What the Heck is a Pescetarian? Patrick Is Going to Tell You.

Hello, I am Patrick, Kristi’s youngest brother. When I read her blog, I knew I needed to contribute. I, unlike Kristi, grew up eating my fruits and veggies. Whatever my parents put on my plate, I always ate. I didn’t need to hide the peas or feed them to the dog because I enjoyed the taste of veggies. I especially enjoy fresh garden vegetables like green beans, tomatoes, corn, sweet peas and any type of pepper.

Recently my wife, Susan, and I became pescetarians. If this word in not familiar to you, it is basically a vegetarian who eats fish and seafood. My wife, who grew up in the Tidewater region of Virginia, could not give up delicious seafood and I loved fish so we felt that this was the way to go. We started this diet by giving up meat for Lent and found it easy to eat this way. We feel this diet has health benefits and has less impact on the planet.

Courtesy of FriedChillies

To help find meals for this diet, we found inspiration from cuisines around the world. Most cultures don’t center their meals on meats so there are many delicious dishes to choose. We love Italian foods like vegetable lasagna, manicotti Florentine (stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese) and homemade pizzas with sun-dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts. This past summer my wife took basil and lemon balm and made an awesome pesto to top pasta. We also love Mexican meals like black bean burritos, and chili rellenos (a personal favorite). I love to make pico de gallo, especially when I can get fresh garden tomatoes and peppers. We look to Asian inspiration for stir-fried vegetables with tempeh, an Indonesian soy product. Also, steamed edamame soybeans with kosher salt make a delectable snack. Indian foods, like vegetable korma and madras lentils come in easy to heat packs and can top brown rice for a hearty lunch. I could easily go on, but all this writing is making me hungry and it’s time for lunch.