you people = meat-hating mutants

Happy belated Earth Day!

I could go into a big discussion on how meat consumption is destroying the planet we call home, but I'll let PETA handle that for me.  We'll let it go at this - hot dogs are not earth-friendly (and just barely meat, anyway).

Before I go any further, I would like to make it clear that I am completely grateful for everything my workplace does to recognize the efforts of the employees and reward those efforts in any large or small way.  That being said, I also want to say that we're good at anti-holidays where I work.  I've already shared about the meat-loving extravaganza on World Vegetarian Day, so it really shouldn't have surprised me that we had Hot Dog Day on Earth Day.  Nothing says, "I love Mother Earth," like one of the most artificial and preservative-laden mixtures of meat ever molded into a little pink tube and boiled...mmmm....tasty.

A very thoughtful colleague brought in Tofu Pups, presumably because she doesn't eat beef (if you can really call hot dogs "beef"), but also because she recognized that I would not be able to partake of the meaty festivities.  I was touched!  I was astonished, though, when I found that the Hot Dog Man actually already had veggie dogs - well done, workplace fun organizers!  I did express my thanks as adamantly as I could because I think it's important to recognize little efforts like this (I must take after my company).  I also had an amazing interaction with the Hot Dog Man:

He actually said this - true quote: 

Yeah, we had to special order 'em for you people.

You people?  Really? We people who don't exploit animals or stuff their mutilated flesh into my mouth like I'm at the Wing Bowl?  We people who don't scarf nitrate-loaded tubes of mashed "meat?"  We people who don't have a significant weight problem and who can proudly show off all of our teeth (in our mouths)?  

I still can't believe he actually said that, but he did - I have witnesses.  They also had the pleasure of witnessing my response, which was a very mildly toned down version of what I wrote above before pointing out that my Tofu Pup was probably the closest thing to "real" food he had in his Cart of Death.  Happy Earth Day!

Moving along, then, Mister and I enjoyed a very Earth-friendly and tasty dinner.  It was also extraordinarily fast, though it did take quite a bit more effort than the recipe appeared to have.  I made the Pita Quesadillas from the latest issue of Vegetarian Times.  It was very very good, and although I had originally intended to serve it with Crash Hot Potatoes, I will save those for another time and I served it with leftover stew.

They looked nothing at all like the pretty picture in the magazine, but tasted fabulous.  Rather than making my own hummus from the recipe in the magazine, I actually used up the red pepper hummus that my mother sent home with us at Easter.  I think it worked out better that way.

Tonight, I made Spicy Tomato Peanut and Kale Pasta from La Dolce Vegan for dinner, with the can of V8 Mister procured from the local corner store.  I love Philadelphia.  V8 is not hard to find, but I love all the independent stores around here, rather than heading over to Wawa or down to Rite Aid.

I somehow managed to skip right over the part where the recipe called for only 2 cups of chopped kale, so I just chopped up the whole bunch and threw it into the sauce.  It came out okay, but I'm not completely sure it needed an entire bunch of kale.  The sauce would be a little more outstanding if I had added the splashes of tamari and red wine vinegar I wanted to add.  I believe I will make this again, but I will probably add about a tablespoon of tamari, a generous splash of red wine vinegar, maybe a teaspoon of vegan worcestershire sauce and increase the harissa to half a tablespoon.  I was still a little "gun-shy" after the huge amount of trouble I got into with the spicier items on the menu, so I was conservative with the harissa (in place of the chili oil called for in the recipe).