As we continue our journey in the Lenten Season, I know that we make a big fuss about “fasting” on Fridays before the Easter Celebration.  To help us with eating meatless meals, I offer you a unique faithful foodie adventure about One World Café in Baltimore that I wrote in collaboration with the Catholic Review Newspaper’s Culinary Confession. If you bring a copy of the article with you, this vegetarian restaurant will even give you a discount on your final bill!  So go support this deliciously healthy and Lenten-friendly restaurant, owned and operated by two sisters, and a local parishioner!

The sisters who own and operate One World Café. Executive Chef Susan Novak is a parishioner of St. Thomas Aquinas in Hampden.

In the Book of Daniel, because they didn’t want to break their Jewish dietary restrictions, the prophet Daniel asked the prison guards to give the Jewish servants only vegetables instead of the food from the king’s table. This allowed them to keep within Jewish tradition, but I think they must have also known something parents have always encouraged: eating vegetables is good for you! And sure enough, at the end of their trial period, these “faithful foodies” were much healthier – truly a sign of Godly living.

Now I know that when it comes to going to a vegetarian or vegan restaurant, it can worry some meat lovers. Will I be satisfied? Do they just serve salads and veggies? Admittedly, I also find it difficult to enjoy a “forced upon” diet, especially if it comes with a moralizing, or what some might call “tree-hugging” or “animal-protecting” attitude. I don’t need to feel guilty just because I like steak.

But rest assured, while One World Café certainly caters to veggie lovers, I was very satisfied by the food and comfortable with the casual and friendly service. I was also edified to hear the sisters who own One World were subscribers to the Catholic Review.

The One World atmosphere is eclectic. The front room is a true college-hipster hangout. Bright painted walls give a modern vibe for an area that serves as a bar for alcoholic beverages, coffee, and pastries. Wi-Fi invites the earphone-wearing laptop crowd for homework or hanging out. The main dining room, by contrast, is a bit bare, but clean. Diners were equally eclectic, encompassing seniors, college students, and families with young children. However, street parking and stairs down to the dining room may be inconvenient for some patrons.

The staff was primarily young and bohemian-fashioned with tattoos and piercings, especially the, I have to admit, ominous-looking bartender, who turned out to be very kind and well-mannered. Our waitress was informative and patient with my many food preparation questions.  I sensed no meat-lovers guilt trip. The staff seemed content simply to serve good-tasting food. And, to their credit, the food was quite good.

With a combination of vegetarian and vegan foods (no animal products or dairy), I sampled familiar flavors, including a Philly cheese steak (less), packed with caramelized vegetables and a well-marinated seitan (“wheat meat”) that produced the texture of tender beef. The baked non-chicken parmesan used densely breaded tofu that looked and tasted like layered lasagna, served with a tasty but, in my opinion, unnecessary side of linguine marinara. A Greek-inspired veggie gyro, a tasty variety of vegetables wrapped in pita, was served with a traditional tzatziki sauce. The creamy mushroom soup was hearty and comforting. They even offered vegan desserts that still felt rich and decadent.

The food portions were generous, especially considering the moderate pricing. These dishes, personally created by chef-owner Novak, left me feeling satisfied.  For me, the most creative dish was the Maryland-inspired crab-less cake, made with shredded zucchini. Combining it with traditional binders gave the cake the texture of back fin crabmeat.

My experience of One World Café gave me a new perspective and respect for plant-based menus. Hunger satisfaction and a non-preachy approach to healthy eating makes One World Café a great restaurant for more than vegetarians and Friday meals during Lent.

Culinary Confessions – One World Cafe

• Do you have a favorite meatless recipe?

• How is your Lenten Practice going?

Your comments help encourage us and our movement. Please post your comments here!

Father as we continue this Lenten tradition of abstaining from meat on Friday, help us to hunger for the Body and Blood of Christ.  May this discipline remind us of what we can do without, and how we cannot do without You.  Sustain our Lenten observance and help us to become more the people You want us to be.  We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

My typical “Faithful Foodie Adventures” share great food finds from my travels.  However I want to write about a different kind of “adventure” this week – one that brings challenge and fear instead of excitement and joy.   Besides having no place to call your own, or a comforting place to lay down your head, one of the biggest fears for the population considered “homeless” is the uncertainty of their next meal. While their journey is a difficult one, we can offer them many different points of hope along the way.

