JournalNow.com: Veggin' Out

New home

2007-12-21T18:49:00.000-05:00

If you happen to have this blog bookmarked, we have a new home: new Veggin' Out URL.

Veganomicon Review

2007-12-12T10:40:00.000-05:00

Isa Chandra Moskowitz burst onto my cookbook shelf in 2005 with Vegan With a Vengeance, a book filled with wildly tasty recipes and a refreshing Brooklyn attitude that quickly became a favorite both for idle browsing and serious cooking. In 2006 Moslowitz and co-author Terry Hope Romero followed up with Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Now, Moskowitz and Romero have have published the ambitious Veganomicon - which may just deserve its subtitle, The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook.

The Big M, a.k.a. my personal chef, and I have cooked and sampled our way through several of the recipes, and not a one has been a dud.

My favorite so far is the Vietnamese Seitan Baguette with Savory Broth Dip, which the authors describe as a "whimsical marriage of the traditional Vietnamese sandwich, banh mi, and the American classic 'French Dip' sandwich." The lively dipping broth - a riot of garlic, ginger, pepper and lime flavors - is a great complement to the savory yet fresh flavors of seitan, red onion, cucumber and cilantro in the sandwich.

A section of color photographs of several recipes offers inspiration, and as usual the author's comments make the book as much fun to read as to cook from. For example, I'm eager to try the broccoli polenta, because the authors promise, "Broccoli gives polenta a great texture. It just makes it, like, 'RAR!' That's the only way we can describe it."

You can get a taste of the book by sampling some of the recipes available at the Post Punk Kitchen here.

There's another reason I like the book - its title. Are any Bruce Campbell or H.P. Lovecraft fans reading this? I’ll explain why I ask in my next post....

The spirit of giving without the "stuff"

2007-12-07T12:49:00.000-05:00

If you're looking for a way to make your holidays a little more environmentally friendly and a little less commercial, why not try giving some gifts this year that won't create any clutter? Here are a few suggestions:

*Cooking lessons: Branches Holistic Health and Wellness Center offers lessons tailored for individuals and families, including vegetarian cooking. This would be great if you're just getting started as a vegetarian and not sure about what to cook -- or you're a longtime vegetarian stuck in a rut. They also offer classes in which a nutritionist helps you learn to shop more healthily or stock a healthy pantry.

*Give a gift of charity: There are quite a few places where you can "buy" an item in honor of someone for charity, such as a cow or goat for a needy third-world family. A few of these are Oxfam America (a gift of $30 represents planting 50 trees), MercyCorps ($20 for a "Children's Food Kit" to help poor children eat better) and Heifer International ($20 for a flock of chicks to provide eggs for a family).

It's always wise to check out a charity's reputation on a neutral site, such as CharityNavigator, which shows how much of the donations are actually used for the intended purpose, how much goes toward fundraising and salaries, the charity's overall rating, etc.

*The gift of your time: Give your friend or family member a coupon booklet with coupons they can redeem for things like a night of babysitting, your uncomplaining company at a movie or concert of their choice (even if you know you'll hate it!), a foot massage or fixing dinner for them. (It should be things you might not normally do!)

*Memberships: Buy them a membership in a group or organization they're intererested in, such as The N.C. Zoological Society (you can adopt an animal, too!), Friends of Old Salem, SciWorks or a professional association they can't afford to join. These usually come with such benefits as free admission, special offers or members-only times.

Do you have any other ideas for a clutter-free gift?

Unbeatable breakfast

2007-12-04T17:56:00.000-05:00

For some months now I've been thinking that a vegan fried egg was available in the UK; and I eagerly awaited the day it might be available in the U.S. But it turns out it was an April Fools joke that some folks took seriously. (The report I saw wasn't dated, and didn't include the tell-tale "spokesmen" quoted in the faux press release, Joe King and Fritz D’Embrio.)

But that's OK. Vegans have plenty of options for re-creating favorite eggy recipes anyway. Vegan quiche, anyone? Tofu scramble? How about a quick vegan omelet?

Jason's Deli

2007-11-30T12:27:00.000-05:00

I ended up having dinner at Jason's Deli last weekend. It's a restaurant that I really like for a quick meal, but that I seldom go to because of its location on the dreaded Hanes Mall Boulevard. (I hate traffic!) My visit reminded me, though, of just how vegetarian-friendly it is. There are quite a few vegetarian items to choose from, and they're clearly marked.

Some of the vegetarian choices are: vegetarian pasta, portobello wrapini, garden po'boy, spinach veggie wrap and macaroni & cheese. You can get steamed vegetables or fruit as a side. I love being able to choose healthy side options instead of, say, French fries or onion rings.

I usually get soup and a salad at Jason's Deli, and this visit was no exception. They always have three vegetarian soups -- tomato basil, vegetable and, wonder of wonders, French onion. It's practically unheard-of to be able to get a vegetarian French onion soup, and theirs is terrific -- deep and rich with lots of onion flavor, plus cheese melted on top. Carnivores wouldn't miss the usual beef broth for a second. What a treat!

It's easy to make a meal off the salad bar. They have a lot of fresh vegetables to choose from, as well as several prepared salads. They'd added a few new items to the salad bar since my last visit, including red pepper hummus (delicious on the garlic toasts) and a tasty, slawlike Asian vegetable salad. I was pleased to see that they were touting a couple of organic items there, too -- apples and a lettuce mix.

Plus, you get free mini gingerbread muffins and soft-serve ice cream for dessert! And the entire restaurant is nonsmoking! The only real drawbacks are that it's often crowded and can be noisy, especially with lots of children at the tables.

Worthwhile documentary

2007-11-27T18:17:00.000-05:00

As a friend said after we watched the new HBO documentary I Am an Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA, "A lot of people need to see it."

This is a fascinating and well-made film. Because PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - works to expose the horrors that animals face in slaughterhouses, laboratories, fur farms and so on, the film is in many places difficult to watch. It is remarkable that the filmmakers don't flinch from showing some of the graphic footage of animal cruelty that PETA has obtained through its investigations.

And it's appropriate that it premiered on Nov. 19, during the week of Thanksgiving, since part of the film focuses on a PETA investigation of a turkey slaughterhouse. The abuses described and videotaped inside the slaughterhouse should change meat eaters' minds about the traditional Thanksgiving meal.

I was tempted in spots to turn the movie off or turn away, but it is worth it not to. It is inspiring in showing how much one person can accomplish through passionate commitment. It will also inspire many people to have more compassion, and express it in how they live their lives.

While it ended up increasing my respect for Newkirk, the film doesn’t paint a simplistic portrait of her. It spends a fair amount of time with critics of PETA and Newkirk, both those opposed to animal rights, and animal-rights supporters who believe that PETA's tactics are so outrageous that they hurt the movement.

But Newkirk is eloquent in her contention that in an era when news coverage is often reduced to brief video clips and sound bites, it takes outrageous stunts to catch the public's attention.

The film also shows moments leavened with humor and tenderness, as when a turkey rescued during the course of the slaughterhouse investigation is taken to a shelter. During a stopover at PETA's headquarters, the turkey clearly enjoys the music that her rescuers play for her.

HBO has showings of I Am An Animal scheduled through December. And it is available through HBO on Demand through Dec. 23. For more information and schedules, go here. PETA has information about the film – including a brief video response by Newkirk to the documentary and a chance to win a DVD of it, here.

Giving thanks

2007-11-23T16:57:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know Thanksgiving was yesterday, but sometimes I'm a little slow. So, better later than never, here's a list of some vegetarian-related things I'm thankful for:

*My vegetarian friends -- it's so much easier to be vegetarian when friends share your eating habits!

*Open-minded carnivores.

*Vanilla rice milk.

*Nasoya's already-cubed tofu.

*Dark chocolate.

*Laughing Seed Cafe in Asheville.

*"This product not tested on animals."

*Summer rolls with tofu.

*The growing selection of vegetarian and organic products in grocery stores.

*Organic baby carrots.

*Vegetarian dishes on the lunch buffet at Nawab Indian Cuisine.

*Wonton wrappers.

*Mambo Sprouts coupon booklets.

*Moosewood cookbooks.

*Tofutti's Cuties ice-cream sandwiches.

*Veggin' Out readers who leave comments. ;-)

So, what are some of the vegetarian-related things you're thankful for?

Pomegranates

2007-11-21T15:45:00.000-05:00

In the autumn of each year, I buy a pomegranate. Pomegranates are beautiful, all crimson and crowned. And they taste great - sweet, tart, and refreshing - and are supposed to be very healthful. As an NPR report puts it, "Scientists say the leathery-skinned, orange-sized fruit with the sweet-tart juice may help with heart disease, cancer and problems associated with aging. It's loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, potassium, folic acid and iron. Pomegranates are the new superfood."

But eventually, each year, my pomegranate experience goes bad when I try to peel it and end up red-stained and saddened by how difficult it is to get at the fruit. But this year may be different. I came across pomegranate-peeling instructions from the CDC
that look crazy enough they just might work.

Turkeyless Turkey Day

2007-11-16T12:09:00.000-05:00

I was all set to write a blog entry about vegetarian Thanksgivings, and then I read this article in the New York Times, which said most of what I wanted to already! I'm not sure if I will get around to making the included recipes for Thanksgiving, but I'm definitely going to give them a try at some point. They sound utterly delicious.

I really like the idea of making a dish more festive by putting it in a baked pumpkin. I had gnocchi served in a baked pumpkin at Paul's Italian restaurant once, and it was very impressive -- I still remember it vividly.

As the author mentions, it can be frustrating when attending a family Thanksgiving dinner to discover meat products thrown in the vegetable side dishes -- turkey broth in the stuffing, ham in the green beans, marshmallows on the sweet-potato casserole. That's one of the reasons I usually do most of the cooking on Thanksgiving. And if I go to an extended-family holiday dinner, I always make sure to bring something that I can fill up on if nothing else is meat-free, such as macaroni-and-cheese. (I always know that my mom's sweet-potato casserole is vegetarian, because I have the recipe!)

This link from the (New Jersey) Daily Record also includes some yummy-sounding recipes, as well as a handy guide of things to keep in mind if you're a carnivore preparing Thanksgiving dinner for vegetarians.

Do you have problems with getting enough vegetarian food when attending family Thanksgiving dinners? If so, how do you deal with it?

Sweet Potato Pie

2007-11-14T14:51:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it's only a little more than a week away from Thanksgiving? I look forward to spending the day with my family. One thing to be thankful for is that since my mother and sister are also vegetarian, I don’t face the conflicts over the holiday menu that many vegetarians have to deal with.

My favorite part of the feast has always been the sweet potato pie. These days, my dad makes the pies, and he uses a recipe he got from his mother. His recipe is below - although I’ve taken the liberty of veganizing it. That's how traditions grow.

Readers, what are your favorite parts of a vegetarian Thanksgiving feast?

Dad’s sweet potato pie (vegan-style)

2 1/2 to 3 pounds of sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled and mashed. (Please don’t try this with canned sweet potatoes – blech! It is OK to use an equivalent amount of butternut squash to make a "pumpkin" pie)
1/2 stick (4 TBSP) margarine
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon or 3/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cups soymilk
Egg substitute equal to 2 eggs (for example, 1 TBSP soy flour mixed with 1 TBSP water per egg; for more information on vegan egg replacements, see the Post Punk Kitchen site)
1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional; use only if you like coconut in your pie)
Two 9-inch pie shells

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix all filling ingredients thoroughly, and put the mixture into the pie crusts.
Cook pie for 10 minutes at 400. Then turn the heat down to 375 and bake the pies for 45 to 50 minutes more, until done.

Cat's Corner

2007-11-09T16:39:00.001-05:00

One of the restaurants that is in our lunch "rotation" is Cat's Corner. It's just down the block from the Journal, so it's very convenient, although it can be a bit slow and crowded when the convention-center hordes descend. Cat's has always been pretty vegetarian-friendly (apart from an unfortunate penchant for putting bacon in otherwise-vegetarian quiches), so I was a little bit concerned that their new menu might take a step backward in that regard.

Happily, that isn't the case, although it's personally a bit of a mixed bag since they took off two of my favorite vegetarian sandwiches, the Portabella Wrap and the hot Veggie Pita (both messy but oh-so-good). They kept their other vegetarian dishes, such as the Veggie Burger and BBQ Tofu Sub, and added several more. Additions include a Spinach Cakes appetizer, several veggie sandwiches (including a vegan wrap), and a Moroccan Vegetable Salad, which includes tofu and I can personally attest is quite tasty. You can still make your own sandwich and salad -- but now, instead of three free salad fixings included, it's only two.

Another drawback of the new menu is that it now costs $2.00 to get fruit as a side with your sandwich instead of the previous 50 cents -- quite an increase there! What, do they marinate the fruit in gasoline?

They don't yet have the new menu up on their Web site but promise that it's coming soon.

Veggie Reubens

2007-11-05T17:14:00.000-05:00

A reader recently wrote to SAM, the Journal's Straight Answer Ma'am, to ask whether there is really such a thing as a Reuben sandwich without meat. Well, in a world with room for vegetarian haggis and caviar, a vegetarian or vegan Reuben is hardly a stretch. I don’t want to repeat SAM’s answer, which you can read here, but did think it might be a nice time to write about where around town you can get a veggie Reuben.

Mary's of Course, which offers a lot of choices for vegetarians, serves a tempeh Reuben "grilled with Swiss cheese, topped with sauerkraut & Russian dressing on grilled rye bread."

West End Cafe and its sister restaurant Cat's Corner - also extremely friendly places for vegetarians - both serve veggie Reubens that feature grilled mushrooms instead of meat.

Finnigan's Wake, which offers vegetarian versions of many of its menu items, serves a vegetarian Reuben. Finnigan’s uses faux meats to replace the meat in most of its vegetarian dishes, and that is the case with the Reuben as well. I haven't found a Web site for Finnigan's, but its phone number is 723-0322.

A fine variation on the Reuben theme is the Skippy's Hot Dogs Reuben dog – served on a pretzel bun, with sauerkraut and spicy mustard. Skippy's offers Morningstar Farms veggie dogs, so you can get a vegetarian version with no problem.

Unfortunately, I don’t know of any restaurants that serve a vegan Reuben. So for vegans, the best place for a Reuben may be in your own home. As I mentioned to SAM, my favorite recipe is Isa Chandra Moskowitz’ Tempeh Reubens from Vegan With a Vengeance. Unfortunately, it’s not posted on her Web site, but it's still worth surfing on over to see what is there.

Do you know any other good places for a veggie Reuben around here?

A burst of randomness

2007-11-02T15:18:00.000-04:00

A few random items today:

*I'm extremely pleased that Lowes Foods has begun offering a "reward" of 50 greenpoints a bag when you bring in your own bags for grocery shopping. You'll need to be a member of their rewards-card club in order to take advantage. I've found that cashiers can be hit-and-miss about whether they give you the bonus, so you may need to remind them. Or you can stop by the customer-service desk and they'll add the points onto your account. I think this is a FABULOUS incentive, although they haven't done a good job at all of advertising it. I discovered it from a blurb in Natural Triad magazine.

*I wanted to share a link to my favorite vegan blog. The author, lindyloo, is prolific, irreverant and vastly entertaining, and she posts great photos of her vegan creations. However, if you're easily offended, this is definitely not the blog for you -- I can't even mention the name of the blog, if that tells you anything.

*This is Thanksgiving month, so here's an article reviewing three vegetarian Thanksgiving roasts. I'm definitely fonder of the Tofuky than the author of the review -- at least the roast part, because I think the Tofurky stuffing is dreadful to the point of being inedible.

*Speaking of Thanksgiving, reservations for the Triangle Vegetarian Society's Thanksgiving feast are now being taken. I really want to go to this one year....

Saving water, a bite at the time ...

