Vegetarian meal makes meat eater consider change

Andy Rooney, who is as close to a guru as I can find, has predicted that we all will stop eating meat within 10 years.

Hmph.

My stomach has always said “no thanks” to roast beef and steak. I gave up my favorite cheeseburgers for more than seven years before I weakened, then fell to temptation when I was starving on the way to the Red Sox spring training game last year. What can I say? Burgers not only taste good, they make you feel good.

I don’t consider chicken as meat really, and gobble it down like Wade Boggs.

I am madly in love with Blue Eyes, a vegetarian. I know in my heart she is right. I could never kill a cow for my cheeseburger. I could never cut the head off a chicken. She takes tons of grief from meat eaters who seem threatened by her stance, but she forges ahead and will never, never eat meat again.

For Blue Eyes’ birthday, she got a gift certificate for Chase’s Daily, a vegetarian restaurant in Belfast. She asked again and again (since October) when we could go to the restaurant. Since it extends hours only on Friday night, it was relatively easy to manufacture excuses to avoid the trip.

Who wants a boiled beets dinner?

Since the meal was already paid for and I had exhausted all my excuses, we drove up to Belfast last week. I figured they had wine (I hoped) and bread and that would be enough.

They did have wine. The house chardonnay, Santa Barbara Peralta, was a fine California and only $5 a glass. The bread was baked on the premises and was outstanding. I figured I was ahead of the game.

Blue Eyes insists on eating salad, which I consider a waste of chewing. Even though I am a big oaf, I can eat surprisingly little. She ordered the beet (eek) salad and offered to share. Big deal.

I passed on the beets but succumbed to crostini (small toast) with olives and goat cheese on toast. Absolutely delicious. I thought I hated olives.

The entrees, which are changed daily, included:

Grilled portobello mushrooms and broccoli raab with polenta (you must be kidding).

Spring herb tart with custard, potato, goat cheese with Parmigiano and Reggiano cheese (nope).

Red chili enchiladas with zucchini, cheese and fresh vegetables (Right. That would put my Irish stomach, plus the rest of me, in the nearest hospital.)

Thai fried rice with greens, carrots, tofu, scallions and cucumber salad (I stopped at “Thai.”)

That left me with two choices, either the pizza with escarole with zucchini, cheese and cilantro or the lasagna spoiled by fresh asparagus bechamel (no idea) pesto and Taleggio (ditto).

Since I had no idea what an escarole was, I went with the lasagna. How bad could lasagna be?

No restaurant is perfect. It must have taken 30 minutes from the salad to the main course. For a small restaurant, that is tough to take.

But Blue Eyes was in her personal seventh heaven. I don’t know how many times we have gone to restaurants and asked about vegetarian meals. Usually she gets some variation of pasta primavera (spaghetti and a few vegetables) or an extended salad. Since every family I am aware of houses at least one vegetarian, I am always amazed that area restaurants have not caught up with this market.

At Chase’s, she sat there beaming, surrounded by fellow vegetarians. For once, no one gave her grief about her no-meat life. Certainly not me. I am a little dumb, but I am not stupid.

When the meals (she got the tart) finally arrived, I forced a forkful of lasagna into my very hungry (by now) mouth. It was delicious. I forgot how much I loved asparagus. The cheeses were heaven.

As I shoveled in the lasagna, I thought about becoming a vegetarian.

But only briefly.

The closest I will go is a return to Chase’s Daily, just to see that vegetarian smile again.

Send complaints and compliments to Emmet Meara at emmetmeara@msn.com.