One of the guests at Winter Relief was a “walking icon” with many Catholic images on his body. I told him he should be a living saint rather than a billboard for sanctity.  Thank God this “body art” was religious rather than dark, destructive or demonic.

This past week,  Our Lady of the Fields Catholic Church in Millersville and the House of Hope hosted over 60 homeless people in a program called Winter Relief.  For the past nine years, Our Lady of the Fields has provided guests a place to sleep, shower, clean up, eat home cooked (and quite delicious) meals, and most importantly, experience God’s love without a forced, preachy, or judgmental message.

Dave Luddy the current site coordinator, Deacon Ed Stoops the original site coordinator, and Dawne Shroeder-Elmiger the successor for site coordination.

Volunteers at Winter Relief get a sense of holiness talking with the guests that comes from the  Corporal Works of Mercy – especially feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless.  There is an immediate understanding that homelessness has no quick fix or simple solution, but that helping them is as easy as opening your door and caring for them.  Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta gives a saintly example of the positive impact this kind act can have on the world.

Volunteers serve the food but – more importantly – eat with the temporary residents.

To partake in this Faithful Foodie Adventure, you need only help in some way – big or small.   The efforts at Our Lady of the Fields show the world its truly living the Gospel holiness by extending the sacramental life to a tangible act of love in a big way.   However, a famous quote from  Blessed Mother Theresa suggests even small acts make a difference as long as you “do small acts with great love.”

Volunteers at Our Lady of the Fields were from all walks of life, but there was great support from young people who helped shoulder the burdens of the homeless.

 

This was a big year of filming the new episodes of my show on EWTN “Savoring our Faith,” which currently airs every Wednesday at 6:00pm Eastern Time.  On top of the 13 episodes, we filmed 2 extras shows for Christmas and Easter.  In October 2012, we also took the cameras to Rome and filmed 4 special traveling episodes of the show.

Filming at Piazza Navona.

Here’s what we did.  We began each episode on location at a famous site in Rome -a church, park, or piazza.  We discussed the Roman Christian significance while making faith, historical and cultural ties.  At the end of that segment, we visited a nearby eatery for a sampling of the local flavor.  This travel tip could help pilgrims find great dining experiences along their pilgrim way.  It was also a great chance to see the workings of a real Italian kitchen and meet some great chefs!  After sampling the food, we moved our show into the student kitchen at the Pontifical North American College in order to recreate a version of that dish at home.

Me with the Head Chef at Cecilia Metella near the Catacombs of Rome.  He makes the world famous Scrigno Pasta.

The objective was simply to create tangible reminders of your trip to Rome by reminiscing over the flavors of that Roman cuisine!  It’s very Jesus-like.  He says, “Eat and Drink in Memory of Me.”  With these new episodes, we give pilgrims an experience to recreate a meal so that they remember the restaurant, and more importantly their spiritual experiences at the nearby shrines and sites.

At the famous Ristorante Scarpone, with the Head Chef and the Owner.  Pope Benedict frequented this restaurant before he became Pope!

These episodes will air in the next season.  And when they do, I’m sure these shows will provide inspiration, travel tips and food ideas for your own faithful foodie adventure.  For me personally, I will gratefully remember how members of the Italian film crew were “impressed” that I could cook such authentic Italian Flavors. It certainly helped that before I served the food to these naturally born Italian cuisine critics that I prayed “Grace Before Meals!”

Cooking for Msgr. Gallagher, a Secretary of State Vatican Official

On a very sad note, I want to express my condolence to Jenny Stephens and her family who mourn the death of Deacon Joe Stephens.  The Stephens family home is where we film our Savoring our Faith Episodes.  I recently learned that Joe, a permanent deacon, passed away suddenly.  This is a very sad time for their family and our Savoring our Faith Crew. We prayerfully remember this good man, a humble servant, a faithful husband and loving father.  Thank you Deacon Joe for opening your home to us.  May your soul rest in peace and may your family know of God’s consolation and mercy.

In loving memory of Deacon Joe Stephens, and consolation for his lovely wife Jenny and the family.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3RD

26950 Patrick Ave. Hayward, CA 94544 

CONTACT: Jim 510-471-7766 x 22 stayouthministry@sbcglobal.net

• This rally kicks off the beginning of the School Year!  Highschool students from multiple parishes will be able to attend workshops, mass, and a presentation by Fr. Leo.