Coming at ya fast this week with a second quick blog post. This one is just to let you know that I’ve got a new article up over at Tenderly:
READ: “A Non-Vegan’s Guide to Creating a Vegan Dinner Party Menu.”
Now, look, I am not vegan. But I’ve evolved a lot over the past few years. Once upon a time, I would have cringed if I had to adjust my cooking plans to accommodate a vegan diet. I’ve since come to realize that what I was really cringing at was the word “diet.” So much vegan ~content~ is all tangled up in the bullshit morality of wellness culture that I’m just not on board with. “Vegan” so often gets conflated with “healthy” which so often gets conflated to mean “thin” and “white.” But there are fat vegans, thin vegans, healthy vegans, unhealthy vegans, and vegans of color.
So I wasn’t cringing because my vegan friends were making ethical and compassionate decisions about their use of animal products, I was cringing because I associated vegan food with things like bland tofu and bland bean burgers and bland cauliflower rice. Things that people have served me because they’re “healthy” and “taste just like the real thing” (they never do). But guess what? Regular rice is vegan! You know what else is vegan? French fries. (And screw cauliflower steaks. No one likes them.) And I’m thrilled that my piece found a home at Tenderly, because Tenderly is doing some truly radical, compassionate work to untangle those assumptions and reject those stereotypes about vegans and vegan food.
Making food for people is my love language, and my vegan friends deserve better than their only option being a hastily assembled side salad or sad plate of broccoli. That’s not anyone’s love language.
Now, when my vegan friends come over for dinner I don’t panic. I enjoy the puzzle of taking recipes I love and making them vegan, but nothing delights me more than discovering a recipe I already know and love is “accidentally vegan.” From lentils and potatoes to pasta with all kinds of sauces, a DIY taco bar, and a variety of delicious desserts, say goodbye to making a whole second entree for your vegan guests. And don’t you dare even think about googling cauliflower steaks.
Clink the link below for all the recipes you need to host a dinner party that just happens to be vegan.
