trials in vegetarianism

Hubby has sworn off meat. I think this is great. Some years ago I ate vegetarian for a year. Thanksgiving to Thanksgiving. Sorry Braja, but the slaughtered bird was just too hard to pass up. It might please you to know that it made me sick when I ate it at the end of the year.

But the experience was an eye opening one and changed my diet for the better. Even after I started dabbling in murdered fare again, it wasn't a daily, or even meal-y routine. I had just found so many other things that I enjoyed eating. And meat is expensive, and I'm just a bit grossed out by it (but it tastes so damn good).

So I'm happy and surprised that hubby has gone vegetarian. He needs it health wise (astronomical triglyceride levels) but his main rub is the meat industry. We've watched a lot of Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs" and he's also read Fast Food Nation... basically the more we know, the less appetizing meat becomes.

Also note "meat" to hubby does not include all our wonderful friends of the sea. I don't think he could ever in his life give up eating fish and seafood.

ANYWAY getting past the reasoning behind our choices, I'm now having a great time preparing vegetarian dishes. Problem is, hubby is not very excited by them. I think part of the issue is that I'm jumping right to what I was eating near the end of my year of the veg. He's always complained that I eat like a rabbit. Or a bird. Lots of raw veg and seeds... LOVE them. He does not.

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I really want him to keep this up, and I fear if I don't start coming up with something a little less vegan, he'll quit. I went bonanza with beans and rice last week and he's just sick of it. He liked it at first but refused to eat it three days in a row (go figure). I stir-fried some potatoes with peas and carrots last night. Tonight I'm thinking something tomato saucy on a pasta.... or maybe a risotto.

But I thought I'd ask... what's you're favorite vegetarian meal? Keep in mind we're in Italian mountain boon-ville and the standard fare here is meat meat meat... maybe some kraut, potatoes, and polenta, but smothered with more meat. So no tofu or dishes with wonderful Indian or Chinese spices (this restriction, by the way, eliminates 90% of my favorite vegetarian dishes).