Recent meals

Spicy eggplant & tofu

Ingredients:

    1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
    olive oil spray
    1 large eggplant, diced into 1 inch pieces
   125g firm tofu , diced into 1 inch cubes
    1-2 tablespoons garlic, minced
    1/2-1 tablespoon fresh ginger, shredded
    1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
    2 tablespoons lite soy sauce
    1 teaspoon garlic chili sauce (I use Sriracha)
    2 cups cabbage, cut in half, turn on side and slice into long thin strips to get a “noodly" feel
    1/2 white onion, turned on the cut side and sliced into thin slices (again, for a noodly feel)
    1/4 cup vegetable broth
    1/2 teaspoon sea salt
    fresh ground pepper

I served this with brown rice and lots and lots of spice (hence the need for rice). It lasted for 2 1/2 days for 3 people (2 meals. 1 side dish). 

1. Gently brown tofu & eggplant

2. Add garlic, chilli, ginger, vinegar, soy & chilli sauce

3. In another pan, spray with olive oil spray and add the onion.  Allow the onion to become translucent (about three or four minutes) and then add the cabbage and “no chicken” broth.  Use a fork to get the onion away from the bottom of the pan and mixed in with the cabbage.  Cook for about five minutes, then add salt and pepper and stir again.  Allow this to simmer until the eggplant and tofu are ready. 

4. When the eggplant and tofu are cooked down (they should be dark brown in color), take half of the cabbage mixture and scoop it into the bowl with rice on the side. The cabbage acts as noodles in this recipe.  Heap half of the eggplant and tofu mixture on top. 

Correction

Correction: all those grammatical errors from the last post plus irreconcilably vs 'I find comfort..'. Complete nonsense, but you know what I mean.

I am an on again of again vegetarian and vegan. (see last post. BORING!! Yet somehow I've been pretty committed to the skipping off the plan rather than sticking).

....and to continue... It's hard to justify the ‘off again’ status. A family that doesn’t understand. Not enough attention to getting the right nutrients meaning my health suffers a bit at times. Both poor excuses. Yet I recite them to myself too often.  

Every time I slip back into eating animal products, reality slaps me in the face. Recent example: I have just finished reading the latest Quarterly Essay – an amazing 25000 word (or so) journal published every 3 months (duh!) and written by an Australian on a topic of personal importance.

The current topic: “Us and Them: on the importance of animals” is beautifully explored by Anna Krien. She eats animal products I understand. Her essay is heart breakingly compassionate and delves into the befuddlement of our relationship with other animals and, as an aside, ‘other’ people. Mass market meat from a resource rich (and generally just rich) country consumed by our neighbours; hunting predators to protect sources of meat and income; meddling with the balance between species to make ‘nature’ safer for us; the human benefits and general travesty of animal testing; our wilful ignorance when it comes to understanding the pain ‘animals’ experience (note: this includes pain experienced by American slaves and indigenous Australians….’cause ‘once upon a time’ we thought them not human)  All I know are wrong and uncomfortable and all I know I support by just being here. I can lighten the load by my choices…… but not much.  Our society is based on an understanding that the life of a non-human animal is worth so little in any terms but economic. %$#@# (aka this makes me irreconcilably angry).

I find comfort in chipping away.