perfidy

if this limited study is correct. Results suggest that a vegetarian diet can cut cholesterol as much as perscription drugs can.

Also, if this study is correct, my wife will live to be 250.

This probably shouldn't surprise anyone. The one constant in the last twenty years of diet wisdom, right behind "eat less and exercise" has been "eat your vegetables and whole grains, and don't eat that steak every single day." I eat oatmeal and soy every day, and I bet that if eggplant cuts cholesterol, the other nightshades can too (tomatoes, all peppers...). I am so set!! Vegetarian, yeah!!
Not that I don't love meat, mind you. Pulled pork. The New England delicacy they call "steak tips." Pork of any kind. Steak of any kind. Buffalo. Buffalo wings. Rabbit. Smoked pork. Lobster. Mmmmmmmm.... I love these things, but I'm just to poor to afford them regularly, and years ago adjusted to eating a vegetarian diet at home. It has worked really well so far, and for a few years my total grocery expenditures per week were between $12-$15(!).

The following is a public service announcement:
Any meat eaters, who through guesting or accident, are faced with eating soy products, note the following.

Tofu is fine. Sometimes it's even delicious. Just like sweetmeats, brains, or insects, you need to develop a taste for it. Quit your whining and eat it! Tempeh, on the other hand, tastes like rat droppings pressed into a cake.

Fake meats are generally excellent and can be eaten without compunction. Boca-burgers taste just like the real thing, and Morningstar Farms Soy Breakfast Patties are very good, if a little dry. Avoid fake bacon (as if you had to be told!).

However, certain products suck mightily unless you already like the taste of soy extract. These include: soy margarine (as if you had to be told!), soy ice cream (ditto, and ugh!), and homemade soy milk. The cartoned stuff is actually pretty good, and is great in cereals.

Another, unconnected thought. The one thing I miss most about not having meat in the home is being able to cook it. I'm a fairly admirable home cook, and sometimes I even aspire to greater things. But my skills are limited when it comes to meats. I can braise, I can grill like a beast, and I can roast, saute, and panfry. But it's all a little shaky. As a sad side effect, my saucing skills aren't so hot. By rights I should be able to whip up a hollandaise or bearnaise sauce without thinking, but I can't. I mean, give me a cookbook and I'm fine, but I'm a proud sort and like to work without a net. Not that this is such a big deal, but I'm a geek about every single thing I do in life and therefore this is an irritant.

Ah well. I still make a damn fabulous pork and beef chili.