Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Kenji, I started eating vegan just a few days before your first post. I am into week 5 now, still hoping for some weight loss that has eluded me so far, but liking the experience overall. I intend to stick with it because I believe it is right, for my health and the health of the planet, but I have decided to be an "imperfect" vegan. What this means is, I drink 3 cups of coffee in the morning with skim milk. Also, I may sometime in the future eat a small pizza made with a spinkling of parmesan but no mozzerella. Also, I don't delve too deeply into the occasional dark chocolate chips and dark chocolate coatings-- if they have a bit of dry milk solids, so be it. I am not perfect, not trying to be, and actually no one is, except for maybe a few Buddhist monks.

A coupla days ago, I had a carrot, a zucchini, and a yukon gold potato all threatening to go soft, so I made a soup with them , with the addition of 1/2 cup of lentils, celery salt, and a small onion. I grated the carrot and the zuke to get all the flavor out of them, cubed the potato small, and seasoned with plenty of pepper. It was delish.

While I chopped, I watched an episode of Chopp'd to inspire me to make use of what was on hand.

@Carrie Vasios You are not alone. At least one other person (moi) likes things burnt. And now my son is a convert, ever since I burnt a batch of gooey maple blondies in mini muffin pans. To die for!

With cream cheese, yes, and jam-- makes a quick "cheesecake snack." Butter, no. There is no justification whatsoever.

Sorry but I had a husband (past tense) who thought it was appropriate to spread butter on everything. His mommy encouraged it. He grew to be 300 pounds and was still spreading butter on stuff that didn't need it.

Chickpeas? No thank you! I hate that grainy texture. I have no idea where to find all these different chilies. My new favorite dry beans to cook are "small red beans." They don't take forever like dry black beans, and they don't turn to mush. It's not hard to cook dry beans rather than use canned.

I am glad I am not a fanatic or I'd be going crazy-nuts now. I am finally starting to feel different/better around my waistline 2 1/2 weeks into my own vegan adventure. Oh, and all my LR furniture is leather. I am not throwing it out! Those animals are already dead.

I envy you. I must be the only person who goes vegan and gets fatter. I am closing in on my second week and could barely button my pants this morning. There is no reason for this! I have to be taking in less calories than before. I am quite disappointed, to say the least.

I hope the animals appreciate this!

My dad once took a big drink of iced tea through a straw and the next thing he knew, he was spitting out pieces of a dead cockroach. That haunts my dreams.

@cheavans ""Cutting animal fats our of our diet and consuming fewer calories (both of which occur when you go vegan) have been pretty rigorously proven to be healthy." I'd take issue with that. I'd love to see the research that supports it because certainly the stuff I've read and written doesn't say that at all."

What have you been reading and writing? Wait, you're going by stuff that you yourself have written? OK, nevermind.

@J.Kenji! I just went vegan last Sunday, so less than a week. I made the decision to at least try it because I can still eat my favorite bread plus nuts, sweet potatos, salad, some Mexican foods I love, and because the young lady in the office next door got all willowy on vegan eating and I want that.

Then I made the mistake of reading about the horrors of animal farms.... Now I guess I'm in it for the animals too. I don't eat the fake meat, fake cheese, or tofu pretending to be other stuff. But so far so good.

Eating stuff like this would make me very fat I'm afraid. Plus it looks unhealthy. Am I the only one with such concerns?

You will probably turn a few folks vegetarian with that photo. I am considering it...

As I customer, I would find there to be something slightly unhygienic about it. Even if it is not, that is how I would feel. You are handling my food and also putting food in your mouth. No. Do it out of sight please. I have waitressed in many different situations and was always able to eat out of sight of customers.