Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Vegan Mofo III

So I am, by the way, participating in Vegan Month of Food. Even though I don't write about food every day. And even though I'm not strictly speaking vegan, which is to say not vegan. But nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little is my motto, or actually Edmund Burke's motto.

3930562108_f07c8dec17Some little things that I'm doing:

Eating in

  • no eggs
  • no milk
  • no cheese
  • no ice cream
  • And,
  • no non-vegan recipes on my blog

Eating out

  • no visible eggs

So if I'm at Hollywood Grill, I will have french toast but not scrambled eggs. But if I'm at Handlebar or Earwax, I will have vegan french toast.

I'm seeing about no meat at home, too. I mean, I already don't eat meat at home except for tuna. Oh and, rotisserie chicken. I have to figure out my protein. I have crazy blood sugar that I pretty strictly manage with protein. This is why I'm scrupulous about not judging other people's food choices, because it's pretty plain that humans evolved to eat whatever food sources were most available, and yes, I do buy the vegan argument that modern humans have more choices, and can act consciously and with conscience; but there's software and there's hardware, is all I'm saying. And I'm not saying never the twain shall meet, just that it has to be figured out.

An obvious thing for protein, anyway, is tofu. I like tofu. I like tofu right out of the box. I grew up eating tofu, back in the day before tofu came in little boxes. You got it fresh from the Korean store, who got it from... my dad. My dad had a GIANT pot like out of Macbeth that fit on all four burners of the vintage stove in the basement, and a crazy stirring stick that clamped to the side of the pot and that was powered by, like, an outboard motor.

Also insofar as I'm eating vegan, I want to eat "naturally vegan" —i.e., foods that are what they are, and not tofu trying to be scrambled eggs. I can just have a Korean tofu and rice breakfast, after all. But it turns out that scrambled tofu is pretty good, and it's really good with potatoes. I'm still working out my own recipe, based on The Ultimate Scrambled Tofu and Easy Breakfast Potatoes because also what I need is fuel for skating—