Southwestern Mac (& A Rant)

I attended my work's Thanksgiving luncheon today. I had placed a vegan meal request two weeks ago. The admin I initially contacted denied my request, as did someone ranked above her. Instead of wallowing in rejection, I contacted the admin for the institute's director. She got his permission to accommodate all special requests, and we spent an entire day getting my meal selected. Surprise, surprise - it didn't arrive at lunch today. There was only a salad for me. I requested a pasta dish, side salad without dressing, and fruit for dessert. I was livid. Eventually, the mean admin that initially rejected my request tried to offer to have the little cafe next door to make my lunch. I told her that I didn't even want that dish at that time because I was so annoyed. I said I was planning to leave for lunch at Chipotle, which she offered to reimburse me. After that conversation, a meal was brought to my table. They *almost* got it right. They soaked the pasta dish in some vinegar-based dressing, even though I specifically said I don't like dressing (and mustard) in my initial email request. Thanks for trying, but the food was brought me to an hour after everyone else's food was served and it was wrong. To make it worse, she wanted to hug after our conversation. I hate being touched by people that I don't know, so that made me a bit uncomfortable. The highlight of the day was my vegan mini pumpkin pie from Sinfull Bakery.

OK, thanks for letting me whine about that. I've been meaning to post this photo for a couple days. I made this over the weekend, since it's definitely not the healthiest dish. So much Daiya cheese! Two cups! I found the recipe on Pinterest and veganized it using Daiya vegan cheeses, Helen's Kitchen soy chorizo, and plain soy milk. I added some green onions and avocado cubes since they were lurking in the fridge. I didn't bake it since I was hungry.