Being a vegetarian (and a recipe)

I've been a vegetarian for over 20 years now - yes it's scary how time flies... I wouldn't call myself a hobby-vegetarian, but yes I do have to admit I cheat with some types of fish and seafood sometimes. Not very often, and more and more seldom.

I'm a firm believer in the words that what you eat you should also be able to kill. If you can't slaughter an animal, well you shouldn't eat it either. Simple as that. And even if I could kill for a nice dessert, I would never ever be able to kill an animal for the sake of my tastebuds.

Of course the world would be a much nicer - and healthier! - place if every human would be a vegetarian and respect every life on earth and its right not to end up on a plate. But alas, that's probably just an utopia...

I rarely preach the vegetarian word as such, somehow meat-eaters tend to find the very idea of vegetarian food and ethics around that somehow offensive. And being a vegetarian-preaching woman everytime we eat, well for some reason that would probably make it a bit hard to remain friends with those meateating dear friends I have...

"Oh I wouldn't be able to... It's just so tasty..." - but of course you would be able to. It's just a figment of your meat-eating mind that makes you so firmly believe you wouldn't be able to live without that murdering meat. And I'm absolutely certain you would be a healthier you too, without dead animals floating around in your veins (ah isn't that a fantastic picture to feast on...?).

I was able to, I even talked my meat-eating parents into the only sensible way to eat, yes in the end I just couldn't stand the way humans treat animals as yes, just meat. In my mind it's a a horrific behaviour and it do make me feel sick when I watch friends and relatives feast on what was once a live and hopefully happy-go-lucky animal. Before it ended up in the meat-wagon and the slaughterhouse.

And yes, I do like a luxuary handbag now and then (made of leather) and shoes (leather) - I have to work on behaviour...

And yes, of course, I feed my carnivore furry friends both canned and dry food containing meat.

Having said all that, being my honest opinion, not necessarily yours, I'll wrap it all up with a nice, simple vegetarian recipe. One of my favourite, and such a versatile one, source of protein is that fantastic English "invention" of quorn.

One simple dish to make of quorn is to marinate it in Caribbean jerk seasoning, mix it to a sallad with bulgur or some other nice rice substitute or pasta of your liking. Add some lovely, colourful vegetables such as carrots, broccoli, tomatoes, grilled red onion, squash, paprika, corn, garlic... The only limit to what's suitable is your own imagination. Sprinkle some roasted sunflowerseeds on top of it all. Enjoy with some nice dressing or oil.