This just in! A guest entry by my darling boyfriend Rob. News at 11.
Watermelon enthusiast, budding chef, wordsmith extraordinaire.
......At the risk of sounding offensive, it wasn't until coming to college that I realized vegetarianism was anything more than a rare eccentricity.
Sure, the clues were there: a somewhat quiet societal backlash against red meat, the overwhelming increase of vegetarian options on menus, larger and larger sections of supermarket dedicated to products that aren't meat but sure are trying ... for the observant, vegetarianism had long staked a claim in the mainstream. For the delightfully aloof – like myself – however, it was a bit of a shock to suddenly be surrounded by people who didn't want to partake in the glorious human tradition of the ritual consumption of dead animals.
For a while, I must confess to suspicion.
“What does it say for a brand of food,” I'd ask concerning vegetarian chicken, bacon and burger products, “that the greatest compliment you could pay it is accuracy?” What would drive a person to make such a decision on a college campus, where dining options are already so limited and, largely, terrible? What's to be gained in refusing to eat such things? Where does one get the kind of will power to avoid 75 percent of most restaurant menus? It didn't make any sense.
And so it is that I'll read vegetarian essays and blogs discussing the strain vegetarianism can occasionally take on relationships, and to an extent, I'll understand. I don't get how such a seemingly trivial thing could possibly put a relationship in danger, but I certainly understand how two people, otherwise enamored, can find themselves at odds over these things. It would be tough to say exactly what shifted me toward complete understanding, but I know that sometime over the past three years my feelings on the subject evolved so that I don't even see it as a slight oddity.
I knew of Alex's vegetarian ways prior to entering a relationship with her and, given that I've lived with a vegetarian in the past and know plenty of them, I never thought of it as any kind of hurdle. Odd as the lifestyle once seemed to me, I had grown accustomed to it and learned that it was a healthy, creative dietary option growing daily in influence and variation. Morningstar's superb line of imitation meat products has proven far healthier and – in the case of their chicken strips – far better-tasting than the real meat alternatives. Even when my carnivore side isn't being sated by false meat, Alex's incredible cooking has made it quite obvious that anybody against vegetarianism for its lack of appetizing options simply hasn't done their research. It's more than twigs and grass.
I have tried to do my part, being supportive and helpful when necessary. By and large, it has been incredibly easy. Only once have we ever gone to a restaurant and had to leave because of a complete lack of vegetarian options on the menu. Never have we sat around the apartment starving, wishing we could only eat something good, something filling. Quite the opposite; I've never eaten more varied and interesting food than I have over the past couple of months. I've learned a small but ever-growing variety of vegetarian dishes and found my way around the kitchen much like a newborn giraffe: upright and moving around within minutes. There's really nothing to it.
If it sounds like I'm getting ready to convert from my meat-eating ways, I can assure you that I won't be leaving my camp anytime soon. As appealing, different and endearingly delicious vegetarianism has turned out to be, I simply don't foresee myself gathering the type of will power necessary to turn down a well-cooked piece of chicken or a late-night cheesesteak from a local diner. Alex has offered over and over again to cook meat for me, and I've declined just about every single time. I know she can cook meat and I know she can do it well, but at the same time I don't want her making something that she herself can't also enjoy.
As previously mentioned, I also like cooking for her. The array of dishes I've learned thus far isn't terribly impressive, but there are a few gems to be found – one of which is bruschetta. It's quick, it's simple, it looks great, it's easily modified and, best of all for those concerned about these things, nothing dies horribly in its production.
BruschettaThis'll give you about 12 pieces of round, somewhat thick bruschetta. You can eat it as a meal on its own, serve it at as an appetizer or have it as one of the selections at a party buffet.
Ingredients:-Loaf of Italian bread (little over a foot long; be sure to get Italian, it does make a difference)
-3 fresh tomatoes
-5 leaves of fresh basil (not that dried, flaked, spice rack stuff)
-1 tbsp. minced garlic (I prefer the jarred kind for this recipe, but your mileage may vary)
-Balsamic vinegar
-Small ball of fresh mozzarella cheese
-Salt and pepper, to taste
-Watermelon (none of the other bruschetta recipes call for this, but I can't finish a meal preparation without eating at least a little bit of watermelon)
Directions:Seed and dice the tomatoes. There are two ways to seed a tomato. One way involves squeezing the seeds out; don't use that way for preparing bruschetta.
Put the diced tomato into a bowl. Mix in the garlic and vinegar. Add the vinegar a little bit at a time while mixing until you feel you have enough. This varies heavily, so just make sure not to overdo it.
Roll up the basil leaves and chop them into strips, adding them into the tomato mixture. Mix until you feel everything's evenly dispersed and place the entire mess in the refrigerator. You do this stuff first so that the mixture has time to sit and chill, which brings out the flavor a bit and makes the entire product stand out a little bit more at the end.
Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray an oven tray and put it to the side.
Chop the Italian bread into about 12-14 pieces, discarding (or eating) the ends of the loaf. Place the slices evenly apart on the tray. Cut your mozzarella into slices or shred it, putting a thin but even amount on each slice of bread.
Put the tray into the oven and go have fun, because your next ten minutes or so are free. Check on the bread occasionally. When the mozzarella looks sufficiently melted to your preferences, take the tray out of the oven and place the bread on your serving plate. Take the tomato mixture out of the fridge and spread it evenly across the pieces of bread. Serve as soon as possible, since it'll get tepid quickly.
For the past two months, while this blog has been on hiatus, I've been working diligently to get my new website running - brainstorming, cooking, experimenting, writing, filming, foregoing sleep...you get the picture.