2007-10-31T11:01:00.000-04:00

The drought across North Carolina and much of the Southeast seems to have water conservation on everyone's mind. As a Journal story Sunday pointed out, the recent rains, although helpful, do not mean we should stop thinking about conservation. It really needs to become a way of life.

So it's great to realize that in addition to all its other benefits, going veg is also an effective way to conserve water.

How can this be? It comes down to the staggering amount of water needed to produce animal products – much more than is required to produce vegetarian food. As Peter H. Gleick wrote in a Scientific American article, "Making Every Drop Count,"

"Even our diets have an effect on our overall water needs. Growing a pound of corn can take between 100 and 250 gallons of water, depending on soil and climate conditions and irrigation methods. But growing the grain to produce a pound of beef can require between 2,000 and 8,500 gallons. We can conserve water not only by altering how we choose to grow our food but also by changing what we choose to eat."

And the U.N.'s recent report on Livestock’s Long Shadow includes a chapter on "Livestock's role in Water Depletion and Pollution."

This exhaustive account of all the ways animal agriculture contributes to the depletion and degradation of water supplies points out that, for example, it takes an average of 990 liters of water to produce a liter of milk.

A nifty place to see the effect of a vegetarian vs. a meaty diet is at www.waterfootprint.org If you use the "quick calculator," you can see the difference in the amount of water that it takes each year to sustain the average American vegetarian lifestyle, or the average meat-eater or heavy meat-eater.

For example, my vegetarian “Water Footprint” is 1,754 cubic meters of water a year. If I decided to chuck it all and become an average meat-eater, that footprint would grow to 2,230 cubic meters of water per year. So, according to these figures, I'm saving 476 cubic meters of water each year simply by eating a vegetarian diet. Or to put it another way, if meat eaters went veg, they could cut their water consumption by more than 20 percent, just like that.

These figures are for vegetarians – they would be even more impressive for vegans. So, friends, let's proudly wear our veggie burgers as a badge of honor! (But not literally. We'd waste water washing the ketchup out of our shirts....)

A Halloween chili

2007-10-26T11:27:00.000-04:00

Halloween, my favorite of all holidays, is next week. In its honor, I wanted to share a recipe I recently came across that's perfect for the season, since the main ingredients are orange and black. It's from One-Dish Vegetarian Meals by Robin Robertson. When I made it last weekend, I altered it for my spice-wuss tastes by leaving out the jalapeno and cayenne pepper, and reducing the chili powder to 1 T. I also added a tablespoon of cocoa. That's the beauty of chilis and stews -- they're so adaptable to personal taste.

Pumpkin and Black Bean Chili

2 pounds pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and seeded
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 jalapeno chile, minced
One 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
One 14.5 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 c. water
1 c. apple juice
4 T. chili powder
1 t. salt
1/8 t. cayenne pepper
3 c. cooked or canned black beans, rinsed and drained

Cut the pumpkin into 1/2-inch chunks and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and jalapeno. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the reserved pumpkin, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, water, apple juice, chili powder, salt and cayenne, and stir well. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer until the pumpkin is tender, about 30 minutes.

Add the beans, and more water if the chili is too think for your taste. Cover and continue to simmer about 15 minutes to blend flavors. Serve hot.

Time for a rant

2007-10-23T13:15:00.000-04:00

Usually I try to stay positive, since vegetarianism is a joyful part of my life. But once in a while I go on a tear about the way things ought to be.

This started yesterday, when a friend asked about a new "fine-dining" restaurant that had been described to her as vegetarian-friendly. I've not been to this particular restaurant, because its menu offers scant indication of veg-friendliness. Of 14 entrees, only one is the least bit vegetarian.

And that one entree - once stripped of all its many fine-dining adjectives – is manicotti. Thanks, but I think I'll head to my local Italian restaurant, where I can get manicotti if I want that. Or if not, I can choose from a dozen other vegetarian-friendly dishes ... vegetarian lasagna, pasta al pesto, pasta with broccoli and garlic, calzones, strombolis, raviolis, and so on.

This seems to be a common pattern among "fine-dining" restaurants in this area. They may make a curt nod to the vegetarians, but it's often merely a variation on the same thing you can get elsewhere. Often your down-to-earth, homey restaurants have more to offer the vegetarians.

But that got me thinking about what I would love to see at a fine dining restaurant. Here are the top three:

Number one: More choices for vegetarians – including vegan options - might as well dream big! Nothing makes me feel so warm and fuzzy as having a hard time deciding what to have.

Number Two: Clear indications on the menu of what is vegetarian. Nothing makes me less warm-and-fuzzy than to see a delicious-sounding risotto only to learn upon iquiry that it is made with chicken stock and oh, yes, there’s a bit of sausage in it too. Labeling vegetarian and vegan items on the menu has so many advantages - it shows that the kitchen understands and cares about the meaning of "vegetarian"; and it eliminates much of the uncomfortable quiz-the-waiter portion of the evening, enabling everyone to better enjoy the dining experience.

No. three: Menu flexibility – perhaps offer the option of combining (those clearly labeled vegetarian) side items into a meal. Sort of like getting a vegetable plate at a meat-n-three, only fancier.

Readers, do you know any "fine" restaurants in the area that are especially veggie friendly? Or are there other items that would be on your fine-dining wish list?

Boston

2007-10-19T11:38:00.000-04:00

I recently spent a few days in Boston. Although the weather wasn't great, the food certainly was. I don't think I ate anything on my trip that wasn't yummy, and it was a pleasure to have so many vegetarian options -- even if we didn't get around to visiting their new vegan restaurant.

My favorite area was the North End -- basically every other doorway led to an Italian restaurant. My first meal in Boston was at Galleria Umberto, a cheap pizza joint. Nothing fancy here, but the food was delicious -- and very, very cheap. A slice of cheese pizza -- the only kind -- was a mere $1.25. There were also spinach-and-cheese calzones and a dish I'd never seen before, panzarotti. These are deep-fried cigars of mashed potatoes filled with mozzarella cheese, a bit larger than a Twinkie, for only $1.25. With a bottle of water, my meal was less than $4. Who says big cities have to be expensive?

Another meal was at a Mongolian-grill restaurant called Fire + Ice. I'd been to Mongolian grills before -- you pick your items off a giant salad-bar, then take them to the giant grill for them to be cooked -- but this one far surpassed those. There was tofu and all kinds of vegetables -- from the typical mushrooms and carrots to the surprising chunks of butternut squash and sweet potato -- plus a vast array of sauces. The cooks would gladly take your vegetarian dishes to a separate grill to cook, which was advisable since items could easily migrate from one person's area of the main grill to another's. I was pleased to see that the cooks were scrupulous about changing tongs between vegetarian and meat dishes.

Breakfast one day was at a fabulous little place called Sorella's that offered just about any variety of pancake or waffle that you could think of. I was torn between the gingerbread and pumpkin-cranberry-walnut pancakes, but ultimately chose the latter as it seemed more "fall in New England." They also offered tofu or tempeh instead of bacon or ham with your breakfast plate, which was great to see.

I'm getting hungry again just thinking about the food. And I'm not even touching on the pasta or cannolis or chocolate waffles or spinach croissants.... I'm just disappointed I was there a week too early for the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival.

Talking Tofurkey

2007-10-16T17:32:00.000-04:00

It's a nice feeling to realize that your lifestyle has had a positive effect on people. Sometimes it's really big - such as a friend or relative who went veg at least in part because of your influence. And sometimes it's something small, like introducing someone to a favorite food and having them enjoy it as much as you do.

I keep trying to tell people how umeboshi plum paste will change their lives, but so far no one believes it. But Tofurkey, now, that has really taken off.

My friend Ira, once he was introduced to the wonders of these faux-turkey deli slices, started buying a dozen packages at the time. He keeps it in the freezer, and came up with the best way of all to prepare it - basically, pan-fried with a bit of oil.

Even many cats, those notoriously finicky carnivores, enjoy Tofurkey. Another convert, Amy, mentioned this weekend that prepares Tofurkey by sauteeing it in a bit of water and then melting cheese on top. Once it's done, her cats enjoy the tofurkey-flavored water that is left behind.

And when my cat MacArthur seemed curious about my breakfast one morning, I offered him a piece of fried Tofurkey a la Ira, expecting him to take a delicate sniff, perhaps a tentative taste, but not much else. Instead MacArthur sniffed, then used his claws to swipe the entire piece out of my hand and into his mouth. It's just lucky that I still have all my fingers.

Readers, do you have a favorite food that everyone seems to enjoy once they try it?

Elvira

2007-10-11T07:02:00.000-04:00

(Note: Though Journal reporter Tim Clodfelter is an unrepentent carnivore, he hangs out with a lot of vegetarians and has been known to cook up some tofu. When he was going to interview Cassandra Peterson, AKA Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, he offered to ask some questions for the Veggin' Out blog her about her status as a formerly outspoken celebrity vegetarian who hasn't talked much about vegetarianism in recent years. More of his interview with Peterson can be found in Thursday's relish and online at www.relishnow.com)

For someone who looks like a vampire queen, Cassandra Peterson doesn't care too much for blood.

She has long been involved in animal rights and helps raise funds for PETA and other organizations.

"I've always loved animals since I was born. I got a kitten for a 'being born' present that I had til I was, like , 10 years old," she said. "When I got old enough to figure out how many animals were suffering out there ... I couldn't sit around and do nothing."

For a long time, she was a vegetarian, and she hopes to be one again.

"I was a vegetarian for 13 years, really hardcore," she said. "I have kind of slipped off the vegetarian wagon, I'm sorry to say. I would still say I'm about 90 percent vegetarian, and my daughter is 100 percent vegetarian, so there's definitely no meat in this house, I tell you that. Once in awhile I have chicken or fish, but I'm working on weeding that out of my diet now."

Her slip away from vegetarianism came when she was expecting her daughter Sadie, who is now 12.

"It was pregnancy. Oh my God, I started having cravings for chicken and dumplings, it was so insane."

She has since tried to revert to vegetarianism, but keeps slipping in and out of the lifestyle, especially because of her fondness for seafood.

"It makes me feel awful, because I don't feel as good as I did when I was a vegetarian. I don't feel like I have as much energy, and it's not as easy to stay thin, either."

And with the ultra-tight Elvira dress, she said, she needs to watch her figure.

Scary Veggies

2007-10-09T18:14:00.000-04:00

It's well into October, so all good boys and ghouls have started to think about what they want to be for Halloween. If you're looking for vegetable-friendly ideas, the Web is a veritable salad bar of inspiration. Consider these:

Tofu the Vegan Zombie: "'Tofu' is a friendly zombie, created from a botched experiment in Professor Vost's laboratory. Monkey #5, one of Vost's lab animals, stuffed a block of tofu into the zombie boy's open skull after accidentally losing the brain. As a result, 'Tofu' eats only vegetables and grains and has no taste for human meat. However, if 'Tofu' ever loses his 'tofu-brain', he turns into a dangerous zombie creature, craving human flesh...."

Vegetarian anime vampires: "Have you ever heard of the Vampirians? One noble family of such vegetarian vampires have been banished from Monsterland for their inability to scare humans. To lift the exile set on the family, Papa, the head of the household, must scare 1000 humans. To this end, he attempts to use his magnificent skills in making new inventions, but always and inevitably fails...."

And, words may fail as you feast your eyes on this Salad, "A Tribute to H.R. Giger and Giuseppe Arcimboldo."

Vegetarian pets

2007-10-05T11:54:00.000-04:00

I was recently surfing around vegetarian Web sites and came across some information on people who feed their pets a vegetarian diet. It's a concept that I've honestly never really considered and isn't something I would probably ever do. It would seem wrong of me to not give my cats any "say" in the matter and force them to become vegetarian when they clearly enjoy the flavor of meat. (Of course, that's rather a hypocritical feeling, since I didn't consult them first before I had them fixed!) And from what I've read, cats actually really need to eat meat because their bodies require certain nutrients that they can only get through meat. Though I also came across testimonials from people saying they feed their cats a vegetarian diet and they're totally healthy.

It seems that dogs, however, are omnivores and can more reasonably be given a vegetarian diet, although special care should be taken to make sure they're getting the proper nutrients.

I'm curious -- do any of you feed your pets a vegetarian diet? Would you ever do so? What do you think about the concept?

Rice Salad

2007-10-02T17:05:00.000-04:00

I'm a big fan of breakfast (as well as lunch, supper and frequent snacks), so I thought that today I'd share the recipe for one of my favorite breakfast dishes. Actually, recipe is a high-falutin' word for it; this rice salad is so flexible and customizable that it's more an idea than a recipe. And, it's good for lunch or supper. A bit elaborate for snacks, though.

You need: cooked brown rice (warm, room-temp or cold, it's all good.); an avocado; dried fruit (raisins, dried cranberries ... you could use anything you like and have on hand); nuts and/or seeds (pumpkin seeds and walnuts are a nice combo); soy sauce and lemon or lime juice.

For one serving, mix about a cup of rice with some chopped avocado, fruit and nuts - as much or little as you like. Mix about a teaspoon of soy sauce and a teaspoon of juice for a dressing, and toss with your other ingredients. You can also add other things you fancy. Vegetarian "bacon" bits are a nice complement. Or, if you start with warm rice, mix in some fresh spinach, chopped fine. It will wilt just a bit and be quite nice.

If you find some favorite add-ins, let me know - I'd like to try them.

Basil mushroom "chicken"

2007-09-28T12:54:00.000-04:00

I ravaged my basil plants this past weekend to make a batch of pesto. But I had enough left to make one of my favorite dishes, Basil Mushroom "Chicken." This is a dish I've been making for quite a long time, even back when I still ate chicken years ago. I modified the recipe -- which I found on a package of basil -- once I stopped eating chicken. Besides being full of flavors I love, it's also quick and easy.

Basil Mushroom "Chicken"

1 t. olive oil
8 oz. package of sliced mushrooms
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, minced
Vegetarian "chicken" strips or nuggets*
1/4 c. white wine
1/3 c. chopped tomato
1/2 c. chopped fresh basil

Sautee mushrooms and garlic in olive oil until the mushrooms are tender and have given up their juice. Add the "chicken" and brown slightly. Add the white wine and cook until the liquid has been absorbed. Add the tomato and basil, and stir until just heated through. Serve.

*I usually use either Lightlife's Chick'n Strips or Veat Nuggets. I've never used tempeh in the dish, but I bet that would work well, too.

Squash season

2007-09-25T18:19:00.000-04:00

Autumn, the harvest season, is of course a bountiful time for vegetarians. Among the vegetables coming into season now are the "winter" squash. They are nutritious and versatile - plus they keep for a long time and serve as a lovely arrangement on the counter as they do it.

There's just one area of trouble in this squash paradise - they are so hard to peel and chop. One way around this is to buy pre-peeled and chopped squash. You can find it fresh in the refrigerator sections of some local grocery stores. Or you can get a sharp knife and go to work ... and work ... and work. If anyone has any good tips or tricks or hints to make cutting up a fresh winter squash any easier, please let me know!

Meanwhile, I mainly use recipes where cutting is kept to a bare minimum. A simple strategy is to cut a squash in half and scoop out the seeds and pulp in the center. (You can clean and roast the seeds for a snack.) Place half a squash, cut side down, on a microwave-safe plate and microwave for about 5 minutes on high - until the squash is soft and done. You can eat it sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, with a pat of margarine. Or scoop out and mash the cooked squash for use in recipes such as squash pie - it looks and tastes just like pumpkin pie.

A winter squash risotto with sage is a true taste of fall. I tried the one in Jack Bishop's Italian Vegetarian cookbook - it was good enough to make all the peeling, chopping, boiling and stirring worthwhile. (You can easily veganize the recipe by leaving out the Parmesan cheese that it calls for. It is just as creamy and tasty.) Other recipes abound online – some examples are here, and here ... and I think I'll try the one here that calls for mashed squash, and leave the chopping behind.

