Mazunte Roof Build - Vegan Days with Fabiola

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(Edited)

It is a well known fact that we tend to eat quite well at the Mazunte Build. We love trying out new recipes, take turns cooking the most delicious food to impress each other with, but I should add that ours is mostly an omnivorous diet. Of course we do try to take into consideration if someone is allergic to raw tomatoes, prefers not to eat meat, or simply doesn't like the taste of soy sauce. However, this week we were faced with another challenge: a very consequent and all-in vegan volunteer.

Initial Apprehension Turned into Enthusiasm

As welcoming and open-minded we generally are, at first most of us were a bit uneasy with hosting a volunteer who doesn't eat animal products of any kind, including honey. And that was not because any of us had any problems with vegans, by any means. It was rather that none of us were used to cooking without even a bit of butter, cream, or cheese (yeah, a good third of our group is French).

But we knew that veganism isn't so much about omitting things, as about substituting other delicious ingredients, that gives a whole new spectrum of tastes to the simplest things. By living this lifestyle, vegans are intimately familiar with these amazing culinary tricks. So while none of us felt ready to cook for a vegan, all of us were more than ready to give good vegan cooking a try. So it was just a matter of time before someone suggested: "How about letting her do all the cooking?"

Instant Success for Everyone Involved

Normally I would feel horrible about sending someone into the kitchen full-time while there were so many other cool things to get involved with, such as building a green reciprocal roof. But since construction has halted anyway at the moment due to a really inconvenient bottleneck in materials (the typical desmadre you can expect in Mexico), there wasn't really too much she'd be missing out on. So we asked our prospective volunteer how she would feel about cooking some vegan dishes for us, and she responded with the most enthusiastic and cheerful way imaginable. (Yeay!!!) So that settled it: we'd be going vegan for a week, under the guidance of our vegan chef Fabiola.

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Lentils, Plantains, and Vegetables in all Forms

Hailing from Guadalajara, Fabiola is a passionate vegan. She explained right on her arrival, how veganism is not really a diet, but an attitude to life, particularly regarding the treatment of animals. Sure, it does have many health benefits (as it comes with certain nutritional drawbacks, for which she takes supplements), but it is mainly based on a decision not to hurt fellow animals. But while discussing the issue is mainly hot air, the substantiality of vegan lifestyle really becomes apparent in the food we ate. And was it tasty? Man, was it ever!

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On her first day Fabiola made us delicios lentil stew, using up the last remaining veggies in our fridge. It tasted fantastic! Creamy, sweet-and-spicy, with a deep and heavy texture. And all without any dairy products, or even an egg? Of course! The secret: plantains (you know, the kind of big, angular bananas, you can't use until they're all black, and even then you need to fry them). Soooo good! Over the next days we got to taste these two ingredients in other ways too.

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Burgers and Steaks, all Plant Based

After covering the lentil stew, which - let's be honest - still falls into the category of food we would have come up with that doesn't use animals, we arrived at the heart of the matter, with such hearty dishes as hamburgers and steaks made out of the same lentil-plantain base. But this time they were formed into patties, and fried in a pan.

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I could not begin describing the explosion of flavors we were treated to. So good! And what's more, it was all very rich and filling. By the end we all felt this familiar sensation of wanting to enjoy more, just for the taste of it, if it weren't for our stomachs full to the brim.

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Accompanying these savory treats we had more "usual" side dishes, such as mashed potatoes (with lots of onions and pepper), steamed veggies, spaghetti in tomato sauce, but then also exquisite French dishes, like tomato provencal, oven roasted with herbs, garlic, and breadcrumbs.

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All Good Things Come to an End

As much as it delighted us to have Fabiola cook for us, it only lasted for four days. On her last day she used up the rest of the veggies and prepared a ceviche that is still looking for its match. I'm still floored from the culinary experience bestowed upon us, and I think I am going to ask her for some of the recipes to try at home.

