Interview with a New Vegan, Part Two

A few months after I started my job, my mom and sister came to visit me and take me out to lunch. I introduced them to my colleagues, including our part-time admin, Carrie. My sister was immediately taken with Carrie: her music festival wristbands worn as accessories, her dark, square glasses, her enthusiasm for all things arboreal. Since that first meeting, Carrie has become part of my family. We spend so much time together, we've started ordering the same coffee in the morning: an almond milk latte with one raw sugar. We stand side-by-side at the condiment bar, finish our drinks with cinnamon and chocolate, and share one wooden stir stick like an old married couple. She and my sister send each other silly snapchats and like each other's posts on Instagram. She even came to my mom's book club's Christmas party this year. Carrie is one of the most adventurous, open-minded, positive people I know, so when I started discussing the vegan challenge, she was immediately intrigued, and all in. Carrie and Christian came to veganism from very different places, so I was excited to hear how different their experiences would be.

Carrie.

Dinner Peace: How are you feeling?

Carrie: I feel great! The first 2 weeks were rough, but I was PMSing. I was so exhausted and I thought, “Is this what it’s going to be like?” But, there were a lot of variables. Now that’s behind me, I feel clean, more energetic, really good. I feel much more motivated to take care of myself. The more I eat vegan the more motivated I am to be active and exercise, to be healthy.

DP: What made you decide to try being vegan?

C: When I first became a vegetarian, I thought I would just try it and see what happens, and now I love it and it’s great. I wanted to try being vegan to see what that would be like. The timing was perfect with the holiday madness - overindulging. I wanted a way to cleanse my body.  It seems silly, but it’s a new year, so why not try new things. I like how it’s made me focus on what is in the food that I eat. Reading all the ingredients, I’m more conscious of what I’m putting in my body. I’ve been really involved with the organic garden at [Berkeley], and this makes me feel more connected to the food that I eat. When I look back at the past few months, I realize that I would sometimes go a whole day without eating vegetables. This is really motivating me to pay attention to what I eat.

DP: How is it living with someone who’s not vegan?

C: Overall, its really great! Patrick does most of cooking, and I was worried about keeping him from stuff, but he’s so supportive. We buy all vegan food, go shopping together, and cook stuff. We’ve been doing a lot of stir fry stuff at home; it’s amazing, but I’m sick of rice. Basil, spinach, brussels sprouts, bell peppers, onions, garlic, pea sprouts. I’ll make a salad, Patrick will make a stir fry and he loves sauces, so he makes a spiffy sauce, and I’ll make a delicious spinach basil salad. It’s delicious, amazing, healthy, and I can’t believe it all happens in one dish. I want to find the time to experiment with vegan cooking. I didn’t cook a lot until recently, so I want to challenge myself to cook vegan at least once a week when this is over.

DP: Mark Bittman, the NY Times Magazine’s food columnist, eats vegan until 7:00 pm. Maybe something like that would work for you.

C: I love brunch, but I have to force myself to eat breakfast. By the time I get hungry, I am too into work to eat anything. Dinner is where I splurge, it’s my favorite, so something like that could work well for me.

DP: Do you feel like being vegan has changed your social life in any way?

C: There have been a couple times when we would go out. We went to brunch, and there was nothing on the menu that was vegan.

DP: Yes! Brunch is the worst. You can get fruit and toast for $12, and you think, “I could’ve just made that at home.”

C: Exactly! So, I went to the lunch menu, and they had a veggie burger, so I decided to get that. But then Patrick pointed out that it might have egg in it, and I was so hungry and annoyed - I got so mad at him I had to leave. Or, every time we go to Homeroom, it sucks to only have one option, even if it is a really good option. And I love pizza - vegan pizza just doesn’t really interest me. I have a really intense relationship with cheese.

DP: When I was younger, my mom and I used to go to this art house movie theater across the street from a French restaurant. We would see all the Oscar nominated stuff, and the films you couldn’t get at the regular theaters, and then we’d get dinner: soupe à l’oignon, coq au vin, moules frîtes. When we became vegan, there was absolutely nothing we could eat, so we stopped going. It’s still something I miss, and there’s an element of mourning the food you used to have.

C: Before I became vegetarian, I always said, “Oh, I could never do that. I like meat too much.” Now, the thought of eating meat is disgusting, so I don’t know. It’s interesting watching your body go through the struggle of not getting what it’s always had.

DP: How have people responded to you as a vegan?

C: People think it’s ridiculous, “I can’t believe you would do that. You love cheese so much!” But overall, people have been pretty supportive. You just have to constantly remind people of it. I had my cousin over for dinner. We went to the store, and he kept suggesting stuff, but I had to tell him I’m vegan over and over. People kind of don’t get it.

DP: What have you gotten out of this challenge?

C: It has helped me focus on being healthy. Kickstarting a healthier diet, specifically incorporating fruits and vegetables into my life. I’m planning my meals, and I want to be more conscious of when and how I eat dairy. On our road trip, we were visiting Patrick’s friend in Colorado, and he made carrot and kale juice. The flavor is really strong, but it’s good. It’s take a little while, but your body starts to recognize it’s good - waking up your taste buds. We consume things so mindlessly, you don’t have to try to taste dairy and meat, but vegetables are so good. I just want to focus on that.

Interview with a New Vegan

About a year ago, one of my colleagues took a new job, and we had an opening in our office. That position was filled by my, now, friend Christian. From the moment we met, I knew I wanted to be best friends. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of music, a laugh I can pick out in any crowd, and a razor sharp wit. One of the things I appreciate the most about Christian is his genuine openness to having his mind changed. In the time that we’ve known each other, we have had numerous conversations about my diet, and the overwhelmingly positive impact it has on my life. He always listens to my point of view, asks tons of questions, and continues to ponder our discussion days later. To my delight, Christian recently decided to shift his diet toward vegetarianism, and agreed to try being vegan for 3 weeks in January. We sat down over lunch, so I could find out how things were going so far.

