I love food.
This is not a surprise.
My family, immediate and extended, are the same. And now that I come to think of it, there really isn’t anyone close to me that doesn’t feel the same. Food is wonderful. It is beyond satisfying and celebratory.
Food isn’t just about eating. What you select, how you prepare it, how you feast on it, and all the different people and cultures that influence you are smashed into every little bite of food that goes in your mouth.
I grew up with Filipino food. Filipino food is a cross between Malaysian, Chinese, and Spanish cultures, I’ve been told. How I think of Filipino food can be summed up even more quickly than that: it’s just awesome. It’s rice based with lots of different kinds of ways to stew meat, potatoes, vegetables, fish, rice, noodles, and sauces. There’s no real complexity to the flavoring of things. It’s usually just hearty, stick to your ribs kind of foods. We ate with both fork and spoon at every meal. When Iwent to college, I was dumbfounded to find that most people reserved spoons for desserts and soups.
It also wasn’t until college that I tasted my first salad. I always thought the idea of cold vegetables – with no rice anywhere on your plate – was a novelty. I didn’t grow up with fancy spices or dashes of this or that in the pot. There was no real complicated way to prepare food in our house. The only thing lesson I knew growing up about food was that the best tasting things often take the most time. Foods need time to marinate, soak up the ingredients, or let out its robust flavor. Good eating means good cooking and good cooking means caring and giving your time.
Food tells a story. Regardless of what your diet consists of, there’s ALWAYS a story as to what you eat. Even if it’s drive thru menus or dollar deals at Popeye’s – what you put in your mouth reveals something about who you are.
I began understanding this in my early 20s, when I was introduced to Indian, Thai, and more American gourmet foods. I grew interested in how whole foods were put together to have a completely different taste. I started experimenting and buying spices. Then I started researching recipes on the internet and adapting to my own taste buds. Eventually, the experimenting including dipping my fingers into desserts and baking. Getting over my fear of the oven, I baked my first batch of brownies circa 2005. I wasn’t always this adventurous. When I was 16, I tried to cook my first pot of Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese. CULINARY DISASTER TRANSPORT. I forgot to strain the noodles.
Yeah. That’s where I was 15 years ago. Forgetting to strain pasta.
Too shy to call myself anything but a cautious experimenter in the kitchen, I simply observed others in grocery stores during my shopping trips. Particularly in the produce department, I meticulously read labels and perked up to listen when overhearing a conversation on how to cook arugula or the use of bibb lettuce. As a writer, a sometimes painter, and a photographer, the creative life is always calling me in different directions to experience life – and flavor – more deeply. Cooking is just another channel to better enjoy the rich variety of life.
When Isaiah was born, I quickly began selecting the best foods for my diet. Several weeks later, this was complicated by his eczema and frequent trips to the allergist and pediatrician. For now, Isaiah is allergic to milk, eggs, all dairy, and peanuts. The doctor believes he will grow out of it, but for now, I have to be pretty observant about what I put in my mouth and eagle-eye strict with his solids.
So I, reluctantly, became a vegan+meat eater. I started reading more and more about plant based recipes and how to enjoy a dairy free world, or at least, an extremely limited dairy life.
The basic social functions of my and Nick’s life should just be titled DAIRY FEST because, I swear, there is NO getting around dairy in the ingredients and core solvent in most recipes. The first six weeks were full of bitching and moaning, complete with sulking in the parking lot at Whole Foods.
I missed cheese. Sour cream! Cream cheese! Milk! Cream! Omelettes!
By the 8th week, my passion for food grew in an extremely unexpected way. I learned that there is life without dairy. Seriously!
And with that revelation came a burst of creative energy. Books about the effects of dairy began filling my reading shelf with cook books on how to cook vegan on the cheap. Nick even began tasting my creations and, no surprises there, exclaims, “This tastes great, babe!” (He says that about everything I prepare…)
But the conflict remained: I didn’t want to opt out of all the dairy-ful culture that is the midwest, particularly holiday functions, weddings, and special occasions like Game 7 of the NBA where I will inevitably want pizza while I yell obscenities at Kobe Bryant. That’s life. Things come up that leave you with two choices: eat dairy lightly or starve.
Realistically, I can’t prepare every single meal vegan. Veganism, I’ve found, means lots of prep work and committing yourself to the cooking process. I have no problem with that 75% of the time. But the other 25% – life happens. Hurry up moments drop themselves everywhere. Stomachs growl. Children need to be nursed and you can’t nurse (I’ve found) on an empty stomach. Disentangling myself from dairy and eggs means disengaging with friends and potlucks. I’m not ready for that. Or, at least, I’m not ready to cook something in preparation for every. single. time. I. go. out. to. meet. friends.
I’m trying to be a loose vegan. Meaning, when I have the power and means to do so, I eat vegan. When I do not, I allow myself – lightly – to something else being served. Let me be clear though: I prefer vegan meals. Fully, whole-heartedly, I prefer vegan meals. I think they taste better and make you feel much more healthy. There is absolutely NO deprivation whatsoever, so long as you take the time to cook and enjoy yourself in the process.
For now, I embrace my coined identity as a loose vegan. And to encourage anyone else out there who finds themselves wanting to try something new but is too afraid to do it full force, think of approaching it loosely. Not everything needs to be full force. There’s a reason Nick sometimes calls me “The 4th Quarter Girl.” I tend to be, uh, kind of intense about things. But, for this, I’m going to be doing my best to not be so absorbed and consumed by the details. Approach it with fun. With lightness. With a lot of sway.
This Loose Vegan believes that food tells a story and while I am learning more and more about this particularly lifestyle, and the political insinuation it comes with, I plan to share the ups and downs of this yummy endeavor by writing about different creations and recipes I use. By no means am I am turning my site into a vegan website because there are a gazillion sites that are gorgeously laid out and go much more in-depth than I will ever go. Nope. My sharing is simply for fun and to inspire any hard core burger eater, like myself, to open yourself up and try something different.
Being a light vegan appeals to the side of me that truly does love inventing and finding ways to make something that was once ordinary taste heavenly.
Hop on the LFB delish train.
Loose Vegan Recipe:
Tofu Scramble with Golden Couscous and Blueberry Fudge Mint Smoothie
The scrambled tofu scramble is basically saving my life since I really miss eggs. Here’s what I put in mine…(I don’t measure, I eyeball everything)Extra firm tofu – cut up and dried (cut in half and press paper towels into them to soak up the water) 1/2 sweet red pepper, 1 med vidalia onion, 3 cups baby spinach, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 c cubed vegan monterey cheese
1/2 tp or so of Tumeric, 1/4 ts Ground Coriander, 1/4 ts Curry Powder, dash of bread crumbs
Throw it all in there with some EVOO (add cheese and spinach last) and sautee on med-low until you hear the baby crying and you have to turn it off and run upstairs for 15 minutes while it cooks on the lingering heat. I love golden couscous because of its yummy fluffy texture. I throw in 2 tsp of vegan spread to replace butter. Cooks in 5 minutes.