Why I'm Vegan   

by Glenn McCarthy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought a couple of vegetarian cookbooks and began looking at the meat based recipes I was using to determine which, if any, could be converted. The Cajun Chicken recipe that we both liked was an easy conversion using “chicken” style seitan (click for recipe). It is still a favorite today, even with our carnivorous friends. Another recipe that converted nicely was Chicken Enchiladas (click for recipe). I also discovered a Pad Thai recipe that has stayed in my binder of favorite recipes to this day.

 

A year later, I was blessed to meet my wife. She was the first vegan I ever met. Over the course of time, I was impressed with her diligence and commitment to being vegan and the facts she shared with me about the lives of factory farmed animals. Sometime during our first year together, we were out for breakfast at The Harvest Restaurant on Colorado Boulevard in Denver (no longer there). When the wait person came to take our order, I asked for scrambled tofu, instead of my usual eggs. My wife was surprised by my selection and said that if I wasn’t going to eat eggs, I should do it for me, because I was committed to changing to a vegan diet and not to impress her. She was right, of course. Dedication to being vegan takes a serious, personal commitment. I was ready.

 

Since my conversion to veganism, which was not all that difficult, I think vegan options have blossomed. Many restaurants provide vegan offerings. The influx of vegan-only restaurants has begun, quite successfully. The new plant based food options appear to be growing in leaps and bounds.

 

My wife and I taught a class at Colorado Free University for a couple of years, which was called Transitioning to a Vegetarian Lifestyle. We taught it from a low-fat, vegan perspective, showing people how they could change their diets progressively, or more quickly. We learned from our attendees and hopefully they learned more from us. We learned to always feed them at break. Telling people about healthy vegan food is one thing – serving them healthy vegan food that is delicious convinces them.

 

We started a vegetarian group at our church 15 years ago, The Mile Hi Vegetarians. The purpose of this group was to provide a place for all types of vegetarians and the veg curious to explore eating a plant based diet. We continue to provide information and education through this group, whether through classes, sharing recipes and ingredient substitutions, providing assistance to congregants needing cooking ideas for visiting veg family and friends, and more.

 

I’ve always loved to cook. Becoming vegan opened an entire new world to me of spices, grains, vegetables, and cuisines from around the world. Rather than limiting it, a vegan diet has greatly expanded my repertoire.