Ostara Eats!

Today is the first day of spring! Yay!!!!!! I cannot tell you how excited this makes me. I hate everything about winter. HATE IT. But I love spring and summer, and I can't wait for the day when I can seriously put all of my coats, jackets, hoodies, and sweaters on a long hiatus. I'm ready for flip-flops and shorts and tank tops!

It was 80 degrees here in Memphis today, so it feels like we're already almost to summer. Hoping for no more cold snaps! Ostara is the traditional pagan celebration of the spring equinox, and it's long been associated with eggs since eggs represent fertility (that's why the Christian Easter co-opted eggs and other fertility elements, like bunnies). But you know, as a vegan, I don't eat eggs. But I can still celebrate the Earth's fertility with vegan eggs! I made it a point to eat cruelty-free, eggy dishes all day.

Breakfast was a Bagel Sandwich with Vegan Egg, Seitan Bacon, Vegan Cheddar, & Spinach on a locally made bagel from Dave's Bagels (more on Dave's in a post later this week).

I used Follow Your Heart Vegan Egg here (just one serving, which is two tablespoons of the powder). My parents gave me an immersion blender for an early Easter gift, so I used that to whip the Vegan Egg. Before, I always used my Vitamix, which worked great, but it meant more clean-up and you tend to lose a little egg as it sticks to the side of the blender. A commenter suggested an immersion blender in my last Vegan Egg post (so thanks, commenter!!). The bacon is Upton's, and the cheese is Daiya.

That hearty breakfast kept me satisfied until lunch, when I went home from work and had this quick meal of a Sweet Earth Get Cultured! Breakfast Burrito and chips. These are a new line of Sweet Earth burritos, and they're the best. This one had a Korean flair with tofu scramble, fermented cabbage and peppers, and sesame.

For dinner, I chose a few dishes from the Easter chapter in The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook, since the secular elements of Easter and the traditional themes around Ostara are very similar. I'll revisit the Easter chapter for that holiday as well though! But for this one, I chose to make the Cucumber Cups with Picnic Tofu Salad because vegan egg salad!

This is a pretty basic tofu egg salad with dill pickle, fresh dill, vegan mayo, and carrot. I stuffed it into English cucumber cups as the recipe suggested. But I also had some on whole wheat toast because this girl needs bread.

On the side, I had the Cream of Carrot Soup from The Superfun Times. This super-simple, creamy soup is made with carrots, garlic, onion, coconut milk, and vegetable broth. It's very light, so you can eat a ton of it! I typically prefer chunky soups over creamy ones, but a creamy soup just seems right this time of year.

For dessert, I made the Blueberry & Meyer Lemon Scones from The Superfun Times. These taste exactly how I imagine spring would taste if spring were a food. Light and fruity with crisp hints of lemon and a sweet sugar glaze. Lovely with a glass of chilled white wine on this warm afternoon.

Happy Spring!