My Best Attempt at Vegan Cooking

The average American dinner consists of a hunk of meat, some kind of starchy food, and a simple side of vegetables...perhaps canned or frozen peas, green beans, broccoli, etc. (I'm making a lot of assumptions in this post so sorry if my stereotypes don't apply to you.) I'm good at making these dinners. No big deal right? But lately I have realized that my diet has been a little lackluster. Everyone wants to be healthy and vibrant and I have come to realize that the true key to health success is a proper diet and consistent aerobic exercise. This is what it will always boil down to folks. So to revamp my efforts to remain fit and healthy, I studied up on Veganism. My goal was to learn how to cook with vegetables because honestly, how many of us know how to use lentils, chickpeas, kale, and the like? So here are a few candid shots of my efforts. By the way, I'm a huge ice-cream monster so I could never be vegan. And I'm not against eating meat either.

My lovely Sweet Potato and Leek Gratin. Looks yummy right? Wrong. It was a failure. I couldn't afford fresh Rosemary so I used dried. And I forgot if you double the dried herb or cut it in half if you don't have the fresh stuff. I figured bold flavor isn't always bad so I doubled it. Ick. Every mouthful was full of dried, pine-needly rosemary leaves. Someday I hope to have my own bounteous herb garden which would have come in handy the night I made this.

Me making Couscous and Vegetables.

Success! This main dish was so lovely! I only wish I would have trusted that a meager cup of couscous would do the job. I think I settled for a cup and half. In the end, I felt the couscous slightly overwhelmed the yummy veggies. When will I learn to trust the recipe? This recipe featured spinach, green peppers, green onions, carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, and kidney beans.

I made this Coconut Cream Cake for my Mother-in-Law's birthday about a week ago. Definitely not a vegan recipe but still really tasty. I topped it with toasted coconut and heart-shaped strawberries for a little flare. I owe my love for cooking sweets to my mother, who as Brian claims, is the best treat maker there ever was. I also admit that I am quite proud of the last-minute strawberry idea. I had never thought of cutting a notch at the top to make them look like hearts until I made this cake.