Christian.

Dinner Peace: Why were you interested in trying out veganism?

Christian: A multitude of reasons. I’ve become incapable of rationalizing the ethics involved with meat and dairy farming. I’m keenly interested in improving my health, specifically my muscle to fat tissue composition, so vanity. I’m intrigued by a diet that would stave off my genetic predisposition for high blood pressure. And, simply, your individual passion for it is contagious. I knew all this shit beforehand, but I just didn’t care. Beyond that, all the other vegans I’d met annoyed me.

DP: I’m flattered! Why now?

C: Just the confluence of various factors coming together at once. I had become more open-minded to lifestyles I did not already ascribe; I had hit a wall in terms of fitness goals; I’m getting older, and taking care of myself is only going to get more difficult; and I just can’t rationalize it anymore. Honestly, looking at [my tattoo of] Ferdinand [the bull] sniffing flowers, looking at this happy bull feels shitty to then go out and eat it.

DP: What were you nervous about beforehand?

C: Exactly what my friend Kyle went through - not knowing what to eat, so just eating a bunch of hash browns. I don’t embark upon adventures without investigating them first, and being successful on the first shot. I still don’t know how to execute this in a long-term way. But, I work really well with rules and guidelines, so the mental fortitude part of this has not been difficult.

DP: What are you enjoying so far?

C: Vegetables taste better. One week in, I had carrots, cucumbers, black olives, celery, and radish with hummus. I knew I liked hummus, but I was ambivalent or against all of the produce. And now I like all of them! Celery tastes like celery, not wet, crispy dirt. Carrots are sweet as opposed to a nondescript orange mass. Cucumbers aren't just for making water more fancy! Black olives were always really low-quality, squishy and gross. Now it all tastes good. I feel energized and positive. I miss cheese, but that’s a pretty silly reason to not push through.

DP: What are your expectations for the end of the 21 days?

C: Honestly nothing. I mean, I expect to be roughly the same weight. I expect to feel a little more energized. I’m trying not to think about this ending. I expect to continue beyond the end of 21 days because I know the results I want will take ages.

DP: What are the results you want?

C: There’s a saying: “A six pack is made in the kitchen, not in the gym.” Food is the one spot in my life where I had absolutely no discipline. The rules inherent to being a vegan impose a certain discipline.

DP: They can, but they don’t have to. My downfall is how amazing vegan desserts are. I have to be very mindful of how much sugar I’m eating, and really trying to tilt the majority of my food toward vegetables and whole grains.

C: Fortunately, I’m not that interested in sweets. I do need to introduce the whole foods side to being vegan. My goal is to have 120/80 blood pressure, which no one in my family has. But I am at least winning that race.

DP: What sort of reactions have you gotten to becoming vegan?

C: A lot of interest, love, and support. The people I would have assumed to be on the opposite side of those have just stayed quiet. My uncle makes jokes, but not unkind either towards vegans or me, just jokes on the topic.

DP: For example?

C: My uncle is going to host me when I go to San Diego in February, and he said, “We’ll leave the light on for you, but we won’t leave the steak on the counter.” My cousin’s wife is trying it now that she can point to me and say that someone else in the family did it first. That was necessary to garner the support of her husband because he doesn’t see the point. He’s happy to support his wife, but the first domino has fallen, so it’s easier now. His little brother bought a vegan cookbook, and shared it with my sister, and they’re working together to start with a vegan day each week, and start eliminating red meat in their diet.

DP: How has this impacted you socially?

C: It’s culturally treated like a burden. You know your limitations, and your limitations are not someone else’s concerns, but once you say you’re vegan, people’s reactions are initially selfish. “Ugh, you’re vegan. That’s going to be so hard.” If they actually thought about it, they would realize there are vegan options everywhere, and move on. They tend to push the responsibility onto you. You’re going to be the complicated one, so I bequeath to you this complication. But, I don’t really care, because if I get to pick, I’m going to be selfish and pick something awesome for me. I would still prefer it to be collaborative though.

DP: Has anything come up that you would decline now that you’re vegan?

C: No, not really. If I were invited to a wine and cheese party, I would just drink wine. If I were invited to a rodeo, I would’ve said no to that anyway. If I were invited to a chili cook-off, I would bring some badass vegan chili. What’s available to me has not changed, just how I enjoy it.

The Non-Fanatic Vegan

So, apparently half the United States has turned into the Land of Ice and Snow, yet here in California we are still waiting for winter to arrive. Our version of winter anyway. Because it hasn't started to rain, and my sister is trying to finish her fifty hours of driving before she can get her license, we decided to schlep down to Carmel. Carmel is one of my favorite places to visit; it combines the charm of a small town with easy access to the beach. We split our time among kitschy stores devoted to Jane Austen paraphernalia, the Pilgrim’s Way Bookstore and Secret Garden, and the beach.

Carmel was my mom’s birthday request two years ago, and it was our first visit since becoming vegan. I researched several restaurants before we left, but nothing had really jumped out at me. After perusing the vegan offerings at a few restaurants, I was feeling underwhelmed. That’s when we found La Bicyclette. Setting aside my sister’s and my ardent francophilia, this restaurant is one of my absolute favorites. Wood fired breads and pizzas, risotto, and tiny bottles of sparkling wine. Snug tables in front of huge windows, equally perfect for people watching and salt air breezes. We settled in for a delicious lunch of pizza with fava bean purée and spring onions, and a risotto I can’t remember in detail, only in rapture. Every time someone tells me that they’re going to Carmel, I insist that they eat at La Bicyclette. Yes, I can be a little bossy.

