Eat more veg

Everywhere I look, I see articles extolling the virtues of fruit and vegetables and the evils of meat. I will admit that I was not aware that beef not only clogs one's arteries, but also is bad for the environment.

So I'm thinking, maybe I should look into this vegetable thing. I like vegetables and include them regularly in my diet, but mostly relegated to the side. Vegetable-centric diets are generally lower in fat and calories, and God knows I could lose 10 or 40 pounds. My friend Karen went vegan and started cooking some pretty interesting food. I'm not ready to go that route, being overly fond of certain things with or originating from creatures with a face (eggs, cheese, the occasional shrimp), but I can certainly live without meat at every meal.

I started gathering up vegetarian cookbooks, including Fields of Greens, several Mollie Katzen books, and most recently Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. The hard part is choosing recipes. I tried several soups during the colder months and starting exploring grains I haven't used much, such as Israeli couscous, quinoa and others. Beans, always a favorite, show up regularly in soups, salads and once (for Karen's benefit) in black bean "burgers."

My most recent effort was a cold soup that started out with DISASTER written all over it, but turned out to be wonderful: Carrot Soup with Cumin and Lime from yet another great Chronicle book, Sunday Soup. Once I gave up on the beloved Bamix immersion blender and threw everything into the food processor, and once all the flavors came together, it turned out to be a fantastic summer soup.

Summer's here. It's a great time to eat more veg.