1.4.15

So it's certainly been a while! One thing is for sure, my life over the past couple of years has been transformative and transitional. I left school, started working, and moved to a new apartment (here's to hoping 2015 will be a little bit less eventful).

I've been really into healthy eating the past couple of months and in addition to other topics like fashion and travel, I want to start sharing my journey and experiences with vegan cooking for one in the tiny kitchen of my studio apartment.

So here goes nothing!



If you haven't already discovered foodgawker.com, it's time to open up a new window in your browser and expand your palette. I use it primarily for vegan recipes (there are over 30,000!), but it's great for any kind of cooking.

I found the recipes I'm sharing on foodgawker, so I'm also going to include the links to the blogs where the recipes originated. I haven't ventured out into making very many of my own recipes yet, but I hope to as I gain more experience cooking.

First, Apple, Avocado, Cranberry, and Walnut Salad. This salad was excellent in several ways because it was not only delicious, it was also easy. You can easily adjust how much you make at a time, which is ideal when you are only feeding yourself. It was perfect because I didn't have a lot of energy and time today to cook, and only took about 10 minutes to put together.

I didn't follow the recipe exactly, mainly because I don't have balsamic vinegar (forgot to buy it, such a shame!). I substituted Fig Infused Vinegar, which you can find at your local grocery store. I also added a teaspoon of lemon juice because I like the citrus flavor it adds.

Second, Rustic Parsnip Soup. I made this yesterday during a snowstorm, and it turned out to be a great winter comfort food.  This was particularly fun for me because it calls for a few ingredients I don't cook with often - specifically sunchokes. I tried finding sunchokes at my local grocery store, and the employees laughed and tried to sell me artichokes...(sunchokes are also called Jerusalem Artichokes, but are definitely not the same thing). I ended up finding sunchokes at Whole Foods.

The walnut pear garnish is totally optional but like the author says, it really does take the soup to a whole new level. Just remember not to burn the walnuts the first time like I did... (: