Day 26: Lenten Breakfast at Denny's

     First of all, let's talk about prayer before meals in public places.  How many of us feel comfortable being seen by others in a public place such as a restaurant openly praying and crossing ourselves?  We must admit that, at first, doing the sign of the cross with other diners present was a bit awkward. Sure, doing it at home is easy; there are many households, thankfully, where no meal will begin without a προσευχή (a prayer).  Why, then, is it so difficult to do so in public?  Is it that people will question our character?  Will they think of us as anachronistic beings?
     Well, I must admit that several years ago I was at fast food chain when my eye caught a young teenager, led a prayer at a restaurant in front of a very busy crowd at a fast food chain.  Following his prayer which was succeeded by crossing himself (as did his two siblings and parents), I thought to myself, "Wow! This is great! This young man is such an inspiration.  Why have I been so embarrassed to do the same for all these years?"  Pretty well for all members of our family, whenever we eat out in public spaces (restaurant or banquets), prayer always precedes every meal.  Does this mean we are better Christians?  No!  We all remember the family dinner prayer scene in the comedy Talladega Nights, right?  No, our family is nothing like that, thankfully, although I did laugh at the irony of the scene.  In our family, prayer, both private and public provides us an opportunity to underscore our appreciation to our Creator for every bite that enters our mouth and every breath that enters our lungs. We especially pray for the challenges and hardships that we face, knowing full well that God is always with us.  Doing our cross in public has become such a natural act that to FORGET to do it now appears that something important is missing from our meal time.
     So, we're continuing our mini vacation and yesterday we decided to have breakfast at Denny's. Now, we weren't exactly expecting a Grand Slam when hoping for a Lenten breakfast!  We were optimistic, however, that we WOULD find something tasty, nutritious and νηστίσιμο (Lenten). So, we took a look at our breakfast menu and immediately found two promising possibilities.  We ordered the Fit Fare Veggie Skillet (minus the two egg whites which normally accompany this entree) and the Amy's® Veggie Burger. 
    We shared the two entrees and took notes.  Here are some of our observations. 
    First of all, the Fit Fare Vegetable Skillet normally comes with egg whites with spinach cooked in the eggs.  We asked our server to not cook any eggs for us.  Also included in this dish were quartered red potatoes, chopped cherry tomatoes, green pepper chunks, button mushrooms and broccoli spears. The meal was actually nicely seasoned, was enough for a hungry person and was generally quite a nice dish.  As Greeks, we wish that some bread (a bun perhaps?) were included in the price and didn't think about ordering it until after we had finished the meal.  Also, as you can see in the photo below, the broccoli was quite overcooked and almost mushy.  If the broccoli spears were cooked less, the dish would have been more satisfying; clearly, the broccoli was pre-cooked and cooked for too long. Overall, this entree was quite good.  Would we order it again?  Probably.
     Next came the Amy's® Veggie Burger.  We both enjoyed the whole wheat burger bun, although we wish it were less soft.  The burger was accompanied by a generous amount of crispy, tasty (and huge) french fries.  The burger itself contained some fresh spinach leaves, two slices of tomato and lots of grilled sliced mushrooms.  We asked the server if the veggie burger patty was cooked separately from meat burger patties. She instantly replied that "No! And the Vegetable Skillet is cooked on the same grill where other (meat containing) dishes are cooked."  So what did we think about the Amy's Veggie Burger meal?  Overall, it was a tasty dish.  The patty was tasty. As you can see in the photos below, the surface of the veggie patty was crispy and had a certain degree of caramelization.  The inside of the patty had a very pleasant mouth-feel to it; the texture reminded us of a low-fat chicken or turkey burger.  The flavour was a bit sweet, left no aftertaste and was generally nicely seasoned.  Both of us commented at how all elements of the patty stood out without being overwhelmed by the major component, soy.  All together, the bun, mushrooms, vegetables and patty (without any condiments) were a very pleasant combination.  We would definitely order this item again, particularly as it was very flavourful and after eating it we did not feel like we had eaten a vat of fat.  Great job, Denny's!

Above: Fit Fare Veggie Skillet (minus the two egg whites which normally accompany this entree) 
To see the nutritional breakdown of this item, please click here; look at the "Omelettes" section of the .pdf file; the item is called "Veggie-Cheese Omelette (add choices)".

Above: Amy's® Veggie Burger, with lightly grilled mushrooms, tomato and raw(?) spinach (no dressing) and  immense and tasty steak fries. We weren't exactly sure which of Amy's® veggie burgers Denny's serves; while searching their website, it looks closest to their "All American Veggie Burger".  Here are the ingredients, as listed on Amy's website:
Ingredients : (Vegan) Textured soy protein (hexane free), organic onions, organic soy fiber, filtered water, organic mushrooms, wheat gluten, organic bulgur wheat, organic celery, organic walnuts, organic carrots, organic oats, organic bell peppers, expeller pressed high oleic safflower and/or sunflower oil, organic sweet rice flour, sea salt, organic potatoes, spices, organic tomato puree, organic garlic, organic evaporated cane juice, organic apple cider vinegar, organic blackstrap molasses, grain vinegar, ground mustard seeds, natural hickory smoke flavor, black pepper. Contains wheat, soy & walnuts.

Above: Close up of the Amy's® Veggie Burger, from beneath. Note the flecks of veggies throughout the outside surface.

Above: A cross-section of the Amy's® Veggie Burger. Notice the meat-like texture of the vegetable patty. 

Above: Close-up of the Amy's® Veggie Burger. Although tasty and pleasantly textured, the various components provide a mouth-feel reminiscent of a grilled lean chicken burger patty.

St. John Chrysostom (on fasting)

"...Not only should the mouth fast, but the eyes and the legs and the arms and all the other parts of the body should fast as well. Let the hands fast, remaining clean from stealing and greediness. Let the legs fast, avoiding roads which lead to sinful sights. Let the eyes fast by not fixing themselves on beautiful faces and by not observing the beauty of others. You are not eating meat, are you? You should not eat debauchery with your eyes as well. Let your hearing also fast. The fast of hearing is not to accept bad talk against others and sly defamations."

(Source of quote: http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles4/ChrysostomFasting.php)