January 22, 2012: Is "Authentic" Always Better?

Breakfast:

• 1 organic strawberry probiotic yogurt
• 1 cup of orange juice (no pulp)
• 2 whole grain waffles with a drizzle of Vermont maple syrup and sprinkled with blueberries
• I feel like this picture is self-explanatory. I can almost taste it just by looking at it. The light was streaming in from the porch door onto the table. The way it hit the maple syrup turned it to gold. As I bit into the crunchy, slightly grainy waffle, feeling the blueberry squish inside my mouth and mix natural bittersweet juices with the sugary maple syrup, I closed my eyes. It was a meditative experience. The house was silent. The morning light hit every surface. I licked my lips, looked up, and smiled to myself.

Lunch:

• 1 black bean, cheese, and chicken quesadilla with salsa and sour cream
• This is very interesting. I got this from "The Bridge Cafe" at Hampshire and, I must say, it's probably my favorite quesadilla so far. The tortilla is crispy and golden brown in patterns, the chicken is tender, the cheese is gooey and not too overpowering, the sour cream is cooling which cases the spice of the salsa, and the entirety of it tastes warm and freshly made. I wonder how much of it is actually made with fresh ingredients, or if it just tastes good because it's all inauthentic. This is my question. When it comes to flavor and texture, is authenticity truly that important? I went to mexico over this past break and had an "authentic" quesadilla. Believe it or not, as I was biting into the floppy, too cheesy, not flavorful enough real mexican quesadilla I was wishing  it was more like the one from my college.......*WHOOSH*...What was that? Oh, nothing, just the sound of my credibility flying out the window. 

Dinner: 

• Sourdough bread
• Baked lentil chips
• Artichoke and spinach hummus 
• I wasn't too hungry after eating that quesadilla for lunch so for dinner I munched on this. Sourdough bread is one of my favorite types of bread because it holds such a unique flavor all on it's own. This bread was fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. It mixed well with the hummus. The lentil chips intrigued me. I would have loved to know how they were made. The ingredients were basically bean flour (aka lentils), sunflower/safflower oil, potato starch, sea salt, and potassium chloride, and yet, the chips were light as air, and super crispy and aerated. 

Dessert:

• 1 triple chocolate expresso brownie (more information on its way!)