A veggie lover and a meat eater can peacefully co-exist while sharing a kitchen and dinner table. Just follow these tips.
An ever-increasing number of Americans are jumping on the vegetarian bandwagon, says the Vegetarian Resource Group — the proportion of individuals in the United States who say they live on a no-meat diet is currently 3 percent, up from 1 percent in 1997.
When individuals change over to a vegetarian diet, they may not realize the potential effect of this dietary shift around the dining table. Whether it’s housemates or family members with different eating styles and preferences, conflict can arise on various fronts when some people in the house are vegetarians and others are not. The good news: With a little patience and compromise (not to mention good humor) it is possible for everybody to enjoy meals together.
Vegetarian Cooking: Sharing the Kitchen
Regard is key when it comes to veggie lover cooking. A strict vegetarian may not want to use any cookware, dishes, or utensils that have touched meat, and the meat eaters want to accept this. In this case, the second set of everything should likely be purchased and stored in its own cupboard to prevent confusion. Purchasing plates of a different color, silverware with a unique style, and so on can help make sure the two do not become mixed up.
Other vegetarian eaters might be more ready to share. “I put my confidence in the dishwasher,” says vegan Krystyann Krywko in the United State. “The cutting boards are divided up as more of a personal inclination. My husband likes to use large cutting boards for his meat and I like to use the medium-sized ones for my food prep, so we do keep them separate. Also, we each have a favorite knife that we like to use for our personal cooking.”