Tonight, my wife and I cooked dinner for some very dear old friends of ours. They popped in from New York on their way to visit family in central Florida, and will circle back this way to spend a weekend with us before heading back. These are the same people we used to BBQ with quite frequently when they lived here. In fact, I think John and I were both on the Atkins diet around the same time, though I could be mistaken. Needless to say, we shared a love of beef, burgers and anything that sizzeled on an open flame. However, tonight, we spent some quality time catching up over tofu instead of tenderloin.
Today is a pinnacle moment for a couple of reasons. First, it is the end of the first 2/3 of my journey, which means I only have 30 more days to go. It is a milestone that sometimes felt like it would never arrive. Second, tonight is day 2 of my week long cooking safari. I am committed to cooking something new, never tried or never cooked each day this week. After last night’s disastrous Indian dinner, I have found redemption in the form of portobello mushrooms.
I’ve never claimed to be a great cook. My wife, friends and even a friend who owns a popular restaurant in Miami, say I do a pretty good job. So, I will take that as “I don’t suck.” Last night, however, I may very well have competed on The Next Worst Chef competition. Ok, maybe I am being a little hard on myself, but it definitely was not up to par and I was far from being on the course (to use a vague and poorly referenced golf analogy). Last night’s dinner was to be the first of a week long excursion out of my cooking comfort zone, making a new dish every night that I had never made before. Last night I made an Indian chickpea curry and flat bread that was less than spectacular. And this was supposed to be an easy dish to make.
One of the best parts of this whole journey is that I have been able to step out of my “safe” zone and experiment with a lot of new foods and combinations, both for flavor and nutrient reasons. Tonight’s dinner is one such dish, found living on the outskirts of what I used to call normal. I knew, instinctively, that I wanted pierogies for dinner. I also knew, I didn’t really have any good fats today. I didn’t want to flavor the pierogies with the typical margarine, olive oil, etc. So, instead I decided to whip up some heart-healthy guacamole to top a simple pierogies with potatoand onion filling. A nice spinach salad with dried cranberries, pecans and raspberry vinaigrette made for a nutritious and delicious side dish. Cheers!
Someone recently said, “Vegan and BBQ is kind of an oxymoron, isn’t it?” The opposite is true, in fact. Yesterday, my friends hosted an all vegan BBQ with about a dozen people, not including children, in honor of my experiment. They provided the majority of the food, while everyone else brought their own attempt at a vegan dish. Not only was the food absolutely delicious, but no one seemed to miss the meat! Everyone cleaned their plate and most of them went back for seconds, and in many cases, thirds.
Sounds like a bad movie title, I know. However, this is an important issue to anyone who considers a vegan diet and trains for various athletic endeavours. My wife and I were training for the ING Marathon that takes place in January 2011. We decided to drop it down to the half marathon this year, due mostly to time constraints from filming Meatless. We were both very curious how the diet, especially the vegan portion, would affect our training. I admit, in the beginning of the vegan phase, my energy was way down and I was dragging myself all over the place. I have since chalked that up to the transition, and not getting a grasp on my nutrition. However, since then, my energy levels has steadily returned to normal, and I feel well enough to surf, run or chase my daughter around the playground, as I ever did. I won’t go as far to say I have more energy yet, as that is still undetermined, and I am not sure I would be able to notice that in only 26 days of the vegan stage. Continue reading →
Preparing a vegan dinner for non-vegan friends is, well… not as challenging as I had thought. When you start to break down certain dinner classics from other cultures that westerners have adopted over the years, such as Italian, Japanese or Mexican food, you realize that many of these dishes are already vegan or at the very least vegetarian. Mexican food is a great example. From burritos to tostadas, simple foods made with fresh ingredients are always a crowd-pleaser. So, with that in mind, tonight, I made our friends a black bean tostada (yes, I made this dish recently for my wife and I) with fresh cilantro, red onions, homemade salsa, fresh guacamole and chopped spinach. A side of rice and corn mixed with chili powder, salt and pepper (my friend could not eat peppers and onions), rounded out this simple and satisfying dish. We also server vegan beer (Corona Lite) with fresh cut lime wedges to wash it all down. Oh, I almost forgot… we had Tofutti Cuties (soy ice cream sandwiches) or desert. Not bad, eh?
Today, I took my gear down to the local farmer’s market in hopes of meeting up with a friend for an interview and getsome B-ROll from the event. She was supposed to be having a table for her and her friend’s raw foods catering business. Unfortunately, after I was there for a while and started to set up for the shoot, she was no where to be found. When I contacted her, she said she was not going to be there until next week. Cest la vi, right? I might as well see if I can get some vegetarians, raw foodists and non-vegetarians on camera for some “man on the street” style interviews. You never know who you might meet, right?
Tonight, my wife and I tried out a store-bought vegan pizza we picked up at Whole Foods. We also enjoyed a vegan approved (somewhat) beer from Shipyard Brewery. I must admit, I didn’t miss the cheese one bit. This pizza was yummy! Served with a cold beer, also vegan approved, and I have everything to make me feel, well… normal. I didn’t feel like I was eating vegan. I felt like I was eating pizza and drinking beer– A natural weekend pastime in this household.
For once since I started the vegan phase, I felt like “me” again. Either I am beginning to adapt to the diet, or I am truly finding ways to eat better and not feel restricted. TGIF!
Last night, I still had too much pasta left over from the night before. I didn’t want it to go to waste, so I decided to dress it up in some luscious pesto sauce and cover it in fresh peas. I was also in dire need of some additional protein, so a side of lentil soup fit the bill perfectly. Again, not to let the Monterrey Sourdough go to waste, I drizzled it in olive oil and grilled it on a ribbed skillet.
As you can see, the result was more than enough to make a delicious second meal from leftovers. When you can’t make it fresh, at least make it better.
