Lacto-ovo Vegetarian

Gone 30 days now without meat. I had fish five or six times in the last month, including a grilled salmon dinner I made for my household and neighbours on Sunday night, which got good reviews.

Grilled maple barbecue salmon with roast potatoes, butternut squash and asparagus. 

Oh, and I also went out for dinner Monday night with a friend to The Yellow Belly and ordered a giant plate of muscles steamed in curried coconut milk, just to make sure I got one seafood meal in before I give that up, too. But as of tomorrow I'm going fully vegetarian, meaning I'm not going to eat any animal flesh (including fish or seafood). I'll continue to eat eggs and dairy products, however, making me officially a lacto-ovo vegetarian. This is generally considered the vegetarian standard; someone who eats mostly plants as well as some animal products but no animal flesh.

It was pretty easy to avoid meat this past month. Ridiculously easy, in fact. Avoiding fish may be more difficult. I really enjoy fish, and fish 'n chips are kind of a big thing here in St. John's. But for the sake of being a "real" vegetarian, I'm going to give that up too and see what happens. 

It's also been 10 days since I quit coffee cold turkey (even decaf) and I'm surprised to find I don't miss it. I'm glad to no longer have the daily increased sensation of stress, with sweaty armpits, increased heart rate, etc. that came with my daily two or three cups of java. I've been drinking a lot of decaf green tea, which has a whole whack of good things in it, like antioxidants, and I look forward to it every day. Maybe my pallet has changed, or maybe I'm just in denial, but for now, it's working to replace the coffee habit. 

Here's the recipe for the salmon dinner pictured above:

1. Marinate de-boned sockeye salmon filets in the following for at least half an hour: equal parts maple syrup, orange juice and soya sauce (about 1/4 cup each). 
2. Scrub and dice russet potatoes, peel and dice butternut squash.
3. Coat both potatoes and squash in olive oil and sprinkle with dill and salt and pepper. Bake at 350 F for about 60 min.
4. Wash and cut the bottom "wood" of the asparagus stalks (about half an inch – the white part), and lay flat on a cookie sheet. Coat in olive oil and sprinkle with celery salt. Bake at 350 F for about 30 min.    
5. Bake the salmon filets in oil-lined pan at 350 F for 15 min. (Important not to over-cook the fish, so it's not dried out! Fish should flake with a fork, but still be moist.)