Accidental Adventures in Veganism
I have to be honest: I just tend to be irritated by militant vegetarians and vegans. Sounds harsh, but there it is. I lived with a dead-head in college that was obsessed with factory farming. We had a collaged poster on the bathroom door with pictures of what the bad people do to pigs. I agree it's terrible.
I guess I just tend not to get emotionally involved in these sorts of issues. I'm a cold-hearted woman. (Especially today. I am VERY bitchy today.) I take a more pragmatic approach. Or maybe I was desensitized by two semesters with the poster.
Factory farming is obviously wrong, but what about local meats and dairy? one might wonder. (An exception might be veal farming. I really don't understand the point of veal...) What about hunting and fishing?
Well, anyways, this week I had a vegan awakening. I ran out of both eggs and milk, and had nothing remotely related to substitute them with. I wanted to make banana bread. I made it without eggs, and it was GREAT! It wasn't even "great but different". There is little to no perceptible difference between vegan banana bread and regular. I went on to make eggless cookies. I did use butter so they weren't entirely vegan and the chocolate chips were regular.
For me, the most compelling argument for vegan cooking is that it's simply not necessary to cook with eggs and dairy all the time. Save the eggs for things that need them like... devilled eggs...
I was pleased to find all the recipes posted on g-rad this week. I have a general prejudice against people that don't cook, and I am particularly annoyed with people that refuse to cook even when they impose dietary restrictions on themselves. (Vegetarians that eat nothing but cheese sticks and wilted lettuce salads with blue cheese dressings. You know the type.)
So anyways, I think I might want to have a vegan day or something. I really want to try making a pizza with soy cheese. I'm curious.