Context: I usually don’t follow a recipe and just make things ad hoc with a generic set of (usually shelf-stable) ingredients I keep. I just mixed together the following:

• Quinoa
• Vegetable broth
• A Mediterranean seasoning mix I combined myself from like 20 herbs and spices
• A light drizzle of olive oil
• A handful of grape leaves
• About a spoonful of pomegranate molasses (never saw this ingredient before but found it on a good sale; shockingly versatile)
• About a spoonful of mango/peach jam (don’t ask; I choose minor ingredients like a pregnant person)

It tastes good, but it’s very homogenous flavor-wise, texture-wise, and nutrient-wise. Mainly I’m thinking of solid ingredients. Avocado? I had none on hand, but maybe next time. If I liked olives more, they’d go well with the grape leaves and Mediterranean spices to make it sort of Greek. I have a tomato, but I didn’t add it; maybe I was wrong? Vegan feta exists, but I didn’t like feta when I ate animal products. I bet falafel would work nicely, but I have no way to make them. The sweet ingredients already in the recipe don’t make the dish taste “sweet”; they just add a bit of background flavor, and I don’t want anything too sweet in it after those (except a squeeze of citrus juice which I didn’t have on hand). I think white wine would be good, but I never drink, so a lot goes to waste if I use it for cooking. Lastly, I’m thinking I want the dish to be hot instead of chilled, but that’s probably a stupid idea.

TL;DR: Having writer’s block in finishing a potentially decent recipe; I feel like I want to go in a Greek direction, but I have little experience with making Greek food.

#vegan