Alice Waters in Charlotte

2007-09-24T14:18:00.000-04:00

While flipping through a local entertainment magazine I picked up in Charlotte this weekend, I discovered that Alice Waters, the doyenne of the sustainable-food movement, will be speaking in Dana Auditorium at Queens College this Thursday, Sept. 27. She'll be talking about the Edible Schoolyard and the School Lunch Initiative, programs in which a student garden is planted at a school and the harvest is used to provide healthy lunches for the students. You can find out more about her appearance at Slow Food Charlotte's Web site.

You can read a recent New York Times article about her here.

Quick hits

2007-09-21T12:40:00.001-04:00

*Delicious Living magazine recently ran a list of the nine organic must-buys. The criteria for picking these products included pesticide level, impact on the environment and health benefits. I have to admit, a couple of items on the list surprised me. I had no idea that cotton was so chemical-heavy.

*I recently discovered the Web site Green Options. Its focus is on environmentalism, but there is a fair amount of vegetarian content to be found, including a collection of low-fat vegetarian recipes. I look forward to poking around further on the site.

*I went to a football game last weekend at my alma mater, UNC-Chapel Hill, and I was very pleased to see that the concession stands in Kenan Stadium offered a veggie burger. I didn’t try it, though, because I’d eaten beforehand, expecting there not to be anything substantial and vegetarian to eat.

Dilute! Dilute! OK!

2007-09-18T17:38:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy month - for the first time in years, I forgot to celebrate favorite author H.P. Lovecraft's birthday on Aug. 20 - and things haven’t slowed down yet. And fall is such a whirl of worthy events. Off the top of my head, I can think of nearly half a dozen vegetarian-friendly events coming up in the next month or so … Maybe if I don't have time to make it to these, you can -

Apple Festival, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, at Bethabara Park, Winston-Salem. It's not strictly a vegetarian event, but I always enjoy this annual celebration of one of the highlights of the fall harvest. You can enjoy music and crafts at the festival as well.

Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, in Charlottesville, Va. Their Web site says they draw 100 exhibitors and 6,000 visitors each year. One of these days, I'm going to make that road-trip and check this one out!

Very Vegetarian Society meeting, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2, at Miller Park Recreation Center. This meeting will feature Dinner and a Movie. The society will have its usual vegan potluck dinner, and view a screening of Power Shift, about alternative, sustainable energy.

Boston Vegetarian Food Festival, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, Boston, Mass. OK, this is a far-afield dream. But, wouldn't Boston in the fall be a nice place to be?

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23, The Light Factory, Charlotte. This film is described as capturing "four generations of soapmakers and the inspiring legacy of the counterculture’s favorite cleaning product." You can't (well, shouldn't) eat it, but you can do nearly everything else with this vegan-friendly cleaning product. And reading the blurbs on the bottle is great fun (and inspired the title of this post).

Readers, what events are you looking forward to this fall?

Organics and your tastebuds

2007-09-14T12:07:00.000-04:00

I have to confess that most of the time, I can't sense a taste difference between organic and conventional fruits and vegetables. The organic apple I ate yesterday didn't taste appreciably better or worse to me than the last conventional apple I ate. There are a couple of exceptions I've found, however.

Organic potatoes taste so much better to me than conventional potatoes that it's almost shocking. I can't tell a difference when I look at them. But every time I fix an organic baked potato, I always think, "Wow, this is the best baked potato ever!" Somehow, an organic potato has a different texture than a conventional one -- fluffier and airier -- and just tastes more ... potato-y.

I always buy organic baby carrots, as they're readily accessible and cost no more than regular baby carrots -- they're actually cheaper at Whole Foods than regular-price baby carrots at most grocery stores. However, I've found that, to me, organic carrots often have an oddly soapy taste. It's not off-putting enough for me to not buy them, and I don't always notice it, but it's happened often enough to be something of a trend.

Obviously, everybody's palates are different, but have you noticed a significant taste difference between any organic and conventional produce?

The Bunny Roll

2007-09-11T11:19:00.000-04:00

Each evening as I arrive home, my three cats perform a ritual greeting that is one of the highlights of my day.

Bunny, a Japanese bobtail, is especially effusive as she rolls on the floor first for a tummy rub, then for a back scratch, and then for a tummy rub again. For a long time, I've said that there should be a type of sushi created in her honor, the Bunny Roll.

Well, as they say, "If not me, then who? If not now, then when?"

Here, then, is the Bunny Roll. It shows how fun and easy it is to make sushi at home. This is a small recipe that makes just two rolls; it can easily be doubled to make more. First make the rice filling. You'll need:

1/2 cup sushi rice
3/4 cup water
1 TBSP rice vinegar
1 scant tsp sugar

Bring the rice and water to a boil in a small pot, then cover and turn the heat to low. Simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, until all the water is absorbed. Turn off the heat and let the rice stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Then, turn the rice into a glass bowl, sprinkle on the sugar and vinegar, and toss with a wooden spoon to mix. (Everything I've read says not to use metal bowls or utensils at this step - metal can leave an unpleasant taste in the rice. Ceramic, wooden or plastic bowls and utensils would probably work just as well, though.) Cover the bowl of seasoned rice and let cool to about room temperature.

While the rice is cooling, you can prepare the fillings. For the Bunny Roll, I used:

3 baby carrots, cut into thin matchsticks - because bunnies love carrots.
1 small avocado, peeled and cut into thin strip - because I love avocados. Toss avocado strips lightly in lemon juice to prevent browning.
Umeboshi plum paste - because everything tastes better with plum paste!

Once the rice is cool, assemble the rolls, using two sheets of nori (seaweed wrapper). This is difficult to describe, but not difficult to do.

To be authentic, you can use a special bamboo mat to roll the sushi. Or you can go very low-tech and use a paper towel. Put a sheet of nori on your rolling surface, shiny side down, with the edge of the nori aligned with the bottom edge of your mat or towel. Spread half of the rice over the sheet of nori. Leavie a strip about an about an inch wide at the top of the sheet uncovered, but cover the rest of the nori evenly with rice, all the way to the bottom and sides. It should be just a thin layer of rice.

Next, add your fillings in a thin, horizontal strip about halfway up the rice. For the bunny roll, spread about 1/4 tsp umeboshi paste across the roll. Next, layer on half the avocado, and then half the carrots.

Now, the hardest part - roll up your sushi by taking the bottom edge of the mat/towel and nori, and rolling it up and over the strip of fillings. Tuck the edge of the nori (but not the mat or towel) firmly down, and then roll up the rest until you come to the strip of nori without rice on it. Dip a finger in water and dab it along the edge of the nori, and finish rolling the roll. The wet seaweed will stick and keep your roll together. Roll the cylinder you just formed gently along the countertop to firm it up. Repeat with the other sheet of nori and remaining rice and fillings.

Use a serrated knife to cut your sushi rolls into bite-size pieces, and serve with soy sauce, wasabi paste and pickled ginger. This is best enjoyed with a cat sitting on your lap.

If you want to learn more about making sushi, the Post Punk Kitchen has lots of good information and recipes here. For an unusual twist on sushi, a video from Bryan Au shows how to make raw sushi - no rice, and wrapped in zuchinni strips.

Readers, what are your favorite vegetarian sushi fillings? (Or, even if you don't like sushi, who is your favorite cat?)

A Quick Hit

2007-09-06T12:55:00.000-04:00

Whew, it's been that kind of week -- rush, rush, rush, and still behind. That has me thinking about meal short-cuts, naturally. A person has to keep her strength up.

So today I wanted to mention one of my favorite convenience products, Vogue Vege Base. Any time a soup, risotto or other recipe requires stock or broth, Vege Base does the job. It’s a powder, patiently waiting in the cupboard. Just a teaspoon is needed to create a tasty broth.

The Vogue Web site mentions other products, including an onion base and vegetarian "chicken" base (and a couple of non-vegetarian products that we'll just ignore) , and has several intriguing recipes and use suggestions.

OK, I’m rushing off again.... Catch you next time. Meanwhile, what are your favorite short-cut ingredients?

Vegetarian gelatin

2007-08-29T18:21:00.000-04:00

I avoid foods with gelatin and always buy vitamins and minerals in vegetarian capsules when I can. But it still bothers me that so many things -- some, like medicine, which I can’t really avoid -- contain gelatin. A press release I read recently reports that scientists have made advances in deriving gelatin from corn instead of animal by-products.

Although on the surface this is exciting news, producing this vegetarian gelatin results from modifying corn genetically. I don’t like the idea of genetically modified foods, so this tempers my enthusiasm. Personally, I don’t think we know enough about the consequences of mucking about with plant genetics to be sure that it’s safe or won’t have unfortunate nutritional consequences. And I don’t want fish DNA in my strawberries.

Still, in this case it strikes me as a lesser evil; I would rather ingest a pill containing modified-corn gelatin than gelatin derived from cow bones and hooves. What about you?

For now, you can read about cooking with vegetarian alternatives to gelatin here.

Veggies in the morning, Part 2

2007-08-29T17:44:00.000-04:00

Did anyone catch the segment on teen vegetarians today on Good Morning America? If not you can read about it here. I didn’t see it, but from the transcript, it seems disappointing - focusing heavily on tired old issue - or non-issue - of getting enough protein.

Once more, with feeling:

As the Vegetarian Resource Group article on “Vegetarian Nutrition for TeenAgers” states: "North American vegetarian teens eating varied diets rarely have any difficulty getting enough protein as long as their diet contains enough energy (calories) to support growth."

Readers, do you still get the "Where do you get your protein?" question? If so, how do you deal with it?

Veggies in the morning

2007-08-28T16:02:00.000-04:00

The Vegetarian Resource Group - a great resource for reliable information on vegetarianism and veganism - just sent an e-mail announcement about a vegetarian segment tentatively scheduled for Wednesday morning television:

Katie, a 15-year-old Vegetarian Resource Group summer intern, and her mother are tentatively scheduled to appear on Good Morning America on Wednesday, August 29, 2007.

Good Morning America called the VRG office in search of a girl under the age of 16 who is or wants to become a vegetarian. They were planning a taped segment for the show during which they would interview the girl and her parents. Katie and her mother recorded the interview today.

Good Morning America is on ABC from 7 to 9 a.m.

No more Vegetarian Times?

2007-08-24T12:15:00.000-04:00

*I was shocked to read today that Vegetarian Times may no longer exist. Sort of. Apparently they are trying out a two-issue name change to Greens: "Eat Fresh. Choose Organic. Be Healthy."

This is a newsstand-only change for now, as I've already received my September issue and it had the usual Vegetarian Times masthead on the cover. I couldn't find anything about the name-change test on the Vegetarian Times Web site.

I am not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, it seems as if they are turning away from their focus and raison d'etre, as if they no longer want to be associated with vegetarianism or want to hide the concept. An executive says the magazine's concepts won't change and they won't start running articles or ads for non-vegetarian foods. Still, I'm wary. And, frankly, I don't like the new name they chose. For me, Greens brings to mind collards and spinach and a mother imploring her child to "Eat your greens!" rather than environmentally friendly living. I think Green, singular, would be a better choice, if they are determined to change. (And it's not set in stone yet.)

On the other hand, I applaud the concept of living "green" on a wider scale besides just being a vegetarian, and maybe a name change could help bring in readers who don't identify themselves as vegetarians, expanding the magazine's reach and exposing more people to the concept.

On second thought, maybe I am sure how I feel about this. I don't like it. What about you? Do you read the magazine? And what do you think about the possibility of a name change?

If you'd like to contact Vegetarian Times directly with your feelings on the matter, go here.

*In other news, I recently came across an article about a restaurateur who's planning to create a chain of all-vegetarian fast-food restaurants. This excites me, although the chances of one opening in Winston-Salem are probably slim to none.

Take me out to the ball game

2007-08-21T10:24:00.000-04:00

Just now a friend pointed out a story I missed from in this morning's paper, about PETA naming Philadelphia's ballpark as the top vegetarian-friendly baseball stadium in America. The vegetarian cheese-steak does sound tasty. You can read the full article here.

PETA's list of the Top 10 veggie-friendly major-league parks, as well as the ones with honorable mention is available here.

PETA also compiled a list of the Top 10 vegetarian-friendly minor-league parks. North Carolina can be proud: The Durham Bulls Athletic Park was No. 1, serving veggie burgers and dogs, veggie burritos, salad and fruit cups. The full minor-league list is here.

Sports fans, have you found any good vegetarian options at local sports venues?

Veggin' Out in Boone

2007-08-17T09:20:00.000-04:00

When a friend and I made a day trip to Boone recently, of course dining out was on the agenda. We had three possibilities in mind.

First on the list was Angelica's, a vegetarian institution in Boone. We've been there before, and enjoy its good food and definite "hippy" vibe.

Another was The Coyote Kitchen, which isn’t purely vegetarian but has a lot of vegetarian choices.

The third, for supper since it opens at 4 p.m., was the Moon Shine Cafe. The Moon Shine caught my eye because in researching Boone restaurants, I came across an article that said it had been started by the same person who formerly owned Angelica's and The Coyote Kitchen. Again, it's not a vegetarian restaurant, but the menu shows many intriguing options for vegetarians.

We ended up at The Coyote Kitchen, and enjoyed it very much. It's a small restaurant, with eye-catching art on the walls, and a colorful mural in the back. Our main dishes were delicious. Tempeh tacos were very well-seasoned; and the Moab boat, a dish of sweet potatoes, butterbeans, grilled tofu, plantains and corn, baked with cheese on top, was a harmonious combination. The cranberry chipotle and mango habanero salsas we tried were tasty, but sweet and fruity, with only a little heat. The menu also says that any dish can be made vegetarian by substituting tofu, at no extra charge.

The one misstep at the restaurant was the "guacamole." This puzzling drab-green paste only faintly resembled the rich, creamy, avocado-based dish I expected. Upon inquiry, our waiter explained that it was "garden guacamole," made from … peas. The peas are more local, good avocados are hard to get in Boone, it doesn't contain the sour cream that most places put in to stretch their guacamole, and besides, most people like it anyway, were the defenses for this. Fair enough, but it would be better to explain all this to diners before they order the stuff.

That aside, I would heartily recommend Coyote Kitchen to vegetarians in the Boone area. I would also recommend a stop by the Daniel Boone Native Gardens. This little gem is an oasis of beauty and serenity. We hope to be back in the area soon to see what is blooming there, and to visit the other restaurants on our list. Readers, are there any other restaurants in the area that we should try?

See you in the funny papers

2007-08-14T14:41:00.000-04:00

Many vegetarians know that unpleasant animal products can lurk in seemingly innocent foods. Today's episode of my favorite comic strip, "Get Fuzzy," explores that idea. Rob, the strip's main human character and a longtime vegetarian, learns that there is rennet - or as another character describes it, "baby cow stomach" - in his cheddar cheese. You can read the strip in the Journal, or online here for the next 30 days.

Luckily, the episode is funny as well as educational. A friend and I analyze the strip each day, and he enjoyed it even though he isn't vegetarian. (We also talked a bit about vegetarianism and veganism as a result of the strip.) Keep watching, because I have a feeling that this may be the start of a vegetarian storyline for the week.

Meanwhile, if you would like to learn more about rennet, as well as non-dairy cheese alternatives, the Vegetarian Resource Group has a good article here.

The Flexitarian Table

2007-08-10T14:40:00.000-04:00

A co-worker alerted me to the cookbook The Flexitarian Table: Inspired, Flexible Meals for Vegetarians, Meat Lovers, and Everyone in Between, which was published in June. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but it sounds as if it would be extremely handy for "sometimes" vegetarians or for cooks in households made up of vegetarians and carnivores. It contains a series of "convertible" recipes that can be made either with or without meat. For instance, the same marinade recipe can be used for both chicken and tofu, so everyone at the table can eat basically the same dish.

