This is going to be a long post.

I know that for some of you plant-based means vegan (aka products that don’t harm any animal) But what does vegan mean to you? Apparently every word means something different for everyone these days. It’s OK. I understand the food industry is trying to bring up new terms in order to get more people happy. Vegan has becom e biased for some people and plant-based seems to be a good replacement. Although I understand the words as they are, and most of the vegans are happy normal people…there seems to be a tendency of extreme veganism. And when I say extreme, I don’t mean in their practice. I respect that everyone does whatever they feel it’s good for the animals, the environment or themselves. When I say extreme, I mean socially extreme.

Many people have been using the internet for “attacking” others that don’t follow the same food patterns they follow. I’ve read vegans complaining because others eat figs. Oh yeah…didn’t you know? Figs aren’t exactly vegan, because a confused wasp have died inside…

Some vegans would say it’s a natural process, and they were not involved in the suffering of any animal so they would eat the fig. Some would find that they cannot eat the fig, as an animal had to die for it. The other 10% would not eat it, and they would tell everyone else that eating it is doing the wrong thing.

I’ve never been a fan of people telling each other what they’re doing wrong. Yeah, I’m sure we all do it with our best intentions, but we can be a real pain. It’s like trying to convince a smoker to quit. Ha! I’ve done it with my mum so many times…but she has to realize it’s not good for her. She knows, but she needs to realize. What’s the difference? I’ve known I should have quitted gluten and soy for years…but I had to realize it was bad for me. Well, you know too many things but don’t do them for many reasons. Mainly, because we humans are very cautious and also very coward.

Don’t misunderstand me, we are all brave. We live our lives, we work hard, we get sick, sometimes really sick, but we keep going with a smile. We are the bravest out there, but for some reason we fail at being brave at the most basic things. I’m not talking about smoking anymore…I’m talking, as usual, about food.

C’mon! We all know fast food is awful for us, nonetheless…we’ve all relied on it after a night out when we were so hungover that our body asked for it. Don’t get me started on how socially acceptable alcohol is and how detrimental it is for our health (appart from a small amount of wine, that we all know it’s not the whole bottle. Yes, I’m guilty too) Oh and by the way, most wines aren’t vegan either. Sorry.

We know we aren’t doing the “right” thing all the time, and that’s more than OK.

I’m writing this because I’ve tried many things concerning my diet/lifestyle (again, diet is related as weight-loss for many people out there, for me has always been the way we eat one day, one week, one month or forever).

I was a vegetarian for half a year, but I found that I was eating more dairy and it really was bad for my health. I was a vegan for a while too, but I felt groggy and unhealthy after some time. I’ve eaten anything for most of my life, and I’ve enjoyed any kind of food, but now I’ve noticed some of them don’t go really well with my body. I’m trying to learn what makes me feel better and luckily I’m not allergic to any food (that I know of, although dairy never goes well with my singing, it never has)

Again, I’m writing this because it’s important that we focus more on what is good for us and not what’s supposed to be good for everyone. Of course, veganism is a different thing. It looks for the animals first and foremost. But, as I told you, I’ve been there, and my conscience felt great anytime I ate a vegan dish, but my body was feeling awful. Many people will say that I was doing something wrong for sure. That is one thing we all do. When we try something that feels fantastic, we really need everyone to feel as good as we do. But no body is equal, inside or outside, and until we understand that, we won’t solve many issues that are incredibly important.

That’s why, I made a plant-based bowl with fish. Plant-based and fish on the same dish…that’s not plant-based then. It is for me, because 80% of it is made from plants. When you see a plant based dish made from artificial stuff, that’s not plant-based for me, although now the term has become the new “politically correct” way to say vegan. Let’s not be that kind of people, Vegan is good. Plant-based is good. I deeply appreciate that people advocate for animal rights, although I can’t be a vegan, for now. I also advocate for it, although I sometimes eat fish, seafood and eggs and I might try meat from now and then. I really do my best eating mostly vegan foods, and using products that help the environment whenever I can, because I find being vegan concerns the environment too.

One thing that I do about food, is feeling good about it. I try to have a healthy relationship with it and enjoy every little piece of food I put in my mouth. I think it’s not worth it to fight for something you believe in if you then feel awful when you fail to do it every day. I think we all should do what we can to be better and feel better in the way we can. I do it by eating 70% healthy plant-based, gluten-free and soy-free, 20% pescetarian and 10% whatever my body asks for. That 70% is usually vegan too, but I may drink some wine or eat a fig or two when my tree is full of them because I just don’t see the difference between me eating it vs it falling to the ground and being compost. That’s just my opinion and I understand that those who don’t eat it, it’s because they don’t want to eat a fruit if an animal had to die for it, and I totally respect that.

Some people hate something just because they can’t understand it. I’d love to live in a world in which we leave our insecurities aside, and stop judging everyone for what we don’t understand. It’s a tough thing to do, but I feel like we are getting there little by little, because it’s the only way for most of us to be happy, and…isn’t it what we all want? 🙂

Here’s the recipe, if you are a vegan…of course substitute the fish for marinated tofu, seitan, diced cucumber or any other ingredient you like. And I hope I haven’t offended anyone with this post, because it seems like we are all too aware and ready to jump and bite each other’s necks for no reason. As always…have fun and keep fooding!

Print

Plant-Based Fish Bowl

Course Bowl, Main Course, Salad

Cuisine Mediterranean

Keyword Oily fish, Plant-based, Protein-rich

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Author silviafooding

Ingredients

• 1 cup mixed lettuce leaves
• 1/2 avocado
• 1/2 tomato
• 1/2 beetroot (small)
• 1 tsp sesame seeds (mixed black & white)
• 2 sardines (small)
• 1/4 cup chickpeas
• 1 tsp sambal oelek
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp olive oil

For the dressing:

• 1 tsp tahini
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1/2 lime (juiced)
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Mix all of the ingredients for the dressing and adjust with more lime or olive oilif you feel it's a bit bitter or acidic.
2. Mix half of the sauce with the lettuce leaves. I used purple and green leaves for this recipe.
3. Place on the base of a bowl.
4. Chop the tomato, the avocado and the beetroot and place on top.
5. Mix the canned chickpeas with the tsp of sambal oelek and add to the bowl.
6. Last step: stir fry the sardines with a tiny bit of olive oil and some salt. Medium-high heat will get you that crispy outside in a couple of minutes.
7. Add some drops of the dressing on top of everything and finally place the fish (once it's cooled a little bit) on top.

Recipe Notes

If you can't find small sardines, fresh anchovies are great too. If you don't like sesame or are allergic to it, change tahini for nut butter and use hemp seeds instead of sesame seeds on top.