On our trip last week, it’s safe to say that we were more excited about this restaurant than anything else. I’ve been to more than a few beaches in the last two years, but there’s only one La Bicyclette. This time, we started with the assorted wood fired breads and olive oil, and shared two pizzas: the Local Champignon with portabella, cremini, and oyster mushrooms on a caramelized onion purée, and the Margherita with oven dried cherry tomatoes and basil. We requested no cheese on both pizzas, and they were totally accommodating.

No, I don’t know what was in the onion purée, and yes, there may have been milk or butter in the bread. But, this is what I mean when I call myself a “non-fanatic vegan.” I do my best. I don’t want to miss out on the experience that is La Bicyclette because they don’t explicitly say vegan on their menu. I also don’t want to have a 10 minute conversation with the waitstaff only to find out that they sauté their mushrooms in butter, and the only thing I can order is the salad with no meat and no cheese - so, basically a pile of lettuce. My home is vegan. The food I serve my family and friends is vegan. The recipes I share on my blog are vegan. But sometimes, when I go out, I’m an almost-vegan.

Rabbit, Rabbit

Happy New Year! I am giddysome at the tabula rasa of 2014, and the prospect of a new year of delicious food. My New Year’s resolution involves all of you, specifically posting to my blog regularly again, and exploring new flavors and foods.

In addition to kissing and Auld Lang Syne, there are a lot of food traditions to celebrate New Year’s Day. In Spain, they believe eating 12 grapes as the clock strikes midnight will bring you luck in the coming year. Turkish tradition centers on pomegranates: their bright red color is reminiscent of the heart, and the plethora of seeds denotes abundance. Southerners prepare a pot of black eyed peas, and Italians mangiano lentils; these legumes resemble coins, and the way they double in size indicates wealth in the new year. Long, unbroken noodles are symbolic of a long life in Chinese tradition, and the challenge is to eat the whole noodle in one slurp. Clementines and other round foods represent the end of one year and the beginning of the next.

Yes, there are New Year’s food traditions that involve meat, but it feels like the ultimate symbolism to start your year with fresh vegetables, whole grains, and hearty legumes. These are the foods of life. These are the foods that make you feel light, energetic, and strong. I’ll be starting this new year surrounded by the people I love most, cooking a delicious meal, and reveling in the pleasure of a plant-based life. Wishing a happy, healthy New Year to all of you!

I'm a Bad Vegan, or My Visit to Farm Sanctuary

A few weeks ago, my family and I spent a day at the farm - Farm Sanctuary to be more specific. This is something of a rite of passage for a new vegan. Practically every vegan book, blog, or website I’ve read is plastered with images of the author curled up with cows, draped over pigs, and nuzzling goats. I was starting to feel like a vegan deadbeat, and not for the obvious reason that I haven’t posted in, ahem, months. So, when my sister spotted a Vegan Thanksgiving Feast at the Orland Farm Sanctuary, we put on the closest thing we have to outdoor-wear and headed north.

Upon arrival, we were treated to vegan donuts, coffee and tea, while Tara Oresick, the Shelter Director gave an all too brief presentation on a handful of that year’s rescued animals. I found this to be the most successful presentation of the day, with Oresick truly giving a voice (and a name and a history) to those who can’t speak for themselves. I could feel myself connecting to the aforementioned cows, pigs, and goats as she described the circumstances that brought them here. Could there be anything more endearing than a goat named Scribbles? Or, a chicken and a rooster who have improbably found love? Maybe for some people.

I have a confession to make: I’m a vegan who doesn’t like animals. As I’ve already expressed here, I did not become vegan because of my love for animals, or a horrified epiphany that chicken is chicken. I became and stay vegan because I don’t want to contribute to our dysfunctional agriculture system and its MO of cruelty, because it is the single most effective thing you can do to impede global warming, because it vastly decreases my risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, and because my skinny jeans are three sizes smaller. But, I still feel like a fraud because I don’t fawn over creatures that used to be my food. Becoming vegan hasn’t changed the fact that I find them smelly, boring, and interchangeable. Perhaps if I spent more time with them, I would come to discern the feisty hen from the flock, but after 20 minutes of awkwardly patting various animals on the head, I was good.

This is not a popular sentiment among vegans, and one that will surely earn me the title of “Bad Vegan” from some of my plant-based comrades.  But, I don’t think this is true. Veganism cannot be an exclusive club; it has to welcome everybody. We don’t want our beliefs to be rare and exotic (well, maybe just a little), but pervasive. And if we’re going to achieve ubiquity, we have to dismantle these definitions of what it means to be a “real” vegan. There are lots of reasons why people adopt a vegan diet: it sounds like a cool thing to do in college, or you want to do something challenging for Lent, or 17 years after Clueless you’re still trying to emulate Alicia Silverstone, or you really love animals. The end result is the same, so why does it matter how you got there?  Deifying those who became vegan for the “right” reasons alienates those who stumbled upon it. Some people smirk when I tell them that I became vegan on a whim, but there might be one person who connects to my unconventional path. And that’s one person more than before. 

A Vegan Epiphany

Hello, again, dear readers, and Happy New Year! To celebrate the occasion, I want to renew my vow of total degustatory honesty, and share the tale of my recent vegan epiphany.

I’ve been vegan for a year and a half now, and it has been the most rewarding decision I’ve ever made. That doesn’t mean, though, that I never wax nostalgic about my former eating life. For me, that longing tends to converge on one food, lasagna. Lasagna is the food my great-grandmother prepared and lovingly packaged into individual servings for my mom when she was pregnant with me. Lasagna is the food I requested for special occasions as a kid. Lasagna is the first dish I made all by myself in my own kitchen in college. And lasagna is the food I most frequently sought out and delighted in during my year in Italy.  So, over these past eighteen months, lasagna has been the food that calls to me most deeply.

