Vegan Life Savers: Products You Need

When I decided to become a vegan, I really wanted to stick mostly to natural organic foods rather than load up on tons of meat substitutes. The downfall of other diets I have done in the past is that I would just eat tons of "diet"--or fat free--products, which were completely synthetic and not good for my body in the long run. So far, I think I have been doing a pretty good job of eating lots of fresh fruits and veggies, but I am definitely not someone who can be satiated by a few leaves of lettuce. I have found a few extra add-ins that really spice up delicious organic food and are still healthy and use natural ingredients. Here are my favorites so far:

• Dressing: I used to imagine that vegans only ate dry salads but I have learned that this is certainly not the case. However, big salads have been a great lunch option for me, and I have become really creative with what I put in them. For me, I feel that the dressing really makes the salad but a lot of dressings can be very unhealthy and full of terrible processed ingredients. My favorite brand is Amy's Organic and they have a ton of delicious dressings with natural organic ingredients. They have "light" options as well, but all of their dressings are reasonably healthy in small portions. Not all are vegan, so it's important to check the ingredients. My favorites so far are roasted red pepper vinaigrette and balsamic vinaigrette. I also love just classic balsamic vinegar with a little bit of oil.
• Sauce: Stir fries are one of my favorite things to make because they are simple, healthy, and delicious. However, globbing on tons of sauce can turn stir fry from a healthy organic meal to a fat and calorie fest. I have found a few sauces that really diversify the stir fry, while still keeping it healthy and natural. I love sweet chili sauce from Trader Joe's with tofu and vegetables and a little curry powder. It provides a really unique flavor, and transforms a more boring stir fry into something special. The combination of red chili pasta (can be found at most grocery stores) and coconut milk creates a delicious Indian flavor, and I like to spice it up with hot sauce and red pepper flakes. Trader Joe's also has an array of curry sauces that I have found to be very delicious, and, in small portions, pretty healthy. I have also been making different variations of healthy pesto with lots of basil, pine nuts, and a little olive oil. It tastes delicious on sandwiches, pasta, pizza, and just about anything!
• Cheese: The non-vegan food that I miss the most is definitely cheese. I love every and any kind of cheese...feta, goat, muenster, you name it (ugh, I want cheese immediately!). I have tried to stay away from vegan cheese, because, as I mentioned, I don't want to become too reliant on vegan replacements for non-vegan foods. However, I recently tried Daiya vegan cheese (can be found at Whole Foods), and I was very impressed. I used some of the pepper-jack cheese in my tofu scramble this morning, and it was wonderful! And 1/4 cup is about equal in calories and fat to reduced fat cheese, but uses much more natural ingredients and less preservatives. This is something that I will try to use sparingly, but it is great to know that it is there for a special treat.
• Pasta: Carbs are definitely something that should be eaten in moderation, but vegan pasta has been really great for making some creative meals. I have made pesto, puttanesca, and primavera pasta, and all have been just as good as their non-vegan versions. I have tried a few different types of vegan pasta, and so far my favorites are vegetable and semolina based (available in many grocery stores, such as Trader Joe's and Wegman's). I have also used corn pasta, which is good when served hot but becomes fairly hard when served cold in a pasta salad. I also LOVE the potato gnocchi from Trader Joe's--they are great with pesto and veggies!

Give me cheese or give me death

Corn pasta and Annie's Organic Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette (from Trader Joe's and Harris Teeter, respectively)

One of many delicious curry sauces from Trader Joe's

A Very Vegan Christmas

Since my family celebrates Hanukkah, I have had the pleasure of spending Christmas with my boyfriend's family for the past few years. Of course one of the main components of any holiday is delicious food, but being that no one else at my Christmas dinner is a vegan I was nervous about having options but didn't want to create any extra work for Andrew's mom, who always cooks an amazing meal.

Andrew's mom could not be more accommodating, but I wanted to contribute some delicious vegan fare of my own as well. I decided to make a big pasta salad, modeled loosely after one of my favorite pasta dishes from an Italian restaurant in my hometown. I also got a delicious looking pumpkin pie from Whole Foods, which will be my first taste of a vegan dessert! (I have been shying away from desserts since this is supposed to be a diet and all, but I am REALLY missing sweets).

I truly believe that you can throw anything in a bowl with some pasta and dressing and it will turn out well, but I must say that this pasta salad sets the bar pretty high. I used some of the ingredients from my beloved pasta dish (called gypsy pasta), and added some of my favorite things, like chick peas and spinach. I finished the whole thing with some Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette by Amy's Organic (can be found in most grocery stores), and I must say that after one bite I could tell it had turned out perfectly.

I used corn fusili from Trader Joe's, which is pasta made solely from corn meal. It is really delicious and has a nice al dente crunch when it's cooked. However, there are a plethora of vegan pasta options that you can find at Trader Joe's and many other grocery stores.

Here is what I used in my pasta salad, but feel free to add or substitute what you like!

• 1 bag corn fusili
• Kalamata olives
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Artichoke hearts, quartered
• Grape tomatoes
• Mini yellow pear tomatoes (from Whole Foods)
• Garbanzo beans
• 1 bag fresh baby spinach
• Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette (you can use any vinaigrette you like!)
• Salt, to taste
• Red pepper flakes, to taste

ENJOY!

Corn fusili and Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette, great vegan staples

my faux-gypsy pasta salad

Where to Eat: Boru Asia Bistro Lunch Buffet

When deciding to become a vegan, one of the things that I was most concerned about giving up was sushi. I love me some raw fish, and, as kind of a sushi snob, I looked down on veggie sushi. However, I was willing to remain open-minded, and I had my first veggie sushi experience at Boru Asia Cafe in Ballston yesterday at their lunch buffet.

