Meatless in the Midwest: A Tale of Survival - low fat indian dishes restaurants

A. G. SULZBERGERJAN.
2012 Kansas City, Missouri
In an ideal world, vegetarians are like camels.
Of course, it is not hunchback, but it is able to sustain itself for a long time by digging up the stored energy reserves like previously consumed soybean products.
But after my new home town, where I moved from New York to the Midwest to cover the first three dinners of the newspaper, even the veteran vegan became flagging.
After all, the city is considered a holy land for meat.
Any new arrivals should start by visiting the most respected suppliers of cattle, pigs and chickens, and I was told it was their most delicious form.
So, yes, I "ate" at some famous restaurants ".
Had a meal at the Taurus Steak House (baked potato)
Fried Chicken in Stroudrolls)
BBQ by Arthur Bryant, There, search for vegetarian options on the menu, skip the lard
I ordered the safest fries and stopped to think about coleslaw (
A Budweiser beer).
Three days later, I was hungry and went alone to the nearest Chinese restaurant I could find, where I ate a steaming plate of meatless mapo tofu.
Advertising should be said ahead of time, with a rich culture, distinct natural beauty and the highest level of etiquette in the Midwest, it soon broke the stereotypes.
Living in the country is very different from living in a remote place.
But don't make a mistake: Meat
Love is a stereotype of pride in the region.
Lard still plays the leading role in many kitchens, Bacon is standard in salads, and perhaps the most important event on the Kansas City social calendar is the barbecue contest.
Although the area has the best farmland in the world, there are surprisingly few fresh produce.
This is part of this country.
There is no polite way to express this.
The most common vegetable on the plate is lettuce.
Heidi Van Pelt explained: "The mentality of the Midwest is that green is the decoration
Bell runs a vegetarian restaurant in Kansas City, rich.
So the most important activity, says many vegetarians in the heart, is eating, which can be an ongoing struggle.
The club's longtime members recalled the days when doctors and family warned that giving up meat would lead to severe malnutrition.
It's no exaggeration for those who don't have other options to survive on pizza.
Over the years, many people have learned tips such as calling a restaurant to negotiate a special main course. Dinner party?
Knowing that side dishes may be the only option, it's better to eat them first.
Some say they have learned to cook for themselves in order to avoid an inevitable series of problems when eating in public, if not direct ridicule.
Just outside Iowa, spati's Gyros tas laughed at the vegetarians even as they catered to them.
There is Greek vegetable wheat pita on the menu, but there is also a punch line added: "For people who don't like to eat.
Put some meat on it!
"In places where there are more cattle than people, American advertising, vegetarians are sometimes accused of destroying the national economy.
The owner, who claims to be the only vegetarian restaurant in Omaha, said that shortly after the opening of the restaurant, a few pounds of ground beef were thrown at the door of the restaurant.
After a short run, it closed last year.
"Being vegetarian in Nebraska is like being a Republican in Brooklyn --
David Rosen said: "He is not so much an abandoned person as a novel person . " He was vegetarian in Omaha when he was a teenager and is now a writer in Brooklyn.
"Except that you don't need to prepare special meals for the Republicans.
"But in the Midwest, things have improved, and vegetarians admit that it is not only because chickpeas have inexplicably joined Tater Tots as standard bar fares.
Kansas City has two completely vegetarian restaurants and most restaurants in the big cities of the area offer at least one vegetarian restaurantFriendly choice.
There are various compelling reasons why people become vegetarians. Health.
The discomfort of killing animals.
Environmental issues.
I don't need a soap box for my own reasons.
I never love meat.
When I was 5 years old eating hamburgers at the cafeteria of the American Museum of Natural History, I found that "meat" was actually a euphemism --
Even special carnivores hate to be reminded of this --
Muscle, I feel that my preference is well recognized by common sense.
Over time, even chicken was missing from my diet.
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For years, friends and family have been looking at my vegetarian identity with curiosity and entertainment.
But even with this approach, I'm not ready for a string of jokes after the announcement of my mission --
Some games with the theme of wasting opportunities (
How can someone refuse those delicious barbecues? )
And others who suggest concerns about survival (
Are you sure you know what you're doing? ).
There are a few things about vegetarian food in Kansas City here and elsewhere, which makes people feel interesting.
In fact, it is not satisfactory to be a vegetarian here.
People on the coast have a better choice.
Like many of my brothers, I am instinctively attracted to the food from far away places where meat is a luxury and not everyone can afford it.
In New York, this means frequent visits to restaurants in India, Thailand, Ethiopia, Lebanon and Venezuela. But here —
Except for a few exceptions like Aladdin (
The best lentil soup I 've ever had), Blue Koi (
Expert in dumpling and noodle dishes)and Lill’s (
Great Spanish tapas—
The best option is better described as good enough.
To be fair, this may not be more than that for my cooking, it usually consists of simple batches of rice and beans large enough to maintain a protein for a weekrich lunches.
I tried to make my favorite Indian dishes on my own, which produced unexpected results that made me think the local Indian restaurants that were missing suddenly become more delicious.
But the most difficult thing is on the road when it comes to reporting a trip from Orlando to the North Dakota area.
Although many foods, especially in small towns, are breadand-
I also found some good restaurants by chance: Japanese restaurants in orklata. ;
Lincoln's Indian. ;
The ethbia of Sioux FallsD. ;
Italian in Minot, New YorkD. ;
Also, my favorite stop at the Thai spice reporting tour outside Joplin, Missouri.
Along the way, I also learned some valuable lessons for vegetarians roaming in these open spaces.
No special order: view the site in fast-food chains;
Looking for Chinese restaurants that have always appeared in the most unexpected places;
Carry a jar of peanut butter with you;
Never underestimate potatoes
What it lacks is the ubiquitous taste.
Finally, it is important not to forget that hunger is the price that picky eaters must be willing to pay when they remain unbearable.
On a recent visit to Ranchito Tex
The Mexican Cafe is located in hugeton, Kansas.
In a small community surrounded by farms full of cattle and plants that process them, I asked if the beans in the restaurant were made of meat.
The waitress replied, "there is no meat . "
"This is just plain beans mashed with lard.
Of course, lard is pork fat.
A day later, a waitress was hungry for a day.
Restaurants in the nearby town of Ulysses are more knowledgeable and passionate about the ingredients.
There is lard in the beans.
There is chicken in the rice. And on it went.
"You want a salad," she finally announced . "
For the record, this is one of the biggest misconceptions of vegetarians.
In fact, most people don't want salad.
We want more things.
But salad.
Yes, lettuce.
No bacon, thank God.
A version of this article was printed on page D1 of The New York edition on January 11, 2012 with the title: meat-free in the Midwest: story of survival.
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