New Adventures in Vegetarianism

Veggie BBQ Pile

Grilled vegetables (squash, egglant, onion, carrots, heirloom tomatoes) and caesar salad with homemade dressing

Vegetarian chili with cornbread

Three bags from Trader Joes becomes stir fried vegetables and fried rice for three.  I combined one bag of fresh stir fry vegetables (celery, bok choy, pea pods, etc) with one bag of crimini mushrooms to make the stir fry, and the vegetable fried rice comes frozen.  Total cost somewhere around 10 bucks, fed three people.  A little shy of being enough to make us full, but pretty darn close.

Vegan pizza from Cruzer

Adding this to the list of veggie-friendly restaurants in LA that I’d like to try.

First let me tell you how I usually eat pasta: with meat.  I was brought up eating sauce that is essentially meatballs and sausages and pepperoni and chicken and pork ribs stewed in tomatoes.  If I’m out at a restaurant, I order bolognese, or carbonara with pancetta, or something similar.  Maybe it’s a sort of natural extension of the “meat and potatoes” idea, but with the starch replaced.

However, I’ve said many times that if, for some awful reason, I were ever forced into vegetarianism, the only thing that would keep me alive is tomatoes.

Tomatoes are quite possibly the perfect vegetable.  They come in a variety of styles, have a natural blend of acidity and sweetness, a crispy skin with a pulpy, meaty interior, and every breed has slightly differing qualities that makes it special.  I eat ‘em raw, like an apple, with salt.  I sometimes crack open a can of whole peeled tomatoes and eat it with a fork.  I love tomato soup, bruschetta, mexican salsa and pico de gallo, ketchup, and every other wonderful thing you can possibly concoct with this magical plant.

So what does a guy like me do when his beautiful girlfriend comes over for dinner?  Cut out the meat, lay on the tomatoes, and add some vegetables, of course.

I actually started with a recipe for pasta with prosciutto (which sounded delcious, BTW), and pulled out the butter and pork.  First I cooked up the tomato base, with some red wine and basil, cooked until the wine reduced to a syrup and the tomatoes slightly wilted.  Then I cooked up, in another pan, some fresh peas, brussel sprouts, and asparagus.  Mixed it all up with the pasta, threw some parmesan while still hot, and garnished with fresh parsley.

This vegetarian stuff is easy!  And pretty damn tasty too, if you do it right.

Lobster Truffle Mac & Cheese

Not exactly vegetarian, but it fits into the realm of what my girlfriend eats.  To tell the truth, I still think I would have a particularly hard time going vegan, but dishes like this lead me to believe there’s a place in the vegetarian heart for a piggy-killer like me.

Today I made a grilled cheese sandwich for my sister.  And instead of using butter, I used Smart Balance Buttery Spread (is margarine really a dirty word now?).

Now let me just say that butter is one of the most incredible substances to ever grace this good earth.  But this is one particular food where the vegetarian equivalent actually tastes an awful lot like the real thing.  Sure, you can still taste the difference, but it’s one of those things where you feel so good about it that you just put more on and that makes up for the difference :)

Anyways, after a taste test, she didn’t notice the difference at all.  It could just be that the cheese covered up the flavor of the spread, but hey, I’ll take this as an early indicator that change isn’t so bad.

SMART BALANCE (via psd)

Gobhi Paratha