The Return of Vegan Vednesdays

In the Before Times, I observed Vegan Vednesdays to give an extra push to decreasing my animal product consumption, for the sake of the planet. Even though I don't mind skipping meat too much, Vegan Vednesdays were never easy for me. But you know what, I'm prepared to increasingly lay off dairy to do my part to avoid "a ghastly future of mass extinction, declining health, and climate-disruption upheavals (including looming massive migrations) and resource conflicts this century," as described in a seriously depressing new report.

The "massive migrations" warning chokes me a little after I read this horrific NYT piece about migrants in Bosnia. I cannot stop thinking about it, and pondering how ridiculously fortunate a life I lead. Yes, I can forego animal products once a week. 

To dive into Vegan Vednesdays, you could try "Creamy Coconut Polenta" (The Colorful Kitchen). Make sure to let your polenta sit before serving, or it'll be soupy (but still tasty).

Or you could make "Cauliflower Tacos with Cashew Crema" (Bon Appetit), but if you want to serve it with cheese shreds on a Vednesday, make them the plant-based fake cheese shreds! Seriously, some fake cheeses are not bad. At the risk of sounding like an advertisement (no one pays me for this, sadly), I like the Violife brand.

I used almond, not cashew, butter for the sauce and while I was a little mystified by the concept of grating the jalapeño, it was fine. I didn't use the whole pepper.

And if you have leftover sauce, why not use it the next night on "Sweet Potatoes With Sour Cream and Pecans" (NYT Cooking; subscription required), instead of the sour cream sauce? I LOVED this sweet potato recipe and to be clear, the sour cream sauce is delicious, but again I do not want to live in a world where desperate people suffer from hunger, disease, and freezing temperatures.

This has all been so cheery that I'm going to acknowledge that sometimes I just mix a dirty martini and try to forget the world is falling apart.

Drowning one's sorrows is not a healthy option, but it is a vegan option.