When you walk into the grocery store and see something as beautiful as this, how can you not be a vegetarian? Admittedly it’s not always this easy (or pretty), to have vegetables be the mainstay of your diet, especially this time of year.
A friend of mine who lives in a more remote part of Michigan (in a town I can barely pronounce – Dowagiac (dÉ™-WAH-jak)) decided that she was going to give up meat for Lent. I know how hard it is for me to find fresh fruits and vegetables this time of year in Kalamazoo, so I can only imagine what it’s going to be like for her. After encouraging her to make the changes in her diet, I knew that I wanted to find some healthy vegetarian recipes using frozen veggies. So I will develop and post some ideas over the next few days and weeks which are made with ingredients which can truly be found anywhere. 
In the meantime, I am often surprised that no matter where I go there are meatless options. The tastiest bites have been at ethnic restaurants. A few weeks ago we hit up a Gyros shop in Grand Rapids. Expecting to be eating another salad (which is fine and I love), I found this amazing plate on the menu. Salad, hummus, dolmas (grape leaves stuffed with rice and vegetables) and falafel – it was an amazing fare!
Even in Kalamazoo it’s easy to find great options when eating out. The University Roadhouse has an amazing Seared Ahi Salad (pictured left). It is pan seared blackened Ahi Tuna, mixed greens in a thai peanut vinaigrette served with a warm bleu cheese wonton. Talk about delicious! I am definitely going to use this as inspiration for a salad soon. My mouth is still watering for that blue cheese wonton.
While not eating meat in the dead of winter in the middle of the Midwest isn’t easy, I have learned to work around it. I am confident that my friend Erin and all of you meatless eaters out there will do the same.
