As Betsy tells us about her vegetarian adventure, I was reminded of a time that my husband and I decided to try a vegetarian diet.

We did not approach this idea of a vegetarianism from a moral point of view or philosophical reasoning. It wasn’t cute faces or factory farming that drove the decision. It was far more pragmatic than that.

He was in graduate school, and the household budget was tight. I realized at some point that the amount of money we were spending on meat was high, and we were getting a little too dependent on high-calorie, high-fat meat and potato type meals. The kinds of meals that were okay once in a while were our norm. We discussed a vegetarian diet as a way to break out of our rut, get healthier, and save some bank.

We already had a couple of good vegetarian cookbooks, relatively unused, so I searched them for a dozen or so recipes. We decided to try it for a month and reassess. We went to the grocery store and sadly bypassed the meat section. Steak never looked better. The final total at check out helped us feel better about the test, but oh, that steak.

For a couple of weeks it went really well. Yes, I missed meat, but we were eating enough of a variety of new things that I was okay. I felt pretty good. I thought this might be something we could stick to.

About the third week of the test, I was out at lunch with my boss. He ordered a cheese burger. Oh, man, it looked good. Really, really good. I was salivating, almost drooling. My vegetarian sandwich was not the same caliber. I wanted that burger.

But I resisted. I was so proud of myself. I almost forgot about that burger by the end of the day. Not quite, however.

That evening at home, I told my husband about my lunch challenge. He kinda looked at me funny.

“What?” I asked.

“I, uh,” he hestitated, “didn’t think we were being that serious about this.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He said, “I’ve been having burgers at lunch this whole time.”

I looked at him, stunned. Then I left the apartment, drove to the nearest fast food joint and ordered myself a cheeseburger.

And that, my friends, was the end of our vegetarian test.

The abbreviated test did have the effect of expanding our repertoire of recipes. While we didn’t maintain a vegetarian diet, we did eat less meat, we did eat healthier, and we did reduce the food budget a bit. Overall, it was a good thing to try, I think, and I think back to it whenever we get into a rut now. I go back to the same vegetarian cookbooks to see what might be interesting now. Cheeseburgers, though, still happen.

One of our favorite recipes from that time was this black bean soup.

Vegetarian Black Bean Soup

2 c dry black beans
3 1/2 c water
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium to large onion, chopped
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 large carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 tsp coriander
1 1/2 tsp cumin
2 oranges, peeled, sectioned and seeded
1/2 c orange juice
1 tbsp sherry
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper (optional)
1/2 tsp fresh lime juice
Sour cream for garnish

Soak the beans in water overnight, changing the water several times.

Put the beans in a saucepan with the water and salt. Simmer for about an hour and a half.

Saute the onions, garlic, carrots, celery, coriander and cumin in the vegetable oil for 5-10 minutes. Add the beans and water and continue to simmer a while – maybe 30 minutes or so. Add the oranges, orange juice, sherry, peppers and lime juice. Cover and let simmer 10 minutes.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top.

PointsandPrizes.com Keyword: SOUP worth 50 points good through 03/02/08.
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