Sure, but they're perhaps the most unsatisfying foods of them all. They also have almost zero nutritional value and calories. A vegetarian Indian friend of mine lamented, "Americans think that a vegetarian meal means lettuce."

Nutritional value's decent, in terms of vitamins & minerals and such. Calories being near-zero is a huge bonus, for those on an American diet—lots of people would pay extra to eliminate the calories from some of their food, keeping all else the same.

But yes, I agree, I don't really want a greens-heavy salad as my main dish for my biggest meal of the day.