Eating Animals

My favorite thing about eating Kosher is that it keeps me conscious of the food choices that I’m making.  Not just will I have chicken tonight.  There are bigger decisions.  I was surprised to learn that eating Kosher style goes well beyond avoiding mixing meat and dairy.  Will I eat processed meats, for instance.  Where did these eggs come from?  Can I make salad dressing that involves ingredients that I can pronounce?  There are a lot of questions, which of course can make eating very Jewish.  Now that I’m paying more attention to the things that I’m eating, I find that I’m also searching for ways to make me more food conscious.  Naturally this lead to me reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.

I know what you’re thinking.  What a terrifying thing to read.  How could I possibly do this to myself?  How could I back myself into a meatless corner.  I was warned not to read it.  Everyone I talked to about the book told me how it made them the great vegetarian that they are today.

I’m sorry to report that the book isn’t having quite the same effect on me.  Though, I should also admit to you that I’m only about half way through.  I started reading Eating Animals last week mostly because my Rabbi suggested it to me.  I also thought that it would force me to become a vegetarian, which I was maybe a little excited about.

Confession:  I want to be a vegetarian.  I’ve always wanted to be a vegetarian.  I’ve also always wanted to be a tap dancer.  I’m not very good at either.  I never got those tap lessons and I can’t stop my obsession with chicken.  There.  My secret is out.

I’m a terrible person.  I’m a miserable excuse for a Liberal Democrat.  I can’t even give up meat.  Somewhere there’s an alarm going off.  At any moment they’re going to come and take away my subscription to The New Yorker, force me to wear slightly less chunky glasses and rip up all of my cardigan sweaters.  But it’s true.  I’m just not very good with that kind of limitation.  No more chicken?  Ummmm…no.

What I’m trying to tell you is that if you’ve been thinking about reading this book (ahem…Whitney?) then you should read it.  There are some pretty terrible images in the book, I think we all know that factory farming is a really disgusting thing.  I don’t, however, think that it’ll force you to run screaming from the meat section of your local grocer.  Will I start buying Kosher meat?  Probably.  Will I think twice before actually eating meat?  Absolutely, but I won’t give it up forever.  I’m just not that strong.

Here’s a little vegan recipe for you.  If you’re feeling a little sassy about your devotion to meat?  Brown 1 or 2 lbs of turkey (or ground beef if you’re really feeling defiant) and add it to the recipe…

WHAT?

1 large Onion

1 bag of Spinach

1 can Rotel

2 cans White Beans

2 bags of Uncle Ben’s 90 Second rice…or you can be fancy and make your own…but you’ll spend 45 minutes on that and who has that kind of time?

HOW?

Chop up that onion and fry it in a couple of table spoons of olive oil.  Everything delicious starts this way.  When you’ve browned the onion, toss in your cans of beans and Rotel.  You’ll have a pretty good soupy thing going on at this point.  Bring it to a boil.  Turn the heat down and add your spinach.  Stir in the spinach, you want it to wilt into the mix.  Prepare your rice.  When the rice is ready?  You’re ready to eat!  Toss some rice in a bowl and add your bean mixture.  Stir and enjoy.