countering the anti-vegetarians

[Guest guest]

Agree w/Donna on this. Arguing with people who are addicted to meat is

pointless. The best thing is continue to crank out delicious vegetarian dishes &

get people to taste them. People are often blown away at what's available out

there these days. From the fake textured proteins, to fake shrimp, to fake

cheeses, tofu ice cream, corn dogs made of tofu! Fantastic stuff!

I met a big tough-looking guy who shocked me when he told me he was a committed

vegetarian. He prepared Portabello mushroom burgers for his huge Mexican family

on July 4 at their annual family bbq. They thought he was crazy, but when they

ate them, they loved them! 

I've been a vegetarian for 40 years [some of those years I did occasionally eat

fish since I'm from New Orleans], but I've never spent the night in a hospital.

That's something that impresses folks.

Also know several people that had to change diet drastically due to diabetes,

heart disease, cancers & became vegetarian & grew to love the food & everything

about it [cheaper, easier to clean up, weight loss, change of body smells and

skin texture...etc.]

 

I enjoy cooking, but dare say my skills have improved markedly thanks to the

kindess of folks posting recipes from all over the world on the internet There

are amazing recipes for Thai dishes, Indian dishes, Spanish dishes, Greek food,

Middle Eastern food, on & on.I have so many recipes on my hard drive, I'll never

be able to try them all! 

In fact, after I joined this group & studied the files for a while, I regularly

use spices and do things I never would have thought to do on my own, like using

smoked paprika in winter soups. Yum! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I've been a vegetarian for the past 15 years. I've found I'm more creative with

my cooking and have a more varied diet now. Before I became a vegetarian, I used

to think that international cuisine meant Taco Bell. <lol>

 

I know how difficult it can be to get your friends/family to try vegetarian

foods. They usually turn up their noses to it. Like the saying goes " If you push

against something, it pushes back. " However if a meat-eater really wants to try

vegetarian dishes they will - and if they don't they won't. Everyone chooses

their own path.

 

Best regards,

Sandy Boyd

NC

[Guest guest]

hahaha Sandy that was a good one.

AJ

 

Before I became a vegetarian, I used to think that international cuisine meant

Taco Bell. <lol>

>

> Best regards,

> Sandy Boyd

> NC

>

[Guest guest]

I am not a vegetarian, but I LOVE this group because it is SO creative. My son

is dairy/nut allergic, so I came here to get out of a rut, and find more recipes

to spice up our lives. I can only eat meat so many times (plus, my cholesterol

is on the high side).

 

My DH is a meat and potatoes type of guy, but he is coming around to more

healthy meals. He even tried a dairy free mac n chreese, and liked it!

 

My only pet peeve from anti vegs, is when you place something on the table and

call it 'dairy free' or 'vegetarian' or eggfree, and people seriously freak out.

Potato salad can be vegetarian,right? But vegetarian potato salad has a

hesitant factor. It's a funny, yet frustrating subject for me.

 

I think vegetarian recipes have MORE flavor than others because you have be

inventive w/spices and herbs and combining foods. Maybe just making the recipes

and placing them on the table w/out 'labeling' might help. Just plain ol'good

food.

[Guest guest]

I agree with you.  I do not consider myself of any particular " eating group " .  I

love the variety of vegetarian food and the extremely dynamic ways to fix

things.  when someone asks me if I'm a vegetarian or meat eater, I usually

respond " I like food " .

 

For years I've been interested in " vegetarian " cuisine/recipes.  The past couple

years I've gravitated toward this more.  And, more recently, ever more so.  It

is a choice of health.  Which is also a challenge.  For 10 years I've battled

cholesterol and blood pressure problems.  I have found when I consistently made

choices which were (mostly) vegetarian I did better.  However, my issue is

understanding WHAT and how much I eat.  (I can't eat 3-4 pieces of pizza in one

sitting like I did 25 years ago). 

 

I understand what you say about certain dishes.  Many side salads (pasta salad,

potato salad, slaws) can all be " categorized " .  But, as an example, your simple

" Amish style " potato salad. Sit it on the table; it's food!  ;-)  I'm lucky that

my wife and daughter are diverse enough.  My wife pretty much eats or tries what

I like.  My daughter we've brought up very diverse.  Tabouleh, for example, my

daughter has tried.  She doesn't like it because it's labeled any certain way,

she just doesn't like it because of the onion and green pepper we put in to it. 

