Last weekend, I bought a bag of pistachios on a whim, and now I can’t seem to get enough of those little green guys. I’m particularly loving them with dried cherries in oatmeal, but they’ve been manifesting themselves in various ways in many of my recent meals.
One of those non-breakfast appearances was in this recipe, a spicy, almost raw pistachio-pea dip, which I recently whipped up for a quick and easy dinner. [Obviously, I modified the recipe, adding a bit extra lemon juice and cayenne and skipping the step of heating it up.] My only thought as I scraped the bowl of my food processor and licked the spatula: delicious.
I spooned half the batch into a little bowl and assembled what looked remarkably like a party platter.
carrots, celery, cauliflower, kashi crackers, and a bowl of yummy green.
And then, I proceeded to devour it all. [Well, actually, it was more refined than that. I'm a pretty slow eater.]
Still, I got to thinking about the oddity of this meal. We’ve been so ingrained to envision our plates in a certain way: a protein, a carb, a vegetable, a fat. Though I haven’t relied on that philosophy of perfect balance in a long while, there does seem to be a general consensus on how a meal should look, whether it be a plate with all the elements or a one-dish salad or stew.
As time has gone on, I’ve bent my perception of what constitutes a meal, partially as a result of the increased creativity inspired by my vegan leanings. I think it’s actually easier to eat boring meals when they are carnivorous – when I began relying on vegetables, I suddenly felt a world of non-traditional possibilities open up.
That’s how I ended up surrounding a delicious, dense dip with raw vegetables and whole grain crackers and digging in, sans fork or spoon, for dinner. This meal had all the components that a normal one would have; it just looked a little different.
Variety is the spice of life, right? That certainly applies each time I assemble food on my plates.
What makes up a dinner for you? Have the elements changed over time?
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That dip looks so yum! I’ve had the same experience with dinner. I used to repeat the same meals, and as I’ve continued my progression to vegan my dinner menus have really taken off! I actually feel like a whole world of food is now at my fingertips, where as before it was routine routine routine!
What a lovely meal! I do love a good snack plate for dinner, I haven’t done that in a while. I can’t wait to make a good snack plate dinner and dine al fresco. Pistachios seem to be all the rage lately, but I never stopped loving them. Especially in gelato!
i like this post a lot. I often think about the fact that our society has so many norms that we all comply to. Dinner, lunch, and breakfast are all expected to look a certain way. I know for me I tend to like breakfast in a bowl and a bit on the sweet side, lunch to be a sandwich of sorts with various sides, and dinner to be a protein (like a pieceof chicken or salmon or something) with salad and some kind of starch. hmmm you’ve got me thinking!! lol
and i LOVE pistachios- they were actually the first nut i ever liked as a kid :)
Pistachio-pea dip, eh? Sounds interesting! What a healthy dinner. I’m kinda lazy when it comes to dinner. I usually just make something quick that I know will satisfy me like an omelette or a sweet potato with black beans. Admittedly, I grab a slice of cheese pizza more than I should because it’s quick and CHEAP. That’s the downfall to NYC…pizza places are on every corner!!
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leslie! thank you so much for your sweet comment :) you’re right, it’s all about the balance between unplugging and sharing what we love. i’m so glad to have “met” you, and i think you are quite a wonderful writer/artist yourself! & haha, i loove making “snack plates”. i’m about the most untraditional eater ever hehe
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That looks delicious!!! I love pistachios. I really don’t have a set thing that makes up a healthy dinner.. but I generally try to have a protein and some kind of vegetable… though sometimes I just eat what i’m craving, regardless.