Uhh, we don't really do that.

Being an ethivore in the DC area was not always easy. Going out with friends was usually the hardest, but it seemed like most restaurants had at least one vegetarian option. I am finding that this is not the case in St. Louis! There is a Midwest ethos here that a meal is not a meal without a hunk of meat. (Not only that, but nonmeat side items are often flavored with meat!)

I met a former professor and friend for lunch a few weeks back, and, by virtue of what’s near my work, we wound up eating at one of those home-style chain restaurants. (I would tell you which one, but I honestly can’t remember… those places all seem the same to me!) There was nothing meatless on the lunch menu, so I ordered a cranberry chicken salad without the chicken. Imagine my surprise when it arrived with bacon! (I guess I hadn’t read the description carefully enough… but, honestly, who puts bacon on a salad with fruit, nuts, and chicken?) I wish the waitress had warned me!

In another example, my husband and I recently took his sister out to dinner. They wanted to go to T.G.I.Friday's. After looking through the menu four times, I found one item without meat. You guessed it: a salad (to which you were really supposed to add chicken at extra cost). When the waiter came to the table and my husband asked him if he had any suggestions for a vegetarian, the waiter looked at us like we had just landed on this planet, and then muttered, “uhh, we don’t really do that.”

I am sure there are some restaurants around here that are more vegetarian-friendly… someone please help me find them!

 Enough about eating out. Nothing compares to fresh-picked vegetables! My mother-in-law has a fantastic green thumb, and we have been the beneficiaries of her garden since arriving back in town.  These delicious tomatoes came from her backyard.