Do you ever get tired of meat?

[Jenise]

Yesterday, I had trouble making up my mind about what to make for dinner. And as the afternoon wore on, I realized the issue wasn't simple indeciveness, it was that I couldn't decide what I wanted because I really didn't want meat. So around 4, while watching the Seahawks lose to Denver, I rummaged around in the dry goods bin and selected a bag of red lentils. I tend to buy stuff like that so I have things on hand to get inspired with since we don't live near a capable grocer--but I haven't made anything with red lentils in about ten years.

The resulting soup was perfect. No recipe, I just went into my pantry and grabbed things that might add up to a Panang curry-like flavor and achieved it with: a slivered whole onion, curry leaves, kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk, saffron, paprika, red keralan chile for heat, ground fennel, ground coriander and turmeric. And that, plus some plain tomatoes, peaches and grapes, were all I ate yesterday.

I could live that way quite happily. And of course lentils have a lot of protein, so in fact one's body could survive very well this way.
If only the carbs weren't an issue. Energy, weight, all that stuff? I do better without the carbs.

[Robin Garr]

Sounds awesome, Jenise. I love red lentils and often make a dish similar to that, sometimes adding some lima beans and/or a little rice. I'm mixed about carbs. I definitely notice that, counter-intuitively, I'm more likely to add a pound or two on the scales the next morning than after a commensurate amount of fat. But as long as I exercise reasonable portion control and have a rough sense (I never bother to count them accurately) keep my daily calorie load in balance with moderate exercise.

Masoor dal (split, hulled red lentils) is one of my favorite Indian dal preparations.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Speaking of interesting preps, my bag of lentils had an interesting recipe on the back which combined the lentils, partially cooked and drained, with bulgur wheat and a few other ingredients to swell off the stove, a la taboulleh. They called it a Keffteh. Never encountered anything like that, have you?

I don't think I'll ever tire of meat. Especially red meat. Making steak Diane for supper tonight.

Regarding keffteh, it appears to be the Greek version of kofta, the Indian and Middle-Eastern dish that involves either ground meat, legume, and/or grain mixtures, seasoned and formed into balls that may be fried, grilled, or stewed. Lentils and bulgur would be a typical vegetarian kofta mixture.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Regarding keffteh, it appears to be the Greek version of kofta, the Indian and Middle-Eastern dish that involves either ground meat, legume, and/or grain mixtures, seasoned and formed into balls that may be fried, grilled, or stewed. Lentils and bulgur would be a typical vegetarian kofta mixture.

-Paul W.

Ah, I'm familiar with the lamb versions. It's common to many places within reach of the Ottoman Empire--Turkish, Armenian, etc. I hadn't considered that.

I'll never tire of meat either. That doesn't prevent me from making and enjoying vegetarian dinners (usually with a legume base, most often dal, but not always)

We eat meat and I can't see us changing that - but we don't think it's compulsory, and would have a couple of non-meat dinners per week.

[Jenise]

I still enjoy meat, and even sometimes crave it, but we've reduced our dependence on it substantially. Especially in summer, I no longer reflexively think of protein as the most important part of a meal. It can be, of course, situationally--but when all this beautiful garden food is abundant, produce has my attention. Last night we had corn on the cob (I ate three ears) and a tomato/red onion salad. All were grown by me or a few miles away. Monday night we had a white spaghetti squash topped with sauteed mushrooms and herbs plus a cucumber salad. Shared quiche and a patty melt yesterday for lunch out while shopping, and that's the only meat we've eaten since Saturday.

It doesn't happen often but there are times when I crave a meatless meal. Lentils are the kind of thing I really like on those occasions. I posted a recipe for lentils with wine braised vegetables here years ago and still make that when I feel like something that's meat-free.

I enjoy a little meat as part of meal, not on its own. If the meat is one component that's fine, but not on its own.

Many of the meals we have don't contain meat.

I shall never tire of meat, but having a member of the family that is a pescetarian, I also cook veg a fair bit. Nice to have variety.

Just cooking our dinner and realised, yeah, probably I am making this because I didn’t want a meat meal. Not a very conscious thing as we probably eat at least one main meal each week without meat.
At least once a week I put out what’s in the fridge and devise a meal.
Tonight I’m making a pasta sauce from That beginning.
Mushrooms, fennel, onion, tomato, garlic, toss in a Parmesan rind.

And thinking about it we had frittata last night because the urge to go the store for meat didn’t happen. BTW the store is 300 meters away!

[David M. Bueker]

I often whip up a big batch of dal on the weekend, so that we have it for mid-week dinners when time is short. Never miss the meat.

I am sick of chicken. We eat so damned much of it.

We have access to great, local beef and pork, but try not to eat too much of it. Laura hates seafood (except crab & lobster), so a whole category is out the window unless she is traveling.

[Jenise]

Three weeks in Europe has brought me home craving vegetables. Restaurant food is SO meat centric. And throw seafood into the hopper I'm calling meat: first and second courses are almost exclusively proteins. Vegetables are mere garnishes. Just want a plain green salad? In general, nonexistent. In Barcelona I ordered salads twice only to get heavily overdressed soggy messes, including a "vinaigrette" that was completely opaque and a "caesar sauce" that was nothing more than thick, gloppy mayonnaise. Those two occurred at Japanese and Italian restaurants respectively, which we'd sought out for some protein relief. And we skipped the carb load of breakfasts.

Three weeks in Europe has brought me home craving vegetables. Restaurant food is SO meat centric...Overall, we skipped hotel breakfasts and bought fruit to keep in our room, just out of self-defense.

Indeed. And it's not just Europe. I love eating so I love restaurants. But they are for entertainment not nourishment. So when I'm traveling and am forced to eat several restaurant meals per day, it gets pretty tiring pretty quickly.

Three weeks in Europe has brought me home craving vegetables.

Ditto - we got back a week ago from 6 days in the Douro and have been eating veg heavy and non-meat meals since..

I don't count crisps (chips in US) as a vegetable but I was told they are the traditional accompanient to suckling pig in the Douro..

[David M. Bueker]

This reminds me of one of my favorite travel/food stories. I was in Poland, and after nearly a week of nothing but meat and potatoes in some form or other, I went to a restaurant and asked "what dish has the most vegetables?" The waiter (who spoke very good English) pointed to an item on the menu item & said "this has cheese!"

[Robin Garr]

This reminds me of one of my favorite travel/food stories. I was in Poland, and after nearly a week of nothing but meat and potatoes in some form or other, I went to a restaurant and asked "what dish has the most vegetables?" The waiter (who spoke very good English) pointed to an item on the menu item & said "this has cheese!"

Yugoslavia is a lot like that, in my experience (on the ground in Slovenia and Croatia and in Bosnian restaurants here). Didn't Yaniger used to comment that Eastern Europe was extra hard for vegetarians because they didn't even understand the concept?