It’s been raining pretty good here for the last few days and that’s great, we need it! But Miko is not interested in the rain at all, he’d rather snuggle in his pile of blankets.
I can’t blame him, I’m tempted to do the same instead of leaving the house for work on cold, dark, and rainy mornings!
Sunday I attended a brunch meetup at Baagan for the Sacramento Vegan Society and it was a large turnout, 16 people attended and many of them I haven’t met before. First we had to decide what to order and everything on their menu is great, hard to decide!
I went with the Chana Wrap and Peppermint Mocha for a little splurge and it was wonderful, very festive for the holidays.
We hung out there for over 2 hours chatting, venting, trading ideas, and networking – it was wonderful. I adore these events to get to know many different vegans, hear how long they’ve been vegan, and what motivated them to go vegan. There were a few older long-term vegans, 30+ years of being vegetarian/vegan (wow!), and I was fascinated listening to their experiences and discussing health and becoming compassionate about animal welfare. Some are a lot more extreme in compassion for animals while some are passionate about a healthy lifestyle. I’m somewhere in between. There was a long-term vegan there who is so offended by seeing meat on the table it prevented her from going to family gatherings. While I admire her dedication, I don’t see myself ever being so extreme that I refuse to spend time with family and I don’t think that’s a great way to shed positive light on a plant-based lifestyle.
I am passionate about salads and lots of greens this week, especially after our Thanksgiving getaway in Southern California last week. And I still have a pantry full of tahini after receiving a 6-pack of jars from Amazon. I created a veganized version of a sweet garlic tahini sauce for a large spinach salad that packed a nice garlic kick with a sweet and savory tang.
Sweet Tahini Dressing
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/4 cup tahini
- 3 pitted medjool dates
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/2 tsp. of salt
- 1/3 cup of wter
- pepper to taste
Place all ingredients into a high speed blender and blend to a smooth texture. Makes 2-4 servings.
The smooth and creamy texture is perfect for coating leafy greens and like the pretty purple carrots in this salad? Classy!
For such a simple ingredient list, the dressing packs a lot of flavor with a spicy garlic flare, playful sweetness, and a savory tang.
The original version included a lot of oil with the tahini and I don’t think it needed it, this was very creamy and delicious.
You had me at sweet and tahini! And I’m with you – I love going to vegan functions. I don’t know if you saw the infographic that the Humane Research Council released yesterday but their latest study found that community is incredibly important for people to stay vegan. They need to know they are not alone. Hurray for vegan restaurant gatherings and potlucks!
Very interesting on the study and I can see why, getting pressure from family, friends, co-workers can be tough. Agreed on vegan meetups, looking forward to another one this weekend – woohoo! And thanks on the dressing, hope all is well with you!
That dressing sounds like it’s right up my alley! The wrap looks terrific! And the pile of blankets cracked me up! Paco does that too!!!