I'm going to tell you a romantic story. A story of when I first started down this veg life path, as a college sophomore living in the grand state of Michigan. My diet prior to "The Switch," consisted of Belgian Waffles and pizza from the dining hall. I was finishing up a project on the mass production of foods for my journalism class, and was incredibly fazed by what I unearthed. Still my diet remained the same, pizza and waffles. However, on the night before The Switch my old life was quickly meeting its end with a loud bang. I was gathered with friends at Buffalo Wild Wings, a sports bar known for their wings, when a guy friend of mine starts debating whether a woman could complete a challenge to eat something like 20 boneless chicken wings. Well let's just say that I've never been one to sit and debate something that can be proven with action. So I accepted the challenge. Long story short, I did it! I ate 20 boneless chicken wings! Plus one: Women. Minus one: misogyny, ignorance and my stomach.
It was late, I was sick and still had to finish a paper on the mass production of foods in the United States. Maybe it was a combination of stomach sickness-- and watching hours of abuse of humans and animals at meat factories--but the next day I started eating a vegetarian diet, and never looked back. That same year I came home for the holidays, nervous to tell my relatives about my diet change. I didn't tell anyone, and tried to quietly hit up the salad bar. Fast forward to this year's Thanksgiving and we had an entire vegan spread (specially prepared by me, my mom and other family); seitan loaf, mushroom wild rice, rosemary bread, cauliflower roast in lentil stew, vegan dressing, dairy free macaroni and cheese and even vegan desserts! Most of the recipes for these items can be found on Pinterest, but the cauliflower roast and lentil stew was my inspired creation! Replace/use what you want, and enjoy! Happy Food and Family Day!
INGREDIENTS:
Orange Lentils (can use any lentils, try black if you want to be jazzy).
Head of Cauliflower
Celery
Green Bell Pepper
Tomato Paste
Diced Tomatoes
Portobello Mushrooms
Red Onion
Fresh Garlic
Olive Oil
Vegetable Stock
SEASONINGS (season to taste):
Hot Pepper Sauce
Chipotle Red Pepper
Chili Powder
Cayenne Pepper
Kosher Salt
Roasted Garlic Powder
Chili Flakes
Nutritional Yeast
RECIPE:
Okay so first we want to roast the cauliflower, so set the oven to 150 degrees preheat. Next mix olive oil, chipotle red pepper, roasted garlic powder and nutritional yeast in a small bowl. I cut the leaves off of the cauliflower, then poured the mixture over it. Then wrap the entire seasoned cauliflower in foil, and set it the oven to roast for 90 minutes. Yup, long time. While that's roasting, start making the lentil stew. Chop up the celery, onion, bell pepper, whole tomatoes, fresh garlic, and mushrooms. In a pot fry up the chopped ingredient; starting with the bell pepper and onions, which need more time to cook and get soft. After your veggies are a bit cooked, add to the pot the vegetable stock, tomato paste, lentils and water until you have what will look like a soup. Season with any, or all of the seasonings listed above. Bring everything to a boil, then cover the pot, and let the soup simmer until it becomes thickened like a stew. Once it's thickened it's done, just taste it to see if it needs anything else. Once the cauliflower is roasted and soft enough to stick a fork through, it's done. Serve the cauliflower with the soup. All done!
