Hints from Heloise - Vegetarian Lifestyle Hints

By Hklbrries

Ingredients

• Heloise Offers Vegetarian Lifestyle Hints
• By Jessica Belasco/San Antonio Express-News/Photography by Helen L. Montoya/San Antonio Express-News
• to to asked Heloise to talk with me about her vegetarian lifestyle, I assume she'll want to meet at one of San Antonio's few vegetarian restaurants or at least at a veggie-friendly place.
• Instead, she suggests lunch at a downtown steakhouse.
• There she could share hints about eating meat-free in the center of the barbecue and Tex-Mex universe.
• “People say, ‘You live in Texas, what do you eat?'” she tells me. “I say, ‘Do I look like I'm starving?'”
• 60, 1966. 16-ounce Texas girl,” says Heloise, 60, who was born in Waco and has lived in San Antonio since 1966. “Give me a 16-ounce steak, a baked potato with sour cream and forget the salad.”
• I figure the Reuben and BLT are off-limits, but she points out she could order them without the meat.
• Making the change
• to she was attending Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) in San Marcos, she and her father took a trip to several communist bloc countries, where she encountered her share of mystery meat.
• “I'm sure I ate horse,” she says.
• to to avoid that sort of thing, she ended up subsisting on cucumbers, potatoes, bread, cheese, cabbage and caviar.
• When she got back home, she found herself gradually eating less meat.
• “It wasn't intentional at the beginning,” she says. “I didn't order steak. I ate a few hamburgers and it just didn't sit right.”
• 1971 began reading about vegetarianism in Frances Moore Lappé's 1971 bestseller “Diet for a Small Planet.”
• to mother was Heloise,” she says. “If you're going to do something, you do the research.”
• to her mother's daughter, she found creative ways to problem-solve.
• “I can eat anywhere and eat healthy,” she says.
• to began ordering the famous burger at the now-defunct Little Hipps sans burger. At first she was greeted with raised eyebrows, but over time the staff got used to it.
• to learned to quiz waiters on possible substitutions and swaps: Can I get charro beans instead of refried? Can I get this entrée with that side?
• to it's a good restaurant, they don't blink an eye,” she says. “Most restaurants will do their best to make the customer happy.”
• She also orders two or three appetizers or sides instead of an entrée.
• “Many times appetizers alone are delicious and, depending on your diet, they're enough, portion-wise,” she says.
• to hint: Don't be afraid to go off-menu. Many Chinese restaurants often have tofu available even if it's not listed.
• More choices
• to 30 to be a vegetarian now than it was 30 years ago, Heloise says.
• Restaurants offer more options for non-carnivores. Many burger places serve veggie patties. Vegetarian meals are available on airplanes. Even airports have more varied options.
• For someone who travels as extensively as Heloise, that's a big deal.
• to to 58 a mostly vegetarian diet — she'll eat some seafood — partly out of habit, partly to keep her weight down and partly for health reasons: Her mother died at 58 of heart disease.
• to home, she likes to make a snack she learned about in Mexico: a plate of chilled raw cucumber, carrots, celery and jicama sprinkled with fresh lime juice and pico de gallo con límon.
• She also likes seasoning cucumbers with salt, lots of pepper and — you guessed it — vinegar, either red wine or malt.

Details

Adapted from heloise.com

Preparation

Step 1

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