For most of my adult life, I’ve eschewed meat for ethical reasons. I just couldn’t bring myself to eat the flesh of another living creature. I remember telling a friend that if I ever did eat meat again, it would have to be because of starvation–when I got to the point that bunnies started looking like dinner.
So I’ve changed. About a year ago I started eating meat in small amounts. It was difficult and I didn’t like it much. I usually felt guilty afterwards. I couldn’t stand the thought of cooking it myself, so I only ate it at restaurants or at friends’ homes.
And then that began to change as I started feeling the effects of eating meat. I felt better. I digested better. I had more energy. My moods were less swing-y. So I started eating even more meat and began cooking it, too. I developed a taste for sashimi–loving the way that fresh fish flesh melts on my tongue. I also started cultivating a hamburger habit, and now eat them at least once a week–hamburgers ranging from the gourmet at Haven to the everyday at Five Guys and whatever I happen to discover at roadside diners. I love them all!
As I discussed my changing eating habits with a friend recently I realized that part of my current meat passion might be tied to events early in my adult life–when we didn’t have enough money for meat, and I would buy one package of bacon each week and slice it into small chunks to give a ‘meaty’ flavor to soups and sauces. It was a hard time, when I worked to stretch every penny of our meager budget. We could rarely afford a roast or a chicken, and certainly couldn’t afford to buy organic or free-range. So that I can eat meat everyday now, seems such a luxury.
The meat pictured above is some free-range London Broil from the Farmer’s Market that we cooked with fresh herbs growing on my back porch. It was perfectly seared on the outside and tender inside. Yum! :)
