Going Veggie

[Emher]

macloudt wrote:

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tsq, I must try your chilli recipe, though with maybe a quarter of the spices. Yeah, I'm a complete and utter heat wimp. One ingredient I always add to my chilli is a small spoonful of cocoa powder. It sounds odd if you've never come across it, but a friend who's an incredible cook (she wrote a cookbook for pressure cookers) told me about this. The chilli doesn't taste remotely chocolatey, of course, but the cocoa powder adds a lovely depth to the flavour.

If you describe yourself that way, do so. I like some spicyness and It was a bit much for me! The cocoa sounds like an awesome addition.

Making another soup tonight, an Iranian Eshkaneh soup. Lots of onions and stuff, will report back later so ya'll know if it was any good.

[lurok]

macloudt wrote:

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I came across this fun article on the BBC website today: Twenty tales of vegetarian woe

Those made me . Reminded me of one time dining in E. Europe with colleagues, and vegetarian ordered a plain salad - only for it to arrive with bacon bits on top.

[macloudt]

That reminded me of this scene from the Royle Family. Nana's always good for a laugh.

[teacake]

I've often added cocoa to chillie.. and mole sauce is common in mexican cooking. You just treat the unsweetened cocoa as a savory flavor. That said some sugar in chillie is good too.

I like my chillie HOT!!

[J. Allen]

teacake wrote:

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I've often added cocoa to chillie.. and mole sauce is common in mexican cooking. You just treat the unsweetened cocoa as a savory flavor. That said some sugar in chillie is good too.

I like my chillie HOT!!

I'm of the opinion that hot chili is only hot if I can no longer see clearly, or stand without some kind of support.

[macloudt]

A old high school friend of mine whose parents immigrated to Canada from India loves to remind me of the times I stayed over for meals at her parents' house. Her mother was an amazing cook, and she always removed my serving from the pot before she put the real spices in, lest this pasty white girl burst into flames. I can handle spicier food now than I could as a teenager, but I still have to be careful. By the way, British-Indian fusion food is all kinds of awesome, and there are loads of options for vegetarians.

[Davros]

J. Allen wrote:

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So I did something I had once tried years ago (for a year), I went vegetarian.

I hope you know this choice places you pretty high on a particular list when it comes to lifeboat survival situations. Your sacrifice will not go forgotten.

[T'Preea]

I went vegan here just within the last year. It was sort of a resolution of mine. It was hard, though because I'm married to a carnivore who will never give up meat. I didn't give it up for the health benefits, but for the well-being of the poor animals that are brutalized for our use. It's disgusting and heartbreaking to know that this goes on. Anyway, I'm rambling, forgive me.

[KimM]

thestrangequark wrote:

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Not offended at all.

My sister is a vegan. Her philosophy is that she is in the position to live without using animals at all, and that is what she should do. Her's is a position of ethics, recognizing that we, as humans, are animals. She believes, therefore, that animals deserve the same rights not to be abused, exploited, or murdered as people do. She therefore does what she can to be completely independent of all animal products, from meat, fish, dairy, and eggs, to honey, leather, and wool. While I do agree with some of her philosophy, I don't share it all, but I understand why she feels the way she does.

As for other lines, I think some people draw the line at meat but continue to eat fish and poultry for health reasons. Others, because their arbitrary line of morality extends only to land animals. For some, it's about the environment the animal lived in: a fish caught from the ocean was not exploited all its life for food. The truth is, no matter where we draw our personal ethical lines it is pretty much arbitrary in the end. Vegans eat mushrooms even though they are far more closely related to animals than to plants, for example. Morals are a choice, and some people just choose differently along the scale. I think every point on the meat-eater to fish-eater to veggie to vegan scale has good moral arguments for it, and good arguments why the line should be somewhere else, so I figure people should be allowed to settle wherever they feel most comfortable and justify their position as they will.

Another old argument about consuming beef is the resources required to produce it. Producing one pound of beef requires more feed and water than one pound of pork, which requires more resources than producing one pound of chicken, etc. Small planet, etc.

[thestrangequark]

^Oh, I know that I didn't even begin to broach the many factors one might consider when choosing a veggie or vegan diet, ethical, practical, economic, health, environment, etc. The point is that there are a ton of things to consider, and that different people consider different reasons important.

[Emher]

Realized I failed to report back ^^;;

The eshkaneh was good, sort of reminded me of curry in a way. Was a bit of lemon in it that gave it an interesting sour taste. Probably a great soup for when having a cold.

[KimM]

thestrangequark wrote:

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^Oh, I know that I didn't even begin to broach the many factors one might consider when choosing a veggie or vegan diet, ethical, practical, economic, health, environment, etc. The point is that there are a ton of things to consider, and that different people consider different reasons important.

No deficiencies in your exposition! I actually began to entertain veg-related thoughts due to an environmentalist friend; that was my "gateway" to the subject!

[thestrangequark]

^Those environmentalists. They're the gateway to everything!

[teacake]

I only like talking about the cooking, the instant we veer into ideology I start having childhood flashbacks where everything you put in your mouth had a hidden story.

[J. Allen]

I'm fine with talking about both, though I get annoyed if people start making accusations and such. You know, like "meat is murder and you're a cold blooded killer!" or "you're going to die of protein starvation! You're afraid of a little blood!" and such.