This happens to be the current vegetarian dish on our menu, and one that I put a fair deal of thought into. I have to say that I am honestly not a fan of vegetarians or vegans, but I don’t want to alienate them from our restaurant. It isn’t that I think that they are a horrible inconvenience or burden to us, I simply can’t wrap my head around the idea of not eating beef, pork, chicken, fish, or any other tasty animal. We have incisors and canine teeth in our mouths for a reason, the sheer glory of tearing into flesh. I also have a hard time believing that a person could really be satiated by a plate of mere vegetables, or can they?

This is the constant challenge that is presented when conceptualizing a vegetarian dish, especially because I am not a vegetarian.

I choose quinoa as the main body dish because of its nutritional qualities. Quinoa is about 12% - 18% protein, and It is known as a complete protein, because of its amino acid balance. Quinoa is known to have a soft texture when cooked, so we decided to form it into a cake and pan sear it to give it a nice crispy texture on the out side.  The accoutrements for the dish are simple roasted root vegetables that feature beets, carrots, parsnips, and turnips. For the sauce we decided that a carrot froth (or foam) would be appropriate. We simply juice carrots, and add a touch of salt and soy lecithin (the lecithin assists with the creation of the air bubbles when buzzed with a hand blender).

For the garnish of this dish we decided to make a few chips from spiral beets. We shave them thin and lightly fry them. Once they are seasoned with a little salt and dried we place them in our food dehydrator to insure they retain their crisp texture. The chips are accompanied by a petite salad of mache greens and frisee that are lightly dressed with lemon juice.

Over all this has been a successful dish, as far as a vegetarian dish goes. We may not have that many vegetarians come in to the restaurant, but I feel that is important that we have an offering for them as opposed to putting what ever random vegetables we have laying around on a plate. From the responses that we have received from our guests it seems that the dish is well liked, and apparently you can be completely satiated with a plate of vegetables. This has also been confirmed by non vegetarians who have come in and ordered the dish.

“Will wonders ever cease?”