This is an excerpt from Christine Marquette's blog. I love the juxtaposition of vegetarian eating and NASCAR, as we tend to compartmentalize people into stereotypes, which this post serves to challenge us about. You can live in NASCAR country and be a kindler, gentler, eater…as Chris expertly details! She's changing her part of the world, one road race at a time.
If you live in Austin, and would like to work personally with Christine, please visit her website.
For those of you who have been following my blog, you may remember that back in April this year I wrote about my experience eating vegetarian at NASCAR for the first time. Well, this past weekend was the second race weekend we attended at Texas Motor Speedway this year.
I have to say, I learned so much back in April that this time it was a breeze! I made some of the same things (homemade hummus for sandwiches, black bean burger patties), but I also pre-made some other things that we would be able to just heat up via microwave or crock-pot. For example, for Friday night I made “Lima Bake,” which is a super tasty recipe I found on the back of HEB’s dried lima bean bag. Once you have cooked the limas, you just sauté some onions and garlic, then add canned diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, and the beans. Top it off with a little cheddar cheese and your done. It is super yummy!
I also pre-made my “famous chili.” This is actually a newer “made up” recipe for me. I used to make tofu chili, but apparently I have over-eaten soy and can no longer tolerate it (I know, tough for a vegetarian!), so I’ve had to be creative in using other vegetarian high-protein foods. Recently I’ve really gotten into “Quorn” products (a “mycoprotein” very similar to mushrooms). I try not to use them too often, but for those occasions when you really need something other than beans or nuts, it is great! I now make my chili using Quorn’s “beef” crumbles, pinto beans, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, TONS of chili powder, cumin, onions, jalapeños or serranos, and garlic.
For all our vegetable “side dishes,” I pre-washed EVERYTHING (that way I also would not have to worry about any cross-contamination issues). So we had various colored peppers, potatoes, and “salad” vegetables (mixed greens, red onions, tomatoes, etc.) that were all basically ready to go when we got there and would go with just about anything we decided to eat.
I think I’m starting a new trend too; I actually saw a guy at the truck race (the first race of the weekend on Friday night) wearing a Vegetarian hoodie! Granted, I think it was the one that says “Vegetarian. Ancient tribal slang for the village idiot who can’t hunt, fish, or ride.” It was a little hard to read because he was carrying stuff that obscured part of it, but I think that was the one he was wearing. Not exactly sure how I feel about that, but it’s a start!
Another “start” was at our campsite. We formed a giant “U-shape” with 3 other RV’s, and each night we all had dinner together. Saturday night I shared my famous vegetarian chili and it got rave reviews. Sunday night it was my black bean burgers. It was pretty funny, one guy that I had not met at the spring race but was there for the fall race was very excited to have the opportunity to try some vegetarian food! He had never had meatless chili or “bean” burgers before! He also informed me that he is always looking for ways to increase his vegetable intake, so he was quite happy to find some ways of actually having vegetable based entrees.
I guess my next big vegetarian “project” will be the football crowd, although there I have a head start, as I can always point to Tony Gonzalez as an actual “player” example!