You can read a review of the cookbook from The Boston Globe here. There are also some tips from the author for being flexible with protein at the Philadelphia Daily News.

Do you have any tips for satisfying both carnivores and vegetarians at the same meal?

Your opinion counts

2007-08-08T15:32:00.000-04:00

VegNews magazine is holding its annual Veggie Awards survey. You can go online now to cast votes for your favorite vegetarian restaurant, cookbook author, veg-friendly city, and more. By voting, you're entered into a drawing - A California Dream Veggie Getaway for two is the top prize. Other goodies include a Chocolate Lovers Gift Box and spa baskets.

Entries must be received by midnight Sept. 1. Award winners will be announced in the November/December issue of VegNews.

Good luck! And if you win that California trip and wonder who to take as a guest, remember who told you about the survey in the first place....

Keeping up appearances

2007-08-07T15:51:00.000-04:00

For weeks, I've been bragging on all the fresh vegetables coming in - with posts that might as well have been titled "eggcelent eggplants," "bully for basil" and so on. But last night I realized that my most pressing food issue has ceased to be, "What is the best and most succulent way to prepare this?" and has instead become, "How do I keep all this from going bad?"

So the beets that had been sitting patiently in the crisper (patience is one of beets' virtues) have become beet soup, to be stored in the freezer until further notice. The last lonely ear of corn was microwaved and devoured with plum paste. The okra ... Well, the okra has been rearranged and fretted over, and eventually I may figure out what to do with it.

There appear to be three main strategies for dealing with this overflow:

One is storing vegetables cleverly, so that they remain fresher longer in the fridge. The second is preserving them somehow for longer-term storage. The Internet contains a wealth of information on both. (The third is leaving a basket of veggies on your neighbor's porch, ringing the doorbell, and running. I didn't research this option any further, since I'm not running anywhere in this heat.)

But, back to the first option: The University of Nebraska has an exhaustive guide to harvesting and storing fresh veggies here. And, proving that food storage is an international issue, the Toronto Vegetarian Association has a page of "Tips on Buying and Storing Whole Foods" here.

North Carolina Cooperative Extension has links to a broad range of publications on "Food Preservation and Safety for Consumers, on this page. (The same page has links for commercial food safety, too - just click the link or scroll down the page to find the consumer info.)

And the National Center for Home Food Preservation has information and links on all aspects of this issue. Just ignore the stuff about smoking fish (the whole "cured & smoke" section is full of unpleasantries), and concentrate on such vital issues as chocolate-sauce safety.

Readers, do you have any failsafe tips on keeping food edible? Or – please, oh, please -- any suggestions on how to use okra?

Basil

2007-08-03T15:08:00.001-04:00

Basil is one of my favorite herbs, with its fresh, bright flavor that works in so many dishes. Luckily it's an herb that's pretty easy to grow in the garden. (Unlike one of my other favorites, cilantro, which will have absolutely no part of our hot Carolina summers.) Though my plants aren't doing quite as well this summer as in the past, I have more than enough to add to my fresh tomato and mozzarella salads. If you have an abundance of basil, making pesto is always a great option, since it's delicious and freezes well. But if you're looking for a different way to use up some fresh basil, here's my favorite homemade salad-dressing recipe, from What's Cooking America by Linda Stradley and Andra Cook:

Lemon-Basil Vinaigrette Dressing
1 medium lemon
2 cloves garlic
1/2 c. rice vinegar
2 c. loosely packed fresh basil leaves
3 T. honey
1/4 t. salt
1 c. extra-virgin olive oil

Remove the zest from the lemon. Squeeze lemon, reserving juice. In a blender or food processor, whirl lemon zest and garlic until minced. Add rice vinegar, basil, honey and salt; whirl until basil is coarsely chopped.

With motor on, slowly drizzle lemon juice and olive oil into basil mixture. Whirl until vinaigrette has thickened slightly and basil is finely chopped.

Yield: 1 cup.

Note: This dressing is fairly tart, so you can add more honey if you want it slightly sweeter.

Planning ahead

2007-08-01T10:30:00.000-04:00

Vegetarians interested in animal rights might enjoy "Becoming the Change," the 22nd annual Compassionate Living Festival, which will be held Oct. 5-7 in Durham.

This year's festival will feature such speakers as Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society; panel discussions on such topics as companion animals and civil liberties; a "Vegan Chic" showcase hosted by Josh Hooten of Herbivore Clothing and author Rory Freedman; exhibits and a bookshop; and five vegan meals.

Registration is due by Sept. 21. It costs $139 a person through Aug. 31, and $169 after that. The festival is produced by the Culture and Animals Foundation, and the Animals and Society Institute, with support from several other groups.

Years ago, I attended some of the Compassionate Living Festivals when it was possible to register for a single day or for individual lectures. That does not appear to be an option this year, unfortunately.

Even if you can't make it to the festival, the Culture and Animals Foundation may be of interest. It was founded in 1985 by Tom Regan - a professor emeritus of philosophy at N.C. State University and author of the influential book The Case for Animal Rights - and his wife, Nancy.

The foundation says that it "exists to expand our understanding and appreciation of animals - improving the ways in which they are treated and their standing in human society."

"Through cultural studies, history, and philosophy, we explore our relationship with animals.

"Through arts and letters - poetry, dance, fiction, painting, theater, sculpture, music - we celebrate our unity.

"In seeing and understanding kindred animals, we see and understand a part of ourselves."

Quick corn

2007-07-31T10:15:00.001-04:00

My parents recently taught me a great way to prepare corn on the cob in the microwave. It's quick, the corn comes out perfectly tasty, and the kitchen isn't heated up by a boiling pot of water. Here's how:

Dampen a paper towel with water and wring it out. Then unfold it and wrap the damp towel around your shucked ear of corn. Put it into the microwave for 2 minutes on high. Then, unwrap it and enjoy!

As I’ve said before, corn on the cob is at its best when spread with a small amount of umeboshi plum paste. Now, that's a taste of summer.

Salad days

2007-07-28T19:26:00.000-04:00

The meal that I eat most in summer is a big salad. With the hot weather and all the fresh vegetables around, salads are a natural. Unfortunately, I do tend to get in a salad rut, where my salads are usually made up of the same, rather boring ingredients: lettuce mix, fresh herbs, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese and croutons. How I tend to mix it up is by using different dressings. I've mentioned before that I have a "cookbook problem." Well, I also have a "salad-dressing problem." Right now, I have eight bottles of dressing opened in my fridge and no fewer than 15 (!!) unopened in my cupboard.

I've been trying to diversify and be more creative with what I throw into the salad bowl. At various times, I've added almonds, pecans, soy nuts, dried cranberries, broccoli or cauliflower. One of my favorite new salad ideas I've come up with is to add pieces of Yves' Lemon-Herb "chicken" skewers and slices of avocado. That's proven to be very yummy and filling.

Still, I'd like some more fresh ideas. What are some things that you like to add to your salads to make them more interesting?

Hot Dog!

2007-07-24T16:53:00.000-04:00

As a vegetarian, for years I could only drool as I heard and read about the by-all-accounts-wondrous pretzel buns at Skippy's Hot Dogs. The Journal's Dinner Belle wrote a glowing review this spring, and still I yearned.

But that's all over ... because now Skippy's has veggie dogs! They’re not on the menu board yet, but they are there. The Chicago dog I had for lunch today -- with mustard, relish, dill pickle, tomato, banana peppers and celery salt (hold the onion) -- was tasty and satisfying. And the pretzel bun was just as delicious as I had imagined.

Skippy's was crazy-busy long after 1 o'clock, when the lunch rush has usually abated at downtown restaurants. But owner Mike Rothman, who also mans the grill, took a moment to talk about the veggie dogs.

Skippy's uses Morningstar Farms veggie dogs, which are vegetarian but not vegan, since they contain egg whites and dry milk. Rothman also realizes that vegetarians may growl if the veggie dogs are cooked on the same spot where the meat is cooked. So he is working on finding the best spot to grill them, either on the side of the grill where the pretzel buns are toasted, or in the area where the vegetables are heated.

I really appreciate that Skippy's has made the effort to include a vegetarian option, and I'll be back soon to try that Reuben dog.

Skippy's is at 624 W. Fourth St. in Winston-Salem. Their menu and other information is available online at www.skippyshotdogs.com

Food when you're sick

2007-07-20T23:56:00.000-04:00

Generally, soups are not something I am in the mood for during the hot summer months. But when I'm sick, I crave soup. And I've managed to pick up the respiratory cold that's been going around my corner of the office. Unfortunately, I've yet to find a vegetarian soup that delivers the comfort of chicken-noodle soup when I'm sick. A lot of vegetarian soups tend to be heavy on the spice, acidity or cream, none of which I'm in the mood for even when I'm feeling healthy, let alone sick. One soup my mom used to make when I was feeling under the weather is still good for me these days: potato soup, basically a really thin version of mashed potatoes. If only I could make it as good as she used to, without a recipe!

Since chicken-noodle soup is not on my menu these days as a vegetarian, I decided to try my hand at a quick vegetarian version the other evening. I sauteed some onion and garlic, then added vegetable broth, carrots, egg noodles, fake-chicken strips cut into pieces and a few spices. I let it simmer until the noodles were soft, and I had my comforting "sick" food. It wasn't quite as medicinal as the original, but it was pretty darn close.

Have you come up with a vegetarian version of something that helps you feel better when you're sick?

Summer's bounty

2007-07-17T14:45:00.000-04:00

For vegetarians - for everyone, really - one of the best parts of summer in the South is the amazing abundance of vegetables. And even better is the warm generosity of family and friends eager to share the fruits of their labor in the garden.

My dad, for example, has a small plot that is producing an amazing amount of yellow squash, eggplant, green beans, and cucumbers, along with what must be the sweetest corn ever. He has been giving me all I can eat for weeks now - I must be getting healthier just having them all in my fridge!

It's an enjoyable challenge to find delicious and healthy ways to savor all these veggies. Below is an eggplant recipe that turned out really well. It’s from the Fatfree Vegan Kitchen blog. (More about the recipe, comments and photos are available here.)

Do you have any other good suggestions for using eggplant? Or are there any veggies you're looking for ideas on how to use? Maybe we can share recipes and ideas....

Nasu Dengaku (Japanese Eggplants Broiled with Miso)
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons saki (may substitute dry vermouth or white wine)
4 tablespoons mellow white miso (reduced sodium, if available)
3 tablespoons agave nectar
4 Japanese eggplants, stem end trimmed and cut in half lengthwise
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
toasted sesame seeds, for garnish
sliced green onions, for garnish

Place the mirin and saki in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer for about 2 minutes to allow some of the alcohol to cook off. Then add the miso and stir until smooth. Stir in the agave nectar, reduce the heat to very low, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, while you broil the eggplants:

Brush the cut sides of the eggplants with the sesame oil, if desired. Put the eggplants cut-side down on a baking sheet and place under the broiler of your oven for about 3 minutes, checking often to make sure that they do not burn. Turn them over, and cook for another 3 minutes or until the tops are a light to medium brown. Do not burn!

When the eggplants are tender, top each one with the miso sauce and put them back under the broiler until the sauce bubbles up--this should take less than a minute, so watch them closely. Serve hot, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and green onions.Serves 4 as an appetizer.

Per serving: 152 Calories (kcal); 2g Total Fat; (11% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 31g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 740mg Sodium; 5g Fiber.

Oddfellas Cantina, an unexpected treat

2007-07-13T12:06:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday, a friend and I went to the Wine Down the Musical Trail wine festival along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. Despite some subpar directions that had us backtracking to find the correct turn more than once, it was a great day. After the festival, we went to nearby Floyd, Va., for dinner. I had found a place online, Oddfellas Cantina, that boasted tamarind tofu on its menu. Alas, when we got there, the actual menu was very different from what was posted on their Web site. I hate that!

However, they did have a dish of tofu in an Oriental brown sauce, so I "settled" for that. It turned out to be absolutely divine, with an unusual, wonderful sauce whose flavors I couldn't quite pin down. Probably some soy sauce, possibly some plum sauce, something slightly spicy, maybe even some tamarind. It was sweet and savory at the same time, and I wished I could have the recipe to take home. I only just managed to avoid licking the plate. It was served with rice and the vegetable of the day, steamed broccoli with a hint of a tangy, vinegary marinade.

What made it extra-special was that it was so unexpected to find a restaurant serving tofu in a town with 432 people and directions that referred to "the" stoplight in town. The restaurant is small and packed with tables (you might feel as if you're dining with the people at the table next to yours), and seemed to be a popular spot in town. We were told that we had an hour and 15 minutes at our table -- I'd never been given a time limit at a restaurant before, so that was a bit odd, although we finished well within the time limit. There was a live band playing, including a harpist, which made for a pleasant dining accompaniment. We wanted to get some of the yummy-sounding desserts, but we were just too full.

Have you ever found a gem of a restaurant or a vegetarian dish where you least expected it?

Live Earth

2007-07-06T11:17:00.000-04:00

This Saturday -- 7/7/07 -- is Live Earth: The Concerts for a Climate in Crisis, a 24-hour, multi-city concert event to promote awareness of and action to help fight global warming. There will be more than 100 musical acts across eight cities, including Madonna, Bon Jovi, The Police, Sheryl Crow, Kelly Clarkson, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West, Melissa Etheridge, John Mayer, Faith Hill, Shakira and the Black Eyed Peas.

Many vegetarians embrace a philosophy of concern for the environment, but this is a notable event whether you're a vegan or carnivore, because the state of the world's environment affects us all.

There aren't any concerts near here, but you will be able to watch the Live Earth concerts streamed live online at MSN.com. They will also be aired across the channels of NBC Universal. Here's the TV schedule:

NBC: 8 p.m.-11 p.m.
BRAVO: 9 a.m.-2 a.m.
Universal HD: 4 a.m.-2 a.m.
Sundance: 4 a.m.-2 a.m.
MSNBC: 8 a.m.-4 p.m. (continuing coverage)
CNBC: 8 a.m.-2 a.m.
Telemundo: 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
MUN2: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Restaurant ratings

2007-07-03T15:13:00.000-04:00

The recalls of Veggie Booty and Super Veggie Tings are, sadly, only the latest items in a spate bad news about of food- and product-safety. So it might be a good time to mention a useful Web site for anyone - vegetarian or not - who dines out in Forsyth County: the health department’s site for restaurant inspection reports.

This site is almost addictive. You can see what inspections were done the prior week, or search by name to find out how your favorite restaurant did on its most recent few inspections. If you come across a strikingly horrifying number, you can click on the report to see exactly what is behind it.

It used to be that restaurants in this area received a letter grade. I really learned to look for those one day when I noticed a restaurant had a C grade - only after I had finished my meal there. Now, I always look for the number before ordering.

Anything under a 90 makes me hesitate, and if a restaurant fell under 85, I would try to talk my dining companions into choosing another place. (Of course, my fastidious friends would probably already be running for the door.)

How much attention do you pay to restaurant sanitation ratings, and how low will you go before walking away?

Recall update

2007-07-02T18:20:00.000-04:00

The recall of Veggie Booty has widened. Here's an AP story with an update:

WASHINGTON (AP) _ A company recalled on Monday a second popular snack food over fears it could be contaminated with salmonella.

Robert's American Gourmet Inc. said it was recalling all lots and sizes of Super Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks Snack Food sold across the United States and Canada.

Company president and chief executive Robert Ehrlich said the recall was precautionary, since the product used the same seasoning as the Veggie Booty Snack Food recalled last week. Ehrlich said his Sea Cliff, N.Y., company is still doing testing to determine the source of any contamination. The seasoning is exclusive to the company, he added. The actual product is made under contract by an unnamed manufacturer, the company said in a release.

