My brother got married about seven months ago. His new wife is pretty awesome -- we probably like her more than we like him. However, there is one thing about her that stands out in our steak-and-potatoes-type family: she is a vegetarian. However, while we do enjoy a good hunk of meat when we get together for family dinners, that's not the only thing we will eat, and we've had lots of fun trying new vegetable recipes with her and making old favorites with alternate ingredients.
The new sister-in-law had a birthday this week and my parents took my her and my brother out to dinner to celebrate. I tagged along because it's fun to push myself into situations like that. Plus, free dinner.
The birthday girl chose a local vegetarian, organic restaurant called the Sage Cafe, which was quite tasty and we all had a good time. My favorite part of the night came when the waiter took our orders. Several items on the menu included "vegetarian chicken." We asked the waiter what that was, and he explained that it was a chicken substitute that was seasoned to taste good, etc. Then, out of nowhere, my dad and the waiter launched into a discussion of how a chicken would be a vegetarian. Apparently eating bugs disqualifies chickens from being true vegetarians, but if they are corn/grain fed only, then that would be okay.
Meanwhile, I'm flashing to Portlandia. If you don't know already, it's an excellent sketch comedy show that gently mocks the mentality and culture in Portland. One of the skits involves a couple who grills a waiter about just HOW local the chicken on the menu is until they finally just get up and go to the farm to see for themselves. I'm sitting at the table, giggling to myself to the mental image of my dad at the chicken farm, interrogating the farmer about what is in the feed, and if it's really vegetarian and organic.I did manage to keep the snorting down to a minimum, so I didn't look like a crazy person. At least, not right then.
The cap to the night was when the waiter thanked us for helping participate in Meatless Mondays, an initiative they are trying to spread where for one day a week, people don't eat any meat. After he left, we got to talking and realized we'd all had at least one form of meat that day, expect for vegetarian sister-in-law of course. In spite of the strides we've been taking to try new dishes and enjoy vegetarian cuisine, I guess we just aren't yet cut out to be committed vegetarians, even if it is just one day a week.
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