vegan

Let's face it: soy burgers and tofu hot dogs might be tasty if prepared just right, but they're not exactly perfect for grilling. Unlike their meaty counterparts, the vegetarian options don't boast that juicy-inside-grilled-exterior combination that makes everyone swoon. Plus, the aroma? Meh. 

During my long stretch of vegetarian living, I often forgot this, and thought that maybe this time the Boca burger would magically transform into a succulent dinner worth all the charcoal-heat-up time. Einstein once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. He was also a vegetarian for a time, so maybe that insight stemmed from his own grilling experiences.

When I was about fifteen years old, I was a “red meat vegetarian,” because I wanted to be something but didn’t want to be a vegetarian. I just knew that something about a conventional omnivore diet felt boring to me, as though I needed the way I ate to say something about who I was. Like most things at that time, I dropped it after several months and just ate whatever I wanted for a number of years before temporarily swearing off meat entirely. 

During that time I often felt off, and even more often felt very ill, until I became acquainted with Paleo.

I have a problem. I am a meat lover and a devotee of all things rich, creamy and sweet. Eggs are my favorite breakfast food. When I eat a Hostess Cupcake, I enjoy it immensely and without a trace of irony.

So what's the problem? Is there anything easier, gastronomically speaking, than to find a good cut of meat or low-cost dairy products or processed foods in the United States? Even consumers who balk at the worst and most cruel aspects of modern industrial farming can, with relative ease, find sources of  grass-fed beef (humanely raised and slaughtered), free-range eggs, milk and cheese from benign family farms if they're willing to spend a few dollars. The world should be my oyster. Pun intended.

There are just some eateries that leave a warm fuzzy feeling when you remember them. Homi actually left a burning hot and fuzzy feeling, and I still feel good just thinking about the tiny establishment, hidden behind a pile of University avenue construction. From the charming owners and workers, to the absolutely amazing hand made food, Homi was just what we were looking for.

It's a good thing Minnesota is (typically) such a cold and snowy place as we turn the calendar page to a new year, because for the second year in a row, my New Year's resolution has involved soup. Here's a tip apropos of resolutions, people: Don't bite off more than you can chew, or slurp. Last year, I resolved to figure out a way to make a delicious vegetable soup that satisfied my hungry, winter (read: carnivorous) self and I did it! It pays to make super attainable resolutions. The vegetable stock and the soup itself are recipes I go back to time and time again, and each time I do, I feel warm, nourished, happy and yes, a wee bit virtuous. This year, as I was thinking of things in my life I wanted to change in 2012, I somehow fell right back into a pot of soup.

Alright, I’ll admit that the title of this article is a shameless attempt to capture your attention. There really isn’t a reason, as far as I can tell, why animal lovers should eat meat – that is, no reason why eating meat is ethically superior or preferable to abstaining and going vegetarian.

Let’s just get one thing straight, I’m probably never going to turn the corner to veganism. I just love goat cheese way too much. I’m not much of a vegetarian either, nor do I proclaim to be. But having gone through vegan-like cleanses a few times, I also know the incredible benefit that this kind of diet brings to my body. So this Christmas, as I was getting ready to embark on my January detox, one of my dear friends gave me a beautiful vegan cookbook.

From Rick Nelson's review of Cafe Agri in today's Star Tribune: