Do Vegetarians HAVE to like salad?

Rule 5-A-23 in subsection 3 in the "Official Rules of the Vegetarian Society of the Universe":

"Vegetarians MUST like salad, use caution however that all bugs have been rinsed from the lettuce"

Be glad you aren't Vegan, their rule say's "...since you can't inflict your will on any living thing, you must leave the bugs on the lettuce, and just eat around them."


Why not just eat what you like/want/have and be happy rather than trying to fit some sort of mold that has no standard?

Eating salad is not the only way to eat vegetarian, and it's not even the best way.Many salads, particularly ones with a lot of ice berg lettuce and not much else, carry very little nutritional value. I have been a vegetarian for 10 years. I will occasionally eat a spinach salad, but I am not a huge fan of salad either. I tend to eat other types of meals, like traditional vegetarian asian, mexican, and italian cuisine. Do a little research and come up with a few other vegetarian meals that you think you might like, and either cook them for yourself or for your whole family. The only way to find out what vegetarian meals you like, is to experiment with different recipes.

"Do Vegetarians HAVE to like salad?"
Cool Whip
No vegetarians do not have to like salads. Not with lettuce anyways. I've known a vegan who actually wasn't fond of salads where the base was some type of a lettuce. There are macaroni salad, potato salad fruit salad, straight up vegetable salad with no lettuce, n nut seed salad (a bit expensive though), three bean salad, pea salad, Waldorf salad (can be made without lettuce), to name some. Below are two I've either eaten, and/or made some variation of.

Vegetable salad any of the listed vegetables can be removed.

Snow peas (raw).
Chopped red, yellow orange and green bell peppers.
Course grated carrot.
Sliced cucumber.
Cherry tomato halves.
Fresh fine chopped broccoli.
Slivered red or sweet yellow onions, leeks, or chopped shallots.
Black olives.
Chopped green beans.
Sliced mushrooms.
Fresh baby spinach.
Sunflower seeds.
Chopped celery.

A fruit salad.

Diced mango.
Sliced Kiwi.
Mandarin orange sections.
Sliced strawberries.
Blueberries.
Diced honey Dew.
Diced cantaloupe.
Diced pineapple.
Diced peaches.
Diced pear.
Black cherries.

Now this can be served as is, or either have mayonnaise, Cool Whip, or with heavy sweetened whipped cream.

Edit point:

The Cool Whip, is vegan suitable by the way, as it's non dairy.

No, vegetarians don't have to like salad. Personally, I like salads, but there are enough other foods out there that salad isn't a requirement as a vegetarian. There's also lots of meat substitutes that you can find at just about any supermarket, like Morning Star, Gardein, and Tofurky (these are the three main ones that my family buys). Good luck!

What is your definition of a salad? Because there are so many different kinds that it is almost impossible not to like ANY salad. Salad can be based on lettuce and tomatoes with some oil and vinegar, or on potatoes, green beans and mayonaise, or on pasta, zucchini, pine nuts and pesto, or on fennel and orange, and that's just a tiny fraction of the options. All completely different taste and texture.

If you mean you don't like lettuce, of course you don't HAVE to like it. I've probably had LESS lettuce-based salads since becoming a vegetarian; for me that's more a typical side dish next to a steak or something, not a typical vegetarian main course.

My advice: take responsibility for cooking your own meals. Don't leave it up to your parents to come up with a balanced meal for their newly vegetarian kid every day. If you take charge of coming up with nutritious meals, your parents won't throw together a bunch of leaves just because they are out of ideas of what to feed you this time.

Not at all. There are so many other things that a vegan/vegetarian can eat that aren't salad!
It could also just be a matter of choosing a salad that you actually like :) For example a chickpea salad, or a healthy but yummy quinoa salad.
Other dishes to try: veggie carbonara pasta, lentil shepherd's pie, lentil sloppy joes, veggie pizza, vegan pita wraps or pita pockets, rice stuffed bell peppers, zucchini fries, red pepper "cheesesteaks", the list goes on!

But I like salad

I rarely eat salad, a Cesar once and while, I eat lettuce on my sandwiches, use it in soups to, you can eat a balanced diet with little salad in it, I eat a mainly lacto-ovo diet, but do still eat a bit of chicken, fish and some pork, not a complete vegetarian.

you don't have to like salad. Im a vegetarian and i dont. there are hundreds of other vegetarian breakfast, lunch and dinner options, just make sure you have a balanced diet so your body is getting the nutrients it needs to function properly. Here is a site that gives good balanced vegetarian meal ideas: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/balanced-diet-vegetarian.
If your parents try to force you to eat meat just because you don't like salad, tell them it makes you feel ill (even if it doesnt) or that you're trying to be healthier. Hope this helps!

There are many types of vegetarian food besides salad thus it is possible for a vegetarian to hate salads