Year of Goals - #3

I took a class at Whole Foods about "vegetarian cooking for the former meat-lover." It was fun and informative. And full of serious protein which may or may not be a good thing, depending on how you look at it.

I learned how to cook seitan. Seitan is basically pure wheat gluten. You wash a hank of flour dough until all the starch disappears and you're left with a hunk of gluten. Yummy, no? We made mock Asian BBQ beef. It was really, really good. Seitan is a pretty convincing faux meat. But easy does it - all that protein, remember?

I also learned pointers on cooking tofu. Tofu in restaurants is always good but at home I've never been able to make it taste good. Because I was cooking it wrong, come to find out. If you're going to fry it or sauté it or marinate it you first need to soak out all the excess water. Sort of like eggplant. (Something else that never tastes good at home.)

The third main dish we made was a little... different. We made meatloaf out of lentils. I love meatloaf but I did not love the "meatloaf" we made in the class. I understand the basic concept behind making it and I think I could come up with my own recipe for it.

All in all, it was extremely informative and well worth the $25 registration fee. I would recommend it to anyone, not just folks who don't eat meat.

I Feel Like an A-Hole

I experienced my first dining out meat trauma tonight. Matt and I went out to dinner with my family for our annual pre-Christmas family night out. We went with Mexican. Safe choice, right? Err. Ya.

I ordered a bean burrito and about five bites into it I came face-to-food with a pile of ground beef. I had my sister look at it to make sure I wasn't hallucinating beef, and sure enough. Beef burrito. I flagged down the waitress and told her I couldn't eat the beef burrito. I didn't say, "I don't eat meat" or "I'm a vegetarian." I just said, "This is beef and I can't eat it." She apologized and took it back. But I felt like a giant asshole. I sent food back. I hate sending food back.

She came back with a true bean burrito but I was too freaked out to eat it. Plus, I suspected that the beans weren't vegetarian. They were way too good. I took a few bites then passed it on to my sister to take home. I instead ate the remainder of my nephews cheese pizza. Yes, in Nebraska you can get pizza at Mexican restaurants. Don't ask me why.

Am I really one of those people now? Am I going to have to declare to my waitstaff that I don't eat beef, poultry or pork and to please I beg you make sure it isn't on my plate? I've always thought that people who make a big deal about being vegetarians while eating out were just assholes who liked to be difficult. But I'm seeing now that they're probably just doing it to make sure they don't get handed something with meat hidden in it. And even if I'm not really a vegetarian, is it safer to simply say that I am when ordering out? When I can't see the prep process of my dinner is it better to take the precaution and look like an asshole?