Misconceptions of a Vegetarian's Menu

There I was in my Animals and Justice class bawling my eyes out during a video we were watching in class. I had made plans on having Bim Bim Bop (or however it's spelled/called) for lunch but after watching all sorts of animals being abused and then slaughtered, I had quickly lost my appetite for meat.

After class, I was still crying as I walked to the Int'l Student Org's office. I sat down and my friends looked at me like I was some ghost. After telling them what I just saw, I announced that at that moment I was a vegetarian. Their first response: "What will you eat?"

Vegetarians, by definition, eat vegetables and animal by-products. By this I mean milk, eggs, honey, cheese, and anything that didn't require the death of an animal but came from an animal is still ok to eat. Vegans eat absolutely NO ANIMAL BY-PRODUCTS. Not even honey. I stress the honey part because many people I tell this to are shocked to hear that honey is considered an animal by-product despite the fact that honey comes from bees.

I cannot give up honey. I love it too much. I also eat the occasional egg and bake with it as well so that is very difficult for me to rid of in my diet. I did replace cow's milk with soymilk and reduced my cheese intake significantly (I will, on occasion, have cheese on my eggs or in my salads).

People tease me saying that I eat grass, or that I'm a grazer. That vegetarians only eat salads or raw veggies. This is not true. We can eat pretty much anything a typical omnivore eats just without the meat. Veggie lasagna is delicious and much better than the original if you ask me. Pizza has more pizzazz when you put all veggies of all sorts on the crust instead of all meats. Sandwiches suddenly become lively and creative when you have to fill up two slices of bread with something other than cold cuts. I have discovered so many new taste sensations that I have missed for the first 24 years of my life. I had no idea how great a cucumber, hummus, bean sprouts, lettuce sandwich was until I became a vegetarian. I eat several HOT dishes as well. Today I had a bag of frozen veggies that I steamed in the microwave. Sure I could have cooked them on the stove but I was lazy and so I went the easier route. I've had to get creative with dinner and discovered a lot of root vegetables as well. I've learned how to adapt and found that my menu is limitless. However, several restaurants and chefs are dumbfounded when it comes to feeding a vegetarian.

It seems that chefs or cooks everywhere think that veggies can't be spruced up into something decadent. Well, they can. That's what spices and herbs are for!! Every time I ask if there is a vegetarian dish on the menu the response is overwhelmingly "salad." Well, your salads are boring! Give me flavor or give me death! Come on! Get creative!

I've noticed that there are some places that are expanding their menu because of the growing population of vegetarians/vegans in our society. Panera bread offers a few items that are delish and creative for us veggies. Even McD's and Burger King have veggie patties (albeit they are disgusting b/c they cook them on the same equipment as the meat).

All I'm saying is that there is more than just salads that we veggies eat. It just requires a bit of creativity and expansion of the vegetable vocabulary. There are endless possibilities and yet people are too lazy to even try. I bet if you took your fave dish and made it vegetarian, you would soon discover how fast your cookbook has just expanded. 

As my dad always tried to get me to do: "Eat your colors. They are much healthier than the pork chop on your plate." Well, I've finally listened and I love it.