Ethnic Dining

In the quest to be a pseudo-vegan family, we have been turning to a lot of ethnic dining, and I have to say, it’s been working out pretty well. The best dishes seem to be Indian, Japanese, and Italian. With Indian food, I generally prefer the vegetarian dishes, anyway, because I’m never sure what sort of meat is buried under all that sauce. We attempted to make sushi rolls the other day (brown rice and smoked salmon), with mixed success. I still have to get my rolling technique down, but it was pretty easy. I made a veggie roll for R, but again, it didn’t knock my socks off.

Italian dishes are the most straightforward and popular, mainly because we love to eat pasta, whole wheat, of course. In fact, we could eat a meal of pasta with olive oil and salt, as long as it’s good olive oil. Very key. Noodles with a marinara sauce is quick and easy. Couple it with some bread and salad, and you have a meal. It takes a bit more effort to cook without meat or cheese, but it’s very doable, and let’s face it, there are entire cultures that eat this way. If anything, it forces you to think more about what you’re eating, and thinking a little bit more about our lives is not a bad thing. It not only engages your brain, which is not unlike a muscle, but eating healthy presents you with challenges throughout your day, and overcoming challenges is good for the mind and soul. I think we as a culture think too little about how we live our lives, especially what we eat. Personally, I blame it on TV and mass consumer culture, but don’t get me started on the path of self-righteousness.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to pirate johnny for the pic.