Reader Presh recently asked:

I would be curious how your vegetarian readers deal with friends who are carnivores and feel the need to explain why meat is good.
I’m not even a vegetarian, but I experience negative energy when I order vegetarian meals at restaurants with friends. It’s funny to hear the childish responses–from otherwise very smart people!

For me personally, I suppose I’m pretty lucky that I don’t get such reactions too often (although I definitely got my share of ridicule in high school, when I first became a vegetarian).
But I do get them – especially people who react to the news …read more

A couple weeks ago in a comment,Celine asked, “how do you handle meals with family when meat is consumed at the diner table?” This is something that most vegetarians have to deal with at least every once in a while, especially around the holidays at big family dinners and other get-togethers.
For me personally, while I’d certainly prefer to be sitting at a meat-free table, I’m used to other people eating meat around me. Even my husband eats meat pretty regularly when we go out (although our home is pretty much completely vegetarian). So I’ve basically learned to ignore it. And …read more

What do my paintings have to do with vegetarianism? Well as it turns out, I’m quite a veg-friendly artist (as one would expect, I suppose, given that I am a vegetarian after all). I mean, I’m no Giuseppe Arcimboldo, but I have painted a couple fruit and veggie paintings in my day (and more than a couple portraits… just not portraits involving vegetables).
Not only does my November exhibition feature a few fruit paintings, but the opening reception was 100% vegetarian. Guests grazed at an abundant table of veggies, dips, spreads, chips, olives, cookies, grapes, salsa, bread, chocolate, crackers, and cheese. …read more

I loved this article by Vegan with a Vengeance author Isa Chandra Moskowitz, which lists 10 ways you can become a vegan culinary activist. The ideas rang from coaxing your local bakery to whip up a batch of vegan muffins to starting a food blog to bringing vegan cookies into the office to share.
What’s so appealing about her approach is that it’s about friendly coaxing rather than angry militantism. You don’t get people to go veg*n by yelling at them about what bad people they are. Let the vegan cupcakes do the talking for you.
A couple weekends ago I brought …read more

Today is Theme Day here at the b5 Science and Health channel (hosted at Cancer Commentary this month), and we are celebrating National Men’s Health Week. In honor of this, I have a question: why is it that eating big hunks of meat is considered manly in this day and age? It’s not like most men actually have anything to do with the demise of the animals they feast on – they use the exact same pick-up-a-styrofoam-package-from-the-supermarket method as women do to acquire meat. But still the meat-is-manly idea persists.
When I tell people I’m a vegetarian, it’s the men who …read more

A recent census shows that Americans are eating better and worse, but certainly more than they did in 1980. Reading this prompted me to think about the changes in my diet over the years, and whether it has improved at all.
I’m proud to say my diet has improved a lot over time. The two main improvements I can think of are these:

I eat a lot less processed food. This is mainly because I have the time to prepare most of my meals myself these days. When I worked in New York, for example, I often ate frozen pre-packaged meals for …read more

Reading this blog post recently, I started thinking about how far I’m willing to go to stick to my vegetarianism. Is it worth inconveniencing others to make sure I avoid meat? If so, how much? Is it worth offending a chef or a host?
Luckily, I don’t think I end up inconveniencing others too much. I try to not be too picky with restaurant choices, for example, especially when I know I’ll probably end up eating the same thing anywhere we choose to go. For the most part, friends and family are happy to make sure there’s something for me to …read more

Four words: Don’t eat French food.
Usually when I travel, sampling the local cuisine is one of the highlights of the trip. I love trying all kinds of new foods, as long as they’re vegetarian. Therein lies the problem I’ve always had with French cuisine – it seems to think that meals must revolve around dead animals. I have scoured many a French menu, looking past the snails, the goose liver, the frogs, etc., only to find I’m again going to be eating a plain green salad and dessert (OK, at least the desserts are good).
Last week I headed off to …read more

Today is Theme Day here at the b5 Science and Health Channel, this week hosted by Tris at Homely Scientist. When I heard the theme was ‘emergency preparedness’, I was delighted at the chance to discuss this very important topic with you all.
Picture it: you’re the honored guest at a dinner party, food lovingly and proudly prepared by an adorable older Italian woman who keeps gushing about how excited she is to have you in her humble home. She proudly presents you with the first course, a regional specialty that the entire family has spent the last two days preparing. …read more

I have a big salad for lunch almost every day. It’s nowhere near as boring as it may sound, since I make an effort to try new ingredients often. Even the type of lettuce I use varies according to the seasons and what’s available at my local stores and markets.
Today’s salad contained lamb’s breath lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red cabbage, cucumber, cooked beets, avocado, onion, and a sprinkling of flax seeds. I dressed it with some salt, fresh ground black pepper, white balsamic vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. Not the absolute best tasting salad I’ve ever made, but it really …read more