Local Flavor: Life Through the Folklife Fest

THE SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL kicks off Wednesday and lasts until July 6, and a foodie can't help but be excited by nibbles inspired by Texas and Bhutan.

They say everything's bigger in the Lone Star State, and based on the menu for the Texas-theme portion of the festival, we can see why. Most of the food offerings — barbecue, Tex-Mex and Vietnamese (Texas has a large Vietnamese-American population) — earn abysmal ratings from Mary Dickie, a D.C.-based registered dietician and licensed nutritionist. Dickie is particularly unimpressed with the Tex-Mex eats, provided by La Mexicana Bakery in Manassas: steak fajitas, cheese quesadillas and taquitos. "They're all a disaster," she says. Skipping sour cream and cheese with the fajita would be "the best that you can do," Dickie says.

Next up: barbecue, provided by Capital Q (707 H St. NW). Pork ribs and beef brisket are on the menu; both will be served with coleslaw, beans and white bread. "The coleslaw's not so bad," Dickie says, but otherwise, the meats "are things you should eat now and then, like on your birthday, or if you travel to Texas once a year." We won't even get into white bread. Strike two.

What about the Vietnamese food? Springfield's Asian Grille will be serving a dish called Bun Dan Bong Gai: stir-fried tofu and steamed broccoli served over vermicelli. "There's your happy choice!" Dickie says. The nutrient-rich broccoli and low-fat, high-protein tofu are far healthier than most of the other Texas dishes, Dickie says.

Check back next week for Bhutan's best eats.