You’d think those brainiacs at Dartmouth could get vegan
right. But all the high IQs in the town of Hanover, NH couldn’t keep the
cheese out of the vegan sandwiches.
I spent Thursday and Friday (days 11 and 12 of my
veganventure) at a conference at Dartmouth College, home to Tuck School of
Business, a medical school, uber-smart youngsters and famous academics. As the
only vegan in the crowd of 250 people, apparently, I was assured a vegan meal
at my 2 lunches and one dinner and plenty of vegan options at breakfast on
Friday. However, I had planned for possible screw-ups and had grapes and hummus
with me, in my bag, as well as Coconut creamer for my coffee (yes, its true…).
Thursday’s lunch was a green salad with vinaigrette, chips
and wraps, featuring a roasted vegetable wrap…with Boursin cheese. I was going
to get my money’s worth and scraped the Boursin off and enjoyed an otherwise
tasty sandwich. And 2 mini bags of chips. One bag was my desert, as the cookies
and brownies were NOT vegan.
Dinner that night was a quinoa tart with a medley of veg on
top, served with a salad and crusty whole grain bread. Yum.
Lunch the next day? The same roasted vegetable wraps…with the same Boursin cheese.
Lunch the next day? The same roasted vegetable wraps…with the same Boursin cheese.
The conference breakfast Friday morning had only melon and
bagels to offer this fledgling vegan. The spreads for the bagels? Butter and
cream cheese. Since I weaned myself off sugar a while ago, the platters and
platters of danish, muffins and cinnamon rolls didn’t call to me in too loud a
voice. Fortunately, the Residence Inn where I was staying offered English
muffins and peanut butter, as well as hot oatmeal with walnuts and raisins, so
I was sated by the time I arrived at the conference breakfast and patted myself
on the back for eating at the hotel.
These two days taught me some important lessons. Take care
of my self and don’t expect anyone else to (which I learned as a teenager and
have been reminded of throughout my life). Don’t take things like Boursin
cheese on my vegan sandwich personally. And always remember that potato chips
are vegan.
My 2 days of epicurean uncertainty were offset by a
delightful pot luck dinner Friday night with the officers of the Cumberland
Country Beekeepers Association which included my husband and several people I
knew, as well as a few whom I have never met. Peter brought a pot of spicy rice
and beans from Dr. Neal Barnard’s cookbook which was fabulous. Peter had let
others know that we were following a vegan diet, so one couple arrived with a
flavorful quinoa salad and dessert was a vegan apple crisp prepared by a woman
we have known for years who surprisingly to us, had been following a vegan
lifestyle with her husband for several years. The salad featured local greens,
fruit and pecans and the bread was also vegan, warm and crusty. A guest quietly
played his guitar and sang some James Taylor as we ate, laughed and tossed bee-puns
around the room. A wonderful juxtaposition to my Dartmouth experience.
Tonight, we attend the 100th Anniversary Gala for
Saint Joseph College, at the Marriot. We requested the vegetarian option with a
further request for a vegan meal. Stay tuned.
I just hope the chef didn’t go to Dartmouth.
Actually, I hadn't told anyone that we were eating vegan. That was the best surprise of all: people cook that way because they like the tastes, not just the experience.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience, a lot of people like to bring tasty healthful food to gatherings so they know they'll have something they feel good about eating. (It's something I certainly do and it's not uncommon for my friends to bring over a big bowl of greens when I'm hosting a dinner party!)
ReplyDeleteAnd as for work stuff, I don't attend a lot of conferences but I often attend group meetings where lunch is provided. I try to stick to veggies and fish on work trips because otherwise I feel terrible after days of eating out. I find that if I request a vegetarian lunch, several other people at the table will request one as well and seem relieved that someone else thought to ask! But if I don't ask, it's not unusual to be faced with a table full of junk I don't want to eat.