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Articles and Information
Tabbouleh or Not Tabbouleh
by Tammie Ortlieb
"You know what I hate?" my teenager said to me. "That people assume just because you’re vegetarian you like to eat this crap." Chewing on a sad-looking mouthful of tabbouleh, the only vegetarian option at this particular restaurant (I had gone for the eight dollar meatless bun and fries) he commences a lecture about how the typical American public is ignorant of the ways of vegetarian eating and of teenagers in general. Not every vegetarian keeps a stock of kamut, spelt and quinoa in his pantry, he says. Nor does he necessarily experiment with things like kelp, tempeh and nutritional yeast. Likewise, not every teenager exists on a diet of carbonated beverages and bags of chips. He may even enjoy spinach and down broccoli on a regular basis. I must admit. He had a point.
Seems that the challenge when teenagers first turn vegetarian is teaching them healthy eating habits so they don’t fall into the trap of becoming "dairy-a-tarians." You know -- a cup of yogurt for breakfast, grilled cheese for lunch and cheese pizza for dinner. Follow that with a large bowl of ice cream for a bedtime snack and you have a meatless diet without much thought to health. These new veggies often feel good about their conviction to end the senseless killing of animals for food’s sake. And, truthfully, their confidence and persistence in standing firm by their beliefs against a sea of potentially negative peer influence is no small feat. But, as a parent, you realize that a fifteen year old is a fifteen year old. She still needs a nutritious balanced diet.
Then, as soon as you can manage to encourage her to include at least one, maybe two, carrots with her cream sauce drenched fettuccini, she announces that now she doesn’t eat ANY animal products. And, yes, that includes milk, eggs, gelatin, and even honey. Great. At least, you think to yourself, but no way do you say it out loud, you won’t have to rush her to the hospital when she overdoses on cheese. Only now she has toaster pastries for breakfast, giant pretzels for lunch, and microwave pasta with marinara for dinner. Once again, you wonder how you will ever get her to eat a balanced meal.
As parents, we do have rights. One of the first things I told my kids when they decided to follow a plant-based diet was that vegetarian means vegetables. Even now they know that if they want to stick with this diet, they have to include plenty of good healthy foods. They understand that if they take a plate full of pasta, I need to see a little lettuce or tomato beside it. Likewise, if they load up on fries, they had better include a veggie burger or some green beans. And, generally, they are pretty good about this. The challenge comes when we decide to eat out for the evening and choices are not only limited, but also possibly lacking in appeal.
Because, face it, teenagers don’t generally come begging for Asian noodles with garlic encrusted snow peas or a plain baked potato completely devoid of any topping. They want spaghetti smothered in marinara, wet burritos oozing with guacamole, spring rolls and vegetarian fried rice. They want choices. Maybe they don’t feel like an anemic-looking salad topped with a not-even-close-to-being-ripe tomato. Maybe they want a bun with something on it besides pickles and ketchup. Maybe they’re hungry and just want to eat like everybody else.
My family and I often do a little web surfing now before heading out to our favorite dining spots. We check out websites to determine vegan options ahead of time, or regular menu items that could easily be made vegan. Many sites even include complete ingredient lists all the way down to sauces, condiments, and spices. Doing a bit of research ahead of time helps us eliminate the I-can’t-believe-you-brought-us-to-this-place-and-there’s-not-even-one-thing-to-eat-on-this-disgusting-menu eye rolling that some teenagers are so great at.
We also stick to ethnic fare that’s particularly vegetarian friendly. We almost never go wrong with Mexican and Italian cooking. Think bean burritos stuffed with lettuce, tomato, onion, and guacamole. Chips and salsa. Bean and rice tacos. Or maybe penne pasta with marinara and a side of steaming broccoli. How about a cheese-less health nut pizza with zucchini, summer squash, onion and other fresh from the garden veggies? Choices at these types of restaurants are often seemingly endless.
As hard as we try, though, we still occasionally find ourselves at a place not unlike the one that turned my son off to tabbouleh forever. A friend told me once that you can’t change other people, you can only change yourself. If that were the case, my family and I would have finished our meals quietly, never to return to that restaurant again. However, I have to side with my son on this one in believing that many menu decisions are based as much on ignorance as anything else. Stereotypes, history tells me, are made to be broken. In that case, it’s a tough task, but one that I’m willing to take-- eating out with my family as much as possible in the hopes of showing people what REAL vegetarians munch on when they’re hungry. Grab the keys, kids. Did somebody say nachos?
Tammie Ortlieb is a freelance writer with a Masters Degree in Developmental Psychology. Her work has appeared in VegNews, Veggie Life, Vegetarian Baby and Child Online Magazine, and Mothering.com. She resides in southwest Michigan with her omnivorous husband, three terrific teenagers- two veg, one wannabe-, and a you-tell-em-like-it-is-sister future green revolutionist fabulous fourth grader.
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