Branching out into the non-vegan

There are three people sharing this year's farm share: Monica, who is a pescetarian with a dairy allergy; Lindsay, who has no dietary restrictions, but is dedicated to healthy eating and is sympathetic to the vegetarian cause; and myself, a wayward vegan. I can really only speak to my own preferences, so here they are: I won't eat meat in America. Period. We have an absolutely abhorrent and disgusting meat culture, and I won't have anything to do with it. But I will eat meat raised ethically and cleanly by people who respect the animals. I also avoid eggs and dairy, for similar reasons, but since it's very hard to avoid entirely in our culture, I allow it on special occasions at restaurants or with friends. And, I will eat local, sustainably-caught fish (for the time being) (because I'm a fickle hypocrite.) So, since Monica wasn't available for dinner tonight, we made some allowances...



I wasn't planning on buying fish for dinner, but I passed a little market in Southie and couldn't resist some locally-caught cod. So while driving to Lindsay's, I distracted myself by planning the meal. Cod, baked in the oven over a bed of kale and garlic scapes (both from the CSA,) covered in olive oil, lemon juice, bread crumbs, and cilantro. The cilantro was also from the CSA, and gave it a little extra flavor. We baked the fish at 450 degrees for 15 minutes in a foil packet with everything else as previously mentioned, and it came out PERFECTLY. Lucky me! It was really delectable--so good that I didn't think about the downsides of eating seafood.

On the side, we had two delicious veggie dishes: chickpea salad and roasted kohlrabi. The kohlrabi was easy, just roasted alongside the cod at 450. The chickpea salad, which was delicious, was based off a recipe by Goya that Lindsay found in the Sunday paper. It was (roughly) a can of chickpeas, cut grape tomatoes, cucumbers (CSA,) mozzarella, parsley (previous CSA,) thinly sliced garlic scapes (CSA,) olive oil, balsamic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.



It's incredible what two people can whip up in less than an hour with five minutes of planning time. And it's incredible how refreshing it is to share a good, home-cooked meal with a friend. After only three weeks, I'm already seriously valuing these meals, and the conversations and lessons learned over them. Thanks, Red Fire Farm!!