Vegan Pizza (written July 9, 2010)
I went to a pizza restaurant for dinner tonight and I decided to look through the menu to see if they have any vegan dishes. They had vegetarian dishes, but not vegan. So I thought that this would be a good opportunity to practice being a vegan and I looked through the meals to try to find something that I could turn into a vegan meal, and found that there were actually very few that I could do that to and be sure that they had no animal products. I definitely need to do some more research to figure out what things typically have animal products, and what don’t. I was fairly certain the pizza bases didn’t have egg, but I wasn’t sure about the wraps. I looked it up when I got home and they typically don’t- but I was surprised to see just how many ingredients the wraps at this chain restaurant have! There are so many things that we eat on a daily basis and we have no idea exactly what we’re putting into our bodies.
So when it came time for me to order my meal I suddenly found that I couldn’t even bring myself to look at anything that contained animal products. [It was like a switch inside me had been flipped: everything changed, just like that. I still don't really understand why that was the exact moment that I stopped being an omnivore.]
I ordered a Mediterranean pizza but I asked them to remove the cheeses: Parmesan and feta. I expected the waiter to look at me funny when I asked for no cheese, but he actually nodded, smiled and said ‘nice’. Nice indeed!
When the meal arrived it was delicious! It tasted pretty much the same as I thought the version with cheese would have, but with far fewer calories. [Looking back, I remember being surprised at how much flavor the other ingredients on the pizza have when the cheese isn't there. Try it some time!]
I don’t know why the waiter said ‘nice’ when I asked for no cheese, but I have been surprised at how supportive people have been when I tell them that I’m thinking of trying veganism. People seem to be a lot more aware about the health benefits of this lifestyle than I thought, so that is very encouraging!
