Flexitarianism

When I quit smoking at 52 – yes, I know, way past the time when I should have – I knew that weight control would be a struggle for the rest of my life.  At the same time, though, I really came to love cooking in a way that I never had before:  Maybe it was because I now had the responsibility of feeding a child, or maybe it was because I always felt hungry, but on Thursday nights, I’d slough off the work week’s worries by cooking something modestly challenging or, at minimum, chopped, with the aid and inspiration of a new recipe.

I also became an avid cookbook and cooking magazine reader.  And, although I usually found the recipes too obscure and difficult, I became a devotee of the New York Times food section. 
So, for you foodies out there, check out a new food column in today’s NYT called, “The Flexitarian.”

The flexitarian is a “moderate, conscious eater” of food with a tilt toward veggies, grains, legumes, fruits, fish and, occasionally, meat.  Neither a vegetarian nor an omnivore, the flexitarian -- in the words of NYT food columnist Mark Bittman -- knows he needs “to eat better” but wants that food to be tasty. 

After making the case for his columns to come, Bittman starts us off slowly today with fairly simple recipes for pasta with clams, vanilla-fruit smoothies and chopped salad with “salted” veggies (although those with blood pressure problems may have to go in another direction).  Anyway, it all sounds pretty yummy to me with dishes that satisfy even the most discriminating palate (husband, sometimes picky kid).

I thought I’d bring this to your attention for a few reasons:  1) It's a sensible approach to eating, and who doesn’t need that? 2) Bittman’s recipes seem like they can work for cooks who don’t have gourmet kitchens, or juicers, or 3 different sizes of food processors and 3) because I like the word and what it connotes:  Someone willing to embrace change through better habits.  Someone willing to move past “dogma” in order to be “well-informed.” 

But I don’t think it needs to stop there.  Flexitarianism can be a whole new point of view that not only helps to improve my diet but informs other parts of my life:  Like taking up yoga, joining a book club, refusing to engage in extreme political arguments or buying Rosetta Stone to relearn the French of my high school and early college days, among many, many other things.

Cool.  Call me a flexitarian.