A Vegetarian Goes to The State Fair
There's a light at the end of the bacon-filled tunnel for the vegetarian fairgoer
By Shuchi Mehta September 15, 2014
I have been a vegetarian my whole life for cultural and animal rights reasons. I am a food lover as well. This may seem contradictory to some, but I have never felt like I was missing out on anything. And Seattle, out of all the places I have ever lived, is one of the most diverse, herbivore-friendly and easiest places to find not only viable, but absolutely tantalizing meatless options. Stepping out of this vegetarian-loving metropolis, I decided to be spontaneous and do something absolutely crazy last week. I went to a place that is notoriously renowned for its delicious eats on a stick–most of which are non-vegetarian; I went to the Washington State Fair (I mean, isn’t agriculture/horticulture a big part of it?). Yes, for all of you meat lovers, the novelties this year include, but are not limited to: bacon stuffed burgers, waffle-fried bacon, chocolate-covered bacon and don’t forget bacon on a stick (cue the Jaws music).
I thought I’d see if amidst all the porkchops, there was anything with which I could clog my own arteries. Turns out, there were a ton of options. Here are 10 things that were vegetarian-friendly. (Disclaimer: Vegans may have a harder time since eggs and dairy were allowed in my research—deep fried butter anyone?)
1. Roasted corn with butter and spices–one of the few non-fried options.
Photo credit: Shuchi Mehta
2. Fried Veggies—From avocado to zucchini, every vegetable you can think of, deep fried. That’ll make the kids eat their veggies.
Must-eat curly fries and fried zucchini
And more…
Photo credits: Shuchi Mehta
3. Mixed and flavored nuts—Protein for the herbivores! Another semi-healthy option.
Photo credit: Shuchi Mehta
4. Loaded baked potato—I really didn’t think there would be this many non-fried options at the fair! This was so delicious and sort of good-for-you minus the generous heaps of sour cream and cheese I got on mine.
Photo credit: Shuchi Mehta
5. Italian fare at the fair—The age-old triangular slice of cheesy heaven one-upped by a spinach calzone. Both clear palatal winners.
Photo credit: Shuchi Mehta
6. A very veggie sandwich at Marlowe’s—This family-owned sandwich stand at the fair had the sweetest staff. You just tell them what you want, and they’ll customize. This sandwich is something I could lunch on every day.
Photo credit: Shuchi Mehta
7. Mad Greek Gyros—Delicious flatbread, tomatoes, onions, feta cheese and tzatziki sauce on the vegetarian gyro. The menu also included a greek salad. Opa!
Photo credit: Shuchi Mehta
8. Curry Cousin—odd name, but tons of vegetarian Indian options actually listed on the menu!
Photo credits: Shuchi Mehta
10. Sweets and treats, both fried and unfried galore—Too many choices for that sweet tooth in case you’re still hungry for dessert. Here’s just a few that I tried.
From top to bottom, left to right: Elephant Ears: whole wheat dough deep fried with cinnamon sugar; The age-old fair fave, cotton candy; The famous pineapple Dole Whip joins the fair; Apple fries; Deep-fried Snickers—since Snickers bars are so healthy as they are!; A Cow Chip Cookies stand; another fair favorite: candied apples; deep-fried butter…yikes; kettlecorn
Photo credits: zannaland/flickr photo for Dole Whip; Shuchi Mehta for all others