The original recall was prompted by 54 cases of salmonella poisoning in 17 states. Many of those infected reported eating Veggie Booty.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, especially in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Symptoms include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

Super Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks are packed in a flexible, plastic foil bag in a 6-ounce size, and bears universal product code 15665-10356.

The company said consumers who purchased Super Veggie Tings Crunchy Corn Sticks and still have the product in their homes should discard the contents and contact the company at 1-800-626-7557 for reimbursement.

Veggie Booty recall alert

2007-06-29T21:34:00.000-04:00

I stopped at the grocery store tonight, and on the organic-snack aisle was a sign announcing the recall of Robert's Veggie Booty. This is a brand I sometimes have on hand -- right now, I have a bag of their Pirate Booty -- so I immediately surfed around the Net when I got home to get details.

The FDA and Robert's American Gourmet have issued a recall of all sizes of Veggie Booty after the CDC reported 55 cases of Salmonella illnesses -- mostly in children -- linked to Veggie Booty, across 17 states. No cases have been reported in North Carolina so far. None of the other Booty products are affected by the recall -- but I don't think I'll be cracking open that bag of Pirate's Booty anytime soon.

You can read a comprehensive article at FoodConsumer.org. You can also find information at Robert's official site

Stuffed zucchini

2007-06-29T12:20:00.000-04:00

I've harvested the first few tomatoes from my garden -- four smallish, lovely, red fruits from the Early Girl plant I planted in April. It's always wonderful to pick my own vegetables, but this is especially true with tomatoes. No store-bought tomato can approach the taste and freshness of one plucked from your backyard. Fresh tomatoes scream "SUMMER!" Besides the Southern staple of a tomato sandwich -- white bread, mayonnaise and a sprinkle of pepper -- my favorite way to enjoy my harvest is with a caprese salad. Mix some tomatoes with fresh mozzarella cheese (none of that sliced or grated stuff) and fresh basil (preferably from my herb garden), top with red-wine vinegar and olive oil, then sprinkle with pepper. Delicious!

The rest of the vegetable garden is lagging quite a ways behind. But I will hopefully have some zucchini in the harvest before long, so I thought I'd share my favorite summer recipe using several items I usually grow or that are easily found at farmers markets. This is adapted from a recipe in Vegetarian Planet by Didi Emmons. It can easily be made vegan by leaving out the cheese.

Stuffed Zucchini
2 medium zucchini
1-1/2 T. olive oil
1 c. chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/3 c. bread crumbs
1/2 c. chopped fresh basil
1/4 c. parmesan or feta cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the zucchini in half length-wise and trim the ends. With a teaspoon, carve out the center of each half, leaving a 1/4-inch thick shell and reserving the spooned-out flesh. Put the zucchini shells into a small casserole dish and add 1/2 cup water. Cover the dish with foil. Bake the zucchini for 10 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven and reduce the heat to 350 degrees.

2. Make the stuffing: Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it softens, about five minutes. Chop the reserved zucchini flesh and add it to the pan with the garlic and tomatoes. Cook 5 minutes more. Take the skillet off the heat and add the bread crumbs, basil and cheese. Mix well and season with salt and pepper.

3. Drain the water from the casserole dish and fill the zucchini halves with the stuffing. Bake the stuffed zucchini for 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Note: You may have to adjust the amount of bread crumbs to get the right consistency, depending on the juicyness of your tomato.

Hey Pesto!

2007-06-28T16:06:00.000-04:00

Remember that basil I planted, several posts back? It's really taking off now that hot weather has settled in to stay. So it's time to make pesto.

I whipped up the first batch of the summer a couple days ago, and it tastes like the best ever. That's probably because in addition to the basil, it includes fresh mint and dill from friends' gardens.

Here's the recipe as it stands this week. You can substitute other herbs, too - parsley and oregano are especially good. Or, of course, you could use all basil. You can include the tender stems of any of the herbs; but remove any that seem tough or otherwise unappealing.

2 cups lightly packed basil leaves
1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup fresh dill
1 sage leaf (it happened to fall off the sage plant, so I threw it in)
Three small cloves fresh garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1/4 cup pine nuts (walnuts also work well)
1 Tablespoon chickpea miso (or other light miso)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon umeboshi plum paste (everything's better with plum paste!)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Put everything but the oil into a food processor, and pulse to chop. Then turn the machine on low and add the oil in a thin stream through the feed tube. Process the mixture briefly, stopping the machine to scrape down the sides of the work bowl if necessary, until the pesto is the consistency you like.

The pesto can be stored in the refrigerator, coated with a thin film of olive oil to keep it from browning from contact with the air. Or it can be frozen for long-term storage. I use pesto mainly on pasta or as a sandwich spread (especially with homegrown tomatoes...) Do you have any suggestions for other uses for pesto?

Farmers markets

2007-06-21T18:17:00.000-04:00

We're entering the prime season for farmers markets, when they abound with all manner of summer harvests. I love farmers markets. It's wonderful to be able to browse fresh produce that's come directly from an area farm. You know exactly what you're getting, and you can ask questions of the person who grew what you're buying. That's certainly something you can't get in the grocery store.

The problem with farmers markets is that they're always so darn early. I am decidedly not a morning person, so I don't rouse myself out of bed early on Saturday morning nearly often enough. The early bird definitely gets the worm -- or the choicest selections, in this case -- when it comes to farmers markets.

Here are some markets in the area:

The Piedmont Triad Farmers Market in Colfax, on Sandy Ridge Road off of I-40. This is usually the one I go to on the weekend because it goes on all day. So if I don't get going until noon, I know it will still be open and there will be many farmers there. I especially enjoy going there to get herbs and other plants for my garden.

The Downtown Farmers Market, which is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. in Winston-Salem, on Sixth Street between Cherry and Trade streets. This is handy for me because of its hours and location near work. Today I picked up some organic squash.

The Winston Salem Retail Farmers Market at the Dixie Classic Fairgrounds is open year-round on Saturdays, 6 a.m. until 1 p.m. It's really quite shameful that I've never actually been to this one!

Casanova Coffee in Lewisville has recently begun having a small farmers market on Saturday mornings, which is handy because it's the closest to where I live. An organic farmer from Lewisville brings his produce, and it all looked fresh and wonderful when I was there last weekend. I was there about 10:45 a.m. last Saturday, and he had sold out of a lot of things already to earlier risers than me.

The Werehouse, at 211 E. Third St. in downtown Winston-Salem, has a farmers market on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The Greensboro Farmers' Curb Market, at 501 Yanceyville St. in the old National Guard Armory building near Memorial Stadium, is open year-round on Saturdays from 6 a.m. until noon and on Wednesdays from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., May through December. I haven't been to this one, but I'm going to try to get there this Saturday because they're having VeggieFest to celebrate the season. They'll have recipe samples, door prizes and music. Sounds like fun!

Do you go to farmers markets? Are there any other ones in the area that you can recommend?

"The Way We Eat"

2007-06-20T16:14:00.000-04:00

I became a vegetarian in the stacks of the Forsyth County's main public library. There, reading such books as Cleveland Amory's Support Your Right to Arm Bears and Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation, I became aware of some of the horrors systematically inflicted on animals by humans and knew that I wanted no part of them.

That was more than 25 years ago. But last week I was back at the library, and came across a newer book, co-written by Singer and Jim Mason. This book - The Way We Eat, subtitled Why Our Food Choices Matter – was published last year and made something of a stir then. You can read a review of it from Vegan Outreach, which includes links to interviews with Singer in Mother Jones, Salon and on Vegan.com

I hadn’t come across the book until now, and I’m glad I finally did. It looks at the ethical issues surrounding food by looking at the eating patterns of three families – one that eats the "Standard American Diet," "conscientious omnivores," and vegans – and how they affect animals, the environment and other people.

The Way We Eat clearly lays out the continuing horrors of animal agriculture. But it also examines the ethical implications of such things as organic and locally produced food, and “Fair Trade” foods. There are many factors to consider, and the most ethical path is not always clear. But Singer and Mason do offer some simple guiding principles.

Their book provides a lot of food for thought, along with fascinating information. Best of all, it is ultimately hopeful to believe that people can make a difference in the world through their food choices.

Have you read any books lately that have made a difference in how you think about your food? If so, I'd love to hear about them.

Lunch at 6th and Vine

2007-06-15T11:56:00.000-04:00

Working downtown, I sometimes head to 6th and Vine for lunch. It's a nice, relaxed place, and I've always been a fan of their grilled-vegetable salad and portabella panini sandwich. Julie and I went there earlier this week and were surprised to see that they have changed their lunch menu, making it more like their dinner menu. There are more vegetarian options now, especially salads. The grilled-vegetable salad is gone, which is sad. But there are many other unusual -- and yummy-sounding -- vegetarian salads now: nuts and berries; watermelon-and-strawberry: poached pear; baked goat cheese; oven-roasted beet; caprese. If I'm in the mood for a light (but filling) lunch, this is where I'm going to want to head. I've got to try most of those salads! (Not the beet one, though. Eeew, beets.)

You can also sometimes find vegetarian options in their daily specials -- soup, hummus, salad, risotta or flat pizza. Make sure you ask your server, though. The day we were there, the sage-and-shitake risotto sounded like it might be vegetarian, but it wasn't. The cream of asparagus soup, however, was vegetarian.

Hair today ...

2007-06-12T15:17:00.000-04:00

Although I usually write about food, the vegan lifestyle encompasses much more. Many vegans (and other compassionate people, too) make a point of choosing household and personal-care products that don't involve animal suffering, such as cosmetics that don't contain animal ingredients, and that aren't tested on animals.

Fortunately, just as vegan food choices have increased dramatically in the past few years, so have cruelty-free choices. And guidance on what products are cruelty-free is available from several sources.

For example, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has lists of companies that do and don’t test on animals. It says, "Companies listed either have signed PETA’s statement of assurance or provided a statement verifying that they do not conduct or commission any nonrequired animal tests on ingredients, formulations, or finished products and that they pledge not to do so in the future." The don't-test list also indicates which companies make only vegan products.

Another Compassionate Shopping Guide lists companies that do not test finished products, formulations or ingredients on animals. Companies on this list must also "Not purchase from suppliers ingredients that have been tested on animals after a fixed cut-off date..." This list is from the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics, a group of several major animal protection groups.

With the help of information like this, my home is stocked with everything from Citra-Drain to keep my pipes clear to Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap to keep my face clean.

The only area where I'm still looking for the perfect cruelty-free alternative is hair color. I sometimes use henna, which gives good results but is time-consuming and messy to apply. (Good thing the Citra-Drain works so well, or my bathtub might still be stopped up with henna residue.)

I just found a Web site, My Makeup Mirror, with an article on how to "Color Your Hair Without Coloring the Bunny." It gives a lot of suggestions that I'll consider trying in the future. But I wonder, have any of you tried a cruelty-free hair color that you particularly like (or would recommend avoiding, for that matter)? And how important is it to you to find cruelty-free household and personal products?

A Bleu Review

2007-06-05T12:55:00.000-04:00

It's always exciting to try a new restaurant. Last weekend, two friends and I made our first trip to Bleu, a recent addition to Winston-Salem's restaurant scene.

Athough the menu has just a couple of vegetarian entrees - a cheese ravioli dish; and a brie, tomato & arugula sandwich - there are more choices among the appetizers and soups and salads.

The three of us shared the trio of dips (hold the jokes; we already made them). The dips were tasty - lemon-fennel mascarpone; red pepper & spinach ricotta; and preserved tomato & leeks - and the portions generous enough that even splitting it three ways, we ended up with leftovers.

For my meal, I ordered two more appetizers - the panko-crusted tofu and the warm beet salad.

The tofu dish could easily have been a meal in itself. And at $7, it won general acclaim as the best deal of the evening. Two large slices of tofu were encased in a crisp crumb crust, with a touch of a mild miso sauce. They were accompanied by rice wrapped in sheets of nori, and a salad that tasted lightly pickled, which added a welcome bit of punch to the tofu and rice.

The beet salad, so pretty and tasty, was my favorite. The brilliantly colored cubes of beets - in both the familiar magenta version and a lighter red version - nestled atop a peppery bed of arugula. Golden raisins accented the beets' natural sweetness. A light sprinkling of cheese could be left off without impairing the bold flavors of the beets and arugula.

All in all, I was pleased. Bleu isn't a must-go destination for vegetarians, but I would be happy to go back.

The sexiest vegetarian celeb, etc.

2007-06-01T11:35:00.000-04:00

*PETA is having a poll in which you can vote for the sexiest male and female vegetarian celebrities. It was interesting to see which stars were on the list. (I felt a little out of touch because I didn't know who some of them were.) I wish they had termed it "favorite" instead of "sexiest," because some of the choices really don't fit the latter. I mean, I like Bob Barker and Weird Al Yankovic, but are they sexy? Not so much. I also found it interesting that there were more males to choose from than females, since females tend to more likely be vegetarian.

*My new favorite discovery is Breyers All Natural Creamery-Style chocolate ice cream. It's indeed creamy and chocolately, and what's even better, it's light ice cream, with "half the fat and 20% less calories than regular ice cream." It has 120 calories and 4g of fat per 1/2-cup serving, compared to 150 calories and 8g of fat in regular ice cream. What's interesting is that they seem to be trying to hide the fact that it's light, identifying it as such only in tiny, easily missable type. While I don't think I would confuse it with a high-fat premium ice cream like Ben & Jerry's, I wouldn't have known it was light ice cream by the taste. I've always been a fan of Breyers ice cream because it doesn't have a bunch of chemical additives. Its ingredients list is always pretty short, which is a good thing to look for. Generally, the shorter the ingredient list, the more natural a food is.

* There's a short article in the June issue of Natural Health magazine about plantable packaging. Some companies, such as Pangea Organics and Cargo Cosmetics, sell products whose boxes contain seeds. Soak the box in water for a bit, then plant them in your garden, and basil or amaranth will sprout in a few weeks. What a fabulous idea! It takes recycling to a whole 'nother level.

The Thrill of the Grill

2007-05-30T11:25:00.000-04:00

With the Memorial Day holiday widely considered to be the start of summer, many vegetarians will have cookouts in their near future. Cookouts can be as simple (veggie burgers and all the trimmings) or as elaborate (marinated portabella mushrooms, veggie kabobs, even pizza) as you want them to be.

There are any number of sources for ideas and recipes for vegetarian grilling. Vegetarian Times magazine seems to do one or more articles every summer; entire books have been written about it; and of course the internet has a wealth of recipes available at the click of a mouse. I have just a few personal suggestions to add --

You really should grill some corn on the cob. It's so delicious, and so easy. There are all kinds of suggestions on how to do this. Some say to peel back the shucks, remove the silks, and re-wrap the shucks around the ear. Sometimes it is recommended that you soak the corn in its shucks before grilling. But simply shucking and then grilling works fine, too.

All manner of elaborate spreads can be used on corn ... my favorite is umeboshi plum paste, spread very thinly across the ear. It’s much less messy and fattening than margerine, and tangy-salty-delicious. But remember, spread it sparingly -- otherwise it can be overpowering.

With veggie burgers or dogs, the goal is merely to heat them through, and to imbue them with the smoky grill flavor. So don’t leave them on the grill as long as you would conventional burgers and dogs. Also, because they do not have nearly as much fat as meat, they can dry out. I avoid this by rubbing each one with a generous coating of vegetable (usually canola) oil.

It's fun to wrap food in foil and cook it on the grill that way. Tofurky beer brats -- wrapped up with onions, peppers, beer and seasonings – turn out great when cooked like this. Tofurkey has the recipe online here.

Plan ahead to make the most of the coals. If you're firing up the grill anyway, why not take along an eggplant to roast so you can make baba ganoush (eggplant dip) later? A good recipe is available at the FatFree Vegan Kitchen blog. Or roast some red peppers to have on hand for sandwiches later. Or roast heads of garlic (drizzle them with olive oil and wrap in foil, just as you would for roasting them in the oven) for a tasty spread.

