Seeds

Today I have celebrated my 30th day of being a vegetarian. Sometimes yes, I wish I could have a beautiful slice of prociutto crudo. I miss seafood and steak. But as someone who is dearest to my heart, a vegetarian himself, said, being a vegetarian just makes you a better person, calmer, less agressive, and more healthy. It's a moral choice we can make and sets us, humans, apart from the beasts. And I totally agree with him. Of course, I want to avoid becoming a self-righteous ass who judges meat eaters and feels superior to them. But I do believe that somehow doing away with meat makes you a better person. I have developed this weird theory - and I'm sure it's not new at all - that when you eat meat, you really eat suffering. When an animal is slaughtered it suffers, not to mention the kind of constricted, inhumane, albeit short life these poor critters are forced to lead.

For me vegetarianism is also a huge challenge.  I want to eat interestingly, not just boring salads and veggie soups. It is also important not to overdo the bread and cereal angle as many vegetarians do. And do I get enough protein in my diet? is another concern. What about iron? As I get more and more sucked into the whole vegetarian biz on the internet, I discover the various sub-fads as well, raw foodism, veganism, non-grain eaterism, paleo-vegetarianism, fruitarianism etc. But all this also makes life more interesting right now as I put more brainwork into what I put into my mouth. 

I have recently discovered a whole food group out there that I have neglected all my life. SEEDS. Allora: linseeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, apricot seeds, quinoa. Turns out these seeds are incredibly nutritious and taste great. Today, in my no-grain effort, I made bread using some of the above seeds (ground), added a bit of chick-pea flour, an egg, a dash of olive oil, salt and water. I had no recipe, I played it by ear but it came out nice. I was thinking, compared to that pale slice of bread from Terni (an Italian town famous for its salt-free bread) my bread was chock full of nutrients and tasted loads better too. I guess this is the nicest thing about being a vegetarian right now, discovering a whole new world of flavor savor and zest hitherto totally unknown to me. Cool, cool, cool.

 “If animals died to fill my plate, my head and my heart would become heavy with sadness”, says Guruji. “Becoming a vegetarian is the way to live in harmony with animals and the planet.”