Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Lachanophobia

Look it up. It means a fear of vegetables. And its a condition I suffer from. This sort of thing might be something I should have thought about before starting a vegetarian diet, but alas I did not have that foresight.. Actually, thinking back on the past few days is funny. I have been vegetarian for four days now, and have essentially not eaten any vegetables - certainly in no more abundance than I did normally. Fruits either. Both are something that people assume vegetarians just absolutely love, and may even be the reason they chose to give up the beef in the first place. A love for the plants. Not so true with me.. and probably not others as well.

Before I go on, let me pause, because I feel I must come clean and admit that I do not actually suffer from Lachanophobia (I shouldn't poke fun at real afflictions by claiming I have them...shame..). There are plenty of veggies I enjoy - peas, carrots, broccoli, green beans, corn. And I love just about every type of fruit. Yet the veggies I like are standard and boring, and I feel like I am going to need to learn to like more of 'em.

This diet so far has actually shown me how much I eat that isn't meat OR veggies. I have relied heavily on my friends at the bottom of the pyramid, the grains, and those on some edge of the pyramid above fruits and veggies..? which are the dairy products. My cheese intake has already increased two fold it seems, and I eat yogurt and granola like its my job....if only..

However, I have what may be a coming of age tale in my vegetarian quest. And so it begins...

While I know full well that this is a blog about going vegetarian and not a blog about burritos (sorry burrito fans) I do feel I need to tell one more burrito story. I call it the tale of two burritos.

Only just yesterday, I found myself in line at Qdoba with a 2 for 1 coupon for this delicious dish. I decided to take a chance, go out on a limb, and also make my choices a good experiment. For my first entree, I chose a Queso burrito without the normal chicken I would get (so beans rice cheese queso sauce pico etc). For the second one, I got their grilled vegetables burrito, complete with three new veggies I am not so comfortable with - zucchini, squash, and red pepper. Well, I ate the queso burrito last night, and let me tell you, it was incredible. I actually didn't even miss the chicken. That seemed like a big step in the right direction.

Then tonight, I had my second burrito. I went into this one thinking there was no way I was going to like it. And this is when I thought I may have a fear of vegetables.. With that first bite, I opened up the top, and stared down into a sea of rice, beans, red peppers, green zucchini, and weird looking squash. Normally when faced with these items in a dish I pick around them and laugh at the thought of calling those pretty decorations actual food. I poke them, and see them squish and squash. If I bite one, I secretly think "icky" and think of the gross slimy texture, and then think about why I still say icky at age 21.

That was the old me. I can say with pride that I sucked it up and took that second bite (the most crucial I've found). And to my surprise - and delight - the grilled vegetable burrito through and through was better than the queso burrito. Of course it still could have used the queso sauce (although Qdoba doesn't support this blog (yet).. if you haven't had a burrito with this sauce, stop reading, go get one now, they are amazing). Now this is a step in the right direction. Not only did I not miss the meat, but I actually feel like I preferred the veggies on some level. Who knows, this may stick!

Its good to get over fears. Now I just need to learn to cope with the smell of cow juices...

3 comments:

Alex Blanski said...

Queso sauce is the cornerstone on which the house of Qdoba was built!

I might have to go try that grilled veggie burrito. Before, there never would have been any reason to whatsoever, but now is my chance. I hope it is as good as you claim.

Devin said...

Don't forget the queso sauce with the grilled veggie burrito. You will enjoy it my friend. And I am sorry I ate a burrito at Boca Grande where they apparently use chicken broth in their rice according to my friend... still friends? :/

Alex Blanski said...

Yeah, you can drink all the chicken broth you want to. I think we ultimately aren't concerned about the global consumption of chicken broth just yet.