Welcome to

Last Saturday night, while we were out for our weekend date, my husband informed me that he’d like to have a go at vegetarianism…and then he even said veganism.  He said this while we were munching a beef quesadilla, by the way, with our respective orders of chile relleno con queso and enchiladas mole fast approaching.

I was less surprised at his idea than you might think.  Only that afternoon, we’d read an article in the weekend Wall Street Journal about a nearly-vegan pro football player, Tony Gonzalez.  The story chronicled Gonzalez’ road to eliminating meat and dairy from his diet, what worked for his training and health, and what didn’t. 

Truth be told, my husband does not adore vegetables in the same way I do, so if one of us would decide to be a vegan (I was at various points in my impressionable youth, a vegetarian), it would probably be me.  Moreover, my family would eat meals based around vegetables, especially in the summer.  My husband did not grow up doing that.  To me, sitting down to a table covered in steamed corn, sliced tomatoes, and zucchini pancakes seems downright tantalizing.   

Cooking this way will be a challenge.  I’m going to avoid too much “faux” this and that, but I am willing to try meat and cheese substitutes to see which brands are acceptable.  I’ll chronicle our vegan adventures in following posts, but for right now let me just say that last night I found myself searing Italian-flavored soy sausages to go with our whole-wheat pasta and pesto.  I used fake parmesan cheese to make the pesto, I’m ashamed to say. It wasn’t hideous. It was pretty good.  All the other ingredients were real and fresh, right down to the basil, toasted pine nuts, garlic, and olive oil.  But I’m sure Mario Batali would have slapped my face had he been there.

By way of confession, I have no desire to eliminate meat and dairy completely from my diet, and haven’t.  Yesterday I ate two barbecued spare ribs for a mid-morning snack, quickly chased by a full-fat plum yogurt.  But I gladly enjoyed almond milk instead of organic two-percent.  Almond milk is totally delicious, if you haven’t tried it, much better mouth-feel than soy.