Finally, a very personal tip. If you're starting to wilt in the sun, just volunteer to stay inside to make sure nothing goes wrong with the central air-conditioning. I'll probably be in there, too, but you can never have too many people looking out for the central air....

What are your best tips for a successful summer cookout?

"Bad" vegetables

2007-05-25T11:58:00.000-04:00

Some people seem to think that because you're a vegetarian, you must love all vegetables. That is not the case with me. There are a few vegetables that I simply can't stand -- and unfortunately for me, they seem to turn up in quite a few vegetarian dishes.

My dislike of peas -- or as I sometimes call them, "little green pellets of Satan" -- is a running joke among my friends. I'm not sure why I don't like them; maybe I had a run-in with strained peas as an infant. I actually quite like snow peas, but any other kind makes me wrinkle up my nose in disgust. I can stomach them if I have to, but most of the time I pick them out of a dish.

But far more than peas, I hate olives. Luckily for my many olive-loving friends, as they always get my cast-offs when they appear on my plate at a restaurant. The mere taste of an olive -- God forbid that nasty olive juice infects the rest of a dish -- can ruin my palate for an entire meal. I'm not sure I could choke down more than one if my life depended on it.

Another hated vegetable is green pepper. Red pepper, I'm fine with. But green pepppers are, well, gross. Alas, they seem to be included in every grilled-vegetable sub in existence, which necessitates a special order or picking them out if they show up unannounced.

I've actually never had brussels sprouts, but somehow just looking at them, I know I'd hate them! I should have one just to see, because it's not nice to judge what I've never experienced, but looking at them and smelling them, I just never want to do it.

Over the years, though, I've learned to love several vegetables that I used to not like. I remember in high school sniffing that "I don't eat little trees" when presented with broccoli and cauliflower. Now I eat them all the time. The same with mushrooms -- once hated, now one of my favorite vegetables.

I'm also not a big fan of polenta. It's OK, and I can eat it if I have to, but it's just not something I care for. It's not as widespread a vegetarian staple as tofu or tempeh, but I have been unhappily confronted with it as the only vegetarian entree on a menu.

Are there any vegetables or vegetarian staples that you simply can't abide? As a vegetarian, is it hard for you to avoid them?

Salt of the Earth

2007-05-22T17:50:00.000-04:00

A while back, a friend sent me a link to the Salt of the Month Club … but alas, it turned out to be a fake from The Onion. Still, I check the link every so often, just in case it's now for real.

There easily could be a salt of the month club. Gourmet shops such as Chapel Hill’s A Southern Season and specialty Web sites such as Saltworks feature an unbelievable array of salts. There’s grey salt, black salt, pink salt ... salt from Hawaii; salt from the Himalayas. Smoked salt, salt with truffles, salt with green tea.

The publishing world is aware of the trend. Yesterday, Cassandra passed along an article from the June 2007 issue of Natural Health magazine, with ideas for creating seasoned salts by blending, infusing, smoking or roasting salt with other flavoring agents.

And in its March 2007 issue, Cooking Light magazine did an article focused on cooking with salt. The recipe for Sweet and Salty Peanut Chocolate Chunk Cookies still haunts me. Luckily, it’s available online here.

It’s especially interesting that these health-conscious magazines are featuring articles on salt, since the seasoning has a less savory side – its effect on blood pressure.

A USDA report on salt intake points out that "Over 30 years of scientific evidence shows that a diet containing more than 6 grams of salt per day (2,400 milligrams of sodium – the amount in a little more than a teaspoon of salt) is associated with elevated blood pressure. Increased blood pressure can lead to hypertension, heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease." Cooking Light has more information about salt and health here.

This is serious - enough to give even a dedicated salt vampire like me pause.

On the other hand, these recent magazine articles focus on using salt very consciously – adding a bit of very flavorful salt at the point where it will have the most impact. That way less can be used to achieve a satisfying flavor.

But this may not make a large difference. One of the USDA’s most eye-opening statistics is that only about 20 percent of the average person’s sodium intake comes from salt added at the table. About 75 percent comes from processed foods.

So keeping an eye on sodium content when you’re buying such things as frozen entrees and bottled salad dressings is important. You may also wish to check nutritional information for restaurant items, if it is available. And, of course, preparing as much of your own food as possible at home from fresh, healthy ingredients can also help.

How about you, readers? How concerned are you about sodium intake, and what, if anything do you do to try to minimize it?

And, if you're like me and just can't get enough salty goodness, check out the Salt Institute's page of recipe links. They're not all vegetarian, but some are. Especially noteworthy are the several recipes for preserved lemons -- Those things are saltier than salt! Mmmm.

Opa!

2007-05-18T15:55:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite annual events in Winston-Salem is this weekend: the Greek Festival. It's always a fun time of good food and festive Greek spirit.

They offer several a la carte vegetarian options alongside the souvlakis and gyros: Greek pizza, a Greek salad, spanakopita and potato wedges. But in my opinion, the best bet is always the plate meal. They've been offering a vegetable plate for several years now if you asked for it, and this year, they even have it printed up on the menu on the wall behind where you pay. For $7, you get two spanakopita squares, rice, Greek-style green beans in tomato sauce (my favorite thing!), a Greek salad, a roll and a drink. I've never come away feeling anything but full and satisfied.

Then, of course, there are the delicious Greek pastries and soft-serve ice cream with baklava topping, which I can never pass up no matter how full I am.

The festival is at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, 435 Keating Drive, off Country Club Drive near Silas Creek Parkway.

Greek food is one of my favorite ethnic cuisines. I love the flavors that permeate its dishes: oregano, lemon, cinnamon, nutmeg, olive oil. Good, traditional Greek restaurants often have some wonderful vegetarian options, as these dishes are part of their culture. Vegetarian moussaka, grilled zucchini, skordalia (a potato and garlic spread), stuffed grape leaves and, of course, spanakopita are favorites found on many restaurant menus, including that of Athena Greek Taverna at 680 S. Stratford Rd. In fact, I think a visit is in order soon for their vegetarian moussaka, now that I've gotten myself thinking about it!

The industrious vegetarian

2007-05-15T11:26:00.000-04:00

Condo living suits me. When house-dwelling friends are busy mowing their grass, I'm lolling on a chaise longue in air-conditioned luxury, with gin and tonic, a tray of peeled grapes and the TV remote all within easy arm's reach.

Sometimes the remote clicks to a program like The Victory Garden, and I'll dream about what it would be like to have a garden.

But wait, I don't have to just dream.... I do all the gardening I want in containers on my back deck. My favorites are herbs. They are so delicious fresh, and so expensive at the store, that it's cost-effective as well as fun to grow your own.

Plus, herbs are so easy. I haven't even gotten off the chaise longue to do any planting yet this year, and already the perennials from last year are going great:

The sage is in beautiful blue bloom; the lavender is covered in fragrant purple flowers; and the little pink pom-pom chive bossoms are just now fading away. The oregano is crowding the chives and threatening to take over its container. The rosemary is stretching toward the sky.

This weekend I'll put in this year’s crop of basil - perhaps the most satisfying herb of all to grow. Two or three sweet-basil plants will keep me in pesto all year. Just plant the basil in an all-purpose potting soil, place it in a sunny spot, and water diligently to keep it growing. In the heat of the summer I usually water every day. It will droop sadly if it gets too dry. But be sure the container drains well, too, to keep the roots from rotting. You can give basil some fertilizer from time to time to maintain the plants' vigor.

And the only other secret to keep basil going through the summer is to keep it from blooming. Once the plant blooms it seems to feel that its work is done, and it will stop producing as many tasty leaves. So when you see the flower buds forming, clip them off before they open.

Harvest basil through the summer by clipping stems just above a pair of leaves, and the plant will grow even bushier and more productive.

The National Garden Bureau has more about growing basil here.

Another excellent source for information about container gardening is The Bountiful Container by Rose Marie Nichols McGee and Maggie Stuckey (Workman Publishers, 2002). Anyone interested in growing food in containers will benefit from this book.

It thoroughly covers herbs, and also vegetables, fruits and edible flowers. The authors provide many ideas for combining plants into attractive as well as practical arrangements. And they include recipes for making use of your bounty. Not all of the recipes are vegetarian, unfortunately. But vegetarian or vegan cooks will usually be able to see ways to modify the recipes to make them usable.

Readers, are you planning to grow anything - in a conventional garden or in containers - this year?

Vegging Out on the high seas

2007-05-11T12:48:00.000-04:00

I recently went on my first cruise, the Carnival Elation. A friend who's a veteran of many cruises told me beforehand that cruises are basically "nonstop eat-a-thons." I was a little concerned about whether there would be a sufficient variety of vegetarian options to keep me satisfied. I needn't have worried, because they definitely put forth an effort for their vegetarian passengers. I did eat fish often, I must admit, but I could have eaten quite well if I had stuck solely to their vegetarian offerings.

The first lunch buffet on the ship included wonderful eggplant tarts and polenta with tomato sauce. Another day, there was vegetarian lasagna. You could always get a freshly prepared vegetarian pizza. I regret that I never got around to ordering the grilled-vegetable foccacia sandwich from the room-service menu -- it looked wonderful. I wish they had offered it at their deli counter.

A vegetarian entree was offered every night in the dining room, as well as at least one vegetarian appetizer. The eggplant and zucchini parmigiana I had the last night was fabulous -- fresh-tasting, elaborately put-together and not breaded, so it wasn't greasy at all. Vegetarian options other nights included a selection of Indian foods and black-bean echiladas.

They provided us with a BBQ lunch the day we were stopped at Half Moon Cay, the cruise line's private island. They didn't offer any vegetarian entrees then, unfortunately, but there were enough vegetarian salads and side dishes that I was more than satisfied.

According to the cruise line, the average weight gain on a cruise is 7 to 10 pounds, and I was firmly in that average. This was no doubt in large measure to the warm chocolate melting cake I got every night at dinner -- it's to-die-for. The first bite every night always made me bounce in happiness. For those trying to watch their weight, they specified lower-calorie options on the menu.

I do have to give a thumbs-down to the Orlando Airport, though. Their restaurant offerings are pretty paltry after you pass through security, which means their vegetarian options are even more paltry. There wasn't even a vegetarian sub on the menu at Miami Subs! My dining options were basically a boring green salad, a slice of pizza or a spinach calzone. I wasn't really in the mood for Italian, but that's what I had to have.

What about your experiences while traveling? Do you find it more difficult to find vegetarian options when you're on vacation?

How sweet it is ... or isn't

2007-05-08T17:02:00.000-04:00

With the world in bloom this May, I have been thinking about honey bees. I've always been fond of them. For one memorable school project, I designed an experiment to study their color preferences - no bees were harmed, of course. Neither was I, since honey bees are basically gentle creatures that prefer not to sting. And today I still enjoy honey from my father's hives.

But that puts me at odds with many vegans who avoid using honey, since it is an animal product. As Jo Stepaniak writes of honey in an Ask Jo! column, "from a vegan perspective there is no justifiable rationale for using it."

But there is another point of view. A column by Mark Hawthorne in Satya magazine argues that vegans' "public avoidance of honey is hurting us as a movement."

The advocacy group Vegan Outreach takes a similar view: "We tend to think that making an issue about honey allows people to marginalize vegans as being in favor of 'insect rights.' Most people won't yet face the pain and suffering involved in meat. Equating meat with honey probably makes the vegan case nonsensical to the average person."

It's an interesting argument. But that is not the only thought buzzing around my head lately.

Honey bees are in trouble.

A Washington Post article, "Mystery Ailment Strikes Honeybees," details how "a mysterious illness is killing tens of thousands of honeybee colonies across the country." The ailment, dubbed Colony Collapse Disorder, is such a serious issue that the N.C. Beekeepers' Association has created a special section on its page of links to keep track of articles on CCD.

And if the bees are in trouble, we may all be in trouble. After all, these bees are responsible for pollinating many of the fruits and vegetables that humans eat. According to figures from N.C. State University, "Honey bees are the most important insect pollinator for crops grown in North Carolina," directly accounting for nearly 68 percent - $88 million - of the fruits and vegetables grown in North Carolina each year.

Readers, what do you think? Do you feel strongly that honey should be excluded from a vegan diet? And do you have any ideas what we might be able to do as individuals - as comsumers or as gardeners - to help the beleagured bees?

Muesli Musings

2007-05-02T17:17:00.000-04:00

"What is the difference between granola and muesli?" I wondered one day over a hastily packed lunch of one or the other.

"Granola is for hippies and muesli is for Euro-trash," answered a quick-witted friend.

And it turns out he was right, mostly. Both are basically a mix of grains such as rolled oats, with fresh and/or dried fruit, nuts, and seeds. Moistened with milk or yogurt - vegans can of course use non-dairy versions - either one makes a quick, tasty, filling and nutritious breakfast (or other meal). The main difference I've found, other than the hippie/Euro-trash divide, is that granola is usually baked and crispy, while muesli is raw.

Pre-packaged granola and muesli can be found in grocery and health-food stores everywhere. But it's also very easy and fun to mix up your own. The Meatout Mondays e-mail recently had a recipe for Very Berry Muesli. With the local strawberry crop starting to come in, this is a great opportunity to put them to use. Here is the recipe from the newsletter:

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups nondairy milk (soy, rice, or almond milk)
1 peach or nectarine, diced
2 apricots or plums, diced
1 cup berries (raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, etc.)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup wheat germ (optional)

Directions:
Mix oats and nondairy milk together in large bowl.
Set aside the mixture while you prepare fruit (you can also save in refrigerator overnight).
Combine all ingredients.
Eat immediately or refrigerate for later (will keep for several days).

And, now that the granola vs. muesli question is settled, I’m looking for an answer to a pressing question that another friend and I have been discussing: What is the difference between a highball and a cocktail?

Vegan World Fusion Cuisine

2007-04-26T18:56:00.000-04:00

The latest cookbook to join my collection is Blossoming Lotus' Vegan World Fusion Cuisine. I haven't had a chance to make much out of it yet, but it's one of the most beautiful cookbooks I've ever seen, with lots of glossy color photographs -- not just of the food, but also of stunning places and things from around the world. There's a foreword by Dr. Jane Goodall, information about vegan principles and inspirational quotes scattered throughout the pages. The cookbook includes many examples of live-food recipes and lots of resource information. It makes me yearn to visit the restaurant that spawned the cookbook, The Blooming Lotus in Kauai, Hawaii.

Some of the recipes I'm looking forward to trying out are: Basil Pate, Transcendental Tropical Ratataouille, King Janaka's Maple Glazed Seitan and Mayan Wonder Bars.

Ah, Asparagus

2007-04-26T11:46:00.000-04:00

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best, as is the case with an appetizer from Greensboro's Healthy Spice restaurant.

The Tastic Spa is a tasty dish of asparagus spears, wrapped in vegetarian ham and bound with a strip of nori (the seaweed sheets most often seen wrapped around sushi). As I enjoyed it one evening, it occurred to me that the dish would not be difficult to make at home. On Sunday afternoon, incited by hours spent watching cooking shows on PBS, I got going. It did turn out well, so I thought I would share the details.

If you like it, consider a visit to the source. Although Healthy Spice is not a completely vegetarian restaurant, it does have several good choices for vegetarians and vegans. There's a photo of the Tastic Spa on its Web site here.

These directions make eight – but you can multiply or divide at will. You’ll need:
8 spears of asparagus, with tough ends removed. Steam until tender and set aside to cool.
8 slices of Tofurkey or similar vegetarian “Deli meat.”
8 strips of nori. Use kitchen shears to cut a sheet of nori into strips about a half-inch to an inch wide.

