Going through withdrawal

I'm in withdrawal.

Two weeks ago, we started on our mostly-vegan meal plan here in my household. Lots and lots of vegetables, a salad every day, virtually no animal products. It's not been impossible, but I'd be lying if I said it was easy, and not for the reasons I anticipated.

I love to plan, so that's not the hardship. It's the boredom. I get lots of flavors, but what I'm missing is texture. Creaminess. Crunchiness. Roasting vegetables can occasionally give me the latter, but it's a lot harder to recreate the former. Since I'm trying to avoid what I think of as weird vegan substitutes and concentrate on whole foods, I'm limited. Cauliflower mash is the only one to fill that void so far.

There have been some great new recipes added to our repertoire, though. Thug Kitchen's roasted beet and quinoa salad is one. Last Friday, we grilled portobello mushrooms and stuffed them with artichokes and pesto. Tomorrow, I'm switching up my chicken saag recipe to make it with eggplant instead. I have high hopes for that one.

But nights of great food are interspersed with meals that are just to satisfy hunger. Simple things that don't take much effort in the kitchen at all. For someone like me who loves to cook, that's a rough one to deal with. I'm hoping that once I've discovered more variations on complex options that'll fix itself.

In the meantime, I'm trying not to take my irritability out on my family. The health benefits are already showing themselves. My skin is better. We've lost weight. It'll all be worth it.

It'll just be more enjoyable once I'm past the withdrawal.