Divinest Sense

I threw away my candy bar
And I ate the wrapper
And when they told me what I did
I burst into laughter

-Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks

I’m trying out a crazy new experiment - eating vegetarian. (No, not eating vegetarians) No particular thought process or game plan, just seeing how little meat I can eat. So far it’s going pretty well - it’s been a little over a week and I’ve eaten mostly vegetable and dairy matter, except for two very tasty pork dumplings and a delicious chunk of a poor doomed mahi-mahi.

I’ve learned that eating veggie is both easy and difficult. Easy if you’re just cooking for yourself, difficult if you’re going out to eat at a restaurant.

I’ve also noticed that we seem to be terrified of beans here in America. Aside from the refried ones that pad our burritos and the french green ones that are basically all pod and no seed, restaurants are not terribly conversant with the legumes. I guess they get a bad rap for being a simple peasant food, and for supposedly causing flatulence. But hey, I don’t know about your intestines (and please don’t tell me), but peas and beans irritate me far less than do meat and dairy.
Beans are a great thing to eat. They’ve got protein *and* fiber, and they cook up so nice and tasty in just about any sauce you can think of. And they’re like 49 cents a pound. So, guess what I’m bringing to your party?