"vegetarians" news and stories

Whether you have guests at your Thanksgiving table who are vegetarian or you've decided to take it a little easier this year, there are countless ways to let the vegetables shine.

From the small gesture of setting aside some of the stuffing and baking it separately in a gratin dish to making vegetarian appetizers (which won't fill everyone up before the big meal), YumSugar has rounded up ideas that will please carnivores and vegetarians alike.

Get more ideas: Make This Thanksgiving Vegetarian-Friendly

Meatpaper is the self-proclaimed "journal of meat culture," and judging from what's up at their site, they're correct.

The site is filled with several articles on the "arts and ideas about meat," including pieces about the dry-aging room at New York's Master Purveyors, pig slaughter in Italy, why Filipinos eat Spam, and getting over the guilt of eating meat. There are also links to various food blogs.

The site itself says that they "like metaphors more than marinating tips," which I take as an indication that they're going to be talking about the world of food and not recipes and kitchen advice. They're taking subscriptions now, so you might want to check it out.

Nancy Zaslavsky is a James Beard Award winning writer that loves Mexican food and shares her passion for and knowledge of authentic, regional techniques and flavors from across the country in Meatless Mexican Home Cooking. Every dish is vegetarian and many have been collected directly from home cooks, not just adapted from meat-based recipes.

Like any book that is intended to give an overview of a whole cuisine, this one starts with a thorough introduction to chilies before getting on to the recipes. And even once you get to the recipe section, it starts with the simple techniques for tortilla-making before jumping into slightly more complex, although not difficult, dishes. The recipes are arranged in chapters that include sauces, tamales, soups, main dishes, egg dishes, desserts and drinks. For the convenience of anyone unfamiliar with the cuisine (or with Spanish) each recipe comes with a translation of the name, so Rajas con Crema also lists "roasted chilies with onions and cream" for clarity. Other dishes include Salsa Chile Habanero ("neon-orange liquid fire salsa"), Tamales Dulces ("sweet tamales"), Huevos Mexicanos ("scrambled eggs with fabulous flavors") and Chocolate-Chile Mole Brownies.

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British researchers have just conducted a study that found that that the higher the IQ of a person is, the more likely they are to follow a relatively health diet overall. It also indicated, more specifically, that IQ is a reliable predictor of the likelihood of a teen/young adult becoming a vegetarian.

The study looked at over 8,000 men and women around the age of 30 whose IQs had been tested when they were 10 years old. In the group, 33.6% "said they were vegetarian but also ate fish or chicken," 4.5% were strict vegetarians and 2.5% of the strict subset were vegan. Men in the study who were vegetarian had an average IQ score of 106 and female vegetarians averaged a score of 104. Non-vegetarians averaged 101 for men and 99 for women. There was no IQ difference between strict and lax vegetarians and all had a lower risk of heart disease. Even after adjustments were made to account for the fact that more vegetarians were women and that they tended to be better educated than others, IQ was still a significant predictor.

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• The Globe has a guide to the best vegetarian restaurants in Boston.
• Some dinner ideas if you're having a graduation party, all involving penne pasta. Not really sure what makes these recipes "graduation" meals, but they gotta tie it into the month somehow.
• The wonderful world of homemade cheeses.
• We've all heard of King crabs and snow crabs, but what are Jonah crabs? Sounds like a really personal problem.
• Taste Kitchen: who makes the best 2% organic milk?
• This week's recipes: Legacy Apple Cake, Asparagus Soup, and a quick wine sauce for roast chicken.