So I have a pretty rad little brother. He is a man of few words who lives on buckets of fried chicken and devotes large quantities of time to the study of the way of the ninja. Andrew and I share a mutual appreciation of the N64 video game consol, and we both love to cook.
Andrew cooks bacon-wrapped beef with a wine reduction and a shaved parmesan crust.
I cook steamed collard greens with an umeboshi-lemon dressing.
Andrew cooks boxed Funfetti cakes.
I cook gluten-free vegan corn muffins.
We've been trying to talk him into a vegan diet, but Andrew's really against it. He exercises for 2-3 hours a day, lifts weights, runs with rocks, and grinds trees into sawdust with his bare hands. I get that.
My argument is that if he's going to keep eating meat, wheat, dairy, and sugar, these things should at least come from real, whole foods. It's one thing to eat a cake your grandmother baked from scratch. It's another thing to eat a bag of Skittles that contains chemicals used in embalming the dead.
I've planned a menu that uses real, whole foods. This is skirting the definition of macro, as Andrew is quite resistant to the diet. Those of you who are my regular readers will see how I've woven macro/vegan recipes into a menu that LOOKS decidedly "un-macro."
Appetizer
Spring Rolls a Sweet Homemade Hoisin Sauce
Main Course
Kimchee (Korean pickled cabbage) Soup
NOTE: Many jars of Kimchee have SHRIMP in them. If you have a shellfish allergy, be aware! It's worth scouring the health food store to find an organic, whole-foods kimchee. The stuff you get at Asian grocery stores is, for the large part, not macro. See my later post.
Side Dishes
Napa Cabbage with Fermented Tofu Sauce
Andrew doesn't like dessert and I'm on a real Honeycrisp apple/pomegranate kick, so that takes care of that. I'll post the cabbage recipe tomorrow.
The reason I'm posting this menu is that I'm sure we all have friends, especially teenagers and young adults, who are REALLY resistant to the macrobiotic lifestyle. But many of these people love Chinese, Japanese, and Korean food, which is just a few small simplifications away from a delicious macro meal!
If the person you are cooking with is not macro, and the thought of a vegan meal sends shivers down their spine, one could add thinly shaved pork to the Kimchee soup (recipe to follow), and the napa cabbage dish I'll provide above is typically done with tomatoes. If you're trying to stay within a pretty clean macro diet, you will, of course, want to leave these ingredients out.
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