
My name is Joana Miraflor, and I am a Sodexo Distance dietetic intern in San Diego, California. I completed the first half of my community rotation at Imperial Beach Community Clinic. IBCC is a private, non-profit healthcare organization serving the Southwest region of San Diego. They have a mission to “promote a healthy community with a focus on the underserved.”

Aside from gaining experience with one-on-one counseling, I was able to present at the monthly wellness meeting on a topic that the employees requested to learn more about: meat alternatives. To get the employees excited and involved in the wellness event, they each brought in a meatless dish. We created sampler plates to try each dish and guess which “meat substitution” was used. The most popular among these dishes were the walnut tostadas and jackfruit carnitas! The walnuts were used as the “meat” of the tostada while the jackfruit resembled the mouthfeel of pulled pork. Meatless Mondays don’t have to be difficult! What are some of your favorite meatless dishes?