Vegetarian Eating, Course Syllabus
Discipline: Trailer Food
Upper Division
Spring 2011
Course Description It’s hard to believe, but a new semester has started, and students are sweeping in from across the state like surreptitious swallows (or, if you’re on campus, more likely grackles). This class will focus on the tasty wraps, salads, and smoothies sold at Conscious Cravings, the excellent vegetarian/vegan trailer near campus, at the Longhorn Food Court. Special attention will be placed on the grilled pita bread and the hearty homemade seitan. Course Objectives This course aims to continue Austin’s exploration of vegetarian trailer food, with an emphasis on satiation. Students should expect to taste a wrap or a salad and a smoothie by semester’s end. Required Eating Spicy Chickpea Wrap: This wrap is an in-depth study of garbanzo beans. Simmered in Indian-inspired spices and tomatoes, it complements the grilled pita bread, lettuce, and tomatoes nicely. Hot, snappy, and suggestive of Salman Rushdie’s most controversial work. Chimichurri Seitan Wrap: Meaty seitan is at the heart of this groundbreaking Latin American–influenced tome. Here nuggets are nestled with melty cheese (or vegan daiya cheese), sliced tomatoes, lettuce, and a very light (read: almost nonexistent) chimichurri sauce. Students may be disappinted by the lack of garlicky chimichurri, but the crisp, grilled pita and savory seitan save the day. Strawberry Banana smoothie: The premise of this work is sorbet, fruit juice, banana, strawberries, and flaxseed. Though the sole flavor was overwhelmingly banana-y, smoothies are always a safe bet. Independent Eating Couscous Salad: Scholars have taken note of the tender pasta and light tamari dressing, as well as the plump black olives and sliced onions in this pasta; many have also noted the disappointing iceburg lettuce and razor-thin tomato slices. Several books are forthcoming from Oxford University Press debating these points from a poststructuralist position. Methods of Evaluation This class will take a Marxist approach: Rather than students being graded, you will be the ones doing the grading. Now open those wrappers and get chewing. Participation is worth 100 percent. 1901 Rio Grande (512-782-0546). Open Mon–Sat 11–8. Closed Sun. Photo by Ross Abel from Vegans Rock Austin Posted by Megan Giller
