My guess is that when giving up entire food groups for whatever reason, different people will miss different things. When Mr. Twistie got his diabetes diagnosis, everybody commiserated with him about how he would have to give up cake. Thing is, that wasn’t what he liked. The thing he misses is pie. He’s never tempted if I bake a cake, but he goes out of his way to behave himself culinarily in the weeks before Thanksgiving so he can have one slice of pumpkin pie as a treat.

I have a good friend who is moving toward vegetarianism for ethical reasons. She’s not that worried about missing bacon, though. Her greatest sorrow is that she won’t eat duck again.

You miss what you miss, and while I’m a huge bacon fan, I’m betting what I would miss most (if I went veggie) is lamb. Not everyone loves the same foods to begin with, and not everyone has the same associations with the same things.

All that to say I completely get why someone who has converted to vegetarianism might miss ground beef more than bacon.

Dana- I like red lentils for sauces and things because they cook down so quickly. I first got the idea when I saw Nigella Lawson add some to a lamb ragu for added bulk- it looked great, so I just did something similar, minus the lamb!