Sunday, February 28, 2010

We take the meatless pledge at Wondee's

One of the many meatless dishes at Wondee's in Hackensack.




Arrayed before us at Wondee's in Hackensack last night were bowls of wonton soup with pork, a wonderfully crispy duck-and-fruit salad and red pork cooked two ways with bok choy.

We've been wanting to cut down on how much meat we eat -- chicken, pork, beef and our favorite, Australian lamb -- and this meat-heavy Thai meal seemed like the right time to pledge to do it. My wife and son had ordered the wonton, but I chose a tofu soup.

Along with the duck salad, I also ordered grilled tofu with a peanut sauce and a small salad. The waitress noted Wondee's vegetarian menu offers a tofu version of the duck salad, which we choose often. We also could always have the crunchy green-papaya salad.

We agreed that starting today, we would eat only meatless meals, but we wouldn't give up heart-healthy seafood. (We ate three fish dinners last week, and my breakfast usually is canned fish salad, sardines or smoked wild salmon.) Eggs also are allowed. My weight is getting out of hand, and I hope eliminating animal fats will help me lose some.

On Saturday afternoon, I bought two pounds of wild-caught shrimp at Fairway Market in Paramus for our dinner tonight. But we are out of chicken, lamb and beef, though we do have two opened packages of Applegate Farm preservative- and drug-free sliced ham and turkey my wife takes to school in sandwiches.

This morning, I had two eggs with Aleppo red pepper -- fried sunny side up in extra-virgin olive oil -- and served them over Colombian corn cakes with cheese (arepas) that I picked up at Hackensack Market. Stewed Korean tofu (H Mart) and a quartered tomato with za'atar thyme mixture were on the side.

For Monday night, we have a vegetarian dinner imported from India in the cupboard (from Target's new store in Paramus) that we've enjoyed many times. Tuesday? We'll see. Maybe I can find those terrific haddock fillets at Costco that we fried up last week.

Wondee's Fine Thai Food & Noodles, 
296 Main St., 201-883-1700;  parking in rear
http://www.wondeenj.com/
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3 comments:

  1. Hi Victor:

    Where is the Hackensack market where you bought the arepas? They are one of my most favorite foods. I had them in Colombia a number of years ago, and ate them for breakfast every day. Have you ever had them with an egg inserted inside before frying the arepa? Excellent!

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  2. Hackensack Market is on Passaic Street, just before Linden Avenue. If you are coming from Main Steeet, it's just over the tracks on Passaic. It is open 7 days.

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  3. A friend of my ex-husband's was Colombian. His wife made the dough fresh, slit it, inserted the egg, and deep fried it.

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