Roasting Veggies Make my Night

There is something almost magical and lovely about roasting vegetables and I love love love making and eating them. Tonight one was of those such nights. Most people have made or at least eaten roasted potatoes, but I will pretty much roast anything I can. It turns plain vegetables into some kind of lovely carmalized tasty bit of yum. Tonight I roasted up some seasoned potato cubes with some onion and bits of garlic, as well as some carrots and broccoli with onion and garlic bits. The garlic melts on down around and the onion peices carmalize throughout. I have never been a fan of steamed broccoli, but roasting fresh broccoli in the oven is something wonderful. While my family chowed down on pork chops I sauteed up some onion and mushrooms to put atop of a Morning Star mushroom lovers veggie burger with cheese on a toasted kaiser bun.

"Vegetarians taste better." -- Author Unknown

Stir Fry Night

It was another stir fry night at our house. It's becoming pretty much once a week. We lay out a selection of vegetables and sauces (my meat-eating family usually chops up some sort of meat to go with it). It's a mix of what you like, what sounds good, and what is on hand. Mine usually consists of onion, garlic, shredded carrots, mushrooms (tonight was a mix of button and sliced portabellas), green onion, and broccoli. Depending on the season and what is in the fridge there may also be snap peas, lima beans, corn, green beans, asparagus, peppers and/or marinated tofu. Sauces and spices are all done to taste and changes depending on what's on hand. (My mom often will take scoop of my veggie filled stir fry and some of my brother's mostly meat stir fry to combine the two.) Served over some plain brown rice with a vegetable egg roll I have a meal fit for a queen. Of course, I have such a weakness for decent vegetable egg rolls and try (try being the key word) to keep them in the freezer most of the time.

Picked up some veggie burgers while getting veggies for tonight's stir fry. Between the veggies, the veggie burgers, and what's in the house I should be good for awhile. Although we so seem to be dangerously low on homemade salsa.

"Support you right to arm bears." -- Cleveland Armory

Vegetarian Culture

“Vegetarian Culture” -- a phrase heard in regarding restaurants and people understanding and embracing the ‘vegetarian culture.’ How does the concept of a “vegetarian culture” change in regards to geography, environment, family situation, upbringing, etc? Vegetarian culture in regards to internet, community, religion? Groups? “…Because they understand the vegetarian culture…” is a phrase I recently heard in regards to a restaurant and the offerings in their menu. I, like I am sure many others living a meat-free life, live in an area that does not offer a lot of like-minded individuals in this area. How does the vegetarian culture as whole affect the lives we lead with little personal interaction from other vegetarians?

This is sonething I have been thinking about a lot lately, along with the feelings isolation that is connected to loving in my house and in this part of the country. I've only a few friends who don't eat and most of them have gone back to those meat eating ways or it is a Lent thing. Once in a local grocery store I had someone ask me about my preferred type of veggie burger while I was shopping in that area. My brother, who was with me at the time, was floored. There are others!!! For a moment my lifestyle suddenly seemed almost normal to him as he met a rather normal woman who shared in this journey, but overall this has been the exception. On the whole I feel rather detached from the whole of "vegetarian culture." It's something I am a part of, but also something that seems so far away.

I meet people occassionaly who claim to be vegetarian... but they eat chicken, seafood, and attack others for choosing not to. I occasionally meet people who at least try to respect it, but I also meet a lot of people who just end up attacking me for it or puzzled over the "sacrafise." Sometimes, it feels like a rather isolated journey in a world that thinks I am nuts. Sometimes it would be nice to not feel way.
I did a net search... in hope of finding some other thoughts on it.

* "The Importance of Vegetarian Culture" http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj97sep/979cult.htm
* "Good for the Gods: India" http://www.veggieheadonline.com/india.html
* http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Building-Vegetarian-Culture/
* "Vegetarian & Vegan Diets" @ 'Home Chef' http://www.chefhome.com/Cookbook/Vegetarian.shtml
* "The Vegetarian Channel" http://www.thevegetarianchannel.com/directory/News/Publications/213.html
* "Becoming a Vegetarian" http://becoming-a-vegetarian.blogspot.com/

"Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals." ~George Orwell, Animal Farm

Welcoming the Summer Season

The Memorial Day weekend is over and I made it through one of the biggest cookout weekends of the summer. Being like many families across the country my family joined in the BBQ, grilling, picnic festivites.

