Here we are, day three, and I’m still having fun with vegetables. I can still stand the site of greens, am still inspired by the sight of squash and am not ready to relinquish the challenge. That being said, I’ve realized that being vegan on a college campus is hard. If it wasn’t for my obsessive cooking tendencies and love of vegan experimentation, I’d be struggling. There are simply not a lot of vegan options out there for campus dining unless you feel like living on salad all week.
Photo by Amanda Shulman
Breakfast: My oatmeal was pink and I loved it. I took a few frozen strawberries and heated them in the microwave, mashed them into some of my big batch of steel cut oats, warmed them through and topped them with bananas, cinnamon, maple syrup and almonds. Talk about taking strawberry banana to a whole new level. I kind of felt tropical.
Lunch: Lunch was some of last night’s parsnip cauliflower soup. Soothing and soul-warming, and absolutely dirt chip, this baby will make the non-vegan cut when this week is over.
Photo by Amanda Shulman
Dinner: Dinner was roasted beets, mixed with their stems which I cooked down in a pan with some water and olive oil. I halved the beets, wrapped them in foil with a little olive oil and salt, then sent them to the oven to roast for 45 minutes. Then there was a Mediterranean inspired couscous with chickpeas, tomatoes, olives and scallions. Yum.
Dessert: MORE cookies! Being vegan with cookies is much easier than being vegan without.
Final thoughts: To be honest, I miss fried chicken. I miss options on campus and while I’m feeling good and thriving off of this plant party, I wish more restaurants/campus spots carried vegan goods.