So, my niece from America might be coming to stay with us for a while and she is a vegetarian.  I mentioned this to my husband, Roo and he thought for a moment and said “Why don’t we go veggie for the year she comes to stay”?  We are both committed meat eaters but we have always been veggie friendly, tending to seek out local vegetarian cafes and restaurants in that endless quest to be healthy.

I was a vegetarian once upon a time for about 6 years.  This period roughly coincided with my university years when I was out living on my own for the first time and meat was too expensive.  In the 70s in Arizona there were plenty of places to find a decent veggie meal around 5th and Mill in Tempe.  My Vego years ended abruptly when I was employed at a Sheep Station in the Pilbara in 1981.  There weren’t enough vegetables to go around at any given meal and mutton was the most readily available food. After the initial bloating and re-learning how to digest all that protein, my body eventually acclimatised. And I enjoyed the meat.

There was a fabulous restaurant called Clearlight in Rundle Street that closed some years ago now, and the style of food served there was the style of food I know I could live on.  The hot dishes and soups of the day were very creative and delicious. At home we have tried to recreate the taste of the mountain bread rolls that were a staple at Clearlight.  I think we’ve come close. If anyone reading this blog knows if the woman who ran Clearlight has another eatery in Adelaide, I would love to know about it.  Or if she has a cookbook. Or runs cooking classes.

Lately we have been frequenting THEA Vegetarian Tea Garden in Gawler Place, Adelaide for healthy and interesting vegetarian meals.

Even though we are meat eaters, for now, we are very veggie friendly.

I discovered a site the other day called Vegeterranean and, my, we have come a long way.  It’s not all about tofu. Not that there’s anything wrong with Tofu (other than the fact that it does require a lot of energy and processing to get from ‘bean’ to all the different tofu products available on the market. 

As I have mentioned in this blog, we are blessed here in Adelaide with fabulous produce and markets. So our vegetarian year challenge may not be that difficult with a little research and inspiration. Watch out veggies!