Day Three, or "I Love Avocados"

It's official: I am having a love affair with a luscious, ripe avocado as we speak. But enough about him. Let's talk about me.

Today I woke up rather past what would normally be considered "breakfast" hours, so I satisfied myself with a kiwi and a piece of toast, and then Leigh and I headed down to the island for some quality sunbathing. Which I might have overdone a bit. But that's beside the point. Before we left, I ran over to the grocery store to grab myself a snack--let's face it, downtown Regensburg can be very dangerous to the aspiring vegan. Ice cream shops outnumber people on a scale of something like ten to one, and literally every corner features either a bakery, sandwich imbiss, or pizza parlor. So I brought along a small army of cherries and pistachio nuts to fight any unwanted temptations. 

A note about the cherries: I felt very deceived by my purchase when I got to the cash register. The sign had claimed: Cherries! 59 cents/100 grams! Naturally I was delighted by this low price, and grabbed a pre-packaged baggy of the red little suckers. Who knew that they were packaged in 500 gram baggies?? That, sir, is false advertising. Nowhere on that bag did it give the weight, so the shopper is obviously inclined to check the price on the huge sign that says, CHERRIES! I thus ended up spending three Euros and nine cents on them, but if I'm being honest, it was well worth it. 

My stir-fry plans for tonight have fallen through, due to an extended gym workout and the ungodly outdoor temperature of eighty degrees today. It is far too hot to even consider using a stove. I'm not normally a heat person (gross understatement) and cool-weather Germany has utterly spoiled me. Going home to St. Louis in August is going to be a very rough readjustment. Sigh.

On my way back from the gym, I went by the Biomarkt and bough a bag of corn chips, a lime, and the promised carob-soy 'chocolate' bar to get me set up for dinner:

Now, I've promised recipes to all my reader(s), so here goes. It's about the simplest thing to make ever:

Vegan Southwest Salad

serves 2-4

1 can of corn

1 avocado, sliced into bite-sized pieces

10-12 cherry tomatoes, sliced into quarters

juice of 1/2 a lime

freshly ground pepper

salt

corn chips

Directions: In a medium-sized bowl, combine the first four ingredients, stirring gently. Add a generous amount of ground pepper, and sprinkle with salt. Serve with corn chips. 

This recipe would be even better with a can of black beans, a finely chopped red onion, and some fresh cilantro. 

Today I actually enjoyed sticking to this vegan diet. Knowing that a trip downtown all afternoon would normally have meant all kinds of unhealthy snacks makes me feel really good about what I'm choosing to put into my body. 

Vegan chocolate verdict: Definitely not the real thing. I'm going to have to try another brand. I mean, it tastes pretty good, but in a super healthy, non-chocolate-y way. Check back soon for my review of Tofutta Soy ice cream. I'm nervous.