The makings of a beautiful sandwich

I continue to be amazed at the ability of so many restaurants to mess up something as simple as the veggie sandwich. Perhaps they subscribe to the same philosophy as Korean airlines: Vegan meal = the most bland and boring food one could possibly imagine. No wonder people think you need meat and cheese to make something taste good.

Here are the makings of a veggie sandwich I threw together last week:

-Whole Grain bread: I like the Seeduction loaf at Whole Foods

-Whole Grain or Stone Ground Mustard: Thinly spread on both slices of bread

-Roasted Veggies: I used 1 zucchini and 1 yellow squash, cut in half and then sliced lengthwise and a small potato in thin slices. If I have a red bell pepper, I love to throw that in as well. Sprinkle with some black pepper, a little cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper (depending on your spicy tolerance), a generous portion of freshly minced garlic and a couple of slices of onion (just for flavor). And here's the key to making it more healthy: instead of using salt and oil, toss the veggies with some tamari (a low sodium version of soy sauce). Roast at about 400-425 for 20-30 minutes. You want the veggies to be tender but not mushy.

-Hummus: We like the flavors with peppers mixed in. I find the spiciness of the peppers is a great balance for the smoothness of the chickpeas. This week's flavor of choice was Green Chile.

-Avocado slices: A must. And don't be stingy. If the avocado is small, use half of one per sandwich, it it's large use about 1/4 per sandwich.

-A leafy green veggie. On this particular day I used Romaine. Depending on what we have, I like to use spinach, chard, or even kale.

Pile it all together and you'll have a better veggie sandwich than lots of restaurants.

The finished product:

Back in the fold

One of the most frequent questions people ask about our plant-based diet is, "Why?" Second only to "What do you eat?" The latter always asked in utter amazement, usually with a hint of pity. The blog, by virtue of being, will address the "What?" Allow me to take a moment to address the "Why?"

It all boils down to this guy: Rip Esselstyn; former Austin fire fighter, professional triathlete, amateur nutritionist turned author. We dabbled in healthy eating, whole foods, and vegetarian nibblings, but we had no reason to take a real plunge until Rip. We heard him speak at Book People in Austin, and we took the challenge.

The Engine 2 Diet is like veganism on steroids. Not only does it call you to be "plant strong," eliminating all animal products (meat, cheese, eggs, dairy), it also entreats you to avoid added sodium, sugar, oil, and processed foods. 28 days of E2 eating causes a paradigm shift, a whole new way of thinking about food. I enjoyed the challenge of coming up with new flavors to replace my old stand-bys. I felt more enlightened about my food choices and my whole body felt healthy and somehow more clean than it had before.

I'm not going to lie, sticking to this diet for the long haul isn't easy. No processed foods means you spend a lot more time making things from scratch. Avoiding animal products shortens your list of go-to restaurants, and no added sodium, sugar, etc. makes that list even shorter. I did a decent job while I was single, but then marriage happened. Adjusting to our new life, the holidays, traveling to visit family and friends, my sometimes laziness when it comes to cooking, and our fondness for cheese (and the occasional burger) all added up to us falling off the wagon, multiple times.

Last week we got word that Rip was going to be speaking at Whole Foods on Friday night followed by a plant-strong buffet dinner. After hearing him speak again, we decided to give it another try. We may not be the plant strongest, but we'll figure out a way to stay plant strong; happy to be back in the fold.

The Beginning of a Beautiful Eatership

After a recent post of mine at Justin Schneider's Blog, a brilliant photographer friend of ours at A L Collective, Laura Jenkins, asked, "Do you guys have a blog where you share how you manage to stay on track some of the time? Recipes? Tips?" She is the inspiration for this web log of how we "manage" to stay on track some of the time. We will also include some of our favorite recipes and books. In addition, we will offer some tips to the millions of readers we expect to have by next week. Finally, when people just don't want to cook at home, we plan to add our own recommendations of where to head to find a meal with quality ingredients and wonderful flavor that--on occasion--is healthy.

The title of the blog represents how Angela and I strive to eat. We strive to do a plant-based diet that we supplement with a little cheese, preferably as natural as possible. Unfortunately, we still love the flavor of meat so we still dabble in that when we go out. To my vegetarian friends: We're working on it. To my other friends: I think you understand.

Since Angela is better cook and baker and loves to experiment, I'm sure much of what you read here will be from her. However, I love to share my opinion, so I'm sure I will join the discussion often enough.

We look forward to sharing with you and encouraging you to eat better and eat better food.