 

Now, my struggle is with things at family gatherings.  My issue isn't with

particular dishes... it's HOW the dishes are made and what's in them.  Potato

salad and slaws are a classic example.  Our society has (relatively recently)

just gotten so used to large quantity, highly rich foods, that's almost ALL you

can buy in stores!  A recent episode comes to mind with Andrew Zimmern.  It was

a rerun of his Bizarro foods show but he was in Vietnam.  Classic stuff I'd

never think of eating, but a comment he made was so right on the money.  In

America, we're so used to large quanties of protein in just ONE MEAL!  In some

countries that protein is spready out over several meals and eaten by a large

family.

 

There's a new book out by Rocco DiSpirito called Now Eat This.  I hope to get

that soon.  Right on the same subject.

 

And, you are right, there are MORE flavors in vegetarian recipes.  That's why I

like them.  More textures!  Tabouleh is a classic example!  You've got all those

contrats of texture like tomatoes and chickpeas and onions and bulgar.  And, you

have the great variety of flavors and fragrences from the garlic and onion. 

mmmmm 

 

We recently started to make a meatloaf from a recipe from Eating Well magazine. 

It has bulgar in it.  Until this recipe, my wife never really knew what bulgar

was!  She likes it.  I love bulgar.  But, I guess it's how we're brought up and

how " open " we are to trying new things.

 

But, for me, I'm gradually gravitating to the point where some day, I probably

will be 100% vegetarian with many vegan tendancies and that's simply due to

health reasons.

 

Ted

 

>

>flwrdrmgirl <flwrdrmgirl

>

>Tue, May 4, 2010 12:50:45 AM

>Re: [veg_grp] countering the anti-vegetarians

>

> 

>I am not a vegetarian, but I LOVE this group because it is SO creative. My son

is dairy/nut allergic, so I came here to get out of a rut, and find more recipes

to spice up our lives. I can only eat meat so many times (plus, my cholesterol

is on the high side).

>

>My DH is a meat and potatoes type of guy, but he is coming around to more

healthy meals. He even tried a dairy free mac n chreese, and liked it!

>

>My only pet peeve from anti vegs, is when you place something on the table and

call it 'dairy free' or 'vegetarian' or eggfree, and people seriously freak out.

Potato salad can be vegetarian,right? But vegetarian potato salad has a hesitant

factor. It's a funny, yet frustrating subject for me.

>

>I think vegetarian recipes have MORE flavor than others because you have be

inventive w/spices and herbs and combining foods. Maybe just making the recipes

and placing them on the table w/out 'labeling' might help. Just plain ol'good

food.

[Guest guest]

For me, when I serve a " vegetarian " dish....like one with no eggs or no milk

(not because I don't eat eggs or milk but because that is how the dish is made),

I just say something like.... " And, for those of you who are allergic to milk (or

eggs), this recipe doesn't have any of those ingredients in it. " Sometimes,

for people who are anti-vegetarian, when you call a dish " vegan " , " vegetarian "

or " dairy or egg FREE " it is some kind of a red flag. And, after all, there

are a lot of people out there who are allergic to dairy or eggs and CAN'T have

those ingredients so it shouldn't be a big deal. I think a lot of people would

love whatever the dish is if they just relaxed and tried it without any

preconceived notions, but the IDEA that it is a " vegetarian " dish is what throws

them into some sort of a " it won't be any good " mode of thinking. I don't

understand that thinking because after all, non-vegetarians eat dishes that are

vegetarian every day. I wish everyone would just relax and try new foods

before making judgments about it. I don't think I have ever met a vegetarian

dish I didn't like.

 

Nancy C.

 

 

I am not a vegetarian, but I LOVE this group because it is SO creative. My son

is dairy/nut allergic, so I came here to get out of a rut, and find more recipes

to spice up our lives. I can only eat meat so many times (plus, my cholesterol

is on the high side).

 

My DH is a meat and potatoes type of guy, but he is coming around to more

healthy meals. He even tried a dairy free mac n chreese, and liked it!

 

My only pet peeve from anti vegs, is when you place something on the table and

call it 'dairy free' or 'vegetarian' or eggfree, and people seriously freak out.

Potato salad can be vegetarian,right? But vegetarian potato salad has a hesitant

factor. It's a funny, yet frustrating subject for me.