December Vegan Eats

How is it possible that Thanksgiving was a month ago and Christmas has already come and gone? Did I miss a time warp?

I last wrote about my eating adventures in all their gluttonous glory while I was in Jersey over Thanksgiving. After my post of shame, I vowed to get back to my pre-Chicago Marathon eating habits. Mostly vegan, almost completely vegetarian, and plant-based when possible. And despite this being the time of year when calories sneak up on you and take a long winter’s nap on your hips and ass, I’ve managed to stick to the plan and successfully button all of my jeans again.

While I stuck primarily to some tried-and-true recipes out of convenience this month (find them all here), I did find some new ones that made me do an arguably wine-induced happy dance around my kitchen:

• Pumpkin Rice—Ok, so it’s not October anymore, but I’m not quite ready to let go of fall. This savory meal was more spice-y (read: spices, not heat) than pumpkin-y, so it can be a year-round staple.

You can’t go wrong with a plate full of veggies and rice

• Spicy Grits—If you can tie your shoes, you can make this recipe. You literally toss everything into a pot and watch the magic happen. Also, nutritional yeast FTW! Who needs butter and cheese?

I’m clearly not a food photog, but trust me that this tastes better than it looks

• Kale “Fried” Rice—This recipe had such a unique mix of ingredients that I had to try it out for myself. It didn’t disappoint. I skipped the pistachios though, because those suckers aren’t cheap!

So.Good.

• Chickpea and Lentil Stew—If a recipe calls for Indian spices, you can bet your esophagus (what?) that it’ll end up in my stomach. You cannot go wrong with them. Ever. This made a great belly-warming meal, despite it being 70 degrees outside.

Everything about this screams “winter noms!”

• Quinoa Salad—I’m usually on the fence about balsamic vinegar, because the acidity makes me bust out some serious duck lips. However, this recipe had the perfect mix of spices, so that there was only a little bit of a bite.

I’m also a firm believer that sweet potatoes should be eaten plain – no butter, no sugar, and most definitely no marshmallows

What recipes have you been making to counteract all the cookies you’ve ingested?

I also ate this over the weekend. I never claimed to be perfect.