The variety of a vegan diet
The interesting thing about the vegan diet is that if you let it, it can be FULL of variety. I feel like I actually eat a larger variety of food now than I did when I was a vegetarian, or even a meat-eater. This happens because you begin to look to different sources for the nutrients you need. You begin to try new things, and it develops a curiosity about food that keeps you exploring.
I have to admit though, it didn’t start out like this. I did my research, and I started a vegan diet on June 15th, but it took awhile to figure it all out. I’m still figuring it all out. In the beginning, it was really Steven who was pushing me to eat cups of spinach a day (only a slight exaggeration) and multiple servings of beans, among other things. Damn, can’t I just eat oreos, swedish fish, and wafers (all vegan)?
Now, I am really starting to get into researching vegan recipes (I have my eye on The Kind Diet and The Conscious Cook). I am really enjoying trying new things.
But here’s the problem – I am afraid of cooking. I love to research the recipes, but bringing them to life? That’s something I usually expect Steven to do. Which is NOT FAIR (even though he usually loves to cook).
A few Sundays ago, I really wanted to try a recipe from the vegan cookbook that Gina got me for my birthday – Vegan Italiano. I read through all of the pasta recipes, and found one that sounded appetizing and didn’t call for any ingredients that we didn’t have. Then, I showed it to Steven, expecting him to be excited to cook it and… he wasn’t! He was in the middle of working on something when dinner time came around, and he was worn out.
So I tepidly made my way into the kitchen, read the recipe about 6,000 times, and put all of the ingredients out on the counter. Oh no! I told Steven the recipe called for 6-8 garlic cloves and we only had two. He politely informed me that we had two garlic bulbs, not cloves. Ha! That would have been one garlic-y dish and I would have used those two “cloves.”
I made the dish, with minimal supervision, and it turned out really good! I was so pleased with myself. It encouraged me to think that I might actually be able to cook things on my own some day! I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to put a dish together without a recipe, like Steven, but there’s hope…
I forget the name of the dish, but it was a garlic-broccoli sauce! Edited to add: the breaded stuff is Boca Chik’n! Yummy!
I think that as a vegan, it is important for me to learn how to cook, so that I can take care of myself (duh), but also so that I can share these wonderful recipes with family and friends… and hopefully help them realize that vegan food is not “gross” or “weird.”
Themocracy
Wow that looks so yummy!!
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I love your approach to being a vegan. It’s not that you expect everyone else to jump on the bandwagon, but you do expect people to be accepting of your decision. And what better way than to produce amazing meals. That pasta looks scrumptious!
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That looks so yummy! I think people do tend to think “vegan food” is all like crazy hippie food or something. That is something I ran into a lot when I was researching for my son to make sure he got enough vitamins and protein and all. People would say “well what do you feed him them?” I would answer that I fed him normal food just without animal products but no one seemed to believe how easy it was to follow that with just a few minor changes in most recipes. It’s just food. I love your attitude about it all and I love that you are going to try to cook for others to show them just how delicious and normal it can be.
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Hey, congratulations on what looks like a successful vegan dish! The bulb-clove thing cracked me up.
You are welcome to test some of your vegan experiments on me. I’m one of those people who thinks a lot of vegan food looks/tastes like crap, but I am more than willing to be convinced otherwise! 🙂
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Hooray! I always tell people cooking is just a matter of practice. I’m not at the level of Steven–inventing cool recipes and whatnot–but I can play with a recipe pretty well. 🙂
I am also laughing because Stephanie made the same mistake once about the clove vs. bulb of garlic, so you are not alone!
I have trouble following recipes because they always seem too vague for me. Plus, I really like going out to eat. What would really be nice would be to have someone come cook dinner at our house, but it seems likely that it would be more expensive than eating out.
I admit to avoiding vegetarian or vegan food most of the time, but that dish looks pretty tasty. What’s the breaded part?
.-= Author’s last blog post… Avitaween =-.
That looks really yummy! I think it’s important to have variety in any diet, especially when you’re trying to get healthier or lose weight.
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That dish looks delicious! I think the best part of all this is that you are challenging yourself and learning so much along the way. I’m glad you were brave enough to try the recipe and I hope you will have fun trying many, many more. Not all will be to your liking, but you never know until you try. 🙂
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ooh, that looks delicious…!! is that breaded tofu..?
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Congrats on approaching the cooking implements! Don’t be afraid to make stuff for fear it will turn out badly. I’ve made quite a few bad recipes in my life. It’s just like doing anything else: the more you do it the better you’ll get. At least now we have we have things like Google to consult when we’re not sure what something is.
.-= Author’s last blog post… Who knew I’d miss you? =-.
I often think I could be a vegetarian, but I know I couldn’t be a vegan — cheese is simply too important to me 🙂 So I give you a lot of credit for trying it out…I’m sure it’s difficult to do all the research.
As for cooking, I too have some trepidation. I’ve gotten over it the past couple years (living alone will do that to a girl!) but when I see a recipe with a ton of ingredients, I tend to head for the hills.
Way to go! I’m the designated cook in my family and I find it a huge relief when my husband takes the initiative if I’m busy or coming home late. I’m sure your guy was happy to have the break.
I cook with and without recipes, but going it alone definitely requires courage and experience — sometimes things come out great and sometimes they’re awful. Usually even when I’m improvising, I start from a recipe and just tweak it a little so that things have a better chance of coming out OK.
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That looks super yummy! I was just reading about Alicia Silverstone’s new book, The Kind Diet, in the latest issue of Women’s Health. There’s a recipe in there for vegan Reese’s Peanut Butter cups – Yummy!!!
I’m a biiiig fan of garlic and might be said to overuse it, but even I wonder how things would have worked out if you *had* had more than enough bulbs! yikes! No fear of Dracula paying y’all a visit for days! 😀
Congrats on the whole cooking experience! When I highlight my Foody Friday posts, it partly serves as a pat on the back for me, to encourage me to continue experimenting in the kitchen. A lot of what is produced I’m not sure if I’d ever serve to guests tho, but hey, Kosh is more than happy to consume all that’s been produced so far, yay! His only complaint was my eggplant experiments, because it turns out he’s not a fan of eggplant.
Keep on keeping on in the kitchen, it’s not that bad in there 🙂
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Wow that plate looks fabulous! 🙂
You know what’s interesting…the very first time I heard of veganism, it was when my friend became vegan our sophomore year in high school. I am not going to lie – I thought it was strange, at first! I think I didn’t understand the concept fully, and I was young and stupid. 🙂
What’s interesting to me now, though, is how many things I eat (and love!) that ARE vegan. I think people just don’t realize that good food is good food.
I’m with you on the cooking – I could never, ever “throw” a recipe together! Sigh. Maybe one day…but until then, at least we can both follow recipes well!
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That is one amazing looking vegan dinner! Great job!
.-= Author’s last blog post… Did You Miss Me? =-.
YUM!
I have just recently started to venture more into the kitchen, not for vegan’ness, but for healthier alternatives…and cooking can be very fun and rewarding! So, yay, to you!
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Lol at the garlic:) I’m totally dependent on recipes and there’s nothing wrong with that. It takes some practice to get over the intimidation factor with new recipes but after a while they all start to seem easier. Good Luck!
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