Monday, January 18, 2016

Musings, Falafel, and Salads

I came across a quote from the amazing Colleen Patrick Goudreau and I wanted to share it." There is no rule book for being vegan. Just let your compassion guide you" Is she the smartest or what? There are so many representations of vegan eating, and of course there is the plant based movement. I've said it before that I'm glad I didn't own a computer or have much interest in the interwebz when I went vegan. I think the transition would have been much more confusing, and even scarier. As it was, I just made the switch and educated myself on what foods were safe to eat. Needless to say I read a million and one labels back in those days. I remember being shocked at how many things had animal products in them when they weren't really needed. I pretty much ate the same as before, just no animal products. My cooking has vastly improved since then, and while I have learned a lot from the webz, I'm still glad I had that time to let my compassion guide me. Overthinking anything makes it seem impossible. I know because I've over thought my way out of lots of things in my day.
This isn't really a resolution, but I guess a hope of mine for 2016 is to be the year where judgement in the vegan community kind of fades away. There's enough going against us, we live in a McCulture, and there are so many antiquated stereotypes out there, we don't need to judge and fight each other. I don't care if you live on bananas and dates, or vegan junk food, or somewhere in between. And although I am an ethical vegan and relate to other ethical vegans, I don't care if you are vegan for the animals, or plant based for your health, or the environment. All I care about is making the world a better place for animals. Working together makes so much more sense than all of the bickering and fighting, and meanness. I really feel like there is more of an interest in veganism than ever before. People are thinking about animals, their own health, and the environments. Facts are facts, and the facts are in our favor. Hopefully 2016 is the year that we run with the momentum.
Now, I will take a sharp turn towards the food! I have been craving falafel, and I had all of the ingredients on hand, including pita bread, so I decided to make my own. I always fry my falafel not a deep fry but a shallow fry? Anyway, I decided to experiment yesterday and bake my little balls. I made them a little flatter, more like miniature burgers than round. It turned out pretty well. Baking isn't going to get that true, crunchy exterior, but the flavors were still there. I loosely followed this  recipe, but I used a little regular old flour for binding. Just a little. These were super garlic-y which I love. I served them on a warmed pita with Romaine shreds and some garlic tahini sauce and of course sriracha sauce!
I also had the tastiest salad for lunch. I added some diced celery which I never do, and it really added extra texture and that fresh taste that I love. I used Follow Your Heart's amazing Blue Cheese, because vegan blue cheese!
This also had some shredded carrot, red onion, and croutons which I never use, but randomly had some. I have to say that it's really worth the extra minute or two to add a lot of chopped veggies to your salad. It really makes it so much more than a bowl of cold lettuce. I'm guilty of just eating plain salads sometimes, and it's fine, but when there are different colors, textures and flavors it's definitely more satisfying.
I'm going to try to sleep in my bed tonight. Ever since Dylan passed, I have not even been able to be in my room for more than a few minutes, let alone sleep in my bed. I don't know how I'm going to do it to be honest. I'm able to get through majority of my day now without like crying on the bus and such, but my heart still hurts, and my apartment feels empty even though I am not alone. Dylan was my spooning buddy for seventeen years. Whether it was the couch, the floor, a bed it didn't matter, we were cuddling. I'm going to wash my bedding and try to just make my room as inviting as possible. I'll see how it goes from there. All you can do is try, right?



11 comments:

  1. I love a Big Salad With Lots Of Stuff In it. Still havent sprung for the FYH Blue Cheese Dressing . Dylan wouldnt want you to be so sad.

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    1. I forget sometimes how lots of stuff in a salad is what makes it interesting. Plus I feel full for longer. The FYH is a serious game changer!

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    2. And you are definitely right about Dylan. I keep trying to remind myself of that, but some days it's easier.

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  2. I have plain salads all the time too. It is usually an afterthought to a dinner and I end up washing my cutting board without cutting any veggies for the salad. Major fail. T_T

    "There is no rule book for being vegan. Just let your compassion guide you"
    Much agreed! There are still lines I question as a vegan like is honey vegan? Is eating oysters vegan? What about jellyfish? And I usually side with the overall vegan arguments and lets face it, I usually need to go OUT OF MY WAY for the oysters and jellyfish lol. But over this weekend I had drinks with a girl from high school who was vegetarian and just went vegan. She hit it on the nail "I felt like a hypocrite all these years, and now I feel like I am doing the right thing" She also says she doesn't feel deprived (though she wanted a better turkey deli "meat")

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    1. I definitely neglect my salad skills when it's a side with dinner! Wow, you're friend did hit it on the nail. I feel like the minute I went vegan, something inside of me calmed down, like an inner nag telling me I wasn't doing all I could do. Tell her to stay optimistic on the deli meat. It's coming, I'm sure!

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  3. I am all for a no-judgement 2016, too! Also, that falafel looks amazing!

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    1. Thanks! It was my first try at baking them, and I like that I felt lighter after eating them!

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  4. Yes!!! I am so with you! The heavy judgement for me is the only thing about veganism that is so off-putting to me. It makes me sad and find it very hypocritical to preach kindness and compassion and in the very next breath spew hatred and judgement.

    Your falafel and salad look amazing! I haven't tried any of those vegan dressing but they do sound good. Especially on a big beautiful salad like that!

    I'm glad to hear that you are feeling a bit better and taking steps toward getting back into your routine. Shen is right, Dylan wouldn't want you to be sad.

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    1. I agree. We need to be kind to everyone, and also I feel like kindness and being happy and positive shows that eating compassionately is good for our brains and our souls too.
      I know the vegan Blue Cheese isn't the healthiest choice for dressing, but it's so delicious, and it's something that I miss as a vegan, and FYH does an amazing job.
      I'm definitely taking it one day at a time, but i do find that getting back into some of my routines is helping.

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  5. Seriously...I'm so sorry it's been so long! Guess I didn't realize how out of it I have been! LOVE the salads and such! YUM!

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    1. Believe me, more than you know I understand how fast time goes by when you're down.

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