I really strive to be a likable vegan.
There’s a meme I come across all the time (probably because I stalk the vegan hashtag, hmm…) about how you can tell if someone is vegan because they won’t shut up about being vegan. Becoming this meme is my worst nightmare.
I purposefully try NOT to bring up my diet in conversation, so as not to annoy others. I’m not a vegan crusader. I’m not trying to change the world. I just want to feel good. (Perhaps I should have more ambition, hmm…)
Despite my best efforts at playing coy, peeps are so darn CURIOUS about it! Once they confirm I’m not protein deficient, they really want to know more. Why did I do it? Do I eat fish? What do I consider an animal product? It’s not until they realize I no longer eat cheese that I start to hear audible gasps. For those considering taking the plunge, I ask them, “can you really live without chicken nuggets?” This is where I lose them.
Is blogging about being vegan the same as talking about being vegan and therefore make me comparable to the meme I so fear? Hmm…
Time: 1 hour (prep + cooking) | Serves: 3-4
Ingredients:
- 1 package of tempeh, cubed
- 12 corn tortillas, cut in triangles
- 2 tbsp. of soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. of garlic powder
- 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
- 1 onion, 1/2 diced + the other roughly chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 2 jalapenos, diced
- 1 cup of spinach
- 4 tbsp. of garlic, minced
- 4 tbsp. of olive oil
- 4 tomatillos, washed + rinsed
- 1/2 cup of cilantro, + more for serving
- 1 lime
- S+P, to taste
- Avocado, for serving
- Tomatoes, for serving
How to:
- Preheat oven to 400
- Arrange tortilla triangles on a baking sheet, bake 15 minutes, toss ’em around, bake another 5-10 or until crisp to your desire, remove + set aside
- Meanwhile, add tomatillos + 1 jalapeno to a baking dish
- Place in the oven for as long as your chips take, flipping ’em once in the middle of cooking, remove + let cool
- Once cool, halve your tomatillos + chop up the jalapeno
- Add those + 1/2 of the onion (the rough chopped half) + 2 tbsp. of garlic + cilantro + juice of 1 lime + S+P to a food processor, pulse until smooth to your liking, set aside
- Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat
- Add tempeh, cook 3-4 minutes
- Add soy sauce + garlic powder + S+P, cook another 1-2 minutes
- Add nutritional yeast, cook another minute, remove from pan
- Heat remaining olive oil in the skillet
- Add the rest of the onion + some S+P, cook for 3-4 minutes
- Add garlic, cook another minute
- Add red pepper + other jalapeno + S+P, cook another 3-4 minutes
- Add spinach + S+P, cook another minute
- To assemble, add some of chips in the skillet, stir + coat with some of the salsa + tempeh, repeat with more chips + salsa + tempeh until your layered + coated to your liking
- Top with cilantro + tomatoes + avocado + serve hot
- Scamper to a dark corner with your skillet + curl self into ball + secretly eat every bite with your grubby hands
Adapted from Thug Kitchen!
Good recipe and really beautiful photos!
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Thank you so much!!
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Reblogged this on Greenbird’s Blog and commented:
This looks so good. Going to try it soon.
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Please do! Let me know how it turns out 😀
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These look seasoned well and really tasty. Yum!
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Why thank you! They are SOOOOO good!!!
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Love the bright colours in the photos!
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So do I! Makes me want to dive right in!
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I have a new meme for you – take it as my hashtag gift #thegentlevegan #veganhumour #justdoyou – it is a turn off to be lectured by others but you never ever do that. I take you as a beacon of light shining with good humour on a world that takes itself far too seriously and you have taken this attitude into veganism – you should be the guru that others follow. With smiles. Always smiles 🙂
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Stop making me love you so darn much!!! Adopting #thegentlevegan immediately.
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Hurrah … so glad you like it 🙂
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I was thinking in the line of “Vegan Anonymous”, and it would be a total killer on a T-Shirt! ( from the guy who brought you the Mole skin Moon Boots) 😉 😀
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OMG you are really onto something here! I see t-shirts, bags, buttons, the works!
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I’m a vegetarian, but as I live in the Balkans, where people don’t wait to get to the cheese before they gasp, your thoughts on being vegan are SOOOO relatable.
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Oh, that makes me so happy! It’s such a delicate balance we must strike 🙂 in it together!
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I’ve coming up on my 22 year vegetarian-iversary and being an Obnoxious Vegetarian is my worst nightmare. I go in the opposite direction that people swear they never knew that about me. So I totally feel you!
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Hahaha but you’re my hero that you’ve kept it up over 20 years AND not helped along our stereotype! Love it.
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This looks yummy
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It realllllyyyyy is!
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