After discussing this with my mom, she suggested that I eat lasagna and see how it tasted. She had had a similar experience with cheese pizza six months after she became vegan. She was convinced that the lasagna would not live up to my taste memory. I wasn’t so sure.

On Friday night, I decided to go to my favorite Italian restaurant, and order the layers of pasta, bolognese, and béchamel that I’d been lusting after. My feelings were all over the place. I was excited about eating my favorite food after so long, but I also felt guilty about falling off the vegan wagon. The lasagna arrived and it looked so...dead. It was brown and beige and messy. In contrast, my sister’s capellini pomodoro was a bright, fiery red accented with fresh basil. But, still, I didn’t love lasagna for its looks; it’s what’s on the inside that really counts. And I was still convinced that my first bite would be accompanied by an angelic choir.

The lasagna of my dreams...?

It wasn’t. It tasted like nothing. It was quite possibly the blandest thing I’ve ever eaten. I couldn’t even taste the tomatoes and garlic and fresh herbs; they had been muted by a blanket of meat and cheese. I tasted my sister’s pasta, wondering if it, too, was missing that pop of flavor I had been looking for. It tasted amazing, tangy from the tomatoes and garlic, fresh and alive from the whole basil leaves. I went back to my lasagna, sure that it had been too hot, that I'd burned my tongue. Again, it tasted like nothing. I went back for a few more bites, and I was consistently underwhelmed. In the end, the lasagna got pushed to the edge of the table, and I ordered another plate of capellini pomodoro.

Before I licked the plate clean.

Since then, I’ve encountered other foods that look and smell delicious, but now I know, they don’t taste like anything. After my experiment, I feel reassured in my veganism, even more convinced that this lifestyle is far more about gain than about restriction. This shift in my tastes has not been immediate, but it is extraordinary, and I can only hope it gets better with time.

Vegan in Rochester, Emphasis on the "Non-Fanatic," IV

Sunday was truncated by our return flight home, but we had just enough time for a last breakfast at the Holiday Inn and lunch with my grandmother. Since my aunt will surely be terrifying her palate with flavors she can’t even pronounce, we decided to do my grandmother a mitzvah and take her to the Cheesecake Factory. Although you wouldn’t guess it, there are several vegan friendly options on that 18th century novel of a menu! We started with the lettuce wraps with mushrooms instead of chicken. Stuffed with shredded carrots, curried noodles, and three sauces, it was literally finger-lickin’ good. The main course was a Thai Peanut Linguine which was actually my favorite dish on the menu even before I became vegan. Happily stuffed and ready for home, we said goodbye to Rochester, pleasantly surprised but not too eager to return. My grandmother even sent us with a parting gift, her specialty: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 

Peanut butter & jelly on a paper plate and a placemat, the way my grandmother would serve it.

The point of all this, besides giving you a peek into my enviable jet-setting lifestyle, is to demonstrate that with a little flexibility, you can be vegan anywhere. While not necessarily 100% vegan, we ate compassionately, well, and variedly. And I never once had to eat an iceberg lettuce salad!

Vegan in Rochester, Emphasis on the "Non-Fanatic," II

Breakfast the next morning was provided by the Holiday Inn Express Irondequoit. I have written affectionate sonnets for the Holiday Inn, but this was not the best representation. A limp english muffin with peanut butter, applesauce, and watery orange juice was the best I could muster. Come on Holiday Inn! You’re better than that! Friday’s highlight was The Owl House. One of two restaurants in Rochester with the word “vegan” on the menu, it’s open to all preferences, vegan, vegetarian, and omnivore. Located in an old house, it was charming and quirky, with an extensive cocktail menu. Yes, vegans can drink alcohol. Hooray! Even though they had several appetizing options, including something with a side of polenta fries (yum!) all the vegans at our table ordered the !Viva Verde¡ Tacos, and were not disappointed: “Three Soft Corn Tortillas with Smoked Tofu, Salsa Verde, Guacamole, Cabbage Slaw, Black Bean & Sweet Corn Salad.” I don’t know how you smoke tofu, but it was genius. Everyone at the table seemed delighted with their dish, and it’s not easy to find one restaurant that equally pleases me, my teenage sister, and my 87 year old grandmother. I cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough.

Vegan in Rochester, Emphasis on the "Non-Fanatic"

A common refrain in a vegan’s life is “what do you eat?” It’s something I never get tired of answering, because I eat such fantastic food, but it’s something that surprises me. Are people so confused by veganism, and apathetic toward fruits and vegetables that they can’t envision a happy life eating only plant-based foods? But, I am luckier than most in that I live in one of the most beautiful, and vegan friendly parts of the world, the San Francisco Bay Area. Bemused reactions to my diet are surprising because there are so many people here who already feel the way I do about food.

I was particularly reminded of the unique situation of California when I visited my grandmother in Rochester, New York recently. While not Berkeley, Rochester is reasonably sized and relatively progressive, but not exactly the epitome of vegan friendly. But, this vegan does occasionally leave the Golden State, and eating compassionately is a priority even when traveling.

With a last meal, we took the red-eye from San Francisco. What do vegans eat in an airport? Nothing. You bring your own food obviously! Armed with a fresh baked banana bread, we survived our three hour layover in Baltimore quite peacefully. We arrived in New York around lunchtime, famished and pessimistic. Chipotle, my go-to vegan restaurant in every city, was too far from the hotel to be convenient. We kept our eyes open for options, but could see nothing from the highway. The only restaurant by the hotel was an IHOP; no, egg beaters are not vegan. So, we quickly gave up and went to the grocery store across the street. Vegan Life Lesson #1: Everywhere there are people, there are grocery stores, and every grocery store has peanut butter, jelly, and bread. It may not be natural peanut butter, cherry jam, or whole wheat bread, but it’s food. We ended up having a fend-for-yourself lunch of PB&J, chips and salsa, veggies and hummus. Not bad actually. Dinner that night was at my aunt’s house; a longtime vegetarian, we knew we would be well fed by her. And we were, with mixed green salad, stuffed portobello mushrooms, braised kale, and fresh fruit with almond milk yogurt.

