October 13, 2006 | What I Almost Ate For Lunch (Not That You Care)
I try to bring my lunch for two reasons. One, it's SO much cheaper. Two, it's a bit healthier. In other words, it keeps me from running to the numerous drive-thru possibilities across the street.
Lately, lunch is a salad sans lettuce. I chop up a combination of veggies, add some beans, add a few nuts, top with my dressing of choice, and voila! Lunch. Today, was a black bean, red bell pepper, red onion, tomato, and corn combination.
So I was sitting here, at my desk, taking bites of salad inbetween e-mails and such. At one point, I just happened to look down, and notice something sort of black on a piece of tomato. I figured it must be a piece of one of the black beans. Despite the fact that my brain has already come up with an explanation for this foreign object embedded in a piece of tomato, I decide to prod the tomato with my fork to check. I didn't NEED to do this. It had already figured out what it was! I could have continued eating my salad and been none the wiser.
Sometimes the hands not listening to the brain is a blessing in disguise, because it turned out that this thing was SO not a piece of black bean. It was a worm. A very tiny, kind of dark around the edges but light in the middle, worm. It definitely LOOKED like part of a black bean. Especially when wedged in half of a small cherry tomato. I'm actually a bit surprised that I didn't totally freak out. I calmly stood up, walked over to the kitchen, and dumped the rest of my salad in the trash. I then checked for dollar bills in my wallet, because I'll probably need a snack from the vending machine later.
This small incident is not going to keep me from making my lunch, but I'll probably be doing a much closer inspection on the tomatoes I put in my salads. Assuming that the worm originated from the tomato. If it didn't, then who knows where the little bugger came from! Running across the street for lunch isn't looking so bad anymore...
I don't know... I think finding a worm in your salad is still better than finding a hair or a Band-Aid in your burger. Stay away from the drive-thrus.
I had a similar experience this weekend while eating sunflower seeds. :( Except, in my case, the worm actually went in my mouth! Luckily, I noticed the weird taste on my tounge before I bit into it! Yuck!!
Ew! I think if I had found a slug, I probably would not have held it together.
I made today's lunch last night, and did a VERY thorough investigation of the tomatoes. I'd prefer that this wormy incident not repeat itself.
This is so funny... I was about to blog about a very similar experience that happened a few days ago. We were going to have soup & salad for dinner, so I whipped out the lettuce and proceeded to tear it up into smaller bits and wash it. I gave it a good & thorough washing, even moreso than usual because I noticed little black spots in it. They definitely weren't bugs, so I figured maybe it was just a bit of soil that had gotten into the outer leaves, as I had picked up the lettuce from a local super-hippie grocery. After the washing, I set the lettuce aside for a minute. I turned back to it, and LO AND BEHOLD there is a SLUG crawling on top of it!!! I don't know how that thing avoided me tearing all the leaves into little bits, much less watching each leaf, but there it was! I was SO glad we hadn't already started eating... UGH! I sent the rest of the lettuce down the disposal and took the little sluggy outside to a grassy area. Yuck.
ugh! that made my stomach hurt. a few years ago i went to fazoli's to get a salad and be healthy. the next thing i knew, i saw a huge ant marching around in my salad. :( now i still try to be healthy but ewww, did not need that.
I wonder how many creepy-crawlies we've unknowingly eaten in our quest to eat healthy?
While reading your post I kept thinking what I would have done in the same situation. I think I would have just chucked the offending tomato and continued to eat my lunch - my hatred of vending machine options is that strong.
I've totally been in a cupcake making mood lately too. I want to make some right now.
Hero (my partner) once had a piece of lettuce with a bug (like 20 years ago) and now he systematically checks _every_single_piece. Don't even get me started on the broccoli!!
The title of your post got a LOL from me. ;)