Vegetarian Table

What does the typical vegetarian dining table look like?  The answer is – just like any other dining table.  The only difference is that there won’t be any meat on it.  Vegetarians give up meat for a healthier eating style, so their dining table consists mainly of vegetables and fruits.  But most people can’t really tell.  Why?

Well, the truth is that there are many recipes and dishes that can be adapted so that they don’t include meat.  For example, instead of adding meat to their spaghetti sauce, they just add some fresh mushrooms and onions and find that it is just as satisfying, if not more.  The vegetarian dining table will have a lot of vegetables and healthy foods that look very appetizing and often taste even better.

Back in the 1960’s, my aunt was a “hardcore” vegetarian.  She wouldn’t eat anything she didn’t grow herself.  That meant there was no meat at all, no fish, and no milk on her dining room table.  When I went to visit her at the young age of 10, I was appalled.  How could she possibly make lasagna without cheese – and living in Wisconsin of all places!  As I watched her work flour and water into a dough and then cut them into lasagna noodles, I started to get very interested although not excited at that point.

Then she and I went out to her garden with a large basket and began picking.  We gathered tomatoes, spinach, zucchini, mushrooms, onions, and other ingredients that I really can’t remember in detail.  All I really do remember was thinking “How in the world will this combine together to become lasagna?”

Well, we started chopping and mincing and combining and before I knew it there was a pan in the oven that was cooking and it smelled amazing.  To say I was apprehensive to take my first bite is an understatement.  We sat down at my aunt’s dining room table and she served me a nice big slice of vegetarian lasagna.  Apprehensively, I picked up my fork and took my first bite.  It was amazing!

The point of my whole diatribe was that even though there was no Italian sausage, no ricotta or mozzarella cheese, and no parmesan cheese, my aunt had brought a delicious lasagna to the table that was completely healthy, amazingly delicious, and it all came straight from the hands of my own aunt.

So, please remember that if you have a vegetarian in the family, even though they aren’t using meat in their dishes, their dining room table might just contain foods that will surprise you.
