Living a Vegan Dream (Guest Post!)

Happy Friday, everyone! Today is especially exciting because we have a guest post from two of our amazing friends - Brie & Suz Waddington! These guys are trying out being vegan while they quarantine and we're loving the recipe they put together with their new lifestyle. We're seriously impressed by their creativity and ability to make veganism (is that the word for it?) be delicious and fun!

Hey Book Nerd & Cook Nerd!

Our recipe today is a Mediterranean white bean salad. This is a great recipe for spring/summer because it’s simple, light, healthy, and…. vegan! This challenging time in quarantine has allowed us to find new ways to be healthier. We watched the documentary, “What the Health” and got inspired to try an entirely plant based diet for 2 weeks. The biggest surprise was that it wasn’t that hard at all! We had to experiment with a few new recipes and found this delicious salad. No cheese, ranch dressing, or shredded chicken and we don’t miss it at all. These 2 weeks of being vegan have now turned into 3 and who knows, maybe longer!

Instructions: 

- We started this recipe by placing the drained beans in a medium sized bowl. 
- Next add in tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, onion, and spinach. 
- Toss the salad once to mix without breaking the beans. 
- Next combine EVOO, red wine vinegar,  garlic, shallot, lemon juice/ zest, mustard, salt and pepper in a jar
- Shake the jar to mix the dressing then drizzle over the salad. 
- Gently fold together a few more times to distribute the dressing.
- Bonus: Serve with a pomegranate spritzer or your favorite summer drink!

* variations of this recipe include diced avocado, fresh basil, cucumbers, and for non vegan options, a sprinkle of feta cheese. Enjoy!

Ingredients: 

Mediterranean Salad

- 2 cans drained Cantillini beans

- 1 can drained and chapped artichoke hearts

- 1 1/2 halved cherry tomatoes

- 1/2 cup sliced Kalamata olives

- 1/4 cup diced red onion

-2 cups shredded spinach

Dressing

- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

- 1/4 cup EVOO

- 2 cloves minced garlic

- 1 tablespoon minced shallot

- Zest and juice from 1/2 a lemon

- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

- salt and pepper to taste