Week of Vegan! Day 1, Tuesday.

As a vegan, I get a lot of questions about my diet. Some classics include "What do you eat?", "How do you get enough protein?", "Don't you get hungry for real food?", "Do you have to take supplements?", "So you don't eat bread, right?", "Are you a fruitarian?". 

So, I'm launching a weeklong project to document the diet of a real-life vegan. Today is day # 1. I think the results will answer people's questions about what I eat and how I meet my nutritional needs. My hope is that people will feel inspired to try a recipe or two, and perhaps even experiment with a couple of meatless meals if that isn't something that's currently in their repertoire. Perhaps I will also be successful in demonstrating that vegan cooking doesn't require more time or preparation than omnivorous alternatives and it can be done relatively inexpensively. It helps to rely on whatever produce is in season, and that will vary depending on where you live. When I'm out shopping, I try to look for fruit and vegetables that are $2 per pound or less as a good rule of thumb. 

The photos were taken on my phone, so they're not the best, but I'm working on it. 

*Recipes are included at the bottom of the page for marked items.

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Breakfast: 

- store-bought English muffin with peanut butter

- nectarine

- coffee

Lunch: 
- baked sweet potato with avocado and salsa fresca*
- raspberry banana smoothie*

Snack: 
- red bell pepper with goddess dressing dip
- dried mango slices
- iced pomegranate tea 

Dinner at Cha-Ya, Berkeley's vegan Japanese restaurant: 
- hijiki and wakame salad with tahini dressing
- udon noodles and vegetables in broth
- Sapporo beer
- homemade molten chocolate cake in a mug*

To make the baked sweet potato with avocado and salsa fresca, rap the potato in foil and bake at 400 degrees for an hour. Or, if you're short on time, just pierce it a couple of times and throw it into the microwave for 10 minutes. Cut in half, top with avocado and store-bought salsa fresca. Easiest lunch ever.

For the smoothie, you need to bust out a blender. Add 3/4 cup of non-dairy milk, 3/4 cup frozen raspberries, one banana. Blend.  

I've already shared the recipe for the molten chocolate cake in a mug, but I'll share it again because it's just so good. I mean, it's a chocolate cake that you can make in single serving sized portions in under 3 minutes, including cooking time. It seems too good to be true, but I've tried it again and again and I can confirm that it is, in fact, really true. It's also totally foolproof. If you have a pet monkey, you can probably train them to make this. Get a mug, add 4 tbsp all-purpose flour, 4 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp cocoa powder, 2 tbsp oil, 4 tbsp water and a pinch of salt. Microwave for 60-90 seconds. Bam, that's it.