But the initial thrill eventually waned. The negative comments, that simply come with the territory of writing for a website like Chicagoist, began to seep under my skin.  Even worse, I allowed the comments (or fear of them) to control my writing.  No longer did I feel the freedom to write candidly, but instead determined to write safe and tidy, and often boring, posts in order to avoid stirring the pot.

Which brings me back to Kombucha. What used to be just an effervescent beverage I enjoying sipping once in a while, Kombucha now conjures anxiety in me.  A couple months ago I innocently wrote a post for Chicagoist about the potential health benefits and harms of drinking Kombucha tea. At least I thought it was innocent, until I was met with a slightly vicious personal attack by a few readers.  Some examples of the reader’s comments to my Kombucha post include…

“Seriously, Chicagoist, this is the second posting by this author that’s pushing pseudo-science. Does the internet need more quackery? Really, there’s enough BS out there”

“I’d prefer if Chicagoist didn’t turn into the next HuffPo were any quack with a book or product to sell gets their own blog indistinguishable from the rest of the content on the site.”

“Now, I’ll point out that I’ve defended some of Megan’s pieces in that past, but on this you’ll have to put me with the earlier skeptics. This is hokum and a bad use of Chicagoist space.”

You’d think I had gone and written about a topic of grave importance.  Nope, just a drink. The comments were no doubt laughable at times, but also hurtful.  And while my distaste of writing for an online blog has been building, the Kombucha incident tipped me over the edge. I was done. I deeply missed writing casually, about anything my heart desires, for my own little blog, Tempted.  I was fed up getting emails at work notifying me that a Chicagoist reader had left a comment about my post. Those messages were a real buzz kill in an otherwise happy day. And coincidentally, right around that time, my life suddenly pointed to planning my wedding and a cross-country move to Colorado…thus a reason to quit Chicagoist.  Phew. It was an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything, not in a million years! But 10 months was plenty of time to enjoy the glory of being a Chicagoist staffer.  I learned a lot from my gig as their “health and nutrition” correspondent. And now I know what I DON’T want to do again.

-Megan

p.s. Nessalla kombucha is soooo fanastic.

Many of us have turned up our nose at “healthy comfort food”, dismissing it as an oxymoron.  Myself included. Until I discovered this meal from my most-frequently-used cookbook, Veganomicon.  These “Snobby Joes” are made with lentils and veggies and, with a little tomato paste, seasonings and fluffy white buns, taste remarkably like their beefy ancestor.  Eating these brought me back to summertime visits to grandma’s house as a kid, when I would enjoy meals made of nothing but pretzel rods dipped in A&W Root Beer.  We paired our sandwiches with a dairy-free version of macaroni and “cheese” that is rich, creamy, and incredibly satisfying. All around, this was heart-warming comfort food that didn’t leave us missing a thing. Check out this meal in the making below (and to exit the photos, simply click right on the photo).

Nutritionists Plea to KFC: http://bit.ly/bPDMlY

Here’s the post from Chicagoist:

Fondly known as “wheat meat”, seitan (pronounced say-TAHN) is made from wheat gluten, the protein portion of a wheat kernel. Containing about 30 grams in a 3 ounce portion, it’s nearly pure protein. The same amount of tuna, pork, or sirloin steak each contains roughly 25 grams of protein. Keep that in mind next time mom gets worried that your vegetarian food doesn’t give you enough protein. Seitan is a healthy, cholesterol and saturated fat-free, addition to stir fries, sandwich wraps, salads, soups and any dish in need of some meaty texture.

Ingredients

1 cup vital wheat gluten flour (available at Whole Foods and most natural food stores)
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
½ cup cold vegetable broth
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed or grated on a microplane grater

Broth:

8 cups cold water plus 3 vegetable bouillon cubes, or 4 cups broth plus 4 cups water
¼ cup soy sauce

To prepare: Mix together the gluten flour and yeast in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix together the veggie broth, soy sauce, olive oil and garlic. Pour the wet into the dry and stir with a wooden spoon until most of the moisture is absorbed. Use your hands to knead the mixture for a few minutes; until the dough is elastic (this happens pretty quickly!). Divide with a knife into three equal pieces and then give those pieces a good knead to stretch them out a bit.

Prepare the broth:
Fill a stockpot with water, bouillon cubes, and soy sauce, and add the wheat gluten pieces. Cover and bring to a boil. Try to catch it just as soon as it boils and then lower the heat as low as it will go so that becomes a low simmer. Partially cover the pot so that steam can escape and let simmer for an hour, turning the seitan occasionally.

Turn off the heat and remove the lid, then let sit for 15 minutes. Remove the seitan from the broth and place in a strainer until cool enough to handle. It is now ready to be used. Our preferred method of cooking seitan is to slice it, dredge in flour, lightly pan-fry it in olive oil, season with salt and pepper and serve atop steamed vegetables. “Fried” seitan is also absolutely made for kids who love chicken nuggets (therefore all kids).