'room on the Plate

I went to a luncheon yesterday. It was a gathering of maybe 200 people. The hosts of the luncheon decided that the lunch would be vegetarian. That’s a bit unusual for these parts. It was the first time this group had ever gone vegetarian with their lunch choice. There was no salad, just bread. The main dish was a mushroom casserole (OK, they didn’t call it that, but that’s what it was) which incorporated pine nuts and some goat cheese (see previous post dated 8/20/16). The reception for the entree was mixed. My first thought was: if you’re gonna go vegetarian for the first time, do you go really go with mushrooms? I like mushrooms but I think maybe 40% of the people around here do not. The other issue was that there was nothing else on the plate, just the little 3x3 inch square of mushroom casserole. That got me to thinking: when the vegetable becomes the main course, what takes the place of the vegetable? Shouldn’t we still get some vegetables or something where the vegetables used to go? What goes on the other 80% of the plate?

The good news from this abbreviated meal experience is that after we ate nobody fell asleep during the presentation. But until they figure out what goes where the vegetables used to go, I have to consider this meal idea a rip off. Sorry if that makes me sound like a Red Meat Neck (see post dated 11/26/15).