Feeding the Country Vegetarian


It's not difficult to cook for a vegetarian, even in the middle of cattle country. So if you have vegetarian friends arrive for dinner or if your daughter (whose favorite meal growing up was chicken and dumplings) declares herself a non-meat consumer, don't despair. It's easier than you think. In fact, not so long ago, thrifty country cooking relied on vegetarian dishes. If you fried your chicken, you weren't going to be getting any more eggs, for example.

If you do have a vegetarian show on your doorstep, go ahead and ask for specifics. Obviously, no pork or roast. But vegetarians differ on dairy, eggs, fish, and interestingly enough cheese. Some cheese is made from calf rennet, so even if they drink milk, they may not eat cheese.

Don't worry about serving a dish with meat, just make sure that there are plenty of dishes without meat. Politeness states that you do not insult your host by making some ethical/political statement about the food on the table. (And don't let your children do so either, it simply isn't polite.)

Easy Ideas

Fix your favorite dishes, but just leave out the meat. Most pasta dishes, such as spaghetti and lasagna are fine. Beans without pork. Enchiladas without the chicken.

Vegetarian Recipes

*Garden Gazpacho*

This is a wonderful way to show off your garden produce.

2 c. spicy tomato juice or V-8 juice
2 c. vegetable stock or salted water
1 t. sugar
.5 t. garlic salt
dash of pepper
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
4 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 green onions, sliced
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. taco sauce

Mix all ingrediants together and chill. For a thicker soup, puree half of the soup in a blender or food processor and stir back in.

*Easy Country Omelet*

Hearty enough for dinner and no folding or special pans necessary.

3 T butter
1 small potato, diced
.25 c. chopped onion
4 eggs
.25 c. milk or cream
.25 c. shredded Swiss cheese
1 T. parsley
Salt, sour cream, salsa

Melt half of the butter in a wide frying pan and brown the potato and onion (about 10 minutes). Remove from pan. Melt the rest of the butter in the pan. Beat eggs with the milk and add to the pan. Lift the egg mixture as necessary to allow the uncooked portion to set. When the omelet is almost ready, top with the potato and onions, cheese, and parsley. Cut into wedges and serve with salt, sour cream, and salsa.

The copyright of the article Feeding the Country Vegetarian in Country Cooking is owned by Shawn Price. Permission to republish Feeding the Country Vegetarian in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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