Once in the land of mass produced, high calorie foods, vegetarians were considered, well, just strange and marginal. But no longer.
Today veggies are seen as good and normal - part of an informed lifestyle choice. We should, of course, thank such culinary leaders as Alice Waters and Michelle Obama, who among others have helped to change the way we think about food.
As of last weekend, we can also thank Justin Timberlake and the creative team at Saturday Night Live who helped their millions of viewers to laugh and so take a trip to that once forbidden destination - Veganville.
Chefs will surely cheer (and so will the diners' doctors) - because now we can all "live longer and prosper".
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013