EVERY MORNING, right after breakfast I ask my wife what she would like for dinner. It’s a mostly pointless exercise because nine times out of ten your answer is the same: vegetables. She says it with a grin as she walks out the door on the way to the farm where she grows organic vegetables.
I also love vegetables, and I love meat, and I would still eat a lot more of them than now if I hadn’t started cutting it with farm vegetables.
Vegetables are all the rage these days. Manhattan’s three-Michelin-star Eleven Madison Park has turned into a vegan restaurant, and culinary website Epicurious has completely stopped beef recipes – which is a shame in many ways. My wife will tell you that organic vegetable growing is impossible without animal input. It is important that these animals are well managed and treated properly, and there are many small farms out there that do things right.
Raising meat animals properly costs more. These costs are passed on to the consumer; Using less meat per serving is one way to keep supporting small farms and stretching more expensive meats. This is a win-win situation in our company.
Most days, I keep meat to an ounce or less per serving and fill out the recipes with vegetables. Our Sloppy Joes are mostly made up of carrots and beets with some meat to keep the flavor and protein content high enough to satisfy my meat cravings.
