Coming Back From the Veg

I was a vegetarian for many years up until four months ago. I was only a vegetarian for environmental reasons, and I always said that if a doctor told me to eat meat again, I would.  Well, four months ago my doctor said she was worried about my protein intake and iron levels, especially since it looked like I was becoming lactose intolerant. 

She uttered the phrase: "I think you should reintroduce meat into your diet."


I sprinted out of the doctor's and ran towards the nearest cheeseburger. Just before I reached the nearest meat mecca, a sobering thought hit me: I probably had lost the ability to digest beef.  This is a common ailment amoung former-herbivores. Usually their first beef experience is met with violent diarrhea. I don't like violent diarrhea, especially since I already have digestive issues. But then I realized that I could still eat the holy grail of meat: PORK. More specifically: bacon.

There is only one word to describe my return to carnivorism:

Delicious.

Well, not really carnivorism. I still love my vegetables, dairy, fruits and grains and try to keep them as my main food source. But no matter who you are, or what your background is, everyone once in awhile craves a big, juicy, meaty savory cheeseburger made from real meat, not mock meat. If you think mock meat fulfills this purpose, you are on hallucinatory drugs.

I feel a bit hypocritical saying that, because I didn't enjoy my first post-vegetarianism burger until just a few days ago.  The problem was that although I could immediately eat pork, seafood, and poultry, my stomach lacked the flora to properly digest beef. In fact, due to many of the medications I'm on, I still cannot enjoy beef.  

However, in "my journey back" I have discovered a legitimate alternative to beef: bison. I figured my doctor would love it since it is leaner and higher in iron than beef. So I gave it a try.

We first made chili, and then made bison stew. All was delicious. The problem was that it's hard to really appreciate the pure flavor and specialized texture of meat unless you enjoy it in a bare form.

So last week I finally got to enjoy the dish that I've been missing for so many years. I finally had a bison burger.  In fact, I had a bison bacon cheeseburger with lettuce, mayo and ketchup.

This was two weeks ago.  I'm still having mouthgasms.

I couldn't wait to try my next dish: bison meatloaf. On Sunday, my lovely boyfriend cooked me a glistening loaf of buffalo meat. He used Alton Brown's recipe for regular meatloaf, and this man's recipes usually do not fail. This was no exception. The flavor was just like I remember: comforting and satisfying. The only problem was that due to the leanness of the meat, the loaf slices tended to crumble. Next time we make this, we might introduce more fat or eggs to help with cohesion.  But the meat crumbles are still delightful.

Now, I'm not saying vegetarianism is an illogical diet. It works for some, but not others, depending on lifestyle, health, beliefs, etcetera. But I think there's very few, if any, people who really don't like the taste of meat. We are omnivores, which means we can sometimes crave bacon, or apples, or rice, or whatever just tickles your goddamned fancy, including bacon-covered-rice-stuffed-apples.