Meat is nature's very own fast food, in more than one sense of the word.

Cooking a steak takes ten minutes, fifteen tops, from fridge to plate, and a chicken roasts in an hour. Both options taste just fine seasoned with nothing but salt, and even that is optional if one is hungry enough, especially if the item is grilled over charcoal. A decent bean dish, on the other hand, takes hours and lotsa ingredients. It is possible to eat beans that come with nothing else, but only a starveling would want to.

Lentils are a bit speedier, but you're still looking at an hour from pantry to plate, and the requirement for onions, garlic, herbs and spices, salt and pepper at very least to make them palatable.

Vegetarians are an industrious bunch.