Mindful eating at British Council

For the last mindfulness session of the year, Chris - one of my colleagues at British Council - and I, offered to bring samples of vegan dishes for participants to try out. The intention was just to share a few ideas for inspiration, given that during the previous week, doubt had been expressed as to whether or not vegan food contains everything a person needs to be healthy, as many doctors recommend eating meat for its protein. Another misperception is that vegan food is somehow different from normal food, that it's special or separate from the food everyone else eats.


Here's another view of the feast:

Below we have Chris's delicious ceviche, made with textured soy and served on tortilla flat crisps (tostadas).

Chris also prepared tofu in two different ways, and brought some animal-free mole to pour on top. As a side note, one of the participants asked what this was. "Is it chicken?", she said, reflecting the depth of misunderstanding and confusion there is concerning the matter of what we choose to eat.

There were a couple of jacket potatoes seasoned with salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil and topped with ready-made beans and a side of chickpea salad with a cider vinegar and lemon dressing...

... as well as some lentils with finely chopped vegetables, lightly seasoned white rice and fried plantains...

... some tomato pasta with corn sprinkled with vegan parmesan (made with almonds, dried garlic and nutritional yeast), together with a classic lettuce-tomato-onion-avocado (and pear) salad with balsamic dressing...

... some sweet potato, pickled onions and corn to accompany some quinoa and veggie burgers...

... and even though it was only 10 am, I couldn't resist helping myself to a little bit of everything:

Everyone was welcome, and those who helped themselves seemed to enjoy it... 😊