I like challenges. Nothing kills boredom better than attempting something you've never done before. So, in the spirit of pushing myself, I wanted to see if I could be vegan for a week. I'm certainly no health nut and even though animals are great, I really don't have a problem with eating them. Veganism isn't something I'd consider doing permanently, I just really wanted to see what it was like. The rules were simple, no meat or any animal-derived foods for a solid week. It was definitely an interesting week but I'm a bit glad that it's over.
The week started with my lovely girlfriend Season creating a menu for the entire week. She has a 900-year back catalog of Vegetarian Times magazines that came in handy. We took a trip to Whole Foods way out at Metcalf and 9845th street (friggin suburbs) and spent far too much money on all types of exotic, non-animal foods. Since Season has been a vegetarian for the better part of a decade, I thought she had an unfair advantage with this challenge. I think it's fair to say that this week sucked equally for both of us.
Oddly, the no meat, no milk, no cheese, no eggs part of the week was a breeze. The pain was that we were both doing recipes we've never tried before. Maybe more talented people can get an unfamiliar dish perfect on the first try, but we absolutely suck at this. There were a few winners during the week but the losers stand out a bit more in my mind. We were using a lot of ingredients that we hadn't used before and that always causes problems.
So, the week was frustrating, to say the least. Last night was the last straw. I did the recipe I was looking forward too all week: Veggie Vinadloo. How could I possibly screw this up, right? Prep some vegtables, throw them in a slow cooker with some other ingredients, done! I set the slow cooker on its lowest setting so it could cook while I was at work. The entire day I was thinking about how awesome this vindaloo would be and when we finally got home that night, the house smelled AMAZING! I rushed into the kitchen to give it a try. And then…! Meh. Totally meh. It was as if I had bought really great Indian takeout, then ran the food through a flavor-eliminating machine. I managed to screw up the easiest recipe of the week. Go Chris.
I was expecting a week of learning what it's like to live with a really strict diet and what I got was a week of finding out what it's like to ruin half my meals. I guess it wouldn't be much of a challenge if it was a breeze, right?
To commemorate the end of the challenge, Season and I are taking ourselves out for some Indian food perpared by actual Indian professionals. I have a lot of respect for people who do the vegan thing permanently. Whatever their personal reasons may be, eating this way shows an incredible amount of self discipline.