A Veal Picatta by any other name would taste as good...

My friends often ask me, when they learn about my vegan choices, "don't you miss meat?". And every so often, I do.

I was obsessed with the flavour of ribs last week, and satisfied that craving with a nice healthy dipping of smoky BBQ sauce for some nice wedge potatoes, or a hearty, smoky baked bean dish.

When I can't get the thought of a steak out of my mind, I grill a portobello with steak spices, and then make a nice red wine reduction for the top.

When I crave a nice chicken sandwich, I ask Rock Bottom to substitute two onion rings in my usual cajun chicken sandwich, or in a spicy midwest crispy chicken wrap.

When I want burgers, there are the BEST veggie burgers called Amy's California Veggie Burgers - and you can actually identify and pronounce all the ingredients! I throw mine on the George Foreman grill and they're a great fast food.

Meatballs are also easy - President's Choice makes a great meatless version, called ironically "World's Best Meatless Meatball".

Chicken Wings are the yummiest. President's Choice also makes a "World's Best Meatless Chicken Nugget" which goes great with any type of wing sauce, which I have perfected, using a combination of melted Earth Balance, coconut oil, hot sauce and dijon mustard... and my mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Most of these cravings can't be separated from scent - from how great things smell as we're eating them... and that's where it is quite easy to fake out your palate and still love every morsel that you eat.

But the last impression I would ever want to leave a reader with is that the transition is effortless. Most of the time it's not. But I am conscious of the immense savings to my arteries, my budget, my figure, my immune system and my time - and that keeps me motivated to keep eating this way.

Except... we were at a Gala last week, and they put the most perfectly cooked beef tenderloin at the table. Bill and I had our vegan entree, a delicious stuffed pepper with zucchini, garlic, tomato, and rice that was just a poem of flavours. But I couldn't help myself - so I had a bite or two of tenderloin.

Yes, it was good (ie: perfectly cooked, and tasted the way it should have) but it wasn't great. I ate maybe a bite or two and didn't finish it. When met with judgmental stares from my beloved, I exclaimed "Honey, it doesn't mean anything! It was only a piece of meat!" which did NOT amuse him either...

His reasons for being so disciplined are different from mine, and he is almost never ever tempted. Having said that, he doesn't share the same core-rocking passion for food that I have, so I suppose that is to be expected.

As long as dinner is filling, voluminous and delicious, he just doesn't see what the big deal is about meat. He also hates it when I try to "veganize" traditional meat dishes like veal picatta or beef bourguignon and give them meaty names - he'd prefer just to call it vegetable stew or zuchini with pasta.

Like it's all about an eat an run! Like there's no romance at all in what it's called! Like a dish can't be made even more delectable by how it's described.

Maybe it's the name (of course, Bill's real name is William)... and it was another William who wrote "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet"...

So, here is my shakespearian tribute... "A Veal Picatta by any other name would taste as good".

Zucchini, cut into 1/3 inch strips, coated with olive oil and panko bread crumbs, were sauteed on both sides in a hot pan until the crumbs were golden.

Add some finely diced shallots to a pan with minced garlic, olive oil and the zest of one lemon. Sautee until shalots are translucent. Add 1/4 cup of white wine and 1/4 cup of vegetable stock, and 1 teaspoon of flour. Stir until thickened. Add the juice of the lemon, and 1 - 2 tablespoons of capers. Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!