Feed Me, Veggies or Not!

Finding someone who believes eating vegan is a sign of overactive woke-ness is not at all difficult. Can you eat vegan if you don’t wear dreads or chant mantras? Yup. In contrast, there are several reasons a person might choose to stick to eating vegan regardless of lifestyle. Just google veganism and you’ll find an array. But what about someone who just likes delicious, healthy food?

This past weekend, my husband and I traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Through friends, we discovered the National Vegan Chef Challenge (veganchefchallengeSW) in which customers have an opportunity to vote for their favorite vegan menu items in any one of many restaurants locally and also nationwide. Their website offers an outreach called “10 Weeks to Vegan” (veganoutreach.org) for people in several different countries who wish to know how to start eating entirely plant-based. In Santa Fe, we visited a restaurant called Fiesta Oaxaca and sampled several surprising moles, some of which were the original creations of award winner Alberto Lopez who owns the restaurant with his wife Holly Barton Lopez. Wow. I had heard that the Mexican state of Oaxaca is known for exquisite cuisine, and in fact, Sr. Lopez told us he moved from Mexico City to Oaxaca for that reason earlier in life. While not all Oaxacan food is vegan, Sr. Lopez specializes in making vegan alternatives with all of his favorite menu items. People come to him from vast distances to dine on his creations. (I wish I could drive there more quickly.) I melted over a dish called Chile en Nogada—which I thought was smothered in cream but was actually a sauce of almonds and walnuts with pomegranate seeds. (Redirecting me away from cheese is an act of magic.)

I’ll confess I love good food. When one of my professional obligations was ordering lunches for my constituents during meetings, the vegetarian or vegan options I could access for them were sad, at best—sandwiches with no real fillings inside. I couldn’t imagine eating like that all the time and surviving. But when I investigated how to improve my chances of delaying heart disease, I decided avoiding meat altogether was simply prudent. I made my heart blockages disappear within 21 days using Dr. Dean Ornish’s recommendations. Okay, I’ll confess I don’t eat that well all the time. I don’t hope to live to be an ideal. I just want to enjoy my days, so I minimize dairy to miniscule amounts, eliminate alcohol and sugar, and try to control my passion for grains (whole grains can be tasty). In the meantime, I discovered that vegetables and fruits can be transformed into dishes that don’t weigh me down while they fill me up with delicious flavors. They feel good while they taste good.

If you decide to quit eating meat and sugar, at first you still crave gooey cheese, sweet treats (the Mexican chocolate drink in Fiesta Oaxaca was irresistible), and hearty meat dishes. It’s a habit. But if you can replace them long term with plant-based dishes, eventually meat dishes feel horrible in your stomach and maybe in your head. (Your mouth may still like them.) You look at adorable animal pics online and don’t feel guilty. And you don’t have to go 100% to do better. Hey, you have to do what makes sense to you, but I’m telling you if you haven’t sampled really well-crafted plant-based foods (not artificial copies of meats, etc.), you’re missing some great eating.