Delicious First Dinner

I figured hearty was the way to start out my week because:
1) I bought pasta at the store
2) Pasta dishes are usually quick to make
2) I generally come home from work feeling like my stomach is eating itself
3) Pasta is a comfort food for many people, so, in the hope of avoiding any feelings of loss and/or deprivation--a tactic I believe to have been successful--I made pasta.

The recipe was pretty simple. I sauteed onions, greens (you could use anything, but I used dandelion leaves, turnip greens, and spinach), and garlic (I don't really time things when I cook, I just add ingredients to the pan as I finish chopping them) in olive oil and a bit of water until the greens were wilted. You could add Italian spices if your heart desired, but I only used salt and pepper. At the last minute, I added a few Kalamata olives just to heat them through.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume everyone can boil pasta (whole grain, of course), which I did, then tossed with olive oil. I topped the pasta with the leaves and drizzled everything with a bit of balsamic vinegar. Hearty, and full of flavor!

The Green Smoothie

I've always been a breakfast person (and you should be, too); lately, I've also been a dedicated smoothie maker. With health and sustainability in mind, there's no time like the present to go green.

I've done green smoothies before, but I usually just added spinach; this week, I'm going all out. I chopped cucumber, celery, kale and spinach (I also saved the celery stalks and kale stems--they make great veggie broth). I'm also using orange juice, a banana, and frozen strawberries.

I know the pre-preparing seems extreme and anal, but seriously, it took me 20 minutes to chop and bag everything; plus, my smoothie making the next morning was extremely simple.

I'm perfectly aware that anyone can throw a bunch of stuff in a blender and turn it on, but I choked down some nasty green liquids before making a smoothie I could tolerate, let alone enjoy--so take my advice.

That said, be liberal with your greens; once blended, they shrink to nothingness in the bottom of your blender--so load it up! I blend the greens, whatever liquid you plan on using (juice, soy milk, green tea, whatever), and any non-frozen fruit you're using, in my case a banana.

I found when using frozen fruit, if you blend your non-frozen ingredients first, everything ends up smoother in the end--always a desirable outcome when making "smoothies"--and you avoid the never-pleasant, in-tact-spinach-leaf-in-my-smoothie fiasco.

As a side note, when using greens with strong flavors, like celery and kale, make sure you use at least one sweet fruit in your mix to cover the the green-y flavor. My go-tos are mangoes, pineapple, and bananas. What else you add is your decision entirely--my choice of strawberries tasted great, but the color wasn't exactly what I would dub appetizing.

Welp; bottoms up, I suppose. To health!

The 28 Day Challenge

Tomorrow marks the first day of 28, in which I will eat 100% vegan meals, proving to many nay-sayers:
1) I will NOT keel over dead after a day without meat;
2) 28 days vegan does not mean 28 days of salad;
3) The pictures I post of my meals WILL, indeed, have you salivating and unsatisfied with your fast food and frozen dinners.

I should also mention, while the market for vegan substitute products is gaining momentum, I do not intend to rely on the same old recipes by simply substituting a vegan version of my favorite meat and dairy products; these foods, while perhaps better than the alternative, are still processed and not in line with my real goals--overall health and culinary creativity--and do not make economic sense, given my limited income. 

While this is not a pledge to stave off eggs and dairy forever, this is my attempt to reduce my own consumption of un-sustainably produced, processed, and hormone infused "foods." It is also a public invitation for anyone entertaining the idea of veganism, or simply wishing to consume less meat and fewer animal bi-products--be it a meal-per-week, a vegan-until-dinner, or an all-stops-out approach--to become a more responsible consumer.