Sunday, April 16, 2006

V is for vegetarian

I've been thinking about taking the plunge into a vegetarian diet for a while now. In the mid 90's (fuck I feel my age when I write that - oh Nevermind, what glory your memory evokes) I went a year and a half without eating meat. But I didn't eat well and ended up pale, which is cool if you're auditioning for the role of a vampire in Buffy but not so cool if you're trying to pick up your female teenage contemporaries. In the end I had to start eating meat again. Now that I'm a slightly more mature soul I think that in the interests of eating a more diverse, nutritious diet I'm going back to the land of Vegetaria.

My first vegetarian dabbling was due in no small measure to the time I spent in my school holidays working at an abattoir (a story requiring a whole other post). Suffice to say that an accidental mouthful of errant arterial blood was enough to keep me away from meat for a year or so.

Rather than getting into the murky ground of discourse on the ethics of eating meat - a discussion undoubtedly likely to be in play throughout perpetuity - I'm taking the line that I'm interested in a nutritious, alternate diet which, all things considered, is a true statement on my part.

So, what I need now are some vegetarian meal suggestions. I know I love vegetarian lasagna, I just don't know how to make it. If you have any favorite recipes feel free to email them to me, or if you aren't comfortable with email then just leave them in the comments. Also feel free not to leave any suggestions; just know that I'll hate you always and begin plans for personal regime change. I just can't help slipping a little political snark into a simple blog post. Okay, I'm waffling.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Next time you're in a bookstore, check out "How it all Vegan" - Tanya Barnard & Sarah Kramer. I can email you some easy indian recipes too if you like.

Don Quixote said...

Easy Indian recipes sound good to me! Indian is my #1 food!

audrey said...

Vegetarian cooking is pretty simple really. My three golden rules are:

*Always include mushrooms (they being the vegetarians' meat etc etc)

*Incorporate walnuts into your cooking

*Start cultivating a few herb pot plants. Homemade basil pesto is so much da bomb it ain't funny.

Will you be cutting out fish too? Because tuna burgers are super easy to make and our metcha delicious.

Anonymous said...

My favorite vegetarian cook book is called the Rebar cookbook. You can find it here:http://www.rebarmodernfood.com/cookbook.html

Epicurious.com is also a good place to find zillions of recipes of all sorts.

Don Quixote said...

I'm definitely going to start a few herb pot plants, Audrey. And I love nuts, so that should be easy as well. I haven't decided on fish as yet - I like fish, but I don't eat all that much of it.

Don Quixote said...

I'll check that website out, Ladybug - my first meal didn't turn out so well, so I'll try one of the sites that you've recommended.

Arthur_Vandelay said...

Always include mushrooms (they being the vegetarians' meat etc etc

Nah. Chick peas, kidney beans and lentils are the vegetarians' meat.

Don Quixote said...

I just don't know any meals that I can incorporate chickpeas into - I'll have to search up a Mexican dish on the web.

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer and Vive Le Vegan by Dreena Burton are excellent cookbooks.

Don Quixote said...

Thanks Vicki, I'll have to check them out. I purchased a generic vegetarian cookbook, but its meals are a little bland.