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Though in the end these few vegan days were but a brief introduction into this lifestyle, and I never had any intentions of going 100% vegan, I am absolutely certain to copy some of these cooking ideas and take them up into my repertoire. After all, it's always fun to experiment with new things and explore alternative tastes. And as for Fabiola, who knows, I might convince her to join Hive herself...

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Take a Look at my Previous Posts on this Exciting Construction Project:

Lost and Found: The Promotional Video for the Theater on the Beach
Back in the Circus of Mazunte
Up on the Roof Again
Teaching a Reciprocal Roof Workshop
Green Mazunte
Yoga for Construction Work
The Quickest Tent Structure: Building a Flex Yurt

Previous Series on Construction Projects in Mazunte:

Mazunte Build Series - 2020
A Theater on the Beach - 2018



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14 comments
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Omg fantastic! I think @justinparke may have finished the #plantpower curation for this week but this one is a stand out to me!!! Those recipes look amazing. And now you have a dish or two you can make so you can go #plantpowered one or two times a week at least! Goes to show that meat free food doesn't have to be boring. Burgers are often a way to meat eater's hearts, haha! Great post @stortebeker, thanks so much for sharing!


Posted on NaturalMedicine.io

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(Edited)

Well, they're not really recipes as much as a quick impression on vegan cooking. Later on, I may come back and write a proper recipe on each one, or if I get Fabiola to onboard, I may let her do it. For now this is all I wanted.

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Yeah, I just missed this one as I published a few hours ago. What a bummer too, this a pretty good looking spread.


@NaturalMedicine supports wellness of body, mind, soul and earth on HIVE.
Come say hi via Lotus Chat or drop by our Hive Community - we'd love to have you!


Posted on NaturalMedicine.io

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Oh no! I guess I must have been completely out of sync, just like with all my internet activities today. But is it all too late? Can't this be saved for the next edition? Anyhoo, there'll be better days. Cheers!

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No worries, each week we have a new set of ingredients, plus there's always the Plant Power Curation post, so any good vegan dishes are fair game for that weekly curation.


Posted on NaturalMedicine.io

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Wow, your food looks amazing, and I am not a vegan, but everything I saw , could easily sit right on my plate. Great stuff.
Enjoy the weekend!!

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True, all of these dishes were truly delicious. I can't wait to replicate them.

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Me gusto mucho. Yo de tus platillos he comido las hamburguesas de lentejas y soy una ávida comiendo granos. Mi dieta es completa y tampoco tengo intención de volverme va gana, más bien respeto su vision de vida de pro tener a los animales pero la mía es que somos parte del ciclo de la vida y no está mal comer animales, los animales ni males mismos también se comen entre ellos dependiendo de su papel en la cadena alimentaria y nosotros estamos en la cima de ella.

I loved it. I have eaten lentil burgers from your dishes and I am an avid grains eaters. My diet is complete and I do not intend to go back to win, rather I respect their vision of life to have animals but mine is that we are part of the cycle of life and it is not wrong to eat animals, animals or evils themselves they also eat each other depending on their role in the food chain and we are on top of it.

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Personalmente no tengo problemas con comer animales (si están muertos). Lo que me preocupe más es cómo se tratan mientras viven. Pero lo que me gusta mucho son los sabores de variedad cuando se cocina sin productos animales. Eso era mi mayor razón de disfrutar estos días veganas.

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Nice to see this post on Hive @stortebeker. I lived in Mazunte for a couple of years, and in Puerto for about four years. Namaste

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Thank you, @atma.love ! Nice to see that someone goes back that far to see old posts of mine.

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Well, i wasn't looking, it just appeared at the bottom of a post i was reading on ecency as a suggestion of what to watch next and caught my eye. These viewing suggestions on @ecency are quite good i find!

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Sweet! So I'm sure you have noticed that this post is part of a larger series, on building an Earthship inspired round-building for a theater. I know, it's coming along very gradually, but ultimately an awesome construction. Anyway, feel free to continue poking around. I hope you find more interesting things.

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If content creators use relevant tags, those suggestions work even better. Compare to year ago, it is getting better for sure 🚀

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