Friday, May 09, 2008

Celebration.

Yesterday I was talking to a wonderful woman I’ve been feministing with for the past year or so. In that year she has asked me a few questions about why I’m vegan, what I do and don’t eat, and that sort of thing. I’ve always answered her questions but never pushed her on it. Yesterday she told me that since she’s known me, she has started to think more critically about what she eats—and she rarely eats meat anymore. I wanted to do a little happy dance, but I smiled and said that’s great. She’s not going vegan, but the fact that my mere presence has made her think about her food is a good sign! Hoorah! It just goes to show that it pays not to be pushy with friends and comrades. Prolonged contact is a simple form of activism that all vegans can do without thinking about it. More in-your-face conversion methods may be appropriate for demos, but when dealing with people we are close to, simply being vegan makes a pretty huge statement.

I wanted to celebrate that mini-victory, and nothing says ‘celebration’ to me more than Mexican food. But, since I was home alone, I didn’t want to bother with wrapping things in tortillas.

I started to make the “Sweet Potato and Black Bean Burrito” filling from Hot Damn and Hell Yeah, but I wanted to incorporate some sauciness into the mixture so I didn’t have to make salsa. As I was cooking, it morphed into a deep and sexy molé sauced concoction. It’s probably not very authentic, but it was good! The combination of chocolate and chilli is a great one, and it adds a whole lotta depth to savoury dishes. The best part—only one pan to wash up.

½ a big sweet potato, chopped
1 plain potato, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 hot red chilli, minced
½ t. cinnamon
1 T. cocoa powder
1 c. tinned diced tomato (fresh would be good too)
2 or 3 squares organic, fair trade dark chocolate (I think I used Maya Gold)
2 c. cooked and drained red kidney beans

Boil the potatoes until they are potato-salad tender (i.e. not dissolving into mush). Drain and set aside. Rinse out the saucepan. Sauté the onions in a bit of water till they’re soft. Stir in the chilli and garlic and let that cook for a minute. Then mix in the spices and tomatoes. Stir it all up, add the chocolate and the beans, and let it sit over low heat for 5 or 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve in tortillas if you want, or just in a bowl with corn chips. Top with lots of vegan sour cream and guacamole.

Oh! While I’m thinking of it, Liz2 of Kamutflake Girl tagged me to give six words that describe me. In no particular order, I offer you: committed, nerd, scorpio, anticapitalist, sensitive, introvert.


P.S. Check out this article about the monetary worth of stay-at-home mums!

11 comments:

Lovlie said...

I wouldn't have thought of using cocoa powder with these ingredients. I wonder how this would taste like...Hmm! I'm curious to try this.

Amy said...

I really think I need to try a mole sauce. I've always been too scared with it because of the chilli (and I don't think chocolate and paprika will have quite the same flavour somehow).

As for the stay at home Mums. Woo Hoo! (and boo hoo at the same time :P)

Groover said...

Will try this on the weekend. Mmmmhhh, I love potatoes (must be my German heritage :-)

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!! I find that's the best way to reel them in. Don't force it, entice them, they'll see how yummy vegan food can be and be intrigued. I never force anything on my friends, and I find that keeping things more of a mystery makes them come to me with questions.

Alicia said...

Just one pan to wash up. You're my kind of person, hehe.
It's great that you had an impact on that woman! Really great!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

what a delicious way to celebrate!

Bianca said...

Yum! I love chocolate and chili together! I need to get that Hot Damn and Hell Yeah...I've been meaning to for awhile now...

DJ said...

That celebration meal looks lovely, and yay! to you for being such a positive vegan influence!
Thanks for the heads-up on the article, btw!

Amy said...

What a yummy, nutrient-filled meal. And that's great about your friend. Turning vegan usually doesn't happen overnight, so you might see her modify her diet further. Unfortunately, my hope of converting my immediate family to vegetarianism has fallen flat.

Vegan_Noodle said...

You are such a great influence!! That's so cool.

the little one said...

I'm catching up on a few posts I missed in my busy-ness lately. This is great! Getting people to think about their "food" consumption is always a wonderful thing! Yeah for you and good celebration food.