Starting the year with health, a little grace
CHICO » Is it possible to start 2021 with a new, positive outlook on our relationship with food?
After such a year, it feels more caring to, this time around, have grace for one’s self and habits after months of lockdown and changing restrictions on how we engage with food in order to protect ours and others’ health. Food can be such a social activity and I think this past year made most of us more aware of our own habits when faced with staying distanced from others more often — and whether we wanted to make big changes or found new habits changing as things grew more difficult.
While the period after the traditional holiday season can be a good time to reassess a relationship with food that’s become unhealthy or a source of insecurity, this is not a good year for beating yourself up for indulgences or hard times.
Eating for comfort is one way some of us respond to repeated trauma, and it’s certainly been a year of seemingly inescapable trauma for many.
It also doesn’t sit well with me to place so much emphasis on the usual New Year’s resolutions to “start clean” or go
on a new diet, when so many people are food-insecure, more so than ever in a pandemic. I’d rather focus right now on eating for positive reasons like increased wellness of your mind and spirit. Often, increasing your intake of plants and slowly decreasing processed foods can have a huge impact on your mindset, energy and lots of other factors.
Healthy eating, reasonably
If you do intend to start out this year with more intention about nutrition or eating healthy or plant-based, more power to you. That’s generally a great start for helping with physical and mental health. But instead of going hard on sudden diet changes that can be damaging, like 14- day juice cleanses or 30- day raw meal plans, there are much more gentle ways to ease your body into a plant-based foundation.
For example:
• More raw veggies at every meal are great. But instead of forcing yourself to stop cooking anything, start small. Add sides to meals, like seasoned raw carrots, cucumber and olives. Onion is great for tossing with a sliced tomato and peppers.
Once you start introducing more small portions of raw foods to your dishes, the body can handle more frequent meals consisting of just vegetables.
• Adding more fruit or vegetables to each dish can be done without going raw, and without sacrificing comfort food. I suggest looking for cookbooks that are focused on this purpose, like Jacon Wrobel’s “Eaternity” or find recipe blogs that have more options for people who are simply looking to increase their plant foods intake over time.
• Or just try a clean week — go seven days and see how long you can cook meals without one thing, like using any oil, or processed flour, or white sugar, if you can. Each time I do this I find myself getting more creative, and more capable of noticing the foods I am becoming too dependent on. If you can’t live without, at least you gave it a shot!
Avocado Zoodles
Ingredients:
• 1 zucchini
• 1⁄2 to 1 full avocado • Lemon juice, 1 tablespoon or more
• Pinch of salt
• Dried oregano
• Dried basil
• Optional: Vegan cheese of choice
DIRECTIONS » Mash the avocado in a bowl with salt, lemon juice and basil, and stir until well combined. Taste and season again if desired. Spiralize a whole zucchini. Toss in a bowl with the avocado cream until well coated. Season with extra lemon juice, pepper and oregano if desired. Sprinkle on your choice of vegan cheese for garnish if desired. Enjoy.
Eating for self-care
While eating healthier might be on many minds as a way to start the year fresh, it can also be a huge stressor for others, which nobody needs right now. I had lots of conversations this season about what it means to turn around nutritional change, to just eat for care of yourself — especially when each of us has a lot on the mind and heart to balance already.
This can look like a commitment to more selfforgiveness, even if that doesn’t mean entirely giving up on adding more nutritious choices to your life. Instead, you might try more recipes that put spins on everyone’s favorite meals, with new ways of adding secret vegetables or other healthier swaps in ways you’ll barely notice.
Tacos
Directions:
• Warm up tortillas in the microwave instead of frying in oil. Opt for corn or whole wheat over white flour tortillas.
• Use more veggies, like sliced cabbage, bell peppers and fresh tomatoes.
• Skip the rice and vegan cheese and focus the taco on the protein used (like soy chorizo, black beans, jackfruit or “beef” crumbles). • Cook beans in a little broth and lime juice instead of oil. If you must use oil, try just a little avocado oil instead of corn or canola.
• Use lime juice, avocado and fresh salsa for flavor instead of heavy cheeses or vegan sour cream. Or try making your own fresh guacamole instead of the bottled kind.
Pizza
Try a healthier crust like whole wheat or make your own at home.
Go light on vegan cheese and try adding a little more fresh tomatoes with the sauce. Or go for a light basil pesto and make a green pizza.
Add more creative toppings — instead of fake meat, mix up complimentary veggies like peppers, onions and mushrooms.
Top with greens and herbs.
Restaurants
If you’re having trouble staying motivated, we have a few restaurants open for takeout and curbside who have always offered vegan items and new options for different diets.
I would ask at OM Foods, Live Life Juice Company or Pizza Riot for their latest vegan menu items and additions and what they have for healthier options. You might get some new inspiration, and a delicious meal out of it while supporting a local vegan business.
Natalie Hanson was inspired to write this semiweekly column after meeting more vegans in Chico and seeing the need for representation in the north valley.
Send vegan-friendly restaurant or business recommendations her way to nhanson@ chicoer.com or visit @ northvalleyvegan on Instagram for more recipes. Contact Hanson at 530-896-7763.