This is what it has come to. The current global pandemic has been a life-altering event for all of us, even people like me who are fortunate and privileged—my wife and I are still getting paychecks, my in-laws live with us so we have their companionship and help with childcare, and living in Arkansas means we have a yard and abundant other green spaces to get outside safely.
But, even with all those blessings, the constant, enervating grind is enough to jade anyone. I find it difficult to get out of my own head as I watch the case and body count tick steadily upward, which means that effectively doing my job, parenting, and helping homeschool my daughters is difficult, sometimes impossible.
Like many people, however, I have found comfort in food. I got the idea to drastically alter my diet and go vegan, even if just for a week. The idea was not necessarily to be healthier (and I do not think it was, at least not appreciably), but more to force myself to eat out of my comfort zone and experiment. I wanted something new to focus on, at least for a short time.
So, how did it go? Pretty damn well, actually.
My three favorite meals I cooked were spiced pinto beans and rice (with fixin’s, of course), hummus wraps, and bean burgers.
When cooking with more vegetables and non-meat products, I found myself focusing more on texture and color than I normally do. And I found that I had to be more explicit about building flavor through whole ingredients and spices. Simply put, bacon is going to put a richer flavor into most dishes than will any vegetable, no matter how you prepare them. In building those flavors, too, I found myself being more conscious of the way my food looked as well, especially the colors. As the old adage goes, “we eat with our eyes first.”
The best meal to me was the rice and beans. Lots of bold spices (garlic, cumin, chili powder, paprika off the top of my head) were complemented by a rice recipe we borrowed from some friends-of-friends from Mexico, two different homemade salsas (one traditional, one peach), an avocado-corn relish, and a great kale salad with a quick lemon-garlic dressing. Any meal with lots of onions, garlic, avocado, and spices is going to work out just fine.
Side note: we have been eating a ton of excellent kale lately, purchased from local JV Farms. If you are in the Hot Springs, AR area (they’re located in nearby Bismarck, AR), definitely consider purchasing from them.
The next best meal was the hummus wrap. The hummus recipe mostly comes from my friend and mentor Akram, who was born in Lebanon. I added some smoked paprika to it at the suggestion of my friend Dan and substituted peanut butter for the tahini (we were out). I think both additions were perfect for my palette, or at least I could not tell that there was peanut butter in it (ours is very low sugar). Add greens (from JV Farms), shredded carrots, quick pickled onions, and some mini-sweet peppers, and it was the prettiest thing I ate all week. I could not resist pairing it with some southern-style green beans. You’ll have to trust me that the hummus was under all that.
Last was the humble bean burger, modified from this recipe. Was it pretty? Absolutely not. But the recipe built good flavor with just hints of sweetness, acid, and lots of umami. And I added more kale. So much kale.
In all, I really do not think I was much healthier for the week as a whole. Did you know that Oreos are vegan? I ate many Oreos. French fries are vegan too, and were excellent when paired with an Impossible Whopper one day for lunch. And I got to eat plenty of peanut butter, with apples, on pb&j sandwiches, right out of the jar with a spoon…
But the experience was good for me because it gave me a quarantine goal that was beyond surviving. Yes, our situation meant that I had the privilege to add an extra goal for myself. I recognize that.
But I also recognize that, during this crisis, we all need to take care of our spirits as much as our physical selves. Make sure you are finding something take your mind off of all of this, even if it is just for a week.