Unrelated to this post: stinging nettles are AMAZING. Try them. But don’t touch them with your bare hands.

Last night was a yoga night for me. Lately, instead of sticking solely to AM exercise, I’ve [...]]]> stinging nettles sautéed with garlic, olive oil, and red pepper flakes; sunny side up eggs, horseradish hummus, and whole wheat toast.

Unrelated to this post: stinging nettles are AMAZING. Try them. But don’t touch them with your bare hands.

Last night was a yoga night for me. Lately, instead of sticking solely to AM exercise, I’ve been reserving one evening a week for yoga class. This is mostly an effort to force myself not to go out every night of the week, save a few more pennies, and get a decent night’s sleep. With a post-work yoga class, my evening isn’t empty, but it is calm and doesn’t keep me out too late. Everybody [well, my body, I suppose] wins.

My class last night was 90 minutes [taught by this teacher who I adore] and didn’t end until after 9, meaning I still didn’t arrive home until almost 9:45. Anticipating this, I had prepared the vegetables for my dinner in the morning.  Within moments of my arrival home, toast was in the oven and eggs were warming on the stove, and my dinner was ready before 10 – quick, tasty, healthy, easy.

My sister happened to arrive home seconds after I did, also sans dinner. As I cracked my eggs into the pan, she opened the refrigerator, stared for a moment, and shut the door. “I think I’m hungry, but I’m going to bed soon.”

I looked at her and said, “Well, I’m eating.” She went to sleep, and I enjoyed a quiet meal.

It seems odd that people with such different approaches to food [and well, life] can come from the same roots. I think our differences in personality make our family and our relationship more interesting, but the food thing always gets me. My parents, my sister, and I all share a love for food and an adventurous palate; it’s that mutual culinary curiosity that makes our dining excursions and holiday meals the special experiences that they are.

But the day to day eating – that’s where our styles are all so distinct. So long as he gets his exciting restaurant meals, my dad could happily eat a salad with grilled chicken and a bialy every evening. My mom can survive on a slice of toast and fruit for breakfast, and like she did last night, my sister can decide, “Eh, it’s too late to eat anyway.”

And me? I guess I’m more high maintenance. I need vegetables and flavor and a plate, no matter the hour. It’s just how I am. Sure, I can be flexible when need be, but if too many meals pass without real, hearty food, I stop feeling like myself.

I suppose differences are what makes the world go round. To each her own, and last night, my own meant I got to eat some runny egg yolks for the first time in a week, even if I had to wait until 10 PM.  Oh, and chocolate afterward too.  That’s my way: it’s never too late for dinner, and it’s definitely never too late for chocolate.

share

After my rejuvenating stint in the western country, I arrived in Connecticut with stomach growling last Sunday evening.  Three-hour hikes and airport food will do that to you.

Within minutes of my arrival at my parents’, we three had piled in the car for dinner out: Cupcake [...]]]> roasted fingerling potatoes with sautéed crimini mushrooms, garlic, and ramps.

After my rejuvenating stint in the western country, I arrived in Connecticut with stomach growling last Sunday evening.  Three-hour hikes and airport food will do that to you.

Within minutes of my arrival at my parents’, we three had piled in the car for dinner out: Cupcake shiraz, an extra large vegetable pizza, a basket of bread, salads with chickpeas, and sprinkle-dipped ice cream cones.  The occasion for the bread-fest?  We were devouring everything we wouldn’t be able to enjoy for the next eight days, thanks to our celebration of Passover.

Last year was my first experience doing the holiday “Leslie-style.” We are now on day four of Passover 2011, and I’m surprised by the ease with which the adjustment has come to me this year.  Don’t mistake my words – I would gladly dig into a slice of soft and warm bread, a hot bowl of oats with peanut butter, an oversized scoop of hummus, an Asian stir fry with a generous shake of tamari and a good helping of brown rice.  Grains are tough to do without, but it’s the lack of legumes – beans, peanuts, corn, peas, soy – that really do me in each year.

Still, I can’t exactly deem myself deprived when I get to eat plates like the one pictured above.  At the farmers market this week, I spotted the first sign of spring: fresh ramps, that delicious part-leek-part-onion that signifies the warm-weather bounty is nearly upon us.   I also scooped up fingerling potatoes, fresh mushrooms, and a head of garlic, and immediately I knew what the star of my third Passover dinner would be.

The thing is, Passover isn’t meant to be easy.  It’s a reminder of the truth that we can do without for a while.  A reminder that we are able to sacrifice.  A reminder that we aren’t meant to be satisfied all the time, because many – my own ancestors included – did or do not have the luxury of food-related choice.

And yet, this 100% local plate was certainly a product of the choice and privilege I am lucky to have.  I can’t help but admit that it was a joy to devour, accompanied by a kale salad [also farm fresh - hooray for over-wintered greens!] topped with wild apple-horseradish salmon [courtesy of first seder leftovers].  Now nearing the holiday’s halfway point, I am sticking to my usual vegetarian preferences, as I commented to my mom that four pieces of fish in three days was “way too much animal for me.”   Once again, I have the luxury of that choice.

This holiday is the only time each year when I truly shake up my eating.  It pushes me out of my comfort zone and truthfully makes me a little cranky, but it also serves as an important reminder of the sweetness of my life.  And, it renders dining out nearly impossible – though after a week’s vacation, home-cooked meals are truly welcome.  When I arrived back in the city, I prepared three batches of plant-based, kosher-for-Passover, satisfying meals to eat throughout the holiday.  Dishes clean, I sat down  with the plate pictured above.  I guess I can’t really complain.

♦♦♦

Just as I observed last year, there isn’t a whole lot of help out there for Ashkenazi Jews who are vegan or like me, eat a lot of vegan meals.  I thought I’d supplement my posts from last year with a few tips for those struggling in the middle of the holiday. [Click here for last year's Passover posts, which include quite a few meal ideas.]

I strive to eat a variety of foods in my daily life and don’t obsess about macronutrients, but I think it’s common sense that we need a balance of carbohydrates, fat, and protein to stay nourished and satiated.  With grains, beans, soy, and peanuts off limits, I am relying enormously on nuts and seeds for protein and root vegetables and fruit for carbs.  Some ways I get through the holiday without chewing off my arm:

• Breakfasts such as coconut-banana breakfast pudding, almond flour pancakes, breakfast sweet potato soup, and Greek yogurt with fruit, nuts, and nut butter.
  
• Generous portions of nuts and seeds, such as portobella caps stuffed with raw zucchini hummus, parsnips or potatoes swimming in pumpkin seed mole, crudités or kale chips with nut pates, or simply handfuls of raw almonds or pumpkin seeds.
  
• Avocados – yesterday, I turned one avocado into guacamole and ate the entire batch for lunch.
• Starchy root vegetables, such as mashed sweet potatoes, roasted parsnips, sautéed baby potatoes, or baked acorn squash.  These make snacks, replace grains as a lunch or dinner side, or even work as a component of breakfast.  I’ve got nut-butter crusted parsnips on my dinner menu.
  
• Fruit – I’m relying on heftier fare such as bananas, pears, champagne mangoes, and medjool dates for the quick energy I might normally get from a piece of peanut butter toast.
  
• As usual, I’m enjoying sprinklings of dairy, eggs, and fish where it feels right.  Yesterday was a totally vegan day; today saw an egg in my breakfast pancakes and will see Greek yogurt with alternative charoset for an afternoon snack.

Unless you‘re crazy want to, don’t eat matzah.  No one should have to eat cardboard when you can eat all the tasty foods listed above.  Am I right?

share