Opportunity Cost

When we first began our vegan diet there were a few changes that I liked immediately. I no longer had to throw away all the plastic packaging that meat, poultry and fish is wrapped in – or smell it decomposing in my garbage. My garbage is still mainly plastic, as it seems to be the packaging material of choice, but the volume has dropped by about 75%. I also didn’t have to worry about keeping all raw animal protein away from everything else in our kitchen. Instead of having multiple cutting boards and keeping a bleach solution handy, I reserve a few small cutting boards for fruit and make sure I don’t use them for onions and garlic. Not a big deal. I expected that I wouldn’t have to be concerned about the mind-boggling combinations of animal proteins and flavors: Should I make a pork Thai dish or a Cajun chicken dish or a seafood paella….

However the food industry has found a way to make just about everything anyone could think of in a vegan version. I have to assume that some of it is delicious, but a lot of it isn’t very good for us. It is healthier to eat something loaded with oils rather than solid fats, but it’s still mostly empty calories. And you can eat a delectable vegan dessert that’s made with the same refined sugar and flour and as much fat as the non-vegan version. It might be tasty, but it’s not healthy.

I will be perfectly honest – when we go out to eat, as long as it’s vegan, I’m not that picky. We just don’t do it very often. At home we stick to food that’s nutrient-dense instead of calorie-dense. A pound of non-starchy vegetables has fewer calories than a tablespoon of oil, but more importantly, if you choose the oil over the veggies, you lose a great opportunity to load your body with nutrients. Since I truly want to treat my body, I try to choose nutrient-dense foods.

This means that the menus I choose are loaded with vegetables. I rely on recipes created by people who know how to make vegetables taste delicious.

For this week I have chosen some of our winter favorites, starting with Susan Voisin’s Pasta and Vegetables with White Sauce. The ingredients are pictured above. Please let me know how you like the recipes by taking the polls on the recipe pages.

Hugs of kindness,