The Lonely Vegan in Ottawa

I welcome you to my new outlet for vegan-related musings. This project is a reality partly because of my boyfriend for insisting that I have something interesting to say and that I make great food that needs to be shared with the world, and partly because there is a small voice inside of me begging to be heard by the masses. Granted, I’m not counting on masses lining up to read my blog at internet cafés in select vegan venues across the globe just yet. That will take a couple months at least.

“Salad in a Steakhouse” is a blog about being vegan in a meat-eating world (hence, the analogy to the title). I will focus on the trials, tribulations, joys, excitement, anxiety, humour, and frustration of being vegan in a society that generally is not. I wish to provide some inspiration for those considering veganism and support for those struggling with it. I hope to discuss Ottawa ad nauseam with respect to my dietary choices and hope to do a few restaurant reviews (for establishments for both herbi(vore)s and omni(vore)s). I’ll detail how I plan to get by and make some like-minded friends. It will be about my new experiences in my new city of Ottawa, as well as my cooking creations and experiments (with the occasional recipe to share), tested and true by myself and my unsuspecting roommate (presently my only friend in Ottawa since the move two weeks ago). I may stray off topic from time to time to add spice to the seitan by writing about other passions and interests I have that you may share (e.g., queer politics, knitting, music, language and linguistics, must-reads) as well as all things connected to veganism (e.g, the environment, human health and exercise, animal protection/liberation/rights). I will endeavour to write a minimum of one post per week and try to make the day routinized (since I, like most, am a creature of habit and would like to cater to such).

I hope you become a regular reader of this blog. Not only would you be boosting my ego, but you would serve as the inspiration (via WordPress stats) for its continuation and give me hope in humankind. I pledge to keep the entries interesting, anecdotal, and short (present entry excluded) in order to maintain a steady clientele. If you’re here from the beginning, you’re either a friend/relative of mine, a vegan who likes vegan blogs, lost and lonely in this world wide web of wonders, or quite impressively farsighted, my dear friend. Either way, I entreat you to read on.

N.B. This blog is not meant to preach or reprimand, but I do apologize in advance if some of my more rant-style posts come across that way. That will not be my intention, and I do invite you to let me know if I crossed a line with you. I welcome you to comment and critique, but all I ask is that you be nice.

I will leave you appropriately with a photo of a Thai coconut stir-fry  I made for dinner one night at my new Ottawa apartment. Ingredients to note include blocks of fried tofu, local broccoli, unsalted roasted cashews, dried lime leaves, organic red potatoes, orange cauliflower, and of course, coconut milk, all atop a mound of brown rice. It was delicious. Roommate-approved.