Hey guys!

So if you didn’t already know, I’m currently on Day 31 of a personal experiment of eating vegetarian.

For me, deciding to “become a vegetarian” outright would be too daunting right now, but completing a “30 day vegetarian challenge” sounded much more doable—exciting even.

I like to do “experiments” or “challenges” like this because I know that what starts as a 30-day challenge can eventually become a way of life.

This is also the theory behind the “30 Day Raw and Authentic Challenge” that I often assign to clients and community members to get them posting their content online instead of being stuck in overthinking.

One example for me is, as of today, I’m almost two years sober. But to get there, I first had to complete a bunch of 30 day sobriety challenges. Eventually, those challenges ripened into what is now a lifestyle of sobriety that I no longer have to “challenge myself” to do—it’s just what I do.

I’d like to eventually be so vegetarian (and honestly, eventually, vegan) that I don’t have to challenge myself to do it anymore—but for now, that’s where I’m at.

I’m not a crazy meat eater by any means, so this 30 days hasn’t been too hard for me.

Really, all I’ve had to cut out is the occasional burrito, burger, or whatever else I’d grab out when I was too lazy to cook at home, maybe once or twice a week. I stopped cooking meat at home long ago because handling the raw meat grossed me out.

But something interesting happened tonight: I found myself famished a couple hours after eating dinner.

My partner had expressed some concern around my lack of protein intake during the challenge, and I wonder if all sudden that caught up to me.

And what I noticed happen is I sprung into action and cooked up a meal, almost by instinct.

And I felt inspired in this letter to share that meal with you and how I cooked it—partly in case it inspires you to cook something similar, and partly for me, as I think documenting meals I enjoy is going to help me personally as I continue down this road of vegetarianism.

So without further ado, here’s the simple, spontaneous, and delicious vegan meal I whipped up tonight!

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Potatoes, Pinto Beans, Arugula and Avocado Salad

So simple, so good!

I started by chopping up a Yukon Gold Potato into small cubes and cooking them in olive oil on my favorite stainless steel pan*.

(Check out my tutorial here if you want to know how I properly prep a stainless steel pan for cooking!)

Once the potatoes were a few minutes away from finished, I threw a half a can of rinsed low-sodium Goya Pinto Beans onto the pan with the potatoes.

I seasoned with salt and pepper.

As the beans and potatoes finished cooking on the stainless steel, I threw a few handfuls of arugula onto my plate and sliced up half of an avocado.

I mixed that “salad” base together with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Once the potatoes were nice and soft and the beans heated through, I plopped them right on top of the salad-base, and finally gave it all a good mix.

Y’all, this was super easy, super delicious, and super filling!!

Consider it added it to the rotation.

I’ll see you guys soon with more simple and healthy meals as they come up for me.

Until next time!
GP