A Day for Celebrating Veggies

If you haven't heard already, it's World Vegetarian Day. This awareness day is dedicated to espousing the benefits of a vegetarian diet on the environment, personal health, local and national economics, and the lives of harvested animals across the country. There is much controversy over diets that exclude meat (and even those that discourage eating specific types of meat). On the surface, raging against some of the most peace-seeking people on the planet seems insane, but it's important to look deeper to get a full understanding of why some have such intense reactions to herbivorous humans.

In 2015, a study looked at attitudes towards this group compared with attitudes towards other groups that have been historically negatively viewed, such as drug users, gay people, immigrants, black people, and atheists. Across the board, only drug addicts were viewed more negatively than vegans and vegetarians. This negative view is perpetuated through our print and other media sources; 74.3% of articles and other news reports negatively on this lifestyle.

It is thought that the basis of these trends in media and acceptance of vegetarian lifestyles is rooted in our culture of speciesism. Speciesism is the tendency of humans to view themselves as being a life form that is more deserving and important than all others on the globe. It is a very common prejudice to hold, and pointing it out in people who view themselves as just and responsible individuals can make for a very uncomfortable situation. Simply the knowledge of the existence of a vegetarian is enough to set most people off, both online and in person.

In our short stay on this planet, humanity has thus far destroyed a third of the forests, polluted 99% of habitats, and created a vast food system that benefits greatly from the mistreatment of all other life on earth. The goal of our food system has always been the same: to provide food for a large population. It seems a simple enough task, but as with every industry, after a while, cost-cutting, the desire of business owners to maximize profits, and the ignorance of a vast majority of the consumer population has led to a horrible situation for animals. If just the clearly erroneous idea of people eating their neighbor's dogs and cats is enough to cause bomb threats in Ohio, it seems strange that anybody would be unbothered by the way cows, pigs, chickens and other animals are treated in this country. As it is with many other injustices in the United States, it seems that either cognitive dissonance or just plain stubborn delusion is at work, perpetuating strong feelings in certain populations that keep these machines of torture running.

But I've digressed, because what World Vegetarian Day is really about is the sharing of positive changes and trends pertaining to a lifestyle that we should all be striving for, not for our own image but for the future of the planet (and by extension, those who come after us). Vegetarianism (and veganism) is the smarter, more peaceful and sustainable choice. Period. It is what all the cool kids are doing. It is a future-forward way of eating, and it is a simple step in the right direction for our entire species to lessen our ongoing damage to the world. So, in the spirit of the holiday, I'd like to share one of my favorite vegetarian dishes with you:

​Cauliflower Steak with Butterbean Puree
This is a great weeknight go-to recipe that is quick and easy to throw together. Fried cauliflower is topped with a delicious, bright chimichurri and laid in a bed of blended butterbeans.

What You'll Need

1 large head of Cauliflower
700g jarred Butter Beans
1 lemon
5 garlic cloves
​1 red chili pepper
1 bunch parsley

2 tbsp. Butter
2 tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar
EVOO
Salt & Pepper
Paprika
2 tbsp nutritional yeast

How to Make It

1. ​Make the chimichurri by mincing a clove of garlic and chopping up most of the parsley, and adding them to a bowl. Finely dice the chili pepper, and add to the bowl alongside 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and then slowly begin adding in olive oil in, mixing as you go until you reach the desired consistency. Set the bowl aside to let the flavors come together.
2. Pour butterbeans (with all of their liquid) into a blender or food processor with a generous squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, a roughly chopped garlic clove, and 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast.
3. Cut two 'steaks' out of the center portion of the head of Cauliflower. They should be thick enough to stay together as they cook. The rest of the head can be saved for another recipe, or cut up and fried alongside the steaks. Season the cauliflower with salt, pepper, paprika, and olive oil, making sure to cover all surfaces with flavor.
4. Heat a frying pan on medium-high and add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot, add the steak(s) and press down with a spatula to get a sear. After several minutes, flip the steak and fry on the other side for a few minutes.
5. Pour the bean puree into the middle of a large plate and set aside.
6. Smash up three garlic cloves and add to the pan towards the end of the cooking time with 2 tablespoons of butter. Baste the steaks in the buttery, garlicky goodness continuously before removing them from the pan. The steaks should be golden brown in color and their stems should be able to be easily pierced with a fork when they are done. Place steak(s) on top of the butterbean puree, and drench in chimichurri.​

And there you have it: a delicious, existential guilt-free steak recipe to make for the holidays. By building yummy recipes like this one into our go-to cookbooks, we can start to take small steps to lessen our impact on the world and the suffering of animals. On average, a human eats about 700 animals in their lifetime. By lessening this number on an individual basis, we can lessen the overall demand for meat, and the more people that can be encouraged to do this, the more an impact we can make.