Mario Batali recently announced that his restaurants would become part of the Meatless Monday movement by offering vegetarian suggestions and specials on Mondays. While at first bite this might seem paradoxical, given Mario's penchant for Parma Ham, prosciutto, and anything fowl, there are plenty of recipes in the Italian cannon that work for Meatless Mondays.
Mario joins Sir Paul McCartney, Gwenneth Paltrow, Kate Moss, Al Gore and Yoko Ono in Meatless Mondays; he is the first noted "Foodie" chef to become part of Meatless Mondays. One should note, however, that Michael Pollan, the Johns Hopkins Hospital, University of California Davis and University of Maryland have also joined the movement.
Don't trick yourself into thinking this as a penance for living in the modern world. Rather, see this a chance to explore and to ensure that you are eating with your eyes as well as your stomach. Sometimes, we view food way too much as raw fuel (just eating) and forget the social and ritual contexts of meal.
Meatless Mondays or a Meatless Day a week seems sensible; our factory farms are economically efficient but resource exhaustive. And there is plenty of produce in the garden and market that await discovery. Learn how to cook chard, roast fennel, saute some mushrooms, make polenta, fry squash or simmer a vegetable bolgnese. Ciao
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