How I Eat

It's time for a Thursday blog where I turn introspective an examine my life experience.

I've written about what I eat and where it's from but not about how I eat.

What do I mean?

In the US, meals are often considered a meat-based main dish plus sides or trimmings i.e. we're having chicken for dinner.

Taking a lesson from Japanese cuisine, there is no main dish to any my meals. I typically have 4-5 or five small plates that include salad, soup, rice, and vegetables.

Here's tonight's dinner

1. A bowl of Coconut Barley Pilaf with Corn, Tofu and Cashews (I replaced the chicken in the recipe with tofu)

2. A bowl of Braised Yuba and Bok Choy from our CSA

3. A bowl of Curried Summer Squash with Yuba and Cilantro

4. A cup of Sencha Fukamushi green tea

I savor every dish equally and consider them part of the palette which makes up the meal. The family gathers to discuss the events of the day, the schedule for the next day, and the challenges/frustrations we face at school/office/studio. We often read the Dave Barry calendar page of the day at dinner and comment how the day's Dilbert parallels real life. We serve ourselves individually in the kitchen, picking from a large assortment of random Japanese bowls and plates, so that every meal is a completely different visual experience, sized to the appetite of the day, the seasons, and personal whim.

Grazing rather than eating, enjoying several small plates rather than a main disk, and making dinner the family time of the day works well to keep us together, keep us communicating, and keep us appreciating the wonderful myriad of foods available to vegans.