Happy New Year, friends!
Did you have a wild night last night? I did, but my night started at 3pm and I was in bed by 8:30 p.m. Lucky for me the neighborhood decided to share midnight revelry with me fireworks, noise makers and other things (there may have been a roaring train) so I actually was up when 2012 rolled in. I digress.
Today I thought I’d link you up to a couple of news items of interest, share a delicious meal I had with a very special friend, and wrap up this week’s posts (plus give you a teaser on upcoming posts).
News
I confess, I’m not a big fan of “vegan challenges.” Because I think it implies that it’s really hard to be vegan. I know it’s not. What’s hard is not giving into cravings — and that’s about the person not about the high accessibility of vegan foods. But just when I start feeling all high and mighty I read an article like this: Taking a Vegan Challenge Turned Into a Lifestyle. Okay, I’m fine with vegan challenges because there’s another plant-based eater in the world as a result. Eating (vegan) humble pie.
I’m not a huge Mark Bittman fan (did I just hear collective gasps?). He says a lot of good things about the environmental and health benefits of a vegan diet, then he visits some farm in the Midwest and smugly describes eating a locally sourced “humanely” treated farm animal. I like to think I’m able to see grey in most situations but this simply isn’t one of them. Then Bittman wrote No Meat, No Dairy, No Problem.
Many vegan dishes, however, are already beloved: we eat fruit salad, peanut butter and jelly, beans and rice, eggplant in garlic sauce. The problem faced by many of us — brought up as we were with plates whose center was filled with a piece of an animal — is in imagining less-traditional vegan dishes that are creative, filling, interesting and not especially challenging to either put together or enjoy.
My point here is to make semi-veganism work for you. Once a week, let bean burgers stand in for hamburgers, leave the meat out of your pasta sauce, make a risotto the likes of which you’ve probably never had — and you may just find yourself eating “better.”
Okay, I’m eating another piece of (vegan) humble pie over here. He’s got a huge audience and is influential. Any encouragement of eating more vegan meals (or assuming a vegan diet) is good news.
Lunch with Gena
You all know I love Gena of Choosing Raw. Her blog helped me transition to veganism. Her post on the ethics of veganism in the Vegan 101 series helped me transition to ethical vegan. I finally met her in person in Portland and we became instant friends. Her friendship brings me joy, laughter and our conversations always give me much to consider. This week Gena and I had a lunch date at Pure Food and Wine. It was divine.
Sushi, photo courtesy Gena Hamshaw
Caesar salad, photo courtesy Gena Hamshaw
Gena chose the Make your own Salad + crackers, photo courtesy of Gena Hamshaw
I opted for the portobello mushroom - hemp seed burger, photo courtesy Gena Hamshaw
This lunch rocked! The meal was phenomenal but the time with Gena? Beyond words.
Weekly Round-Up
On this blog:
- TUESDAY: “How do you do it?” (A vegan and an ominvore in the same house) There was a wonderful discussion in the comment section of this post. I hope you check it out (and chime in)!
- THURSDAY: Lazy vacations rock + A Vegan Chorizo & Spinach Scramble recipe
- FRIDAY: Grab those Black-Eyed Peas and rustle up some good luck for 2012 (three recipes!)
- SATURDAY: Tata 2011! It’s been swell!
On Stop Chasing Skinny: A year ends, a new one begins
Coming up this week:
- A cross-post for this blog and Stop Chasing Skinny: The year I didn’t diet.
- On this blog: A bean and grain stew recipe (with no salt!) that is perfect over raw greens.
- On Stop Chasing Skinny: I’ll begin the series of community member posts about NOT dieting in January. Submit YOUR story!
Thanks, as always, for reading! I hope you’re enjoying this first day of the new year!