To assemble the dish, have a shallow plate or bowl of water handy. Wrap a slice of Tofurkey around an asparagus spear, so that the top and bottom ends extend above and below the Tofurkey. Then, dip a strip of nori into the water, so is moist but not waterlogged. Finally, wrap the nori strip around the tofurkey to hold it in place. The water will cause it to “stick” to the Tofurkey and to itselt, so your appetizer won't come unwrapped.

That's all there is to it. If you want to dress it up a bit, you can wrap up some baby spinach or small lettuce leaves with the asparagus -- leave them peeking over the top of the Tofurkey to give it a frilly look. Once your dish is assembled, it can be refrigerated and will keep well for a day or two.

To serve, I made a dipping sauce by whisking together:
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp (next time, I may use a bit less) toasted sesame oil
1 tsp mirin (a sweet Japanese rice wine – if you don’t have mirin, you could use a touch of sugar or other sweetener to balance the flavors)
a pinch of wasabi powder (next time, I will use more wasabi to give it more “kick”).

This sauce complemented the asparagus, Tofurkey and nori well. Leftovers made a nice salad dressing, too.

Earth Day and more

2007-04-20T12:46:00.000-04:00

*Sunday is Earth Day, and there are several celebrations in the area to mark the occasion. On Saturday, the 2nd Annual Piedmont Earth Day Fair will be held from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Winston-Salem, 4055 Robinhood Road. Check out the event brochure -- it looks like it will be a full day with lots of good information about ways to go green. There's also a big celebration in Salisbury at Catawba College. You can see the lineup of activities here. It's my hope that more people will start thinking about the earth and our effect on it every day of the year, not just on Earth Day.

If anybody knows of any other events in the area for Earth Day, or if you have a special way you're going to mark the day, please post and let us know!

*Harris Teeter has a great "buy-one, get-one-free" sale running right now on a lot of vegetarian frozen items -- Amy's and Moosewood entrees, Health Is Wealth munchies, Tofutti ice cream and Van's waffles. Curse my small freezer!

*Julie and some friends and I made a final pilgrimage to our beloved California Fresh Buffet last night. It will close on April 27 after seven years so that the mostly volunteers who run it can concentrate on other ways of serving the community. We're extremely sad about its closure. As a vegetarian friend commented, "There will never be another salad bar" like the wonderful one at CFB. It was always one of the most vegetarian-friendly restaurants in town.

This is the second big blow to the Winston-Salem dining scene in just a few months, following the closing of Lucky 32 in January. (I still mourn the loss of its mozzarella-and-portobello appetizer, which may have been my favorite dish on any menu in Winston-Salem.)

Web of Inspiration

2007-04-17T16:02:00.000-04:00

Ever wonder what other vegans eat day in and day out? You can find out on the Web, since plenty of vegan bloggers post descriptions and photos of their meals. Their work is proof that vegan meals are colorful, creative and fun. Many of them include recipes, too. Here are a few that I find to be particularly inspiring:

First is Dinner With Dilip, who is just down the road from us, in the Triangle area of North Carolina. Dilip Barman, the president of the Triangle Vegetarian Society, draws from a seemingly inexhaustible fountain of ideas for meals. The blog also contains interesting comments on restaurants and happenings in that area.

Next up is Veganimprov, which is notable for its improvisational approach to vegan cooking – as it says, it's "Like jazz for food." It's also notable for including information about what wine accompanied each meal.

Jennifer McCann packs festive vegan lunches for her son, and chronicles them on Vegan Lunch Box. The site also includes reviews of books and products. It is so popular that McCann now has a cookbook out, fittingly titled Vegan Lunch Box. Then, for photos and descriptions "about what one grownup vegan takes to work for lunch everyday," head over to the Vegan Lunchcast.

Some blogs, such as What Do Vegans Eat? are explicit about answering that common question. This blog has regular contributors, but also invites readers to share their own photos and descriptions of vegan food. Others like this include What the Hell does a Vegan Eat Anyway? and Eat Air – A Vegan Food Log.

I could go on, but if you explore you're sure to find some favorites on your own. And most of these sites also have links to their own favorite blogs, so you could keep exploring … at least until it's time for dinner! Please let me know if you find - or, especially, if you write - a notable blog like this.

A follow-up: A while back, I wrote about Wildwood’s plain soy yogurt, the best non-dairy plain yogurt I’ve found. But the closest source I knew of at that point was in Charlotte. Now, I’ve found it closer to home – at the Deep Roots co-op, on Spring Garden Street in Greensboro.

Winston's Eatery

2007-04-13T12:45:00.001-04:00

This week, Julie and I tried out a new restaurant on the Winston-Salem dining scene, Winston's Eatery. It's just south of Business 40 on Liberty Street, between the Downtown Middle School and the Children's Museum, and is open for breakfast and lunch.

It's a small place, with about 10 tables and a comfy-looking sofa. You place your order at the counter and they bring it out to you. We were very pleased with the vegetarian options. You can see their menus at their Web site, which is linked above. There are several vegetarian sandwiches to choose from for lunch, plus several yummy-sounding salads. The Camelized Apple, Pecan and Cranberry with Havarti salad sounds particularly enticing. The sandwiches come with a side: fresh fruit, pasta salad, slaw, sweet potato salad (with black beans) or the side of the day. The day we were there, the featured side was pesto potato salad, and it was wonderful. All of the desserts in the case looked great, especially the chocolate peanut butter pie.

Unfortunately, neither Julie nor I got exactly what we ordered for our sandwiches. I ordered the Vegetarian Godfather sandwich (roasted red pepper, portabella, basil, mozzarella and a balsamic aioli). Julie ordered the Vegging Out panini (roasted portabella, red pepper, grilled onion and provolone). Instead, both of our sandwiches came with what appeared to be the filling for the Roasted Veggie Wrap (roasted squash, green peppers, red onions and mushrooms). It was very good, though, and we cut them a bit of slack because they've been open only a couple of weeks and are obviously still working out a few kinks. In spite of that issue, we came away with a favorable impression of the restaurant and will try it again. The bread (Julie had panini, I had herb foccaccia) tasted particularly fresh. In fact, everything seemed very fresh. We just hope that next time we go there, the sandwich fillings will be as advertised on the menu.

Pizza with Pizzazz

2007-04-10T12:30:00.000-04:00

For months, I had been eager to try the new rice-crust spinach pizza from Amy’s Kitchen, which is topped with dairy-free mozzarella. Reports in magazines and online were positive. But it didn't seem to be stocked in local stores. Finally, it turned up at Whole Foods in Winston-Salem.

The wait was not in vain: This is tasty and satisfying, for a frozen pizza. The rice crust, which makes the pizza wheat-free, has a different texture than usual pizza crusts, somewhat lighter, crunchier, crumblier … enjoyable, but definitely different. The vegan cheese, though, melts and browns in a familiar way; it acts and tastes like "the real thing."

Amy’s Kitchen has long offered a roasted-vegetable pizza with no cheese that is vegan, as well as soy-cheese pizzas that are not vegan because the cheese contains casein, a milk protein. But this is the first frozen pizza I know of that includes vegan cheese – a welcome development. There’s already another one in my freezer, on hand for the day when I’m just too tired to do more than heat up a frozen pizza for supper.

The major drawback is the cost – nearly $7 for a pizza that serves two (the box says three servings, but not around my house). The other drawback is that frozen pizza, no matter how good, is never quite as good as homemade or restaurant pizza.

So for the days when you have a little more time and energy, a good option is to make pizza at home. Vegans can buy pre-made crusts, and the same brand of soy cheese that Amy’s uses on the spinach pizza, Follow Your Heart's Vegan Gourmet cheese. You can even get vegan pepperoni for a "traditional" pizza experience.

Or for something completely different, you can try the recipe for Carmelized Onion and Blue Cheese Pizza from the N.C. Sweet Potato Commission. A sweet-potato puree replaces the usual tomato sauce, for an unusual and very tasty pizza. The recipe is vegetarian, and can easily be veganized by replacing the blue cheese with a vegan alternative – for example, use crumbled Sunergia's soy feta.

Another option is to get a local pizzeria to make you a dairy-free pie. Brixx, a chain that has a restaurant in Greensboro, will substitute a non-dairy veggie cheese on any of its pizzas at no extra charge. Other restaurants have cheeseless pizzas on the menu, and others will leave the cheese off upon request. Readers, do you have suggestions for good places to get vegan pizza?

Dating and marriage for vegetarians

2007-04-06T12:25:00.000-04:00

In this week's relish, we ran a story about vegetarians in the dating world and Web sites devoted to helping vegetarians find like-minded mates. Some vegetarians want to date only other vegetarians; others are fine with a carnivorous boyfriend or girlfriend.

This got me thinking about the intrinsic issues of dating and marriage for vegetarians. If you're dating or married to another vegetarian, that generally doesn't create a problem -- although it could if one of you is a strict vegan. But if one member of the relationship is a carnivore, the issue of meals can be tricky. It can mean the two of you having different entrees or entire meals when cooking at home, which is problematic when most of us don't have much free time to cook even one meal a day. It can also affect the choice of restaurants when eating out -- the carnivore might want to eat at a barbecue joint, but there's nothing vegetarian on the menu.

It requires a healthy spirit of compromise on both sides to make veggie-carnivore relationships work. Sometimes a vegetarian might have to make do with a garden salad or a couple of vegetable side orders in order to please their mate's palate, and put up with the sight of diners chowing down on meat all around them. Or a carnivore might have to do without meat when eating at a vegetarian restaurant.

How do you handle relationships with your vegetarian lifestyle? Do you date only fellow vegetarians? And if you're involved with a carnivore, how do you resolve the question of meals?

More with less

2007-04-03T15:30:00.000-04:00

I make it a point to keep my kitchen fully stocked with cat food and treats, since Bunny and Phil get cranky if their meals aren't just right, and right on time. But sometimes I run low on the staples I usually rely on for my own meals.

Instead of getting cranky, though, I see this as an opportunity to get creative. It's time to make up a recipe, and use up the odds and ends that tend to be neglected when "the usual" is readily available. Often these turn out to be the most satisfying meals.

That was the situation when it was time to pack lunch this morning. I was out of bread and tofurkey, too - and, as always, short on time. But there was a bit of pasta in a box on the counter.... And just like smoothies, pasta salads leave a lot of room for improvisation, and they can come together quickly. Here is today’s "recipe," with ideas on ways to vary it to fit what you might have on hand.

1 cup whole-wheat penne pasta, cooked, drained and cooled.
Pasta cooks quickly, so it was done in the time it took to make coffee. Then I set it aside to cool while I got ready for work. Just about any pasta shape would work; or cooked rice or another grain could stand in for pasta.

3 oz. smoked tofu, cubed
If the tofu hadn’t been in the fridge, just waiting for something to do, a half-can or so of chickpeas or white beans would have worked in its place.
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced
6 pimento-stuffed olives, chopped
The prep took perhaps 10 minutes – and that’s because I’m slow with a knife. Wish I had thought to grate a carrot, too, for extra color.... You could add or substitute other veggies that appeal to you.

I dressed the pasta and veggies with about 2 tsp tahini mixed with 2 TBSP plain soy yogurt (it would be simple to substitute vegan "mayonnaise" for the yogurt – or to use another kind of dressing altogether), seasoned with salt, pepper and dulse flakes to taste. The dulse flakes were a last-minute addition to add a bit of color. A garnish of 2 TBSP raw pumpkin seeds added more color and flavor.

The result was plenty tasty and filling -- and two people in the break-room at work commented that the dish looked good.

Do you have any favorite strategies for putting together a good meal when the shelves are getting bare?

Jack's Corner

2007-03-30T12:38:00.001-04:00

If you find yourself in Greensboro near the UNCG campus looking for a bite to eat, I highly recommend Jack's Corner Mediterranean Deli. Every time I go there, I wish that I could somehow magically pick it up and transport it to Winston-Salem. It's not a fancy place -- you place your order at the counter and they bring it out to you -- or a large one, but it offers a big selection of Greek and Middle Eastern dishes at reasonable prices. And, wonderfully, the menu clearly labels which items are vegan and which are vegetarian with dairy.

Among the vegetarian items on the menu are spanikopita, falafel, hummus, tabbouleh, baba ganoush and stuffed grape leaves. There's also a lentil-and-rice dish that sounds intriguing. I've never ordered it, though, because I can't not get one of their vegetarian combination plates. There are several to choose from, with various combinations of items. It's wonderful as a vegetarian to have so many options to choose from, it's hard to decide. And if you want just a small bite to eat, you can order any of the items separately. There's also a lot for carnivorous friends to choose from.

Jack's Corner is on the corner of Spring Garden and Aycock streets and is open 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Smooth Moves

2007-03-27T12:37:00.000-04:00

With the weather getting warm so quickly, it's a great time for smoothies. Light and refreshing, smoothies are one of the easiest foods you can make. The only essentials are fruit, liquid and a blender.

The fun is in the endless ways you can vary the basic elements and the extras you can add so that you have just the smoothie you want. Below is my "recipe" for a breakfast smoothie – and some comments on ways to vary it.

1/2 banana, fresh or frozen, sliced. (The banana helps make the smoothie thick and creamy, but it can be omitted if you prefer.)

1/2 cup frozen fruit – a mix of strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. (You can substitute other fruits, fresh, frozen or even canned. However, very crisp fruits, such as fresh apples or pears, tend not to blend smoothly. Softer fruits, such as peaches and cantaloupes work better.)

1 cup soy milk, or more as needed for blending. (You can substitute other liquids, such as fruit juice or soy yogurt thinned with water. Or if you’re out of soy milk, you can put in a chunk of silken tofu and some water to blend.)

1/2 tsp cinnamon (Omit if you’d like; or try other spices such as ginger, cardamom or nutmeg.)

1 tsp flax oil (This is a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, but it can easily be omitted.)

1 Tbsp vegan protein powder (Another item that can easily be omitted.)

1 Tbsp frozen orange-juice concentrate (This adds a bit of sweetness. You can omit, or add something else, such as a spoonful of fruit preserves.)

Add ingredients to blender in the order listed. Begin blending on low; gradually increase speed until everything is smoothly blended. (Stop blender and stir if necessary.) Enjoy!

Have you discovered any extra-delicious smoothie combinations that you could share?

Slow food

2007-03-23T12:06:00.000-04:00

I've been vaguely aware of the slow-food movement for awhile now -- I've read an article or two in Vegetarian Times or Natural Health magazines. Although it isn't a vegetarian movement, I think the goals of it are very compatible with a vegetarian lifestyle. The slow food movement encourages us to take it easier when it comes to eating, to really take the time to sit down and enjoy locally grown food, instead of shoveling in homogenized fast food and grocery-store convenience items.

According to the Slow Food U.S.A. Web site, it is "dedicated to supporting and celebrating the food traditions of North America. From the spice of Cajun cooking to the purity of the organic movement; from animal breeds and heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables to handcrafted wine and beer, farmhouse cheeses and other artisanal products; these foods are a part of our cultural identity. They reflect generations of commitment to the land and devotion to the processes that yield the greatest achievements in taste. These foods, and the communities that produce and depend on them, are constantly at risk of succumbing to the effects of the fast life, which manifests itself through the industrialization and standardization of our food supply and degradation of our farmland. By reviving the pleasures of the table, and using our tastebuds as our guides, Slow Food U.S.A. believes that our food heritage can be saved."

I recently found out that there's a local slow-food group, Slow Food Piedmont Triad. Unfortunately we just missed the group's Winston-Salem showing of the film "The Slow Food Revolution," but there are several events in the near future -- check out their Web site! They also provide a handy list of local farms, markets and restaurants.

I'm certainly better than I used to be in terms of fast-food eating. In my early post-college days, I always had a freezer of cheap frozen pizzas and ate at Wendy's or McDonald's regularly. Now I have a greater appreciation of the ingredients I use to cook with. However, I still too often eat dinner in front of the TV set, with my focus on it instead of the food.

What about you? Have you found that eating vegetarian has caused you to eat "slower"?

