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!