What Vegans Eat

I had an interesting conversation with a coworker this morning about my being vegan. He is your typical skeptical man, who imagines veganism as a life sentence of wasting away while eating salad. But, as we continued talking, another coworker remarked, “At least beer is vegan.” The skeptic was immediately intrigued. “What about whiskey?” Yep. “Tequila?” Yep. “French fries?” Yep. “Sold.” It’s amazing to me how nebulous and strange veganism appears to people. Presented in the light of restriction and lack, it is completely unappealing. But, in reality, I eat so well! So, instead of continuing to emphasize all the stuff we don't consume, I was inspired to compile a list of all the wonderful things you still get to eat when you’re a vegan:

Tortilla chips
Salsa
Guacamole
Margaritas
Bread
Olive Oil
Pasta
Oreos
Fritos
French Fries
Tater Tots
Sweet Potato Fries
Ramen Noodles (Oriental Flavor)
Pie Crust
Phyllo Dough
Falafel
Hummus
Pita Bread
Dolmas
Cosmospolitans
Greyhounds
Bellinis
Mojitos
G&T’s
Popsicles
Wine
Beer
Tequila
Vodka
Rum
Whiskey
Scotch
Gin
Chocolate
Bread
Pizza Crust
Tortillas
Noodles
Skittles
Airheads
Dots
Dum-Dums
Jolly Ranchers
Mike and Ike
Smarties
Sour Patch Kids
Swedish Fish
Sweet Tarts
Twizzlers
Cracker Jacks
Club Crackers
Potato Chips
Pringles
Movie Theater Popcorn (often made with coconut oil and imitation butter)
Graham Crackers (watch out for honey!)
Teddy Grahams
Ritz Crackers
Pretzels
Triscuits
Cap’n Crunch
Cocoa Puffs
Froot Loops
Cheerios
Frosted Mini-Wheats
Chex
Trix
Blowpops
Nutter Butters
Nature Valley Granola Bars (The kind your mom used to put in your lunch box)
Wheat Thins
Bac-o Bits
Ketchup
Mustard
Relish
Enchilada Sauce
Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
Curly Fries
Canned Frosting
Hash Browns (may contain butter - check the label)

*Special thanks to PETA for contributing to this luscious list!

One Year and 33 Pounds!

Guess what today is? It’s the one year anniversary of my adventure toward health and happiness! Obviously something this important deserves an honest and thorough look back. Thank goodness I have this blog and all my faithful readers to entertain my musings!

So, one year later, and I am down exactly 33 pounds and six inches off my waist (and hips). I am literally inhabiting a whole new body. When I started this experiment, my goal was to get to a healthy BMI. At 5’7” and 173.4 pounds, my BMI was 27.2, and technically overweight. That label definitely made me uncomfortable, and turned my weight into a constant source of shame and necessary justification. I am not a big fan of the BMI. Never taking body type, distribution of mass, or even gender into account seems like a ludicrous way to relate weight and height. But, it is a commonly accepted measurement of health and wellness, and one I’d rather be on the right side of. Bringing that number down to 24.9, technically healthy, meant losing 15 pounds. I set my goal weight at 159 pounds, created a spreadsheet to track my servings of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and waited. It amazed me to discover how effortless it was to start losing weight, and how rewarding it became to get on the scale every week. Where I had felt out of control of my weight the last few years, I immediately felt better. I had discovered the secret to losing weight easily!

Once I hit 159 pounds, I didn’t change anything. I was eating healthy, but in no way restricting myself. Anyone will tell you that I eat cookies, cupcakes, bagels and (vegan) cream cheese, pie, ice cream, truffles, and chips and guacamole whenever I want. I don’t count calories, or steps, or points, or carbs. I love nothing more than a deep, round bowl of pasta, and I will never deprive myself of that. So, without “dieting” the scale just kept dropping lower, and I kept getting smaller. My point is that 33 pounds DOES NOT mean work, effort, starvation, or lack. It means putting good things in your body, like roasted vegetable tacos, cauliflower gratin, cherry barley scones, and oatmeal raisin cookies.

This epiphany has been life-changing for me. I was never especially preoccupied with my weight, or insecure about how I looked. But, I know a lot of women who are, and I felt like I had stumbled on the solution to centuries of body image issues. Hence the openness and enthusiasm with which I discuss my own struggles and successes. If your weight is something that bothers you, or is a source of shame, dissatisfaction, or pain, know that it doesn’t have to be. The solution is cheap, easy, and sustainable, and 33 pounds later, I can tell you that it works.

VegNews, Controversy and Solution

Lemons from my tree, sitting on my kitchen counter.

One of the reasons I started this blog was because I am such a visual creature. All summer, I had been relishing the bright, fresh, incredible plant based food I had been enjoying. I felt continually compelled to photograph this food and share it with people. And I am likewise inspired by other food photographers. Every time my new issue of Bon Appétit arrives, I melt into a puddle of desire over whatever is on the cover.  So you can imagine my disappointment over the recent VegNews stock photo controversy. For those of you not immersed in the vegan culture, a brief summary. Readers recently discovered that photographs of the food in the magazine had been pulled from istockphoto.com. I was disheartened to learn that the photographs next to a given recipe are not actually of the dish itself. For example, a recipe for Banana Cream Pie appeared alongside a stock photo of Coconut Cream Pie. But, many magazines use stock photos. They are cheap and convenient, especially for online content. So, why did these photos cause such an uproar? It turns out  that many of the stock photos employed by VegNews, a wholly vegan magazine, are actually of meat and dairy products. It seems counterintuitive to devote a magazine to the joys of compassionate, plant-based eating, and then undermine that message with pictures of chicken and pork. It also sends the implicit message that plant based food isn’t delicious or appealing enough; you need the “real” thing.

