Day thirteen

Week two has gone pret well, I'm getting into the swing of things now. My mind goes more rapidly to a balanced diet without meat now, I no longer experience momentary panic about what to include for protein. I have noticed that one of the great advantages of vegetable cuisine is its speed. I takes far less time to knock up a quick pasta supper or tasty salad than it does to cook mince or sausages, even to stir fry chicken. There's less messy clearing up too, and I am loving not having to throw out the soggy veg from the bottom of the drawer because we didn't get round to eating them in time. There are no leftovers, everything finds its way into a meal.

We've had some successes this week. On Thursday I made wee beetroot tarts, very simply, with puff pastry, goats cheese, sliced striped beetroot pan cooked in garlic oil, pepper, sugar and raspberry vinegar, a little more goats cheese, and then pinenuts and chives added at the end. With purple sprouting broccoli and a sour cream dressing it was lovely. Even better though was our vegetarian Mexican feast - so good! We made guacamole, tomato salsa, refried beans (from River Cottage veg), green rice (from Thomasina Meyer's Mexican cookery book), sour cream and chives, grated cheddar, salad and peppers, and little cubes of potato in garlic. It was delicious, much the best veggie meal we've had. And I enjoyed the leftovers as a rice salad and fried wrap at work on Friday. To meal that meal was proof that variety is what makes vegetarian food satisfying.