Many sushi buffets that I've been to in the past (which is actually very few) had a very small selection of sushi, and used a lot of fillers to substantiate the buffet. This was definitely not the case at Boru, and they had a wide variety of both veggie and fish sushi. If you do eat the fish sushi, they had a great selection of rolls and pieces, all of which looked very good. I was particularly impressed with their veggie selection, and I enjoyed cucumber, avocado, and pickled ginger rolls. And let me just say, part of the reason why I love sushi so much is because I am obsessed with the ginger that comes on the side, and I LOVE that they cut out the middle man and put the ginger in the sushi.

Not only was the sushi very plentiful, but they had seaweed salad, edamame, bean sprout salad, green salad, and make your own miso soup! It was pretty much my Japanese vegan paradise. On top of all of that, it only cost $13 for all you can eat! I can't wait to go back.

The only drawback I can say is that the quality of the sushi, while definitely tasty, was not extraordinary. It was solid good sushi, and trust me, I filled my plate, but it wasn't on the best-I've-ever-had level. But for $13 and the variety that they offer, I think it is completely worth it.

Go hard or go home

Tofu Scramble

One of my favorite parts about my new vegan diet is discovering a whole new world of restaurants in my area that I didn't know existed. However, this has also given me an excuse to try restaurants that I have been wanting to try for a while, such as Le Pain Quotidien in Clarendon (though they have locations all over the DMV).

A friend of mine had been raving for a while about this place, and when I saw that they had a plethora of vegan options I was anxious to go. I have been twice now, and the most recent time I ordered the tofu scramble. I was blown away by how delicious it was and it surprised me how it was a really legit substitute for scrambled eggs.

I instantly decided that this would be a great dish to make at home, and since today is my first day of winter break (HALLELUJAH!), I decided to make a nice breakfast for myself to celebrate. Here is what you need to make a delicious tofu scramble*:

• Organic tofu (it would be best with soft tofu but I only had extra firm and it worked fine)
• Red bell pepper
• Onion
• Any other vegetables you like
• A dash of olive oil
• Smoked tabasco sauce (my current obsession)

I put this smoked tabasco on everything, so good!

First, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the tofu and use a spatula to break the tofu up into a scrambled egg-like texture. After about 5 minutes, add the pepper and onion, and cook for about 5 minutes until tender. Add a generous amount of smoked tabasco until all of the tofu and vegetables are lightly covered. Add a dash of salt, and let cook for about 3 more minutes, mixing regularly. Serve with a piece of vegan toast and enjoy!

celebratory tofu scramble!

*For my recipes, in most cases I will not be including measurements because that's just not how I roll. When I cook I throw a lot of different things together and hope for the best (most of the time it works out!). These recipes can serve more as ideas that you can adapt and use as you like.

A Vegan is Born

Approximately one month ago, I was hunkering down to a big juicy steak and savoring every last bite. Now I have been meat, egg, and dairy free for almost a month and I couldn't be happier. You are probably wondering, what could cause a carnivore of 23 years to give up the foods I know and love cold turkey? Well, here is how my vegan lifestyle, and thus this blog, came to be:

Up until very recently, I just assumed that anyone who was a vegan had to be extremely weird and/or mentally ill. My favorite foods in the world included all types of red meat, any and all cheese, and big stuffed omelets, and I had zero intention of giving them up. However, with these tasty foods comes some very negative health repercussions, and over the past 9 months or so I had put on more weight than I would like.

My weight has kind of fluctuated for as long as I can remember, but it has never been to the point where I was seriously concerned. I have done, and had success with, Weight Watchers multiple times, but for whatever reason I could just never keep the weight off. A little over a month ago I stepped on the scale for the first time in a while, and I was very unhappy with the number that I saw. I knew I had to take control and improve my eating habits, but the thought of going through Weight Watchers yet again just seemed so daunting.

Simultaneously my boyfriend, Andrew, was becoming very interested in juicing raw fruits and vegetables, and in the benefits of vegan diet in general. Before this point, vegan is something I NEVER considered. And I capitalize that because becoming a vegan literally seemed like the anti-me. I tried to be a vegetarian once in the 8th grade, and I lasted about 3 days (however I pretended to be a vegetarian for about a year so my friends would think I was cool. Middle school was a dark time). On top of all of that, I just loved food in general and vegan did not seem synonymous with good eating to me. In fact, in my mind I was picturing a life of dry kale and crusty tofu.

However, as Andrew continued to watch interesting documentaries about the benefits of raw and vegan foods and filled me in on all of the information, I really started to think that this made sense. I mean, the more I thought about it, the more putting natural foods in my body made much more sense than OD'ing on 100 calorie packs and diet products, which is what I tended to do when I was on Weight Watchers. The more I learned, the more I wanted to fuel my body with good natural foods. However, my overwhelming love of all things non-vegan kept holding me back.

I finally made the decision that post-Thanksgiving was going to be do or die time, and trust me when I say that over Thanksgiving I did it up right. I was still really nervous about starting my new vegan diet because I had no idea what to expect, but when I got back to DC I stocked up at Trader Joe's and decided to go all in.

That was about a month ago, and I can honestly say that it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made for my health. Since I decided to become a vegan for health/diet reasons, I am using my best judgement to make healthy decisions (theoretically I could be loading up on fries and desserts but that would defeat the point). I have been cooking some of the best meals I have ever made, and have tried some truly amazing restaurants. On top of that, I have lost about 10 pounds in 4 weeks, pretty much eating whatever I want!

I wanted to start this blog to chronicle all of the things I have been cooking and restaurants as I have been dining at, as well as using it as kind of sounding board for my diet/health goals. I am not putting on any heirs that I am some sort of health expert nor am I some vegan nut who is trying to convert everyone in sight--I just want to share my experiences as I go through veganism. I hope you enjoy!! :)