Unfortunately, this controversy has cast doubt on every food outlet. I am now eyeing all my magazines suspiciously; what is that fleshy looking thing in Vegetarian Times’ Cabbage Rolls? So, just to alleviate any doubts, every picture on my blog is taken by me, in my own kitchen of entirely plant based food. More so, every photograph in my blog is of food that I have just scooped out of the pan and am about to eat in a moment. This is a snapshot of my food life. And I have a solution for you, VegNews. Put your readers to work for you. Send me some of your recipes, and I will gladly prepare them and photograph them for you. Just mention me in the magazine. And I’m willing to bet there are dozens of other readers, bloggers, and people willing to do the same. Think about it.

A Kitchen Failure: Black Bean Cakes

I don’t like to write about recipes that don’t go well, but it feels dishonest to pretend to you, dear readers, that I don’t have my share of kitchen mishaps. About a year ago, I made these amazing black bean cakes from Christina Pirello’s cookbook. Served with a bright tomato salsa, I was in heaven. Realizing that I hadn’t made this dish for my blog, I decided to rectify that immediately.

Ugh. What a mess. In the interest of efficiency, I made a few changes to the recipe; fresh bell pepper instead of roasted, and polenta instead of corn meal. I couldn’t anticipate what a difference this would make. What resulted were wet, black bean balls sizzling passively in hot oil. Recovering from my first instinct to just throw the whole pan in the sink, I fished them out of the pan and stuck them in the oven. Half an hour later they were still a bit soft, but they were hot and at least a little crispy.

I decided to serve them as Mexican falafels, one cake with a fresh corn tortilla, spicy, bright tomato salsa, and crispy cabbage and carrot slaw. The mix of flavors and textures was awesome. But, the black bean cakes were just not quite right. The oven had dried them out a little bit, and without pan frying, they lacked the crisp outer edge I remembered. I’m not providing a recipe yet, because I’m definitely giving these cakes another go. Roasted bell pepper, fine cornmeal, and pressed tofu should help rectify these soggy black bean cakes. Stay tuned...

WTF Natalie Portman?

Celebrity is a somewhat fraught topic in our culture; the inexplicable worship, paparazzi stalking, Stars! They’re just like us. One of the great things about celebrity though is a star’s ability to direct much-needed attention to deserving causes, like George Clooney’s work for the crisis in Darfur, or Sean Penn’s efforts following the massive earthquake in Haiti. These people get attention, money, and resources in a way you or I could not. Veganism has benefited greatly from representation by highly attractive and well-liked celebrities like Alicia Silverstone, Ginnifer Goodwin, and Ellen Degeneres. The downside to this is when one of these representatives ditches their plant-based diet, that too gets a lot of attention and seems to prove all the naysayers right.

Yesterday the internet was abuzz with Natalie Portman’s repudiation of her vegan diet while pregnant. ABC, NBC, FOX, Huffington Post, MSN, Yahoo, Perez Hilton all had mentions of Natalie’s comments, and my heart sank. This is not the kind of press we vegans enjoy. What is especially disappointing is the fact that Portman knows well the benefits of being vegan. In 2009, Portman wrote an articulate and moving piece for the Huffington Post on Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals and how it influenced her to make the shift from vegetarian to vegan. Portman details the toll taken on the animals and the planet, but most compellingly the toll taken on humans. She writes:

"What Foer most bravely details is how eating animal pollutes not only our backyards, but also our beliefs. He reminds us that our food is symbolic of what we believe in, and that eating is how we demonstrate to ourselves and to others our beliefs...I remember in college, a professor asked our class to consider what our grandchildren would look back on as being backward behavior or thinking in our generation, the way we are shocked by the kind of misogyny, racism, and sexism we know was commonplace in our grandparents' world...Factory farming of animals will be one of the things we look back on as a relic of a less-evolved age."

Only a year and a half ago, Portman was declaring herself not only a vegan, but an activist, dedicated to planting the seeds of her experience in the greater consciousness. Yesterday, however, Portman reported, “I actually went back to being vegetarian when I became pregnant, just because I felt like I wanted that stuff...I was listening to my body to have eggs and dairy.” Listening to your body...a phrase that covers all manner of sins. It’s something I told myself after my first six weeks of being vegan, when I was reluctant to commit to a life without Spaghetti Bolognese and Eggs Benedict; everyone is different, my body wants meat and dairy, I’m just listening to my body. Really, I was listening to my tastebuds. I wanted meat and dairy, but as the last year has shown me, my body doesn’t want meat and dairy. My weight loss, increased energy, and exuberance for life are proof that now I am truly listening to my body.

I have never been pregnant, so I cannot speak to a body’s changes during this extraordinary event. But, having experienced the bounty of benefits to my own health, I can’t imagine that the values wouldn’t be even greater for my baby. Because of her fame, Portman’s comments are not merely about her own experience; they become about every vegan. They shed doubt on this lifestyle. If it’s not good for pregnant women, then who is it good for? Veganism is not unnatural, unhealthy, or harmful. The body, pregnant or otherwise, does not need eggs, dairy, or meat to be healthy and happy.

Portman’s main complaint about being a pregnant vegan was “If you're not eating eggs, then you can't have cookies or cake from regular bakeries, which can become a problem when that's all you want to eat.” Well, let me make you an offer, Ms. Portman. I make unbelievable cookies and cupcakes, and I would be happy to send you some if that’s what you need to be vegan. Just let me know.

