A fat kid's thoughts on veganism

I have admittedly, in the past, been a blatant vegan hater. Dietary restrictions in general irk me. Veganism in particular because it represented a certain brand of lifestyle that just sucked. I liken it to how I felt about straight edge kids in high school. "Have a beer, maybe you'll lighten up a little," I used to tell them. I also hated how veganism can often be a thinly veiled form of some kind of eating disorder. Don't tell me you respect the lives of animals if you wear leather -- it's far too transparent. Instead, just say "I have body image issues because our society hates women and fat people. Therefore I'm finding ways to restrict my diet in hopes that it will kill all my desire for food so I can layer lots of expensive clothes on a gaunt skeleton-like body." I mean, I get that.

However, in the past few years I've become fascinated with the connections between the food we eat and our health. I've become more aware of the effects of dairy and gluten on my body (in case you're wondering these include extreme cases of bloating, farting, pooping, and lethargy). Having watched "Forks over Knives," and read (ok, skimmed) The China Study, I have become interested in the correlation between animal-based proteins and disease, namely cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. And a good friend who suffered from severe stomach ailments is now stomach problem-free after moving to a fruit and vegetable-based vegan and gluten-free diet. All of this has made me "get" veganism a little more. So...I guess I no longer hate it.

Having recently visited the holy trinity of food (Taiwan, Italy and Mexico), I know that I don't have what it takes to be fully vegan or gluten-free. No matter how much my stomach hurts, there is always room in there for ice cream. Or noodles. Or enchiladas.

Despite that, I do realize that if I had to live off of only one food group, it would be vegetables, hands down. They are very clearly superior as a group to every other food group -- the Michelle Obama of food groups, if you will.

So with this new, more tolerant attitude, I have decided to experiment with part-time veganism and eat rabbit-like one day a week. I guess Martha Stewart would call it Vegan Viernes or something stupid like that.

Today, I had homemade granola and cashew milk made in my Vitamix for breakfast (yes, I'm aware of how obnoxious that sounds. I don't care.) and vegan lasagna for lunch. Now while vegan lasagna is something that would have previously provoked my uncontrolled rage, I trust chef Sarah Britton and her recipes. She really gets food. She gets the bare, raw essence of what makes things taste good. She also happens to get nutrition. Luckily it's a happy marriage, and all of her recipes come out tasting amazing. I tried out this recipe for butternut squash lasagna. Instead of pasta, she uses thinly sliced celeriac, which works surprisingly well and does not dominate with its celery rooty taste. Her bechamel was made of butter beans instead of butter and cream. And to keep with the season, the sauce is made of butternut squash instead of tomatoes.

I did not miss the eggs and gluten. I did not miss the cheese. And I really didn't miss the factory ground mystery meat. The combination of crunch and creamy textures was delightful, and the flavors mixed so well that I didn't give a damn that it wasn't "real" lasagna. It was so good I offered some to Annette, the sassy Jamaican woman who cleans my apartment. But she declined, saying she "doesn't eat food, only chocolate." I can respect that too.

30 minute meal for last-minute entertaining

Welcome to the inaugural post of iz.face.food! Here you will find some observations and some tips on eating well and living well. Behold!

This past Wednesday, I had a last-minute urge to make dinner and invited a couple of lovely lady friends over to eat it with me. It was an uncharacteristically hot and sticky post-Labor Day evening, so I felt compelled to make something light and easy with minimal stove or oven usage since in the summer both the stove and the oven tend to turn my kitchen into a steamy place that brings to mind the 6th layer of hell.

I have been (as I tend to be every summer) on a cold noodle rampage of late. There is something completely satisfying to me about a giant bowl of chilled noodles, and it's probably one of the easiest and fastest meals to prepare. For Wednesday's dinner, I decided to try to recreate a delicious soba noodle dish that once tickled my fancy at a yoga retreat in Maine, made by a wonderful natural foods chef named Ilia Regini.

Sesame soba noodles with sweet potatoes, swiss chard, and shitake mushrooms

This took maybe 15 minutes tops to prepare:

1. Boil noodles then rinse with cold water when they have reached a nice al dente texture -- any noodle will do, but soba's robust and nutty flavor works nicely, not to mention its plethora of buckwheat-based health benefits and gluten-free appeal
2. Cook and chop up some yams or sweet potatoes -- I boiled two sweet potatoes for approximately 4 servings. I imagine grilled or baked would be pretty delicious too
3. Slice up and boil a handful or two shitake mushrooms -- I always keep some dried shitakes (you can get them at any Asian grocery store), and just soak them before I cook them. Fresh shitake would serve an equal if not greater purpose.
4. Thinly slice some Swiss chard -- I think any leafy/crunch greens should work well here. Try kale perhaps? I used half of a head of chard for 4 servings.
5. Toss all of the above in a big bowl and dress it with sesame oil (I am partial to the Kadoya brand, as my family has been using it for as long as I can remember) and salt.
6. Top the noodles with a generous shaking of white sesame seeds, as well as finely chopped scallions. Provide Sriracha/hot sauce/and hot peppers as options for those who are hot-inclined.

Tofu liang ban

I decided to complement the noodles with a "liang ban" tofu dish. Liang ban literally translates into "cool mix"in Chinese, and essentially is any chilled appetizer dish in Chinese cuisine. I have never met a liang ban that I have not loved truly, madly and deeply. This is also one of my favorite things to eat when it's hot out, but one of the ingredients (guess which one!) may not be for the faint of heart. 5 minutes tops to prepare:

1. Take a block of silken tofu (firm is fine as well, but I prefer silken)
2. De-shell one or two 1000-year eggs (or, rather, preserved duck eggs, a fine Chinese delicacy if you will)
3. Mix together and dress with sesame oil and salt to taste
4. Top with scallions and cilantro

Tomato and raw corn salad

This was a slight diversion from the Asian/sesame flavored theme of the evening, I needed a good excuse to use some tomatoes from my garden. I've been eating a lot of this salad lately. 5-10 minutes tops:

1. Halve lengthwise about a pint of cherry or grape tomatoes
2. Cut corn straight from one cob (no need to cook, though you can if you want!)
3. Add a small handful of very dry and sharp cheddar cheese, either in chunks and/or shaved
4. Toss in some chopped basil (I used mint on a slightly different variation of this salad recently, and that was also very good)
5. Dress with good olive oil and coarse or flakey sea salt

And finally, I blanched some string beans and just dressed it simply with lemon juice. For dessert we chomped on some extra stinky bleu cheese and the the leftover cheddar, very delicious olive oil and rosemary crackers, dates and nuts, all drizzled with honey, nectar of the gods.

In the end, my guests and I were happily fed and riding off the nutrient-induced high from all those natural foods and whatnot, plus also maybe the wine. Summertime baby, and the healthy living is so easy, peasy!