A few weeks ago, Hubs decided he wanted to incorporate eggs back into his diet. He enjoys egg whites (even though a whole egg is more nutritionally sound) for a heart-healthy protein. For the record, his egg habit lasted through not-even a carton. New [eating] habits die hard, eh? During this Week of The Egg (blech), Hubs forgot to wipe up after making an omelette and egg albumin was left on the countertop (blech again), freaking me out. It had been so long since I had worried about food-borne bacteria that I realized the joys of vegan cooking:

1. There is never the risk of food-borne bacteria, aside from the possibility of bacteria living on unwashed produce. However, this type of bacteria is generally not caused by the food itself, only the handling of it. Raw meat doesn’t have quite the same built-in safety. Any spills on the counter will not send me into a germaphobic frenzy as they once did, pre-veg diet!

2. I can taste my food at any point in the cooking process! I was throwing together some “meaty” filling recently, made with nuts, breadcrumbs, and spices, and was able to taste the concoction as I went along. Try (er–actually, don’t try) that with ground beef. I also enjoy the fact that I can lick the spoon/beaters/bowl while baking without my mother’s voice ringing in my ear, “There’s raw eggs in that!”

3.  Along the lines of the above reasonings, I like that my child will grow up in a household where the kitchen is a loving room producing life-giving nourishment, not a place where things have to be maimed, hacked, and cooked at high heat to be deemed safe.

4. I have a stellar pantry! Sometimes veg cooking calls for unusual ingredients if one is trying to replicate non-veg foods, but often veg cooking just lends itself to trying other cultural food choices (like Thai curry or Ethiopian lentils). Therefore, I’m proud to have an incredible spice collection and to call my cabinets home to things like: agar-agar, barley flour, masa harina, nutritional yeast, kelp flakes, nori, tamari, liquid aminos…the list goes on!

5. (Pretty much goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway.) No animals were harmed in the making of this food.