Adventures in Veganism

I continue to struggle to define exactly what I eat.  I was a strict vegetarian for ten years, followed by a binge of pork and other sometimes indeterminate animals while in Spain.  Currently, there is a broad spectrum with anything-and-everything-as-long-as-it-smells-good while traveling on one end, and healthful vegan fare on the other. 

While I was readjusting my focus for the new year (some may cry, "I smell a New Year's Resolution!"), I considered eating strictly vegan.  Just to see.  Just to taste.  Just to say that I'd done it.  To become more aware of what I eat.  I thought about it for over a month and decided that I don't need to prove it to myself.  I don't know how much I would gain from that type of dietary restriction.

With vegan on my mind, I threw myself into vegan creations.  Even more than vegetarianism, veganism has negative connotations for many people.  Based on comments, I can only assume that these [ignorant] people view vegan dishes as tasteless piles of vegetables.  Or maybe these people don't understand spices and smother meals in cheese to make them palatable.  Some meats and nearly all cheeses are wonderful, I do agree.  But part of the beauty of cooking vegan is the creativity that it requires and inspires.  For Christmas I received a 500 recipe vegan cookbook from my brother and a 1,000 recipe vegan cookbook from my roommates.  So if I make two recipes per day, it should take me slightly over two years to... 

I have come a long way since my first year(s) cooking for myself.  Bland tofu with poorly sauteed vegetables and pasta with tomato sauce and a mountain of cheese during my sophomore year of college.  Slightly more adventure in the two years following--but mostly as a prep cook for Sydney, the epic chef with whom I lived.  I didn't know it then, but I learned so much from watching her cook.  It wasn't until after I came home from Spain that I truly began to cook and experiment.  While in Spain I realized how absurd it was to fear failure in the kitchen.  I'm pretty good at most things I want to do well [tongue in cheek], so why would cooking be any different?  Upon return, I started small, with a simple, foolproof cookbook (the "Cancer Cookbook", thus named by Em) and constant moral support.  I cooked weekly with my friend Jeremy, taking turns picking recipes and buying ingredients.  We giggled our way through many a recipe--almost always creating something delicious and nutritious (except for when the bulghur didn't cook and that failure of a stew that was my recipe choice--I was banned from stews for period).

This past summer, my roommate and I subscribed to a weekly community supported agriculture (CSA) box.  In the beginning, it was a bit of a challenge to incorporate the random vegetables into meals ("What the $hit is a kohlrabi?!").  When the CSA box ended in mid-October, I was desolate for a few days (this can be partially attributed to the unpalatable rutabaga spice cake I made with the second-to-last rutabaga of the season).  I can't describe the forced creativity the box fostered in kitchen.

Then, aha! the year-round Sunday farmer's market in Ballard.  Currently, the pickings are a bit slim but it still amazes me that this produce is still available locally.  Another joy of this whole vegan kick is that my gentleman friend Jamie is as excited as I am about these vegan experiments with local produce.  There is a plan for a food blog in the works.

...I set the cookies on the table.  Before anyone can say anything or reach  for one, and with barely contained excitement, I exclaim gleefully, "And they're vegan!".