The question: If a host fails to prepare a vegetarian main dish for vegetarians he/she knows are coming, can one take extra helpings of veggies even though a meat eater may go without?
The answer: While it's only reasonable to blame vegetarians for many of society's ills, including, but not limited to: soy burgers, wheatgrass smoothies, halitosis, bacne, Alanis Morissette, global warming and the Kennedy assassinations, you can't fault them for taking more than their share of the candied yams.
A host's job is to make all of her guests feel welcome, even openly vegetarian ones. In this case, that job includes making a meatless main dish (and if at all possible, with at least as much care as went into the meaty one). If a host can't be bothered to do that much, then by all means take as many of the side vegetables as you need. The carnivores at the table can slug it out for the scraps.
Follow food writer and restaurant columnist Chris Nuttall-Smith on Twitter: @cnutsmith. Have an entertaining dilemma? E-mail style@globeandmail.com.