Sorry for my absence and a few missed blog posts. My PC sort of blew out on me. The screen died; it went totally black. Did you ever try writing on a computer where you couldn’t see what you wrote? Yeah, I don’t recommend it.
Anyway, I’m back, and ready to really write what I tried to write on that black PC screen, only now I’m writing it on a beautiful, crystal-clear MacBook Air. Yes, Smoky is a very lucky writer.
I get a lot of questions from people—readers, fans, friends, family—about why I am vegetarian. Scott and I talk briefly about the subject in our book Trails (due out any day now!), but I thought I’d use my blog to expand a bit on the topic, because our reasons are as many as they are diverse. I’m going to take a few days, a few posts, to cover this, so it doesn’t sound like a preachy propaganda campaign.
And it isn’t. I believe choosing a vegetarian diet is a very personal decision. We are what we eat, truly, and just as I abhor it when the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses knock on my front door (usually at dinner time) and try to sell me their faith, I abhor it when vegetarians, or vegans, or gluten-free eaters, start pushing their diets on me as if I’m going to be damned if I don’t follow their way.
As long as I mentioned religion, let’s start there, as reason #1: We are vegetarian for spiritual reasons.
Scott and I believe that all creatures that walk, swim, fly, or crawl on this planet are equal in the eyes of our Creator. We are all Her children (or His children, if you prefer). We don’t believe we are any better, any more superior, than the ants and the bears and the cows and the pigs. We are simply different. Because we feel we are all equals, we abstain from eating those who are equal to us.
True, we believe this is true of the plant kingdom, too. And the rocks, and the rivers, and the oceans and deserts and mountains. We believe everything Gaia created to be equal, integral parts of the planet. But when we eat plants, we aren’t killing the plant (at least, not with most plants). We harvest the peaches and beans and tomatoes, but the tree and the vines still grow, still produce more peaches and beans and tomatoes, at least until the end of their lifespans. Then, they die.
What about plants where we do eat the entire plant, in effect, killing it? Plants like spinach and broccoli and lettuce. There are people—fruitarians, mostly—who won’t eat these plants because it ends their life. But most vegetarians like us believe eating this plants to be okay because we harvest them at the end of their natural lifespan. You don’t harvest your spinach, it dies. Same with lettuce, and chard, and broccoli.
Because of this belief, that we are all equal in the eyes of Gaia, we don’t eat anything that ever had a heartbeat or a mother. But there are other reasons as well. One of the big ones is the way meat is raised in this country. I’ll talk about that next week. Meanwhile, I’m going to leave you with one of our more decadent vegetarian recipes, an “I need comfort food” dish that somehow didn’t make it into the recipe section of Trails. Who doesn’t love good Mac ’n Cheese?
Mac ’n Cheese
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoons unsalted butter or vegan butter-like spread
- 2 tablespoons gluten-free flour (use regular if you must)
- 2 cups raw milk (use regular if you can’t buy raw milk where you live)
- ½ cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese, plus a bit for topping
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese, plus a bit for topping OR 2 tablespoons bleu cheese (I prefer bleu; Scott prefers parmesan)
- 2 cups gluten-free elbow macaroni, cooked according to package directions (use regular if you must)
- salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Coat 4 one-cup ramekins with cooking spray or butter. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and cook 1 minute, whisking constantly. Slowly whisk in milk. Increase heat to medium-high, and bring sauce to a boil, whisking constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat, and stir in cheddar and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Stir in macaroni.
- Transfer to prepared ramekins, and top with additional grated cheddar and parmesan. Bake 20 minutes, or until tops begin to brown.
Serve with World’s Best Brussels Sprouts. But to get that recipe, you’ll have to buy the book!
I wish that being vegetarian were an option for me. Unfortunately sensitivity to dairy and almost all dried legumes make this impossible. I do attempt to hunt out meats that have been raised in a ‘kind’ and healthy way.
Soy is out of the question for me – it’s a legume. I used to use it before I discovered all my food issues. I was so unhealthy trying to ‘eat healthy’. I finally got me health back working with a wonderful nutritionist who helped me make the right choices for my body.
Almond milk? Coconut milk? I wonder if any of these would work…never tried them in recipes that didn’t specifically call for them, but why not?
I use almond and rice milk in recipes that call for milk. They do not always work but are good for some things.
Thanks. Some grains are issues, too. I use less and less of these, especially wheat. Lots of fish, too, and tons of veggies.
Sounds like you’re eating pretty well then, Yvonne.
On Fri, Mar 1, 2013 at 3:12 PM, Smoky Talks…
Yum! I love your mac ‘n cheese—true warmth and comfort.
Hi Smoky, I am so loving your blog posts, and this one in particular struck a chord. I am a vegan, for spiritual reasons, and also because it is clearly the way to honor the health of our own bodies. I have discovered that being vegan has made me long for pears and apples, not crumb cakes and rich desserts, so anyone out there who has sugar cravings, this is an amazing way to resolve it, and honor the sacredness of all life in the bargain. Thank you, Smoky
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