Best Vegan Meal/Appetizer in the 'Nati

Dayton and Cincinnati have been coalescing into one mega-city for the last couple of decades. I-75, which connects them is one hell-hole of a road. But one of the few benefits of my one hour commute is that I can stop at Cincinnati's best vegan/raw restaurant-- The Loving Hut Cafe.

This is an international chain of restaurants, operated by volunteers who are followers of "Supreme Master Ching Hai". Any more details about the chain than that, I almost don't want to know, since I have been eating here about twice a week and I don't want to ruin it by fining out that the "Supreme Master" is some kind of kool-aid peddler. Heck, maybe I've already drunk the kool-aid.


http://www.thelovingcafe.com/

Raw Veggie Delight-- Ooo dag!!

The raw veggie delight is my absolute favorite, which is reminiscent of an egg salad, but made with sea kelp noodles. It's noodly and raw and tastes like the friggin doge! I love it.

Besides, as my wife so wisely pointed out, "Why do all vegetarian options have to be shaped like T-bones or chicken drumsticks? What's with our culinary-culture's  obsession with meat shapes?" Therefore, I'm also proud to simultaneously be supporting the noodle-shape-imitation movement. (I even sliced a zucchini into a fetuccini-shaped meal for dinner yesterday--a-freakin-mazing!).

Sea kelp noodles are made from sea vegetables, so there are a ton of healthy minerals, but they don't have the caloric density I need. The cashew mylk dressing helps beef up the calories and makes it taste yummy. But, I'd have to buy several servings to qualify as a "full meal." That's why I often end up drinking down a pound of blender-ized dry dates for dessert (after they've soaked for a few hours).

Dates about to be liquified into my favorite pre-workout "ghetto-raid".

Love Force bread and bars are made in the 'Nati.

Another one of my favorites is the raw pizza. Of course, there is no cheese on this pizza. The crust-like substrate is a piece of raw bread called Love Force Bread, which is actually made locally (how cool is that?).

The toppings include tomatoes, avocados, olives, onions, "glued" to the bread with a pasty sauce consisting of sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, herbs and spices, and who-knows-what. They place the pizza on top of a pile of salad greens, which kind of sucks, because I'd really love to wolf-down an entire pizza box full of this manna from the gods. Again, it makes a really good appetizer, but just doesn't constitute a full meal in my world. Still, my hat's off to these guys. Everything that I've tried on the menu is delicious and beautiful. Nothing will disappoint a meat/cheese-addict on the grounds of taste.

I have only two problems with eating here:

1. It kills my confidence in the kitchen-- I get suckered into thinking that all my meals should be this ornate.
2. The dishes have too few calories for my goals. 

As I continue on this journey of learning and failing, I'm going to try to continue to keep my calories up around 3500-4000 per day and also to stop spending so much time in the kitchen. As 2010 comes to a close, I'm wondering if 2011 isn't about to become the "year of the banana." Could I really do it? 30 bananas a day?