Vegetarian Pride
Author: Ari LeVaux
Vegetarian Pride Ari LeVaux I am confused by veggie burgers, vegan cheese, margarine, and all substitutes for animal products that seek to imitate the very thing the eater wishes to avoid consuming. This time of year I’m triggered by the Tofurky, but it’s a year-round phenomenon.
Have you ever seen a meat eater attempt to reconfigure a T-bone steak to look like a pile of beans? I’m guessing no. So why must vegetarians turn beans into burgers? It reinforces the idea that meat eating is somehow more normal, and that vegetarians should try to hide their true selves and pretend to fit in.
Food culture on the Indian sub-continent is the opposite. There, it’s common to see restaurants proudly display their credentials with outdoor signage that announces “Veg and non-Veg” in large type. This delivers the message that Veg is normal and non-Veg is the alternative. Given that India will soon overtake China as the world’s most populous nation, this dietary preference is fortunate for the earth and essential for India’s food security. Vegetables are much easier on the climate than meat, and a vegetable-based diet will feed more people from a given amount of land than a meaty cuisine.
Fortunately, Indian chefs have many tricks for making their food so satisfying. They do it with spices, sauces, and lots of chopping. Imitation animal products are not on the menu, yet Anthony Bourdain, as committed a flesh lover as anyone, once said that India is the only place where he could be a vegetarian.
Vegetables are beautiful, delicious, and more interesting than meat and most animal products. I love vegetables, despite being an ungulate-hunting omnivore, and I love vegetarians – except some of those who give me grief for hunting. A meat-free lifestyle is a beautiful thing, so don’t apologize, vegetarians! Don’t try to play somebody else’s game with your dry, wannabe sausages. Be proud of your choices and flaunt your lifestyle. Veg is beautiful, and so are you.
A New Jersey-based vegetarian friend of mine named Matthew has been texting me some of his favorite unapologetic vegetable dishes that proudly celebrate the true identities of their ingredients. He’s lucky enough to live near the West Windsor Community Farmers Market, pound-for-pound one of the nation’s best, which gives him access to a year-round diversity of produce and fungus.
Mushrooms, with their earthy diversity, deliver meaty satisfaction without trying to be meat. Matthew is fluent in what each variety brings to the table, and each week he brings home some combination of maitake, oyster, shitake, black pearl, trumpet, enoki, lion’s mane, chicken of the woods and others. They pack a decent amount of protein content alongside their dark, rich flavors, and he adds fungus to his meals the way I add bacon bits to mine.
Here are two of his favorites. First, a simple dish of broiled brussels sprouts with mushrooms. Next, an Indian-inspired meal of chickpeas with turmeric and lemon.
With so many benefits to the veg life, and a never-ending supply of flavors, why pose as a meat eater? Embrace your lifestyle, vegetarians, and give it a squeeze.
For the recipes, follow the link: https://arilevaux.com/unapologetic-veg/
