It has been a few months since I posted last – partly because
of all the busyness of a beautiful You see at the end of June, after over 20 years of vegetarianism, the Husband announced that the time had come once again to. eat. meat.
Whoaaa. My mind reeled a bit. What about this? What about
that? What about the blog???
Now I remind you that I have always been an omnivore, and
have embraced vegetarianism at home 90% of the time, and when eating out when I
could (I’ll address why that’s hard in a moment). However I am definitely, solidly, the still
the ‘gluten-free’ portion of the equation.
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So why give up over 2 DECADES of meat-free living, with the
occasional foray into full-on veganism? In a word: travel.
For four years or so the Husband as endured many, many
flights crisscrossing the great Pacific Northwest and the country. He has
logged over 100 segments so far this year alone. So how does that push a
vegetarian into the land of bacon? In another word: carbs. Or more
specifically, refined, empty white carbs.
You see, quite often vegetarian
meals are not vegetable heavy. No,
they are what I like to refer to as some version of a cheese sandwich. Pizza, tortellini,
quesadilla – all heavily reliant on white flour and cheese. Even the token
veggie burger is likely grain-heavy or made of gluten.
“So have a salad,” you are saying. Well, that too can be
difficult to muster. Many are meat- or seafood-centric (this vegetarian does
not eat fish – and if you do you are not a vegetarian so please stop confusing
people). And while the PNW can be great for subbing the steak in a steak cobb salad
for a veggie patty, hold the bacon,[i]
room service in Salt Lake City at 11 pm because that’s all you can get for
dinner? That’s another story.
So, sick of often having only one option on the dinner menu,
and that option being some permutation of a cheese sandwich (see how the
gluten-free girl get’s left out here?) it was not without much debate and
forethought that JJ decided to “go to the dark side” as he called it. Just like
becoming a vegetarian over 20 years ago was a health decision, so too he has
decided to include meat again so that he can eat healthier on the road.
“Meat? Healthy?” you ask. Well loaded bacon double cheese
burgers aside, when you consider a chicken caesar salad versus cheese ravioli,
the former has more nutritive value and protein than the latter. Baked salmon
and green beans vs. lasagna? No contest. Really, it’s more about the simple
things. Now he can order soup and salad with impunity, whereas before it
involved numerous questions and trips to the kitchen to inquire about the stock
(many vegetable soups have a chicken stock base) and no option to add protein
to the salad.
So what is a vegetarian
gluten-free blogger to do? The bulk of my trial-by-fire cooking education has occurred
while married (to a vegetarian), as such I can put a mean sear on some tofu,
but am less confident about searing a steak. So in cooking meat I am sort of
back to square one, albeit with a better cooking intuition for lack of a better
term. And I've learned to stop guessing and use the thermometer. So if I
do post meat recipes, you will still get a glimpse into the world of recipe
testing, just as you do with my regular VGF features and flops.
One thing to note, the gluten-free portion definitely stays –
with me eating that way by necessity, and the Husband eating that way most of
the time (at least at home) to satisfy his low-carb desires. And I like cooking and eating well-thought out vegetarian dishes, so I'm not looking to jettison them wholesale.
So dear readers, I know that there are more of you who
peruse the blog than there are those of you who are signed up for Google (and
thus can leave comments below). I want to put it to you – what are you looking
for?
Are you diehard gluten-free vegetarians who like the
confidence that you could consume the results of any of the recipes I post? Are
you busy parents who are looking for ideas on how to feed your vegetarian-might-be-a-phase
teenager alongside the chicken-crazed tween? Are you a considerate host and
entertainer who likes to have a well-though out menu for the vegetarian, vegan
and/or gluten-free guests at your table but normally have more omnivorous
tastes? Do you really need another chicken recipe, or are you more interested in putting
out something delectable for Meatless Monday?
Comment below, email me your
thoughts on the subject to foodforgoodnesssake@hotmail.com, or leave me a comment on facebook. I’d love to hear from you.
[i] You’d
be surprised how many times that they get the veggie burger part right but they
throw on the bacon! Do they think it’s not really meat but a condiment? JJ
likes to joke something to the effect of “I checked, and bacon isn’t a
vegetable” or “I tried growing bacon in the garden once and it was a dismal
failure”.
