Today is the first day of Lent, a period of abstinence and fasting. I have decided to relinquish meat, dairy and other animal products.
For the last few days, we have been using up all traces of bacon, milk, eggs and cheese and ensuring that our our cupboards are well stocked with vegan essentials, including beans, whole grains, pasta and rice, nuts and seeds and, of course, lots of good herbs, spices, vinegar and soy sauce for flavour. I am feeling pretty optimistic that eating vegan will expand, rather than limit, my palette.
In preparation, I also ordered a copy of 1,000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson, which arrived this morning (just in time!). There are, of course, many recipes available online. The Vegetarian Society has a handy online recipe database (complete with mouthwatering pictures!), which allows you to search by diet type. But I don’t own many cookbooks and if I am to get serious about vegan eating, then this no-nonsense book looks to be a great starting point and source of much needed inspiration.
In the next few weeks, I’ll be blogging about some of the challenges and triumphs of eating vegan, as well as thinking about some of the environmental, health and social issues associated with a vegan diet.
Interested to give vegan eating a try? Why not join our vegan week challenge, starting 25 February.
Posted by Helen