Wishing For Spring

After a week of rain, clouds, mists, hail, torrents, and deluges, California has returned to a state of sunshine and heat. Instead of perching in front of a fire with a glass of wine and a bowl of stew, I am longing for greens harvested from my garden, willful tulips pushing themselves out of the earth, and tripping barefoot to the lemon tree, sun on my neck. Daffodils and lilacs are the quintessence of spring, and my invocation to warmth and light.

Conversation With a Teenage Vegan, II

We're two weeks into Lent, and I wanted to check in with my sister, Summer, to hear how her vegan experience has been going. She seems to be having a pretty easy time with it so far. Read on to find out what a teenage girl thinks about being vegan!

Dinner Peace: What has been the hardest part of being vegan so far?
Summer Boucher: I keep forgetting that I’m completely vegan now, because I was mostly vegan before.So, I keep forgetting that I can’t have some of my friend Sanjna’s birthday cake, or when I go to Starbucks with my friends, I can’t find anything to eat for breakfast. One day, I was sitting in class and it came up that I was vegan. Of course, people asked me what I eat, and I told them, normal stuff like pasta and Mexican food. One of my friends responded that I was missing all the good stuff like shrimp in shrimp fajitas. Then they started having their own conversation about how delicious shrimp fajitas were.

DP: Did that make you miss shrimp fajitas?
SB: Not really. But, the other day, I was in the grocery store, and I was really hungry, and I smelled a rotisserie chicken, and it smelled soooo good.
DP: I had the same experience the other day. I was out shopping, and I smelled hamburgers, and it smelled soooo good.

DP: What’s the best vegan food you’ve had in the last two weeks?
SB: Vegan spring rolls, the Macrobiotic Lunch at Koji’s Sushi, and pretty much all Asian food. The Oriental flavored Ramen Noodles. And Chocolate-Dipped Oreos.

DP: How do your friends respond to you being vegan?
SB: They think it’s weird, and say they could never do it. They tell me they could never give up meat or cheese, and I tell them that it’s actually not that hard.

DP: Do you think it’s hard?
SB: No. It’s easier this time, because before, we changed our diet so dramatically. Now, I already eat vegan most of the time, so it’s easier.

A Great Evening at the Berkeley Vegan Dishcrawl!

Last night, I had the opportunity to share dinner with an amazing group of vegans, vegetarians, and the veg-friendly. Yes, I’m talking about the first Vegan Dishcrawl in Berkeley! Excepting the weather, it couldn’t have been a better evening. It was such a pleasure to meet the enthusiastic Dishcrawlers I had been corresponding with for weeks. Like Jaime, an omnivore who came with one of his vegan friends, who described the event as “having a Parisian stroll feel.” Or Megan, who surprised her husband with Dishcrawl Date Night.

We started our evening at the Epicurious Garden, living life to the fullest, and eating dessert first. Panos Panagos of Alegio Chocolate gave us a guided tour of the island São Tomé, off the coast of Africa, where Claudio Corallo makes the world’s most perfect chocolate. It was my first opportunity to try 100% pure chocolate, intensely bitter, but unequivocally rich and chocolatey.

After an extensive tasting at Alegio, we visited Lush Gelato and Café. Lush’s owner,
Federico Murtagh, hails from Argentina which harbors one of the largest Italian populations outside of Italy, and as such, knows a thing or two about making gelato. Murtagh has dedicated his company to producing the purest, simplest, most exquisite representation of natural flavors. Lush obtains their fruit from local, organic sources, like Frog Hollow and Bellwether Farms. Made of fruit, sugar, and water, Lush’s sorbetto provides the cleanest representation of nature’s sweetest treat. Dishcrawlers were given tastes of Kiwi, Lemon-Cinnamon, Chocolate-Orange, and Pear sorbetto.

Our next stop was Café Gratitude, a mecca for vegans, vegetarians, and raw-enthusiasts. Manager Alice Liu provided a feast for our group. First up was a raw lasagna, made with the creamiest, lightest cashew ricotta I’ve ever tasted, and layers of basil, spinach, and tender zucchini noodles. The raw lasagna was accompanied by spicy-sweet raw enchiladas. I don’t have a lot of experience with raw food, but this was spectacular. Only my professionalism kept me from licking the plate. Café Gratitude finished our visit with one of their grain bowls, quinoa, kale, carrots, teriyaki almonds dressed in a garlic-tahini sauce. Heaven. Although Café Gratitude can be intimidating to omnivores, vegans and non-vegans alike seemed delighted with the food. Café Gratitude’s playfulness with flavor and textures resulted in a uniquely delicious experience. While at Café Gratitude, artisan bakers from Zest Bakery shared vegan brownie bites with our guests.

Dishcrawl ended the evening at Mint Leaf Indian Bistro for samosas and vegetable pakoras and a variety of dipping sauces. The stylish interior, cozy tables, and sophisticated lighting provided the perfect setting for the end of the evening. Dishcrawlers lingered over finger foods and drinks for the rest of the night.

I was inexpressibly delighted to see people mingling, and groups of friends incorporating new members. It truly was a communal experience for vegans, foodies, and Bay Areans. After the success of last night’s event, we will definitely be doing another one of these soon, so stay tuned for all the details!

Meatout 2011!

Meatout 2011 is here! FARM USA, the organization that has included some of my recipes in their Meatout Monday Newsletter, is celebrating a day devoted to the joys of being vegan. Whatever else it is, veganism is most clearly manifested in our diets, and the foods we buy, eat, and order are some of the most important decisions we make every day.

