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The Little Jogger

  By an exercise-loving Registered Dietitian

Demera Ethiopian Restaurant

1/4/2013

3 Comments

 
Happy 2013 from Napa, California! I haven't made a New Years resolution in a long time, but this year, I want to blog more. I used to do it every day, and now I do it more like one time per month. It will be hard once I start classes again for the new semester, because my schedule is CRAZY! Regardless, it shouldn't be too hard for me to update recipes, exercises, and fun happenings with friends and family. 
I was supposed to post this below in November when I had dinner with a small group of friends from school at Demera in Chicago, but I failed miserably. As I said before, being a student makes me a much less reliable blogger. Don't let my low-blogging frequency put a damper post, though, because this place was awesome!
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I have heard stories about Ethiopian food, and it never sounded that great to me. I thought it consisted of eating paste with your hands. It seemed more or less fun (if you can handle meals sans silverware), but not delicious. Once I immersed myself into the world of food, culture, and nutrition though, I learned that people I know actually like Ethiopian cuisine. Perhaps I could like it too. 

With some research, I learned that Ethiopian food is not necessarily eating paste with your hands. It usually consists (most popularly) of a flavorful thick stew called wat and bread called injera that you use to mop up the wat. The injera is a thin, iron-rich bread with a spongy consistency that is made from fermented teff flour (source). Don't let the spongy consistency fool you; injera is very filling. 
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The top picture shows assorted types of wat on top of one large piece of injera. I was in charge of ordering, so I made sure to get one large platter that included beef, lamb, chicken, seafood, and plenty of veggie wat options. This met all of our dietary requirements. For a group of five of us, this was plenty. We could not even finish everything.

The next picture shows the injera that they gave us on the side. They are large, rolled up pieces that somehow resemble building insulation to me (but they tasted much better than I think building insulation would taste).

To eat everything together, we ripped off pieces of the injera and used them to pick up pieces of wat on the shared platter. We also used our hands to rip apart the injera underneath the wat. After a while, the bread soaked up all of the flavor and it was delicious. Overall, our group had a lot of fun. We preferred this over ordering individual plates, because the food became the central part of our conversation. It was a great way to bring us together and discuss the food that we were eating. 

If you have any interest in trying Ethiopian food in Chicago, give Demera a try or look at other Ethiopian restaurants around the Edgewater area (near Broadway and Montrose). Along with African food, Edgewater is an outstanding hub for authentic international cuisine. 

I hope that everybody had a wonderful holiday. I'm escaping the crazy cold and wind in Chicago for Napa to spend time with Al before I have to get back to the grind of my 21-hour semester schedule. Happy Friday, everyone!
3 Comments
Megan link
1/6/2013 07:55:08 pm

Good to see you back Jen! I've been popping over here a few times to see if a new post has been put up, I always enjoy reading them. And I'm happy to hear there'll be more posts in 2013! I have been so lazy with blogging lately and I really need to get back into it. I've lost direction lately though, I don't know whether to focus on book stuff or personal /lifestyle topics. Either way, hopefully my spark for it will reignite soon :)

How's married life going? Hope you guys are enjoying Napa!

Megan

P.S. My husband and I are coming to America this year! I'm beyond excited as you can probably imagine!! :)

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Jen link
1/14/2013 08:27:58 am

Megan, I miss your blog so much! I think you can do a mixture of things. Maybe do the main focus on books, but then do other fun/lifestyle posts? I know how it feels to lose direction. I'm not one to talk...but I think that your interest in blogging will come again when you write a new post. You will have to tell me all about your trip to America. We'll have to get back in touch via e-mail!

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Noah link
10/1/2013 05:07:19 pm

First time reading this blog, just wanted to say hi.

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    ABOUT jennifer Martin, MS, RD, LDN

    I am  a Chicago-based Registered Dietitian working primarily in Acute Clinical Care. I started this blog in 2010, before I even knew that I wanted to be an RD! Now, as an active dietitian, this blog will become part of my life again. Read about my current healthy habits, but please peruse my old posts (from 2014 and before) to read about life as an RD student and my previous years in Australia!


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