Day 94 (6.12.12): Crispy "Chix" Salad (or What We All Would Eat If Chickens Ran the Ranch)

Crispy "Chix" Salad

Status: Restaurant (Saturn Cafe)

Associated with: Chicken Run

On their website, Native Foods says that "chix"--fake, soy "chicken"--would be what we all would eat if chickens ran the ranch. Unsurprisingly, therefore, I have selected a tale of poultry usurpation and general uprising that results in the overthrow of the evil human beings who seek to devour them. Fitting, I think.

Day 85 (6.02.12): Sweet Macaroni Salad (the Cheeseasaurus Rex's High)

Sweet Macaroni Salad

Status: Homemade

Satisfaction: 10.

The Cheeseasaurus Rex always seemed a bit overly excited by his bowl of mac and cheese.

I think it's the perception-altering drugs they include in that "powdered cheese."

Recipe under the cut!

Day 76: Chinese Chicken(-less) Salad (or an Ugly Green Jacket)

Chinese Chicken(-less) Salad

Status: Restaurant (Green Leaf)

Satisfaction: 10.

Associated with: Darien a.k.a. Mamoru from Sailor Moon

Anyone who has ever watched an episode of Sailor Moon knows the cringeworthy feeling that creeps up every time Mamoru pops up on the screen...in that green jacket. Heck, it's become something of an obsession (and fetish) in the fandom. Mamoru's a hot man...but there's no denying that what he owns in brains and good looks, he definitely lacks in fashion sense.

Doris and I had a good long conversation about this over lunch today, hence the (unfortunate) association.

Some more fashion faux pas from ours truly, just because I couldn't resist:

Mamoru in a pee-yellow-and-purple collared jacket

Mamoru in a stylish green pullover...not.

It's cowboy Mamoru! Or dead-cow Mamoru.

Another flattering shot of the infamous green jacket.

And one of my personal favorites, the "what the hell, were you drunk when you put this on?" exercise shirt.

Day 59: Greens Salad with Fat Baby Carrots (Humpty Dumpty Sat On A Wall...)

Status: Dining Hall (Covel)

Satisfaction: Actually, a 10. But then again, I was a hungry post-practice swimmer and it's really hard to ruin a salad that you make yourself. And that's free.

Associated with: Humpty Dumpty

'Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall:
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses and all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty in his place again.'

There's something slightly eerie about whole hard-boiled eggs. Maybe it's that I've read too much Carroll, but there really is an almost human aspect to them when you look at them for a really long time. 

An entire section of my senior honors thesis was devoted to the famous line by Humpty Dumpty in Alice in Wonderland (so it's appropriate that he gets his own day of food for thought):

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master — that's all.'

I love that line! If you ever want to have a stimulating, scintillating (I also love that word) conversation about the significance of language mastery and adult authority in Alice--well, you know where to find me.

Day 53 (4-28-12): Boxed Lunch--Greek Salad and Eggplant Sandwich (or What Catbert Would Call An Antiquated Tradition)

Boxed Lunch: Greek Salad and Eggplant Sandwich

Status: Conference-provided--free food!

Satisfaction: 8. Loved the eggplant, the salad not so much.

Associated with: 

I love conferences.

Okay, I take that back. I love the conference (single) that I went to this weekend. Children's literature graduate student reference at University of British Columbia, to be precise. It was one of those moments where you realize, "By God, there are people like me in this world!" which is a pretty cool feeling in and of itself. And did I mention that even the food was pretty stellar? They fueled us all day with cookies, danishes, fruit tarts, and a good old dose of Canadian hospitality.

Since I didn't have anything particularly exciting to say about the lunch, though, I'll latch onto the setting--conference food and the office world? I think Dilbert would have a lot to say about that...for one thing, the corporation would definitely not be giving away free stuff. 'Nuff said.

Day 27 (3.30.12): Starfield Greens Salad (is a Fantasmic Thing to Have)

Starfield Greens (Cranberry/Golden Raisin Goat Cheese Candied Walnut Salad w/Balsamic Vinaigrette)

Status: Restaurant (Disneyland's Pizza Port)

Satisfaction: 7.

Associated with: Fantasmic?

We got so excited to see Fantasmic that after I sprinted to Pizza Port, grabbed my coveted salad (this is the one I mentioned earlier in this blog when I was talking about cranberry walnut cheese salads), and ran to save us spots on the waterfront, I completely forgot to take a picture. Oh, well. Starfield Greens Salad, Mission Accomplished. (It was, however, a dinky salad, and even the cashier last time asked me if the salad had shrunk. It had.)

Day 21 (3.24.12): Falafel Pita with Greek Side Salad (Food for the Greek Not-So-Gods)

 

Falafel Pita with Greek Side Salad

Status: Restaurant (this new Greek fast food joint at the mall)

Satisfaction: 7. Deep-fried the heck out of those falafel, though.

Associated with: The Aeneid

 

Greece--those are the people who had something to do with epic poetry, right? How stereotypical of me. Fortunately, I'm allowed to stereotype (it's one of the few meager rights still left to me after school has sucked the rest of those "inalienable" ones out of my soul), so Greek food means Greek stories. Poetry. All that jazz. Now I'm just sitting here trying to imagine a bunch of hungry Greeks sitting inside the Trojan horse, waiting, and eating--what? Why, falafels...of course.

Day 18: Assorted Salads (or Vernon Dursley's Definition of "Rabbit Food")

Assorted Green Salad

Status: Restaurant (Sweet Tomatoes)

Satisfaction: 10! You can never go wrong with a salad bar.

Associated with: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

 

The diet sheet that had been sent by the Smeltings school nurse had been taped to the fridge, which had been emptied of all Dudley's favorite things - fizzy drinks and cakes, chocolate bars and burgers and filled instead with fruit and vegetables and the sorts of things that Uncle Vernon called "rabbit food."

Now, now, Vernon--don't be such a hard bloke on rabbit food. It really is quite pleasant if you're not persnickety about these things. And really, rabbits aren't half bad creatures. Some of them are even more pleasant to deal with than humans.

Day 13: Apple Candied Nut Cranberry Salads (Make Any Place the Happiest Place on Earth)

Apple Cranberry Goat Cheese Candied Pecan Salad (with Balsamic Vinaigrette)

Status: Restaurant (Faculty Center at UCLA)

Satisfaction: 7.

Apple Gorgonzola Candied Walnut Cranberry Salad (with Mustard Vinaigrette)

Status: Homemade

Satisfaction: 6.

Associated with: The Happiest Place on Earth

 

Every time I get an apple cranberry nut salad or some variation of it, I am instantly and miraculously transported to the Happiest Place on Earth. I may be the only person in the world who goes to Disneyland in large part for Pizza Port's amazing salad (okay, I'm overemphasizing its amazing-ness--but being in Disneyland will do that to you). In fact, it's so good that when the opportunity comes up...yes, I will not only have it twice in one day--I will even make it again, knowing I already had it for lunch.

Day 2: Apple Walnut Mango Vinaigrette Salad...with Veggie Burger Strips (Makes the Vegetables Cry)

Apple Walnut Mango Vinaigrette Salad w/Veggie Burger Strips

Status: Restaurant (Novel Cafe)

Satisfaction: 8. Nutty and light, hit the spot.

Associated with: The Save the Vegetables Movement.

Every time I order a meat substitute at a restaurant, it reminds me of the poor voiceless millions upon millions of vegetables and fruits every year that are mercilessly slaughtered in the name of vegetarianism. Now, they're asking to be heard.

Save the vegetables.


And yes, I do own this t-shirt.