the summer term with less students on campus. Our campus dining options are very limited July/August. Not usually a problem, because I normally bring my lunch to work, but on those days when I'm running late or whatever, it's nice to have something to fall back on.

Yesterday I walked over to our dining area, intending to get a Subway sandwich. However, I completely forgot that Subway, the grill, etc. were closed until September. All that was at the cafe were pricey grab-and-go items. And slim veggie options.

There was a "garden" salad, but I saw that it had egg in it. (What part of the garden do EGGS grow?) Most lacto-ovo vegetarians would eat this, but lately I've been toying with the idea of eating vegan as much as possible. I started reading Diet for a New America. While I'm nowhere near finished, I have read up to the part about the egg industry, and I really have no desire to eat eggs again. So, I didn't want the salad.

No veggie sandwiches were available; they were all meat-based. That left me with a choice of a three-bean salad, which actually looked pretty good, but it was in a small container and overpriced. Hummus and pita chips sounded good, but I could tell the chips were fried and really didn't want that. I settled on the "combo platter" with hummus, red pepper hummus, bab ghannouj, meatless grape leaves, spinach feta pie, olives and baklava. I love middle eastern food, but this combo was a pricey $5.95. At least I feel that's pricey, especially when I could've driven down the street and got a bigger and warmer similar combo for a buck or two more. But I digress. The lunch did its job and held me over till dinner. I barely touched the bab ghannouj, so I may buy some pretzels from the vending machine today and finish that off. :)

Eating veggie at the M&M Cafe

Had lunch with a colleague of mine this week. We went to this little cafe my boss is always raving about--The M&M Cafe, located on Michigan Ave. in Dearborn, Mich. Cozy lil' place. I ordered the grilled veggies, hummus and rice. Doesn't it look amazing? It tasted just as good as it looks! The meal and a glass of water came to $8.22, tax included. A word of note: the cafe does not accept credit cards. Many kudos to my buddy R for spotting me the cash for lunch. He's a lifesaver!

I apologize that I can't report on the other veggie options available at the cafe; I was so engrossed in conversation with my friend that I didn't analyze the menu like I usually try to. My boss had given me the tip to order this particular dish, so I didn't look at the menu that closely. Never fear, though. I enjoyed this dish a lot, so I'm sure I'll be back there and I promise to give a better review at that time!