Home food:
Plant-based island inspiration hilary klassen A few weeks before the 2020 pandemic hit, when the planet was still breathing easy, a family vacation took me to the island of Oahu in Hawaii. Anticipation gave way to sweet reality as the plane descended, sparkling waters came into view, and I emerged into that wonderful semi-sticky tropical air. Each morning, a power walk took me and my
‘wanna-be’ beach body out to greet the sun as it peeked over distant mountains. Paved pathways followed the contours of a series of beach lagoons. Each night extravagant sunsets painted the sky and reached through the lanai into our villa, as the sun hung low over the sea. Some of our best food memories are made on vacation—experiences
that become stories worth salivating over later, retold with savvy embellishment. But with each vacation, a question also plagues me. Will the vacation ruin the diet, or will the diet ruin the vacation? My hope is to avoid all varieties of ruin. Like most people, I seek maximum enjoyment and minimal disruption. Vacations are about a break
from the routine, and perhaps breaking some rules—diet rules, for example. I vacillate between feeling that I have too many rules and not enough. One thing is clear. I stay away from all-inclusives because my self-restraint is dubious. On this 11-day escape to paradise, with the voices of psychologists whispering in my ear about our relationship with
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