Once I prepared dinner for a friend and his family. They were staunch meat-eaters and very skeptical of my culinary skills, which are firmly rooted in the plant-based world. After they sheepishly tasted what I prepared, they were shocked at how tasty it was. Even the kids liked it, which is always a hard sell. I used no meat products, no oil, no sugar and no salt.
Just veggies, fruits, nuts, spices and water, such as squash, tomatoes, garlic, onion, cumin, paprika, oranges and dates.
Then we discussed what makes meat taste so good compared to veggies. My opinion has always been that it’s all about the spices and herbs. If you think about it for a moment, when you cook animal products they are usually flavored in some way. The flavoring used is plant-based, such as salt, pepper, oil, spices and herbs. Without those plant-based flavorings, you would probably have a difficult time getting meat, chicken or fish to do go down.
The point is that plant-based products make meat-based products palatable or, better yet, tolerable. If you don’t believe it, test it out. Cook your favorite meat dish without using anything plant-based.
It may be an impossible task!
That said, why not just go all the way and focus solely on what makes a meal taste so go. When I prepared dinner for my friends, I didn’t even use a stove, just a food processor and a blender.
Not everything you eat must be heated or burned to make it tasty. As a matter of fact, I recommend that half of what you eat should be uncooked. Your digestive system will thank you for it.
