Quorn-verted... Sort of...

On Sunday night, after a lovely day at the beach taking photos (http://www.fenchurchadams.com/) and easily avoiding any meat temptation by taking a packed lunch, I got home with a devilish hunger that could not be quashed with just vegetables. I needed meat or at least something that tasted and had the consistency of meat... So I opted for a spot of Quorn...

Rod, the other half and strict carnivore, made a quorn chili and it was lovely... Different... Not exactly like meat... Not exactly better than meat... definitely not better than meat... but lovely none the less.

It lacked grease and gristle, two things that I really didn't think I would miss about not eating meat.

The night before we had a raclette (we have these quite often) with two friends who ever so sweetly came laden with fish and spiced cheeses. This was the first meal I've eaten that I can say, without uncertainty, that I really didn't miss meat. Together with a huge bowl of salad, plates were piled high with tuna steak, fresh salmon, peppers, mushrooms, courgette slices (Or green discs of hell as Rod calls them) aubergine, halloumi, humus, rice and enough bread to make me bloated for life. I stuffed my face and felt very happy.

Last night, we had an early dinner, Lili, my daughter who actually sang a song expressing her reluctance to turn vegetarian, loved the veggie chili and asked for more.

I fried off the leftover raclette veg and made a respectable ratatouille to go with our chili and added a cheesy jacket potato (even at home!) to bulk out the meal.
It was still a delicious chili, tomatoey, beany, packed with flavour... But this time it felt like a balloon was slowly deflating inside me... I really missed the chewiness of minced beef, those little chunks of meat that hadn't been separated properly in the pan, when you're lucky enough to get find and its like a tiny secret meatball, beefy and delicious, I missed the grease that you shouldn't love but you do, swimming about on the plate waiting to be moped it up with a hunk of bread, the flecks of OXO cube that haven't quite melted into the sauce bursting in your mouth like little beefy popping candy. I missed the meat...

But the Quorn chili was nice...

I love animals

I want to be a vet

But I wouldn't give up meat

Even for a bet!