An Edu-cation

Yay for organic farming practices!
Healdsburg, CA 

It sure is nice to be back on HEALing Foodie after such a lengthy hiatus! Now that I've wrapped up the grad school chapter of life, the next to-do is passing the registered dietitian exam. But first up is a week-long trip to NorCal where I got an edu-cation - "educational vacation"!

Places I Went and Things I Saw:
[-] Intensive monoculture along the I-5. Endless fields of corn (pretty sure they're all GM), strawberries, oranges and other vegetation.

Hello, my fuuuury friend. 

[-] Who can forget all the cows in the blazing sun, eating GM feed, and standing in dirt laced with their own feces? Sad and gross.

[-] An up-close encounter with the biggest 2-year old St. Bernard!
[-] Biodynamic farms in Healdsburg where holistic approaches are used along with an astronomical calendar for sowing and planting. Astrology for plants!
[-] Biking 12+ miles in the hot sun to see the wine country. It wasn't easy, but it's one of my most memorable  (and low ecological impact) adventures to date!

Leafy Sea Dragon!

[-] The majestic sea life at Monterey Bay Aquarium. It's time to stop polluting, clean up our messes, and save these amazing creatures!
[-] Getting my set of Eco Quiz Deck!! It turns out to be a fun way to pass time during road trips.
[-] Last but not least, amazing meals with amazing friends! Vegan enchiladas and a fantastic pork chop with fingerling potatoes and fava bean "succotash". YUM-O!

So now I'm super refreshed and inspired after this awesome trip. Can't wait to recreate some vegan goodness and adopt more eco-conscious lifestyle habits! Stay tuned for more sustainable and sensible eating updates, folks!

SLO Bites

California's Central Coast holds a very special place in my heart... mostly because of my alma mater. If I may, I'd like to suggest Mr. Tony Bennett to remake his classic and title it "I Left My Heart in Santa Barbara."

Taking advantage of my last extended winter vacation before I shed my student status, I packed my sleeping bag and rain boots and revisited the beautiful coast to see my foodie accomplice and o-mazing friend, Jaime G. for a delicious weekend.
* Click to enlarge photos.

HEALing Foodie in San Francisco

The past weekend was the San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival. While the Los Angeles Racing Dragons (LARD) and other teams paddled their heart out at the Festival, I was eating my heart out around the city and documenting delicious findings.

Click to enlarge photos for deliciousness-overload.

Will the Real Korean BBQ Please Stand Up

The majority of Korean BBQs here in the States conjure up a very "beefy" picture- marinated beef of all cuts with pork in equal or slightly smaller proportions. And perhaps some sort of seafood if the eatery offers them on its menu. Of course, AYCE (all you can eat) Korean BBQs have gained momentum as more meat-loving customers are demanding... well, more meat.

Reality and my naive understanding of Korean food collided on a trip to South Korea last year. During my 5-day stay, I only had 0.5 servings of beef- if that at all. A day or two into the trip, the tour guide explained that seafood, along with pork, are the predominant animal protein in the country. The hilly terrain makes it difficult to raise cattle so it has never been a big part of the Korean diet. Also, a little known fact is that Korea once imported much of its beef from the U.S., and the largest current beef supplier to the country is Australia. A strong currency, high import duties, and the continued ban on U.S. beef have combined to create record beef prices. 

So how did Korean BBQ get so distorted from one side of the Pacific to the other? 

The abundance of beef in Korean BBQ is as Korean as Orange Chicken in Chinese cuisine. While it's delicious, it's absolutely untraditional and a spoof to the culture. It's time to bring back some authenticity to the cuisine so everyone can experience the brilliance of real Korean food.

Pictured above (clockwise from top left): 
Assorted veggies and meat hot pot, samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup), pork 2-ways (shabu shabu and grilled), fresh sashimi, pork and squid cabbage shabu shabu, pork samgyeopsal (unseasoned pork grilled at table), kimchi dumplings with chicken "yakisoba" and rice dish.