Velcome to Vegan Vednesday. Pretty straightforward, right? A day of VEGAN FOOD :)
My interest in and trials with vegetarianism and veganism go back a long way; I used to test myself and spend weeks or months being entirely vegetarian. Unfortunately, these tests occurred around the ages of 19 and 20, when I was first acquainting myself with food and cooking. I felt limited and held back, and didn't know anything really at all about being vegan or vegetarian, or what nutrients my body needs. Needless to say, I ate a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches and cheese pizza, and celebrated the day my self-imposed trials were over and I could eat meat again- which I then ironically paired with grilled or roasted veggies, beautiful spinach salads and fruit.
Over the years, as I've lived longer and longer on my own I've developed a more balanced approach to food and cooking. I realized, often after the fact, that many of the meals I made myself were vegan or vegetarian. I hadn't aimed for these qualifications on purpose; I just cooked meals that seemed delicious. Roasted sweet potatoes and onions, huge quesadillas chock full of spinach, salads with avocado and black beans... yum.
At this point in my life, as my relationship with food and approach to cooking is still developing, I know that I'm not ready and do not desire to be 100% vegetarian or vegan. However, one of the most important lessons I learned from the goddess of veganism, Bonzai Aphrodite, was that being vegetarian or vegan does not have to be an all-or-nothing thing. Many of us have a preconceived notion (evident in my "trials" with vegetarianism) that starting a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle is like flipping a switch, and if you mess up, you've failed. But incorporating vegan and vegetarian meals, both consciously and unconsciously, into my kitchen is delicious, fun, and enriching.
Yesterday (Vednesday), my morning and afternoon were crazy busy- I didn't have a lot to do, but I had a midterm in my Finance class. Understanding public finance, economics, and the intricacies of insurance are not my strong suit in academics, and I
Luckily the midterm went alright, and my younger brother Chad, who is a freshman at Ohio State invited me to dinner at the dining hall. I always like when he asks me to have dinner, but I wasn't in the mood for campus dining hall chow, so I invited him to my apartment for dinner instead. Avocado-pesto pasta... I'm officially in love.
One of my friends at school, a vegetarian herself, had made a dish like this about a week ago, and I thought it sounded interesting. Ironically, later that day I hopped on Pinterest to kill some time and saw not one but two recipes for avocado pastas. I had to try it; all my favorite ingredients! Garlic, basil, lemon, and avocado. I've never put basil and avocado together before, but it turns out that my favorite green staples of Italian and Mexican cooking are best friends.
I didn't take any pictures of the prep work; mostly because it literally took me maybe five minutes to make this meal. I glanced at the two recipes linked above beforehand, and then winged it with my own idea of how much of each ingredient to use. I started cooking spaghetti, and while it boiled I made the sauce. I tossed an avocado and a half, a (generous) handful of basil leaves, three cloves of garlic, the juice of one lemon, a drizzle of olive oil, and a dash of kosher salt into my blender and flipped the switch. Done. Seriously. How easy! When the pasta was done I drained it in a colander and returned it to the pot where I tossed it with the avocado-pesto, as I started calling it. Topped with a bit of fresh ground black pepper, and voila!
I dished up two bowls. Chad was skeptical, and I had bought him a frozen personal pizza just in case he didn't like the pasta, since he had two meetings and a trip to the gym planned after our dinner. But he was willing to try it!
Yeah. He liked it. He even dished himself up another bowl and now I have no leftovers. Oh well :)
omg so goooooooooood.
Major pasta win. This was one of the easiest dishes I've ever made- all I had to buy was the avocado and some fresh basil since it's wintry here and I have no basil on my balcony. Everything else I always have on hand. Also, it's pizza-and-sub-and-burger-eating-college-kid approved! Haha.
Oh Vegan Vednesday, you will bring so much deliciousness to my weeks.
I saw Chad today and he said your pasta last night was, like, one of the best pasta meals he's ever had! Yay!
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