Sunday, January 24, 2010

The Vegan Experiment

A couple of friends have recently 'gone vegan.' I hadn't thought too much of it - other than it was a bit stressful to think what to feed them when we get together. But they both sited the influence of The China Study. After picking a few arguments, I finally read it - and now I, too, want to Go Vegan. So I'm dragging the family through this with me - experimenting with a mostly vegan diet.

Here are some recent experiments - and the results.

Items I never thought I'd be buying:
Plain soy milk - not a fan.
Sweetened rice milk - fan.
Earth Balance - tastes just like butter!!
Cashew cream - good to thicken soups and on grilled pizzas / flatbreads.
TVP
Vegan-aise - still tastes like mayo, which would be great if I liked mayo.

A few surprise dishes - soy meatballs with yummy tomato sauce over sauteed polenta rounds. Soy-sausage with leek, fennel, red pepper, mushrooms, garlic then mixed with wild rice and some brown rice. Jarred tikka masala sauce with boiled potatoes, steamed cauliflower and lima beans. TVP (textured veg protein) chili, with red and yellow peppers and mixed beans. Black bean cakes with Slap Yo Mama and cilantro.

So, Sean and I are having a bit of fun trying new things, seeing how vegan we can be without feeling deprived or annoyed. I did have a little chicken twice last week and some lobster, but that was nearly it for non-vegan things. We won't get into Sean's huge hamburger!

PS - day 4 since Lasik - LOVING IT!!!