16 March 2010

Vegetarian for Three Weeks and Counting

I haven't eaten a single piece of meat, including seafood for three weeks now. It hasn't required that much intentional effort since I ate very little meat to begin with.

I went to an amazing Indian restaurant with my great artist friend, Jantira and I was able to order a completely tasty, SPICY, fulfilling meal with all vegetarian options. I went to the Spice Market with Amber and again, we were able to order a huge meal to be shared and it was completely vegetarian. I want to do reviews of both those restaurants soon!

At work, I'm often faced with challenges regarding my eating. It's harder to eat organic here and when lunches come it, we often just grab what's there. This time though...like yesterday, I just made sure I was intentional. Veggie Burger and Cajun Fried. In reality, I shouldn't even be ordering that. In actuality, I should be bringing my lunch each day because then I'd know my food came from the local CSA and its organic and sustainable.

(It trips me out that things can be organic but not sustainable. Or things can be natural but not organic. Or things can be environmentally sustainable but not culturally sustainable. I'm reading the book version of Food Inc and there is a section where the guy talks about heirloom tomatoes and he talks about what use is it to have an organic tomato, if the people who picked it are being mistreated, underpaid, and put at risk. So sure I eat organically, but is it sustainable environmentally and culturally? This freaking rabbit hole keeps getting deeper.)

As is, I have maintained a completely vegetarian eating regime for three weeks. Next week, after completely moving into my AMAZING apartment with the BEST KITCHEN ever, I will venture into a week of veganism. I did it once last year. The hardest part was not putting cheese and sour cream in my vegetarian gumbo. And after that, perhaps a week of raw food. I've been toying with that idea for YEARS! I even dated a raw foodist once. But I haven't taken the plunge. After finding the amazing blog , Raw on $10 a Day, I have renewed hope. I can't even begin to tell you about the amazing cheap recipes this woman concocts. Basically, I'm going to have to do a post just on her and her blog! Maybe I can even get her to do a granola interview.

The best vegetarian dish I've had in the past few weeks. Hmmm..the avocado, onion radish salad from the Spice Market and their stir fried asparagus with lotus root and lily bulb. God, you just have no idea!

What is your favorite vegetarian dish?

By the way...its a little hard being a vegetarian when you don't like mushrooms or eggplant. I personally kidn stand either.

6 comments:

misslycia said...

Congrats to you for being conscious about your food choices. It's an ongoing evolution, and you've taken great first steps. :-)

I can't decide what my favorite vegetarian dish is...everytime I think I have one...I find something new! lol. I love caribbean, ethiopian and indian food, and raw desserts. Lately, I have been devouring this raw "tuna" salad made from carrot pulp. Mmmm....

Chizzy D said...

good job....i've been vegan for almost a year now... check out my site simply natural

Jantira K said...

i find the whole argument for and against sustainable/local/organic food really interesting, especially how it fits into the global ecology/economy, which is something i think most people don't think about. and often times it is not a good impact. it's a really tough argument for both sides and now that the food industry is so sneaky about how they label things and what qualifies as organic/sustainable it is even harder to know exactly what impact and where your food is coming from. i'm really glad you posted about this though.

Sheena LaShay said...

@MissLycia, after eating at an amazing Indian restaurant and having a tasty spicy meal, I realize I haven't given indian much of a chance. I also love asian vegetarian dishes. Tell me more of raw desserts.

@GoHard, Vegan for a year. Sometimes I like cheese. What do you do to substitute for cheese.

@JantiraK, you should read Food Inc. This book is tripping me out. Especially since there are articles on both sides and its making me confused. Not confused. Its just stretching my paradigm of thinking.

Chizzy D said...

Im not much of a cheese fan, but i do buy vegan cream cheese...the brand is called Tofutti. I really like it. I think you will too:)

misslycia said...

Sly, raw desserts, where do I start? ;-) To me, they are much easier to make (and tastier) than baked desserts. Check out the book Ani Phyo's Raw Food Desserts. Let us know if you try any of them.

I have a few raw dessert recipes on my site. I'll be posting some more soon.