So, I made a bunch of New Year’s resolutions. This year I tried to be a bit more concrete with some of them, rather than aspirational life goals that take a year to know if you’ve achieved them (and even then it’s all subjective). And huzzah - I’ve completed my first resolution of 2020 already: vegetarian January!
The missing piece
A month may not sound like long, but as someone who loves to cook and experiment with pies, pots and posh nosh, meat plays an important (and yummy) role in my diet. To be suddenly without it left me a little lost.
Our first week in we made a rookie error and thought vegetarian meant vegetables. We made a brilliant slow-cooker ratatouille, a lip-smacking tagine and some simple-night jacket potatoes and beans. And by the end of it we were starving!
It’s not that we hadn’t had enough nutrition as such, but we’d failed to include beans and pulses or cheese and egg, meaning everything felt a bit light and lacking in umami. There was no solidity or heartiness to our meals. And it was making us a bit sad.
Enter my good friend and her wisdomous experience of having done a year as a vegetarian.
Getting down to funda-lentils
Turns out it’s quite a common feeling on turning veggie - a lack of depth and solidity to your food. Thankfully my friend had been through such an experience and sent me a recipe for a veggie shepherd’s pie that would help us transition.
This was a lifesaver - great solid, homely vegetarian food. And that tip about using smoked cheese in the mash that you might be able to spy in the recipe - it makes such a difference. The penny had dropped - we realised we needed something more than vegetables with yummy herbs and spices to make it through the month.
In came the lentils, the chickpeas, the cheese, butter and borlotti beans. And suddenly vegetarian January got a little easier.
I even took things up a level by making the House Black Daal from the Dishoom recipe book. Took me close to six hours and my arm nearly fell off from all the stirring, but it was sensationally scrumptious.
#WorthIt
Jan 31st: as one door closes…
Most people know that January 31st was a day of note in the UK. For some, it was a sad and odd day. We watched a countdown to a moment when, materially, nothing changed, but politically and emotionally a lot did.
I sat there staring at the (honestly quite baffling) line up on Newsnight opining on impact. And through the chatter a thought hit me: rather than focus on what I could not change, focus instead on what I could: as of tomorrow I would once again be able to cook with and eat meat! Exciting!
The big day and beyond
Saturday morning: bacon and scrambled egg with a buttery muffin. I was in heaven.
Saturday evening: back to Elif for a big pile of Turkish, charcoal BBQ’d lamb. Gorgeous.
Sunday lunchtime: oddly I didn’t fancy the quiche Lorraine and opted for the cheese and onion leftover from vegetarian January
Sunday evening: veggie harissa lentil and sweet potato pie
Hang on… something funny’s going on here…
Mixed emotions about meat
It’s now February 4th and so far I have only eaten meat one day this month. Yesterday I was out at Pret for lunch and by-passed the chicken wraps and ham and cheese toasties and opted for falafel and halloumi instead. I just didn’t fancy the meat.
Have I turned? Has the fashionable lifestyle of fresh veg and glowing fruit hooked me?
No.
What has happened, I think, is through abstinence and experimentation with amazing flavours I’ve realised more than ever before that you don’t need meat for a great, hearty meal. On the other hand, meat can be a shining star in a dish (as at Elif).
I no longer have a desire to include meat in meals for the sake of it. Rather, for the savouring of it. So, I might be eating a little less meat from now on. But, when I do, thanks to vegetarian January, I’ll be enjoying it all the more.