Weekend Indulgences

We made it!  Not entirely a huge accomplishment, but we ate well as vegetarians this week and were rewarded with some burgers and bbq this weekend at a friend's.  It was a nice treat.  When we returned Sunday night we realized meat was still on the menu if we chose so I went with a pasta with chicken brown butter sage cream sauce.  The recipe came right out of my very own brain and it was completely delicious!

Ingredients
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp olive oil
4-5 torn sage leaves
4 bone in chicken thighs
4 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
6 chopped mushrooms (brown or white)
3/4 cups milk (1%)
3/4 cup chopped zucchini (I used patty pans)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup pecorino romano (or any hard cheese)
Salt and pepper
Enough pasta for 4 people. I used spaghetti.

Sautee onions in 1 tbsp of olive oil for about 5 minutes.  Add chopped mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes.  Add whole bone-in chicken thighs and lower the heat.  Cook chicken thighs for about 7 minutes per side.  Meanwhile in another small pot melt butter on medium heat.  Once the butter is melted it will begin to brown, watch it carefully and as soon as it turns brown add torn sage leaves and fry for about 30 seconds.  Add the flour and cook for about 1 minute before whisking in milk.  Simmer milk and add chopped garlic cloves to the milk mixture.  Cook the milk mixture until thick and then add it to the pan with the chicken, onions and mushrooms.  Add red pepper flakes and zucchini to the pan and season with salt and pepper to taste.

While sauce is simmering with the chicken boil a pot of water for the pasta and cook until al dente.  Save about 1 cup of the cooked pasta water.  Drain the pasta and add the reserved cup of pasta water to the white sauce pan.  Mix well before adding the noodles to the pan.  Once everything is together in one pan, mix together well and cook for about 2 minutes so that the pasta can absorb all of the flavours.  Add the grated pecorino romano cheese and serve.

The sauce is creamy without being heavy and is a beautiful light brown colour.  This was a fantastic quick meal that I made with what I had on hand.  It was satisfying to eat such a great meal after traveling home from our weekend away and easy enough that I didn't feel like it was too much work.

This week it's back to school starting Tuesday and with 2 teachers in the house it should be a challenge to eat vegetarian only for school lunches and quick dinners.  I'll take today to brainstorm some fast and easy ideas.  Something tells me that with the enormous tub of kimchi in my fridge that it's going to be a Korean week.  Looking forward to it.

Why Weekday Veg?

So I've decided to give it a shot and see what it's like to be a weekday vegetarian.  I am a food lover of all sorts: meat, vegetables, etc., so it's difficult for me to "give up" any sort of food because deep down I feel like limiting myself is taking away from things that are great about the world. Cooking being at the forefront.  No, I'm not a chef or currently working in the restaurant business, but someone who finds the act of cooking and feeding others, watching the enjoyment on their faces as they eat what I've prepared to be an utterly peaceful, joyful, and relaxing experience.

So why weekday vegetarian? I grew up essentially vegetarian.  My sister became a vegetarian at 8 years old (mainly because I teased her about which animals she was eating WHILE she was eating them).  She has remained vegetarian well into adulthood and struggled with ideas for cooking for her largely meat eating husband.

I've always loved vegetables and never missed meat when I've had meals without it.  It didn't seem like a huge step to go from everyday meat to meat on weekends.  This solution is environmentally conscious (something I've considered myself to be), economically conscious (saving huge amounts of money on grocery bills), and conscious of the treatment of animals consumed for food.  Don't get me wrong, I'm all for eating animals as food.  I will never vow to be a vegan, nor will I likely give up all meat forever. I don't want to put myself in a box, I just want to be conscious of my surroundings on all levels and since I care about food, I care about what goes on to my plate daily as I plan grocery lists, weekly meals, and try out new recipes with enthusiasm. I figured it makes sense to be totally aware of what I'm eating and how much everyday.

Now to people, like my own mother, who have been eating this way for years and not calling themselves vegetarian, this will seem like incredibly old news and potentially annoying that I've come up with this "new" idea for myself.  Regardless, I feel like it's something that I need to test the waters with and I'm pretty excited at the prospect of a lifestyle change.  My husband and I have vowed to be "Weekday Vegetarians" until Thanksgiving.  We are allowing ourselves to eat meat at other peoples houses if we are invited for dinner (no one likes the annoying dinner guests who are testing out new diets and can't eat anything), and we are also allowed to choose meat at restaurants if we so desire.  We will reevaluate in mid-October to see how we feel about our new choices and decide whether or not it's working for us.  Personally, I can see this extending well in to 2012, if not being permanent.

I will post about my experiences, choices, and, of course, new and delicious recipes that I've tried that work for the regular meat eater...no xanthan gum, or nutritional yeast, or many ingredients that you are required to seek out at health food stores.  Just delicious food that you want to eat without missing the meat.

I've been at this since Sunday and we've already enjoyed BBQ roasted vegetable pizza, fresh pasta with cherry tomatoes, basil and garlic, and an excellent lime glazed tofu stir fry.

See Graham Hill's short speech on TED Talks for more information.