Vegetarian restaurants, and vegetarian cookery in general, seem to have gotten a bad reputation among certain of the foodies I hang out with on-line. Some of this bad rap seems to be just the latest version of popular stereotypes about vegetarianism. You know the stereotypes I mean: meals of bean sprouts and lawn clippings either poorly cooked or raw, with haphazard seasonings except for large dollops of moralizing from humorless animal rights activists. And to be perfectly frank, I have seen, and eaten at, a few restaurants that do embody those cliches.
On the other hand, I can't help thinking that at least some of the (over)-harping on these negative stereotypes by certain scoffers is more about their unconscious reaction to having to actually consider changing their behavior, in the face of some serious ethical and health questions about their daily food practices. Besides, there are lousy restaurants (and bad attitudes, for that matter) in every category and style of cuisine--to judge an entire cuisine solely on the basis of its sub-par exemplars is like dismissing the entire American culinary scene solely on the basis of Denny's and McDonald's.
Especially since I have also dined at many excellent vegetarian restaurants. So they really are out there, folks! And they're worth looking for, because they have a definite advantage for the diner seeking to put together a healthy weight-conscious meal out. Namely--no meat, and therefore much less opportunity for the cholesterol, saturated fat, and high-calorie issues of more omnivorous restaurants.
Mind you, it's still very do-able to put together an unhealthy meal at a vegetarian restaurant--just order all the dishes that are really high in fat and calories. A killer breakfast of wholegrain waffles drenched in maple syrup and vegan margarine-spread is still a killer breakfast, regardless of the "healthiness" of the ingredients. The point is that you don't have to pick that meal. You have healthy options on the menu that just don't exist on many conventional restaurant menus--especially if you're willing to be a little adventurous.
I especially like to frequent restaurants that specialize in one of the many Asian cuisines with centuries-long traditions of vegetarianism. Cooks in these traditions have inherited time-tested methods for producing tasty meals without depending on meat products for flavor, with really wonderful results. Plus the Asian cuisines in general, in my opinion, have such superior approaches to vegetable cookery that their vegetarian traditions have an advantage right from the git-go.
For example, there are whole traditions of Buddhist-influenced vegetarian cookery in China and neighboring countries, in which wheat gluten and soy products are coaxed into surprisingly convincing, and very yummy, approximations of classic meat dishes. I have been served vegetarian "chicken" dishes in which the texture and mouthfeel of the chunks of chicken have been so convincing that I was double-checking the menu to make sure this was a totally vegetarian restaurant and they couldn't have served me a real chicken dish by mistake. Some of that artful gluten meat in a stirfry makes a delicious meal that fits right into my food regimen.
And then there is the subcontinent of India, with its many rich and varied cuisines, including its own approaches to lactovegetarian cookery. For example, I had a wonderful meal over the weekend at a restaurant here in San Diego that serves South Indian vegetarian food. I feasted on several different vegetable dishes, fragrant spiced rice, stewed chickpeas, beautiful and fascinating unleavened breads such as naan and idlis, and a refreshing yogurt drink known as lassi (this one spiked with lots of sweet/tangy mango). One of the most satisfying meals I'd had in a good long while--and again, fitting surprisingly well into my food plan.
It is true that, in my heart of hearts--or rather, in that ol' debbil Food Jones that haunts my heart--I will always have a soft spot for a big-ass slab of prime rib. But that way of eating, except for extremely-low-frequency special occasions, is Over as far as I'm concerned. And let's face it, a petite eight-ounce serving of prime rib carefully trimmed of all fat, with a typical lackluster steakhouse salad and football-sized baked potato rendered boring without its usual saturation of sour cream and butter, is more like a sop to food nostalgia than an actually satisfying meal. So why would I want to dine that way, when instead I can feast much more happily--not to mention more frequently--on excellent curries and stirfries that happen to be meat-free? I dunno, except that my dining pattern seems to be voting for those curries and stirfries and such almost every time these days.
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