Eating Sunday – The Vegetarian Meal

July 25, 2011

Just to clarify, I am not a vegetarian. As anyone who has looked into this blog just a little can see, I am an omnivore and there isn’t much I won’t try at least once (sea slug anyone?).

But consider this:

According to John Hopkins School of Public Health, if everybody went meatless for one day a week, it would have the same reduction in carbon emissions as taking 25 million cars off the road for a year.

Add to that the health benefits we are all aware of, lowering obesity and its attendant heart disease and diabetes. And I won’t even get up on my soapbox about the evils of feedlot/factory-farmed meat; I’ll save that for another post.

This is a photography blog- I swear.

The bottom line is that I have embraced the idea of going meatless one day a week. So, breaking tradition, why not Sunday? It finally became hot here in Portland, so in addition to meatless, it also needed to be nothing that warmed up the kitchen for too long. I also had a party to get to, so it needed to be simple and fast. I’m not sure what to call it, but my omelet stuffed with fresh veggies is so simple that it might be a bit of a letdown…

Start chopping veggies (which are far prettier than meat too)…

Ginger Rhizome – Lateral Slice

Zucchini Noodles

I love making alt noodles out of zucchini.

Scallion Greens

Portobello

Yellow Grape Tomatoes

Pasillo Chili

Everything except the chili and tomatoes get a bath in soy sauce, mirin, and minced garlic, followed by a quick five minute saute with dark toasted sesame oil.

Then add the protein…

Sweaty Brown Eggs

A omelet magically appears and is stuffed with those veggies…

Veggie Omelet

Dessert?

One of the problems with veggies and fruits is that they can be so much fun to photograph, it’s hard to know when to stop. We headed for Sauvie Island for berry picking this weekend…