Camille + Vegan = WOW

My girlfriend Gina said to me last month "let's do the 21 day vegan challenge" and my answer was sure, why not? Now I'm not exactly sure why that was my answer because I'm a bacon and butter freak and really there are no substitutes to either of these things and I say that even after the vegan challenge but I found some great food along the way.

I asked some vegan and vegetarian friends where to start and it was pretty much the same - make sure you get the vitamins you'll be missing from dairy and meats. Read the label on everything because meat product could be disguising itself in fancy words that don't sound like they would be meat at all. One friend gave me the Happy Cow website and that was a huge help. Another friend recommended a restaurant called Fatty's in Eagle Rock which ended up being our only vegan dining experience and not because we were afraid to go anywhere else or because we loved it so much which we did but because we were so eager to cook.

First vegan market trip.

That chickenless chicken has great texture and color but didn't taste like chicken because it's not. The Earth Balance fake butter was not to my liking so it's still in the fridge with one scoop out of it.

I bought a vegan cookbook but I didn't really use it for cooking but for the info on all things vegan and why we're vegan. I bought SuperFood and drink that every morning.

My favorite meal I really just thru together - brussel sprouts and tofu.

1 lb brussel sprouts chopped

1/2 package of extra firm tofu sliced into 1/2 inch thick pieces

1 Tbspoon olive oil

1 Tbspoon pine nuts

juice from one lemon

1 tspn sesame oil

1 tspn sesame seeds

salt and pepper

in medium high skillet saute brussel sprouts in the olive oil for 2 mins with a pinch of salt and pepper. salt and peper your tofu and add to the pan and let brown about 2 minutes. add pine nuts and let toast a bit. follow up with the lemon juice. turn off heat and add sesame oil and sesame seeds. s&p to taste.

this is my fave dish and I think you can do a lot with it. add ginger or garlic or use almonds instead of pine nuts.