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Anyone who has talked to me about food or cooking for even a minute has probably heard me go on and on about how great Mark Bittman and his How to Cook Everything cookbook are.  Bittman publishes a weekly article called ‘The Minimalist’, as well as a blog, both on the New York Times site.  Whatever recipe he comes up with each week, I usually make for myself the next week.  So it’s safe to say that I am an avid follower of his work. 

That also means I respect his opinions on food.  So when I saw this article and watched the related video over at TED, I thought he made a lot of sense.  He suggests that Americans in general eat way more meat than is necessary — or even sustainable.  He points out that nutritionists recommend we eat a half pound of meat a week…  most Americans, including myself until recently, eat that in a day. 

As a result of all this, he makes a very reasonable request – that we all try to be conscious of how much meat we do eat, and to try our best to cut back.  He’s not saying that we should all become vegetarians, or some other ludicrous thing…  he admits that even he likes a steak once in a while.  But still, until he pointed all this out, I never even thought about it.  Meat was the “center of the plate,” as he says.  That’s how I thought because that’s how I was raised.  When I would figure out my grocery list for the week, I would start by thinking “Hmm, chicken, beef, or pork?”  It’s very confining and pretty damn boring, too.

Now that I’m freed from that “obligation”, I have really been enjoying it.  Of course, Bittman’s recipes have helped a lot – I’ve made all the recipes attached to that article above (all great).  But even beyond that, I am finding myself making meals that I would have never considered a month ago.  This week I had Spaghetti Carbonara with Zucchini, with just a salad.  That was my whole dinner, no meat at all, and I didn’t miss it one bit.  Helping me along down this road are the weekly farmer’s market here in town, as well as my own vegetable garden pictured to the left.  It’s so easy to do this with all the cheap, tasty, fresh produce I can get my hands on right now.  I love taking vegetables straight from the garden to the kitchen… be it the salad of mixed greens and tomatoes I had with that carbonara the other night, or the bowl of garden peas I had for lunch over the weekend.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do when summer ends and takes the good produce with it, but at least now I’m thinking about what I eat.  Thanks, Mark.  Whether you’re skeptical or interested, please be sure to check out that article and video above.  Great stuff.