On Food

We’re in danger of having our foodie license revoked.

Foodies are supposed to cook, supposed to experiment with food, and by virtue of the name, supposed to love food. We are! We do! However, we’ve kind of fallen down on the job in terms of blogging about it. Once D. dropped out of Daring Bakers and T. canceled the garden box, we took a giant step backwards from the whole food thing. After a sedentary term with deadlines and revisions, we realize we’re in dire need of fresh ideas and inspiration in order to get back into cooking and eating well. And we’re heading in a new direction — toward eating more vegetables.

Here’s a pathetic fact: many vegetarians actually don’t eat all that many vegetables. We OD on bread and starches, we get obsessed with cheese, and we become accustomed to being the people it’s a lot of trouble for omnivores to feed, and so we learn to make excuses. “Oh, no, I’ll just have some pasta,” and “Don’t worry about me, I’ll just have some bread.” Which is kind of sad. Sure – bread and pasta are awesome, and we can all eat cupcakes — it’s nice to have things that we can share. But vegetables are so good — why aren’t we celebrating their general awesomeness? Why aren’t we making veggie dishes and pushing them on unsuspecting friends?

After hearing the regrets of a friend who spent most of his life turning up his nose at the more “exotic” vegetables — in his case, exotic was practically anything that wasn’t peas and carrots — we have vowed to get past our childhood veg phobias (asparagus and Brussels sprouts, here we come) and experiment with new ways to prep and enjoy them. That’s why it was so exciting to see the savory cheesecake at eat me, delicious, the gorgeously orange sweet potato and red lentil soup at Crunchy Green Things, and the slew of soup offerings at Tinned Tomatoes (which shames us, as she manages to do all of this veg experimentation despite having a wee [teething already!!] bairn on her hip).

In our defense, everyone gets burned out over the winter — food becomes more a matter of comfort than experimentation. But Spring is coming — despite the windy, gray days — and our bodies crave a change.

One special food blogging effort is The Great VEGA’N VEGETARIAN Project. Our friend Cyn is a food writer for her hometown Barbados newspaper, and took up the challenge of fixing a vegan dinner for friends who confessed that they weren’t often invited over because they were considered “difficult” guests. Cynthia and her crew have an international feel to their site, as her contributors are from South America, India, the Caribbean, China, and the U.S. We gain a lot of inspiration and menu ideas from these foodies, who, although not necessarily vegetarian or vegan themselves, are nonetheless committed to unique flavors and fresh takes on vegetables.

It has been an incredibly long winter, and it’s still not quite resigned itself to moving on. However, we’re ignoring all of that, and moving forward ourselves. It’s raw out and windy, and we’re desperately seeking the fresh new flavors of the season to tempt us into eating well. We’re in need of challenge and inspiration — from you. What’s on the menu at your house these days?