The Nature of Meat

Vegetarian Day 3:

Breakfast: Meatless smoothie--not the same w/o bacon in it.
Lunch: Some sort of grain and peanut salad thing I got at a hippie store and a handful of cookies.
Dinner: Mushroom pizza with real-vegetarian friends. Thought about eating the pepperoni I saw a little kid throw on the floor, bought another beer instead.

My friend Danielle posted the following on my facebook wall yesterday: "That's great. I thought that I was the only half assed vegetarian around. By the way, shrimp totally counts as meat!!" Danielle brings up an interesting point. Does fish count as meat? Steve says yes, I say shut up. Cast your vote on the poll to the right and let me know if you think yea or nay. I know some vegetarians eat fish and some don't, but I'm a self-proclaimed half-assed vegetarian, so no matter what the consensus is I'm going to eat fish as well as assorted tasty crustaceans. This is the benefit of doing something half-assed--you get to make up your own rules. Unless those rules involve running over puppies or shooting nuns. Those you shouldn't do.
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I just found out sea lice, fish lice, while lice and tongue worms are all crustaceans. Those I will not be eating.

Asian shrimp stew with steamed rice

As promised, here's the Asian shrimp stew recipe, taken from the March 2008 edition of Everyday Food. I don't know how Kosher it is to post recipes from magazines, so for the love of God don't tell Martha Stewart I gave you this. Or I'll shove a ham down your throat.

1 cup long grain white rice
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 yellow bell peppers (I used one yellow and one orange.) cut into 1 inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger (I don't like ginger, unless it's in the form of a tasty
man-shaped cookie, so I skipped it.)
1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
4 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
coarse salt
1 pound peeled and deviened medium shrimp (thawed if frozen), tails removed
1-2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1. Cook rice according to package instructions; set aside, covered. Meanwhile, place cornstarch in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in coconut milk, sugar, and 1 cup water; set aside.

2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add bell peppers, onion, garlic, ginger, red-pepper flakes, and scallion whiles; season with salt. Cook, tossing frequently, until vegetables are crisp-tender, 6 to 8 minutes.

3. Add coconut milk mixture to skillet; raise heat to medium-high. Boil, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 1-2 minutes. Add shrimp, and cook just until opaque, 3-4 minutes. If necessary, adjust consistency of stew with a little bit of water; season with vinegar and salt to taste.

4. Fluff rice gently with a fork. Serve shrimp stew over rice, garnished with scallion greens.

I don't have much to add here, other than I might bump the coconut milk to 3/4 cup next time. Put extra rice vinegar and red-pepper flakes on the table--Steve and I both added more of each.