Hot vegan!

This last Thursday I finally made it to the Hot Yam! Two of our best friends had been inviting us since a long time ago to enjoy some delightful vegan food at this original concept hosted by the University of Toronto’s students. Everyone involved is a volunteer and they do these lunch parties once a week, every Thursday to be more precise. The food is mostly local, mostly organic and ENTIRELY vegan and you can enjoy it for only 4 bucks!

The lunch is served from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. and don’t be late cause besides the huge lineup the food goes fast. That day they were sold out by 1 p.m., oh yes! I just loved the sense of community of the event; everyone saying hi, open to try new flavours and probably to eat in a different way for the first time (don’t forget it’s yummy vegan food: no meat, no dairy, no animal fat, just creative veggies and spices!).

That day the menu consisted of Borscht (a super delicious and unique Ukrainian beet cold soup, definitely the winner of the day!); kale, rice and nori (a combination of rice with cabbage and seaweed); carrot and white bean salad; and a plum crisp.

This community is so giving that they even share their recipes on their blog in case you loved something and you want to try it at home. Thank you Val and George for this great tip, we’ll be definitely going back soon and I’ll probably even volunteer! This was a great and different way to spend a Thursday afternoon, eating healthy and having lots of fun.

Hot Yam
International Student Centre
33 George St.
Toronto, ON

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Pictures courtesy of: http://veg.ca/content/view/630/114/ and The Hot Yam

Close encounter of the protein type

One of the first questions that I get when people know that I’m a vegetarian is: “So, where do you get your protein from?!?!” (Don’t forget to read it with surprise and a little bit of panic). At the beginning of the process I was as panicked as them and I really didn’t know what to say. My first answer was: “Cheese!” (Like if I was smiling big time for a picture LOL). At that point I knew that I would have to do something about it not only to have a good answer but for having good health. I started reading and finding out that there were plenty of ways to get protein in a vegetarian and delicious way.

I’ve been eating a lot of legumes and nuts like lentils, beans, almonds, walnuts and peanut butter. But this week I decided that it was time to go further and start experimenting with totally new ingredients. So after hearing a lot about this pseudocereal I decided it was time to finally welcome quinoa to my diet. Quinoa’s nutritional value is so rich and special that even the NASA and the UN are including it in their projects under the label of “super food” and “super crop”. It has more protein than any other grain (between 12% to 18% compared with 7.5% for rice) and contains a balanced set of essential amino acids.

I got it from my regular market and found it in an organic version which made it even more attractive. Since this was my first close encounter with this pseudocereal I decided to go with a really easy recipe and cook it just like rice. Instead of the recommended amount of water, to give it a little bit more flavour I decided to put half water and half organic vegetable stock. I like to mix as many vegetables as possible to try to get as many nutrients as I can so while cooking it I added some chunky home made salsa roja (with onions and chiles) and some corn. Thirty minutes later I had a delicious and really healthy meal. It looked pretty much like couscous but with super powers!

The flavour is so similar to rice while the texture is a funny and almost unbelievable combination between soft and crisp. Definitely a versatile main dish that will become a favourite in my food repertoire.

It’s funny to think that only because you decided to eat in a different way to the majority of people you should put more attention to what you eat. The truth is that everyone should do the same. Not because you eat meat means that your health is in good shape. Usually meat eaters consume very little vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds making it a less balanced diet. So be adventurous and try this “super food”. I can’t guarantee you’ll get "super powers" but at least you’ll feel suuuper good!