For Now, I Have To Pass On That

Cooking has been a hobby of mine for years. Combined with all the travel that I've done, I consider myself a fairly adventurous eater. I pay attention to what I eat, and if I like a dish, I try to recreate it at home. I consider myself reasonably experienced in the kitchen to the point that, with the exception of pastries, I consider recipes to be more suggestive than prescriptive. (Why pastries? That shit has tighter engineering tolerances than manufacturing medical equipment.)

I've also been interested in vegetarian cooking for a very long time. I first learned of this way of cooking when I lived in a strict vegetarian, clothing-optional, coed co-op during my first pass through college almost 4 decades ago. I kept my clothes on but paid close attention when I was on kitchen duty with my housemates. Some of their ideas had a pretty big influence on me. For example, I rarely eat packaged food. I prefer to cook using good quality raw ingredients. It takes longer because all those raw ingredients have to be prepped in various ways, but I refer you back to my first point--cooking is a hobby. It's something in which I invest time and emotional energy. And my diet has always included a decent proportion of vegetables and grains. One of my go-to comfort meals, tofu sauteed with onion and spinach then sprinkled with fresh lime juice, is all the way onto the vegan side of the scale.

A sample of the things I cooked this weekend for the upcoming week: cornbread muffins; white beans with roasted garlic, carrots, and fresh basil; white rice; and roast cauliflower and mushrooms with black pepper.

Fast forward to now. About a month ago, I realized that I hadn't purchased any meat in the previous couple of months. Somehow, in a shift that was subtle enough that I didn't consciously recognize it for months, I've become vegetarian.

I realized it had a lot to do with my new job. I handle dead animals regularly. Well, that's a flat-out euphemism. I cut them up. I cut up dead animals of all species. I surgically take them apart. After I remove entire organ systems, I cut those up too to make sure no lesions are overlooked. That was all soaking into my head too, just like those early cooking lessons, so that when I was at the grocery store doing my shopping on the weekends, I'd walk past the meat section and just...keep walking.

It's not a moral issue. I'm not a smug vegan judging you for your choices. You will have to pry the half-and-half in my morning coffee and yogurt and eggs from my cold, dead hands. Grated parmesan is a perfect garnish for just about anything.

For now, I still eat meat if someone makes it and serves it to me. It seems to be the handling of it that bothers me the most. And I've finally found the perfect agility training reward for Archie--boiled beef. Low fat, low sodium, freezes well, and he just goes nuts for it. I buy the pre-cut stir-fry strips and I don't even have to handle them when raw, just dump them in a saucepan and add water.

Is it just a phase? Does it matter if it isn't? It's sure a lot cheaper. Maybe I'll lose some weight too.