For a week now, I've been challenging myself to eat as close to vegan as possible. It's part of my month-long, "Going Vegan" experiment. So far, I have to say, it hasn't been hugely difficult. The hardest part has been not drinking milk with my coffee. I have given up my beloved double cappuccinos for plain drip coffee. (Hmph. Maybe that's why I've been so grouchy lately...)

So what have I been eating? Lots of salads. I eat a salad everyday anyway, but I've been making them more substantial mixing in baked tofu, roasted veggies, nuts, and/or beans. I roasted sweet potatoes and spring onions and tossed them with balsamic vinaigrette to make a warm salad (recipe follows). Another day I roasted some fingerling potatoes and tossed those with an olive oil-horseradish emulsion and served them on a bed of baby watercress.

I've made two soups. One an "every-kind of vegetable" soup. The other a simple, comforting puree of leeks and garbanzos enriched with a little soy milk and margarine. I'll have bread shmeared with mashed avocado and sprinkled with sea salt. I've made paninis with veggies and Tofurkey deli slices which, I'm surprised to admit, are pretty good.I've also eaten out three times this week. Thankfully I live in San Francisco where most menus include vegan choices. I've had vegan pizza from Pizza Orgasmica topped with crushed tomatoes, mushrooms,  eggplant, baby spinach, and very thinly sliced "spicy" new potatoes. It was good, but needed a fair amount of sea salt to really bring out the flavors. We all know that salt serves a very important role in bringing out flavor in food, and I found that this week it was more important than ever. Without animal fats and flavorings to add depth and dimension to my cooking, salt was my key flavor enhancer. I didn't use it more, I just was keenly aware when I was using it.

I had Chinese take-out with friends and ordered vegetable-filled dumplings, kung pao tofu, veggie mu shu (no egg), and broccoli with garlic sauce. It was delicious, and I didn't miss the meat at all. I also had Korean barbecue, and that was a little more challenging. It's hard (for me) to resist the temptation of grilling meat (which my children ate). But the ban chan (side dishes) were abundant and mostly vegetarian (but honestly, I didn't worry too much about hidden shrimp paste in the kim chi, I just ate it). I always thought of Korean restaurants as being fairly vegetarian un-friendly, but there were plenty of choices from sauteed kim chi with tofu, mung bean pancakes, and chap chae ( sauteed glass noodles) made without beef.

I am also trying some vegan prepared products like the aforementioned Tofurky deli slices (I really enjoyed the Italian and hickory-smoked flavors). I'm not relying on them for the main part of every meal, they've added variety to my menu this week.  I don't think I could choke down vegan dairy-substitutes like cheese and sour cream, so I won't be buying those. (I have no problem with Earth Balance margarine.)

Since I grew up eating in vegetarian Chinese restaurants, I picked up some "Tuna Chunk" and "Chicken Steak" (soy products) in the freezer section at my local Asian market. I used the Tuna Chunk to make a rice noodle dish (recipe follows) and I served the Chicken Steak with lemon quinoa from Whole Foods and a green salad.

Based on recommendations, I bought two cookbooks this week: Everyday Vegan (a teense preachy and very-focused on low-fat cooking, but interesting recipes) and Vegan Planet (I'm liking the world view).  I am almost done reading through them, and next week I will begin cooking some recipes from both books. I will post the recipes and my reviews.

One week into my challenge I'm feeling good, and encouraged that I can make it through the rest of the month with ease. (Perhaps longer. Hmmm?) My children have also noticed no real changes. They've been gobbling up the salads and loved the Tuna Chunk and Chicken Steak.  The roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes? Not so much.

I have two trips planned this month so I will also report on eating vegan on the road. In fact, please suggest a meal that I could take on a cross country plane trip (the airline doesn't serve meals), and I will do my own version of Vegan Lunchbox, the airplane edition.

Here are some of my own recipes that I really enjoyed this week:

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I served these as a side and on top of baby mizuna greens. It makes a big batch so I snacked on it all week.

• 3 sweet potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and cut into chunks
• 4 spring onions (white part only) or 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• extra virgin olive oil to coat
• aged balsamic vinegar to drizzle

Preheat oven to 375º.

Toss all ingredients together except balsamic vinegar.  Spread mixture onto a sheet pan. Place in oven and roast for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are just tender. Remove from oven and transfer everything to a large bowl. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar until sweet-tart to taste, mixing gently. Serve immediately as a side or over salad greens.

Tuna Chunk with Rice Noodles and Sautéed Broccoli

• 1 package Tuna Chunk, defrosted
• 1 package rice noodles (thin or thick)
• 1 crown of broccoli cut into florets
• a few teaspoons of peanut oil
• 1 inch piece of ginger, grated
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup of prepared Thai peanut sauce (homemade or bottled-be sure check label)

Cook rice noodles according to package directions.

Meanwhile, sear Tuna Chunk in a hot pan until browned and crisp on both sides. Remove and keep warm.

In the same pan, heat peanut oil with ginger and garlic over a medium flame. Saute broccoli florets until crisp-tender, about 7 minutes.

Drain noodles and toss with peanut sauce.  Put noodles on individual plates and top each serving with broccoli and Tuna Chunk. Serves 4.