With high-end restaurants across the country changing their menus to support the concept of Meatless Monday, labels like vegivore and flexitarian are being embraced by diners who are showing their new-found love of vegetables.

A flexitarian is someone who eats vegetarian (or meat-free) most of the time. Also called vegivores, these diners aren't turning away from meat in disgust or for political reasons. 

They just really like vegetables and the clean healthy feeling they get when they eat them. 

A recent New York Magazine article by Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite highlights this flexitarian movement. Raisfeld and Patronite suggest that amongst foodies and high-end restaurant dinners, vegetables have become the new meat. These epicures are seeking dishes featuring vegetables complimented by the flavors of meat. 

Chicago dietician and author, Dawn Jackson Blatner, first proposed the flexitarian concept and has recently released a book on the subject, the Flexitarian Diet (McGraw Hill, 2009). Blatner believes that following this eating style is the best way to achieve a healthy and well-balanced diet.

Many celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver, Lidia Bastinach, and Katie Lee are embracing this new way of eating. 

Chefs Mario Batali and Joe Bastinach have taken things a step further by offering a vegetable butcher at their gigantic, high quality food market, Eataly.

Food authors Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman are also advocating a flexitarian lifestyle.

But it is not only the stars of the culinary world who are becoming flexitarians, celebrities like Sir Paul McCartney, Ed Begley Jr., John Tesh, racecar driver Lelani Munter, and former Vice President Al Gore are joining the movement too.

Vegetarians and lovers of meat are coming together to demonstrate their vegetable appreciation.

Many who embraced a vegetarian diet to feel healthier and make a smaller impact on the environment are finding that they cannot enjoy a meat-free diet 100% of the time. 

At the same time, those who embraced trendy meat-based diets are rediscovering the flavors of previously-shunned vegetables and finding that they actually taste good! 

Rekindle your own love of vegetables with an easy and delicious recipes perfect for home preparation.

Even long time Brussels sprout haters are converting religions. Brown Butter Brussels Sprouts and Brussels Sprouts Roasted with Tomato Pesto are easy to prepare and just might help bring the love back.