Vegetables- Protectors of the National Colon

German Radishes
It’s no wonder Americans are so screwed up. We have such little opportunity to eat vegetables. Now that I’m living uptown in the construction site of my dreams, I’ve been eating out all the time- again. I’ve been aware that I’ve been eating too much meat lately, but have seemed unable to do anything about it. And I realized, as I was in a restaurant with a friend, that the reason is that median-priced restaurants in America rarely serve reliably good vegetables.

When was the last time you had a salad at the diner? A vegetarian meal at a neighborhood place? I’ve had them; we all have, and you know what they have in common? They suck. Even the “side of seasonal vegetables” you get with your 12 ounce steak or pork chop is neither seasonal nor particularly vegetal in flavor. They’re usually over or undercooked vegetables chosen for their contrast of colors.

A good salad with a non-machine oil based dressing should not be this hard to find. Some baked squash or winter greens with bread are not so hard to cook or have standing in a restaurant that they should be home-only luxuries. Come on, people. Give up the iceberg lettuce, white tomatoes and soggy carrots. Give us an opportunity to be good our national colon!