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ahimel · 11-07-2006, 05:11 PM

I'm an omnivore. My roommate is a vegetarian for allergy reasons (animal products make him sick), and so I've gotten a lot of practice cooking vegetarian foods. I personally love the taste of meat - I love steaks, bacon, fried chicken, hamburgers... It's hard for me to imagine a lifestyle that gives all of that up. But a lot of people have said that the benefits gained from becoming a vegetarian were unbelievable, so I figure I'll give it a try someday. I'm thinking I'll give up meat for Lent come spring.

At the end of that trial, if I feel better, I'll continue as a veggie. If I don't feel better, but I don't miss meat, I'll continue as a veggie because it's cheaper. If I don't feel better and miss meat, I'll go back to being omnivorous.

The other thing I think a lot of people miss is the possibility of reducing intake without being a vegetarian fanatic. Because my roommate HAS to have a vegetarian meal, and because I don't always feel like cooking two versions of the same meal, I've cut down on my meat intake by quite a bit. Instead of the typical US diet that includes meat 2-3 times per day, I eat meat 2-3 times per week. Even if I go veggie next Easter, I'm not going to beat myself up if I decide I want a steak -- I'll eat a steak if the craving comes on me every 2-3 months. Does this make me as enlightened as Steve? No. But even Steve says it's stupid to be comparing myself to him. Does this make me 225x more enlightened, compassionate and healthy than I was 5 years ago? Yes. I'll settle for 295% growth/year.

Having tried to find veggie food options for several years now, my advice to the I-want-variety-vegetarian-wannabe is this: see how many of the things you cook already can be done meat-free. Obviously there's nothing you can do about a steak -- that's pretty much unavoidably a meat dish. But spaghetti can be done meat free -- just don't use meatballs/meat sauce. Pizza can be done meat free -- don't order/leave off the pepperoni. Salads, soups and baked pototoes can be done meat free -- leave off the bacon bits. Shepard's pie is good with beans, and Mexican is almost always as good as a bean burrito instead of a beef-and-bean burrito. 90% of the things I cook straight out of an off-the-shelf, down-home style cookbook can be made vegetarian - we either leave out the meat or we substitute textured soy protein or beans.

You can also look into ethnic foods. In most second- and third-world countries, meat is a luxury. So they've got an awful lot of really good recipes that don't involve meat. I've had good luck with Mexican and Hungarian.

11-07-2006, 05:11 PM	#28 (permalink)
ahimel Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Boulder, Colorado Posts: 384	I'm an omnivore. My roommate is a vegetarian for allergy reasons (animal products make him sick), and so I've gotten a lot of practice cooking vegetarian foods. I personally love the taste of meat - I love steaks, bacon, fried chicken, hamburgers... It's hard for me to imagine a lifestyle that gives all of that up. But a lot of people have said that the benefits gained from becoming a vegetarian were unbelievable, so I figure I'll give it a try someday. I'm thinking I'll give up meat for Lent come spring. At the end of that trial, if I feel better, I'll continue as a veggie. If I don't feel better, but I don't miss meat, I'll continue as a veggie because it's cheaper. If I don't feel better and miss meat, I'll go back to being omnivorous. The other thing I think a lot of people miss is the possibility of reducing intake without being a vegetarian fanatic. Because my roommate HAS to have a vegetarian meal, and because I don't always feel like cooking two versions of the same meal, I've cut down on my meat intake by quite a bit. Instead of the typical US diet that includes meat 2-3 times per day, I eat meat 2-3 times per week. Even if I go veggie next Easter, I'm not going to beat myself up if I decide I want a steak -- I'll eat a steak if the craving comes on me every 2-3 months. Does this make me as enlightened as Steve? No. But even Steve says it's stupid to be comparing myself to him. Does this make me 225x more enlightened, compassionate and healthy than I was 5 years ago? Yes. I'll settle for 295% growth/year. Having tried to find veggie food options for several years now, my advice to the I-want-variety-vegetarian-wannabe is this: see how many of the things you cook already can be done meat-free. Obviously there's nothing you can do about a steak -- that's pretty much unavoidably a meat dish. But spaghetti can be done meat free -- just don't use meatballs/meat sauce. Pizza can be done meat free -- don't order/leave off the pepperoni. Salads, soups and baked pototoes can be done meat free -- leave off the bacon bits. Shepard's pie is good with beans, and Mexican is almost always as good as a bean burrito instead of a beef-and-bean burrito. 90% of the things I cook straight out of an off-the-shelf, down-home style cookbook can be made vegetarian - we either leave out the meat or we substitute textured soy protein or beans. You can also look into ethnic foods. In most second- and third-world countries, meat is a luxury. So they've got an awful lot of really good recipes that don't involve meat. I've had good luck with Mexican and Hungarian.