In honor of Meatout 2011, and the 1 year anniversary of my own vegan transition, I’d like to focus on making that step toward a plant based diet. Choosing to follow a vegan diet can be daunting, even for long-time vegetarians, and devoted animal-lovers. There’s so much negative hype surrounding veganism, and it’s often represented as restrictive and lacking rather than the life-opening experience that it is.

So much of one’s commitment to a vegan diet depends on the food you eat. The quality of the your culinary life is directly related to the quality of the rest of your life. To that end, I shy away from overly processed, fake, and alternative foods. To me, the joie de vegan lies in the life and energy of whole, nourishing plants. Take tacos for instance. Most tacos are made of chicken or beef, some lettuce, tomato, and cheese. The health benefit of this food is low, as is the variety of flavor and texture.

It is certainly simpler to make your vegan tacos with textured vegetable protein instead of ground beef and non-dairy cheese. But this veganized dish will not leave you satisfied and joyful. It will only remind you of what you are missing, i.e. meat and cheese. Truly good vegan tacos are about diversity of flavor and texture, the warm creaminess of refried beans, the crunch of a hard taco shell, biting into roasted sweet potato. There are so many options for truly memorable tacos. So, if you’re just beginning your vegan journey, or you need a reminder of how spectacular this lifestyle is, try my Best. Tacos. Ever. Or, cozy and nourishing Winter Tacos. Yum! Happy Meatout 2011 everyone!

My Lenten Resolution

Winter is a time when I crave creamy, warm, thick and rich foods. As Spring approaches, I tend toward light, fresh, and healthy dishes. It’s the perfect time of year for Lent, six weeks of challenging myself to live my life just a little bit better. My Lenten goal this year is to tighten up my diet a bit. Veganism, while great for the planet and the animals, doesn’t necessarily translate to being good for your health. The more veganism gains attention and supporters, the more money organizations devote to vegan products. This means more vegan cookies, potato chips, and frozen meals; in other words, the processed foods that contribute to obesity regardless of whether they come from plants or animals.

To that end, I have committed the next six weeks to being the healthiest vegan I can. More practically, this means tons of fruits and vegetables, and whole grains rather than whole grain flours. I’m inclined toward this way of eating because I’ve had such positive results from it in the past. My weight loss, increased energy, perfect fingernails, improved sleeping and more can be attributed to eating this way. So what are we actually talking about?

For breakfast, I’m eating steel cut oats or thick cut oatmeal with vanilla almond milk, ground flax seed, walnuts and blueberries. Sometimes, I stir a spoonful of peanut or almond butter into the oatmeal and forego the blueberries. Other times, if I know I’m going to have plenty of whole grains with lunch and dinner, I might have a whole wheat english muffin spread with almond butter and sliced bananas. I’m also enjoying shredded wheat cereal with strawberries and almond milk.

Lunch time can be truly varied. If I’m working in the evening, I might prepare a dinner entrée for lunch instead. Lunch is also perfect for going out. Any kind of Asian restaurant where I can get tons of vegetables and brown rice is perfect. Eating at home typically means leftovers from the day before, or quick favorites like Channa Masala with whole wheat naan or pita bread.

Dinner is actually my most challenging meal because I eat late at night, and typically eat in my car. I’ve been relying on PB&Js, dressed up a bit with hearty whole grain bread, almond butter and cherry jam. But, for Lent, I know I need to up my vegetables with dinner. A bag of sugar snap peas, sliced cucumber, bell pepper, and carrot sticks goes a long way toward hitting that 5 servings a day. Making a big pile of sautéed spinach and arugula when I get home would also help. And if I am smart enough to plan ahead, I can make extra greens at lunch, and quickly reheat them to enjoy with dinner. Hummus and whole wheat pita sandwiches with veggies and arugula also offer an appealing alternative to my quotidian dinner. Six weeks is a long time, and things are sure to evolve, so stay tuned!

Change Your Life This Year!

One year ago, I was gearing up for my approaching vegan transition by eating macaroni and cheese, and ziti casserole; I had my last cheeseburger, and bowl of cereal with milk. At the time, I was excited about my shift to veganism, but it was far outside of anything I knew, so I was anxious as well. I started perusing Post Punk Kitchen and Vegan Yum Yum for appealing recipes, and asking my one vegan friend for tips. I planned and shopped for my first vegan dinner, White Bean and Rosemary Soup. It turned out deliciously, but I missed the usual sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

I got a Zipcar and made the trek out to Fresh Pond, where they have a Trader Joe’s and a Whole Foods. Armed with Trader Joe’s list of Vegan Products, I walked up and down every aisle, picking up whole wheat pizza dough, roasted red pepper hummus, spinach, arugula, and baby bok choy. I crossed the street to Whole Foods for pears, Chana Masala, and a vegan Cherry Berry Pie.  Outfitted with 5 bags of groceries, I felt ready for the next 6 weeks of my new food life. Some things were awesome, like Annie Chun’s Noodle Bowls and the Thai Vegetable Gyoza. Other’s were totally unpalatable, like the meatless meatballs.

Over the next few weeks, I camped out at book stores reading Colleen Patrick Goudreau’s The Joy of Vegan Baking, and Toni Fiore’s Totally Vegetarian. I tried vegan chocolate cupcakes, mushroom bourguignon, and went to my favorite falafel place in Berkeley. Being vegan became easier and easier, and I started feeling light, joyful, and alive. Those six weeks changed the course of my life.

I’m not Catholic, so Lent isn’t imbued with a lot of spiritual significance for me. Rather, it is an opportunity for me to take on a challenge, and encourage myself to grow and change. It sounds cheesy (or should I say corny), but there’s a satisfaction to attempting something difficult, and emerging a different person. In just 6 weeks, my whole worldview shifted. Since Lent begins on Wednesday, I’d like to encourage each of you to challenge yourself, even if it is just for a week or two. I hope the next 6 weeks will be a chance for all of you to change your lives!