Even the vegetarian (me) was able to join in and enjoy my fill of grilled yumminess (of course grilled in a manner as not to touch any of the meat or meat juices). At last Sunday's bog family gathering I grilled up some mushroom veggie burgers for me and my grandpa (his doctor has limited his meat-intake by a lot and he has been embracing a semi-vegetarian diet now in the seventy year range). Despite the surprise to some family members it wasn't a big deal. On Monday, we grilled out again, this time at my mom's aunt house, my grandparents also attending. We grilled up some potatoes and onion, then I grilled some marinated portabella mushrooms for my grandpa and myself. (He likes the veggie burgers and mushrooms.) I love to to cook on the open fire and eating meat-free does not have to be a limitation.

The warming weather seems to have brought my desire to cook back. Although it could also be that the show i was involved with is now over and my stock up of frozen meals dwindled during that time. In the last week I made my favorite corn chowder and a rich and spicy vegetable stew. Hard to say what I might make next, especially if it can meet the dietary guidelines my grandfather's doctor set for him.

"I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals, as surely as the savage tribes have left off eating each other...." ~Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854

I'm Baaaaack

So, I haven't gotten lost. Mostly, I was on a cooking strike at home. My brothers, being the meat and potato type of guys that they are complained about one too many meals of mine and refused to cook for them anymore (or until they decide to act like decent human beings). In the meantime we've been eating a lot of pizza, take-out, and other assorted quick fixes or restaraunts. It has been this ways for the most part, with the exception of my Easter quiche. (It was fabulous and well-received by other members of my extended family.)

Now that it is spring and I have been working to get soil ready for planting, I have beem ready for some home-cooking.... my home cooking. Last night I went through my recipe collection and decided to try some new recipes. I had a recipe for homemade black bean veggie burgers, peanut soup, and a spinach bisque. I cut all the recipes in half and hoped that I would like at least one of the three. The spinach bisque was lovely, the peanut soup was pretty good, but the veggie burgers were a complete other matter (and usuallyI enjoy veggie burgers). I even followed the recipe as written (which goes against much of my nature), The patties were too soft and fell apart when I tried to turn them (I tried a few things to try to make it work, but no), then when I tried them they tasted like they were missing something... not anything I forgot to put in, but just pushing bland. I froze a serving of each soup for later use and now feel like I am back to my cookong phase, even if my family often does nto appreciate trying new things.

Jean Paul Richter quoated: "Because the heart beats under a covering of hair, of fur, feathers, or wings, it is, for that reason, to be of no account?"

Let's Talk Veggie Burgers

While not necessary to living the veg life there are a ton of different veggie burger brands, flavors, and recipes. For me they are not an everyday thing, but often a convenient addition to my emat-free lifestyle. Surrounded my meat-eaters this is also at times a way to bring what they perceive some element of non-threatening normalcy to the table. It is a versitile food product that can be homemade (check out various online recipe sources, vegetarian/vegan cookbooks, or experiment for yourself), served by itself, along favorite foods, or added to favorite recipes such as chili or tacos. Some porducts are so close to mocking meat they are great for the reluctant vegetarian or even the meat-lover who want. needs to cut back on fats and cholestrol associated with a real burger. The veggie burger is not just for vegetarians, sometimes suggested by doctors for those suffering from heart issues. My personal tastes are in avoidance of the ones that too closely resemble actual meat and lean more towards mushroom flavored, tomato themed burgers, or other tasty flavor combinations. They are easy to prepare on teh stove top, grill, griddle, microwave, oven, or on a table top grill (like a 'George Foreman' brand). Cook them through and add your favorite burger toppers (I love to sautee or grill up some onion or mushrooms to top with a bit of cheese depending on the burger flavor). They are great for quick fix meals, dinner addition, or an afternoon BBQ with friends served along side some fabulous grilled vegetables. I've even been stopped in the grocery store veggie burger section of the freezer to be asked about my favorite flavors and brands. (This was a huge thing for my brother that was with me and witnessed that there are more vegetarians in our smallish college town than just me.)

Check out some of the links before and become educated on the love of veggie burgers. :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veggie_burger
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9685441/
http://www.amyskitchen.com/products/category_view.php?prod_category=1
http://www.gardenburger.com/

In the Words of Neal Barnard: "The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined. If beef is your idea of "real food for real people" you'd better live real close to a real good hospital."