Hey everyone, how have you all been? I’ve been doing pretty well, went on vacation to Dubai, which was lovely, but am still working on my thesis paper (and by working on I really mean ignoring and procrastinating all the time). The title of this post is a sort of inside joke – when we were in Dubai I kept seeing this novel (called Desperate in Dubai) everywhere (we go to bookstores frequently), I didn’t buy it because I wasn’t interested in it after reading the cover, but as a vegan I definitely felt a bit desperate in Dubai as often I only like one option of what to eat! (I actually have one particularly entertaining story from one restaurant where they had a “vegetarian wrap” and when I asked what was in it, they actually said “chicken”. Yeah, okay, no thank you. I ended up eating hummus and falafel most of our stay but since I actually really love both hummus and falafel, it was fine. But I will share some of the food I had. I’ll start with one of my favorites, which ironically was still in Prague at the airport and was a sandwich, which I prepared for the trip. I may be tooting my own horn here, but it was delicious. The sandwich was made with olive bread, spicy soyannaise (mayonnaise made from soy), tofu, tomatoes, salad and herbs. I have a tradition of buying a foreign magazine at the airport and I was so happy to choose a magazine with my current girl crush on the cover. I’m loving Dakota Johnson (and was so happy to see her new movie, How to be Single).
The best meal I had in Dubai was this pizza at a restaurant called 800 Degrees. I loved this restaurant and their concept of the customer choosing everything about their pizzas. You choose the crust, the sauce, the toppings. It’s perfect for people like me who do not eat meat or cheese. This combo was my favorite: tomato sauce with oregano and garlic as the bottom layer, loads of mushrooms plus sun dried tomatoes and cherry tomatoes as the toppings. It was so good!
I also tried their normal vegetarian choice toppings but my own were way better, but theirs were good too and I’m happy to have tried it out. The toppings were sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli and artichokes. The only down-side to writing this post is that it is making me super hungry!
Oh, I also tried a mushroom burger (it was supposed to have chicken and cheese as well, but I requested that the burger only have the mushrooms and veggies.) I love mushrooms and mushroom burgers are especially lovely.
I sadly didn’t take any photos of the falafel and hummus combos but I did take one of just hummus. I could eat hummus all the time! I love it like a dip with veggies or bread (especially pita bread, yum!) but with olive oil and falafel it’s a perfect match. I don’t think I’ve really written about being vegan on this blog but it’s a big part of my life now (I’ve been vegan since the New Year so it’s a little over three months now. I think it has been one of the best decisions that I have made. I mean, it was a bit difficult at the beginning (I have to think about food more than I used to and eating out isn’t as simple as it once was but overall I am much happier and I’m doing it for the animals, so it’s not all about me.)
My next post will be about what we did in Dubai and some Dubai shopping but I thought you’d enjoy a food related post as I had been thinking of doing one for a while now. I’d love to know if you’d be interested in reading about the food I’ve been eating lately in Prague as well and perhaps about my vegan lifestyle, so if that would be something that you’d be into, let me know via the comments or email.
With lots of love, V.
Very Veronique 
I’m not a particularly good eater anyway (very ‘fussy’ people would say), so although at times I’ve thought of going vegetarian (not a big meat eater anyway), I would really struggle to find food I liked and that gave me the nutrients I need (my iron has been an issue in the past, so I need to get as much of that from food as possible). I couldn’t imagine going vegan, that must be even trickier, especially when eating out or buying ‘convenience’ foods. Since the new year I’ve been eating healthier, cutting out the chocolate and only allowing myself a treat at the weekend like a cake or doughnut! I probably eat more now than I used to, lots of fruit and veg and I’ve lost 15lbs so far. One thing I REALLY miss though is peanut butter. I used to have this daily and haven’t touched it in 4 months. It’s hard, I miss it, but I try not to think about it.