Spring Into Vegetarianism

2007-03-20T10:28:00.000-04:00

Today is the 23rd Great American Meatout, an observance held each year on the first day of spring to increase awareness of the benefits of a meat-free diet and to provide information to help people successfully go vegetarian.

Activists hold events ranging from distributing Meatout handouts in their community to organizing vegan dinners to holding fund-raising walks. The Meatout is coordinated by FARM , a nonprofit group "advocating plant-based (vegan) diets for animal protection, environmental sustainability, and optimal health."

The theme of this year's Meatout is "Stop Global Warming" -- highlighting information about the environmental toll animal agriculture takes on the Earth.

FARM maintains an online list of Meatout events around the world. (There are separate sites for France, where the observance is "Journee sans Viande" and Germany, where it is "Gesund ohne Fleisch.") It even has electronic greeting cards that you can email your friends to wish them a happy Meatout, here.

FARM has a companion campaign, Meatout Mondays. This electronic newsletter offers a recipe, reviews, and more each week to help to keep the Meatout spirit all year round. Judging from the past issues, which are available online, this is worth subscribing to.

Ode to Soy

2007-03-19T15:59:00.000-04:00

Dear wiggly white blob,
How you inspire me to write --
Tofu, you're the prize.

I'm no poet, and I know it. Think you could do better? Then you should enter the tofu haiku contest being sponsored by the Toronto Vegetarian Association. More information, including complete instructions on how to enter and a list of prizes (if tofu itself isn't enough), is available at www.tofuhaiku.com Entries are due by May 21.

Tofu Spaghetti Sauce

2007-03-16T13:07:00.000-04:00

Spaghetti is one of the easiest meals to make vegetarian. Just put some meatless spaghetti sauce on some pasta -- what could be simpler? Unfortunately, it's not exactly full of protein. So I was intrigued to see the recipe for Tofu Spaghetti Sauce that was in the Journal's Living section on Wednesday. Check it out! I'll definitely have to give that a try sometime -- it looks very hearty and filling.

Green Veggies

2007-03-13T13:57:00.000-04:00

To continue on the St. Patrick's Day theme, let's consider the green side of vegetarianism. (OK, that's a stretch, but I couldn’t resist.)

Vegetarians have long been familiar with the evidence that shifting toward a vegetarian or vegan diet can benefit the health of the Earth. But recent reports are adding even more support to that idea.

A report from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, released in November, concludes that livestock production is "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global" and that "it should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution and loss of biodiversity."

The Christian Science Monitor sums up the FAO's findings in an article at http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0220/p03s01-ussc.html, and the full FAO report is available at http://www.virtualcentre.org/en/library/key_pub/longshad/A0701E00.htm

Many of the FAO's suggestions for dealing with these problems focus on ways to make animal agriculture more efficient, rather than reducing the consumption of animal products. But that is the most obvious and logical step: In addition to benefiting the Earth, it benefits the health of the animals and consumers as well. Many advocates of vegetarianism have already reached that conclusion.

The FAO's findings lend support to an earlier report from EarthSave International at http://earthsave.org/globalwarming.htm that advocates a vegetarian diet as possibly "the most effective strategy for reducing global warming in our lifetimes." And Compassion in World Farming has a report on "The Global Benefits of Eating Less Meat" that considers all three areas of benefit - environmental preservation, human health and animal welfare - at http://www.ciwf.org/publications/reports/The_Global_Benefits_of_Eating_Less_Meat.pdf

In fact, a vegetarian diet can do more to reduce an individual's contribution to greenhouse gases than trading in a conventional sedan for a hybrid auto.

As the Christian Science Monitor reports: "Researchers at the University of Chicago compared the global warming impact of meat eaters with that of vegetarians and found that the average American diet – including all food processing steps – results in the annual production of an extra 1.5 tons of CO2-equivalent (in the form of all greenhouse gases) compared to a no-meat diet. Researchers Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin concluded that dietary changes could make more difference than trading in a standard sedan for a more efficient hybrid car, which reduces annual CO2 emissions by roughly one ton a year. "

The researchers' report is available online at http://geosci.uchicago.edu/~gidon/papers/nutri/nutri3.pdf. The implications are discussed in a lively blog - titled "Vegetarian Is the New Prius" at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/vegetarian-is-the-new-pri_b_39014.html

Kiss me, I'm Irish (and vegetarian!)

2007-03-09T12:05:00.000-05:00

I'm following Julie's Irish theme from her Tuesday entry. (And I want to add my enthusiastic thumbs-up to Finnigan's Wake, too.)

Next Saturday is St. Patrick's Day. When one thinks of traditional Irish cooking, vegetarian items don't readily spring to mind -- the standard entrees are definitely meat-based. However, with a bit of creativity, you can celebrate the holiday with a "traditional" dish while still being vegetarian. I've made the following stew for the past several St. Patrick's Days, and even carnivorous friends find it tasty and filling. The broth has a hearty, almost meaty flavor. It's based on a recipe from The Almost No-Fat Holiday Cookbook: Festive Vegetarian Recipes by Bryanna Clark Grogan.

Vegetarian Irish Stew

2 medium onions, chopped
1/4 c. unbleached flour
4 c. water
1 c. Guinness stout (or other dark beer)
2 c. mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 c. carrot, sliced into rounds
1 c. celery, diced
1/2 c. split red lentils
1/2 c. fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 c. soy sauce
3 vegetarian bouillon cubes or 3 T. vegetable-stock base
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. Marmite (I use nutrional yeast instead)
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. each dried thyme, marjoram and rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced
Black pepper to taste
1 package of frozen or refrigerated vegetarian "steak" strips

In a large, lightly oiled, heavy pot, steam-fry the onion until it begins to soften. Add the flour and stir thoroughly. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are done.

Serves 6. Serve with Colcannon (an Irish dish of mashed potatoes and greens -- generally kale, although some recipes use leeks or green onion) and Irish soda bread.

Vegetarian Brunch

2007-03-06T12:59:00.000-05:00

It’s nice to go to a restaurant and have a tough time deciding what to order, because there are so many delicious vegetarian-friendly choices. This happened Sunday at Finnigan’s Wake, an Irish pub at 620 Trade St. in Winston-Salem’s Arts District.

As I settled in to wait for friends, I was excited to see that almost everything on the brunch menu was either vegetarian or could be made so with the substitution of faux “bacon” or “sausage.”

It took a while, but I finally chose the Winter Harvest boxty – two savory, thin, potato pancakes enclosing a filling of sweet, cooked pears and apples, and candied walnuts. This was served with a grilled tomato, hash-browned sweet and white potatoes, and a cheese toastie – the sides that come with most of the brunch entrees. It was all delicious.

There are other boxty fillings available – on this visit, all were either vegetarian or could be made vegetarian.

I’ll definitely be back to try the other boxties, and such intriguing-sounding offerings as the portobello and eggs, and the artichoke-cake benedict. (The artichoke cakes turn up elsewhere on the Finnigan’s Wake menu. They might be best described as like a crab cake, but with artichokes instead of crab.)

With the kitchen’s creative use of faux meats, Finnigan’s is vegetarian-friendly at every meal. It’s particularly satisfying because the vegetarian items, such as the tasty vegetarian shepherd’s pie, fit in with the Irish theme of the restaurant.

Veggie bites

2007-03-02T11:04:00.000-05:00

*Harris-Teeter has started carrying a few new frozen vegetarian items, including Amy's spinach-tofu burritos, and LightLife pretzel-wrapped veggie dogs and "chicken" cordon blue. Unfortunately, they've made the shelf space by getting rid of other items, including a couple I was very fond of!

*My new craze is Earthbound Farm's organic fresh-herb salad mix. It contains parsley, cilantro and dill leaves along with the various lettuces, which add a nice, different flavor when you get them in a bite of your salad.

*I finally bought a package of fresh spinach a couple of weeks ago, my first since the E. coli outbreak. I used it in a recipe, though, so it was cooked.

*I recently came across Greenlight magazine, an online-only magazine devoted to "earth-friendly" living. You can get a free subscription and check out articles here.

Say cheese, again

2007-02-27T15:27:00.000-05:00

A few posts ago, I mentioned that Bute Isle "scheese" - a vegan cheese substitute that has won rave reviews - is now available by mail order in the U.S. and promised to give a report. I ordered three flavors – smoked cheddar, blue and gouda – and am enjoying them, but not significantly more than some other vegan cheeses I have tried.... They still have a sort of processed flavor and texture. The smoked cheddar was my favorite of the three.

In general, vegan "cheese" is getting better and better - in years past, I've thrown away packages after one taste because they were so unpleasant. There are many acceptable brands now, and hopefully vegan-cheese technology will continue to improve.

I do have a rave review to offer of another vegan dairy substitute: Wildwood soy yogurt. Fruit-flavored soy yogurts are just fine, but until Wildwood I had never found a plain soy yogurt that I liked. Plain soy yogurts tend to be sweet, and lack that yummy yogurt "twang." But Wildwood is wonderful – I couldn’t tell it from dairy-based yogurt.

The only drawback is that I haven't yet found a local source for it. The tub I had came from The Home Economist, a health-food store in Charlotte. I mean to make inquiries soon to see whether any of our local stores can order it. Meanwhile, if you know of a place that carries it around the Winston-Salem area, please let me know!

Cheap tofu!

2007-02-24T12:06:00.000-05:00

Heads-up: Food Lion has Nasoya refrigerated tofu on sale for 99 cents this week. That's right, 99 cents! They also had already-cubed "super firm" tofu, which I hadn't seen in stores around here.

I also picked up organic bananas for 79 cents a pound.

Eggs in veggie burgers

2007-02-23T12:54:00.000-05:00

Staying on the subject of eggs, which Julie wrote about in her latest entry, a reader made me aware of an egg issue involving veggie burgers. Two groups, Compassion Over Killing and Vegan Outreach, are taking on Morningstar Farms, one of the leading makers of vegetarian products, over the eggs it uses in its products. The eggs come from hens that are confined in battery cages, giving them almost no room to move around -- a truly appalling sounding life. The groups want Morningstar Farms to stop using eggs in its products. Another veggie-burger maker, Gardenburger, has stopped using eggs in all but one of its products, and those eggs are from free-range hens. You can read more about this issue here.

I checked out the ingredients list online of the other major veggie-burger line that I buy, Boca Burgers. The only items of theirs that contain eggs seem to be the lasagna and non-breakfast sausages -- none in their burgers or "chicken" patties.

This wasn't an issue that I had heard about before, but it's certainly changed the way I'm going to select my veggie burgers from now on. I tend to like most veggie burgers and don't have a particular affinity toward one particular kind -- I like to change up the ones I buy and have a variety. But this issue makes me less likely to buy Morninstar Farms veggie burgers.

Baking and eggs

2007-02-19T12:12:00.000-05:00

I was on holiday last week, and enjoyed the chance to do a lot of cooking at home. That got me to thinking about ways of "veganizing" recipes.

Some things are simple. For example, soymilk can replace cow's milk in almost any recipe. But sometimes you have to be a little more tricky to replace the eggs.

In some cases - oatmeal cookies, for example - you can simply leave out the egg with fine results. I'm convinced that sometimes adding an egg to baked goods is just a habit.

But there is always a risk that in the recipe you choose to omit the egg, it plays a vital role. A sense of humor and spirit of adventure come in handy here. So does a dose of creativity - if those crumbles from the oven can't really be called cookies, open up a pint of soy ice cream and call them a topping!

And now that it seems you do need an "egg," you can try some of the many substitures out there. Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Post Punk Kitchen has great suggestions on vegan baking at http://www.theppk.com/veganbaking.html

The "flax eggs" she describes - 1 tablespoon flax seeds ground and blended with 3 tablespoons water per egg - do work very well. They become very gelatinous and gummy when blended and will surely hold those cookies together. I generally mix up a large batch in the blender. Leftovers will keep a few days in the refrigerator. And they can be divided into ice-cube trays and frozen for long-term storage.

Plain soy flour makes an even simpler egg substitute. One tablespoon of the soy flour and an extra tablespoon or two of water or other liquid can replace one egg in baked goods. You don't even really need to mix them ahead of time. Just add the soy flour in with the dry ingredients, and the extra liquid in with the wet ingredients.

I have found just one drawback to this method. The raw soy flour can cause an unpleasant taste cookie or cake batter. This taste disappears once the dish is baked, but it cuts down on the joys of eating gobs of raw cookie dough, or licking the mixing spoon.

Readers, have you found any other good ways to replace the eggs in your cooking?

Now serving: Carnivores only

2007-02-16T12:01:00.000-05:00

In previous entries, we've highlighted some area restaurants that provide nice eating options for vegetarians. Today I'm going to highlight a couple that DON'T do a good job of considering vegetarian eaters.

Obviously, there are some restaurants that are clearly not going to be vegetarian-friendly -- barbecue joints and steakhouses, for example. I'm not really concerned about those, because I'm not very likely to go there. I am concerned with restaurants that I think could and should do a better job of being vegetarian-friendly, the ones that you go into thinking you stand a pretty good chance of getting something vegetarian and are then disappointed.

Julie and I decided to try out Christopher's New Global Cuisine for lunch recently, but discovered to our dismay when we got there that the vegetarian item on their online menu that we'd had our eyes on -- a grilled-vegetable sandwich with tofu -- wasn't actually on their menu. The only vegetarian options we had were a fried green tomato sandwich and an unhearty salad or two. This was disappointing, considering that they have a separate vegetarian menu for dinner (which unfortunately isn't on their Web site -- though considering they don't seem to keep the online menu updated too well, might be a moot point). I'm not sure why the same consideration for vegetarians can't be shown for lunch as well as dinner. Do they think that vegetarians don't eat lunch?

I live in the Clemmons/Lewisville area, and a new sports bar/restaurant called J. Butler's recently opened just off 421. Admittedly, one doesn't have high vegetarian hopes for a sports bar, but they have a pretty large and varied menu -- but there's not one vegetarian entree to be found. In this day and age, I expect most restaurants to at least have ONE token vegetarian dish -- for example, the seemingly ubiquitous portabello sandwich or pasta primavera.

Have you had any memorably disappointing visits to area restaurants when you were surprised to find that you couldn't eat anything on the menu?

NOTE TO READERS (AND AN APOLOGY):
Blogger has a new version, and in updating our blog to the new version, we suddenly were presented with 13 comments that were left ages ago that never showed up on our blog. Apparently a setting was briefly selected that kept them from showing up. We feel terrible about this, because you took the time to respond to us (some of you quite lengthily!), and it must have frustrated you to no end for your comments not to show up or to think that we ignored you. Our heartiest apologies!

Comments now show up as soon as they're left, so we hope this never happens again. We also hope that those of you who left the comments are still reading, and it didn't put you off totally. If you would like to read these comments, many of them can be found here.

Excellent eggplant salad

2007-02-09T11:45:00.000-05:00

One of my Christmas gifts was the cookbook The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein. I want to make almost all the recipes in it! I haven't had the time to make too many of the dishes yet, but I wanted to share one particular dish I have made that I thought was FABULOUS.

Eggplant Salad

1 medium eggplant (about 3/4 pound)
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1 med. onion (about 6 oz.), chopped
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 lb. tomatoes, cored, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 T. tomato paste
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 t. fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 t. dried
1 t. chopped fresh mint
1/4 t. dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 c. black olives, pitted and halved
1 T. drained capers
2 T. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro

Cut the eggplant into 1/2-inch cubes. In a medium nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the eggplant, onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until softened and lightly colored, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar, thyme, mint, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occsionally, until the eggplant is tender, the mixture is thickened and the liquids are greatly reduced, about 15 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the olives, capers, parsley and cilantro. Season with additional salt and pepper as desired.

--

I left out the olives and capers, because I don't like them, and doubled the vinegar to compensate for the lack of their sharpness. This is an extremely versatile dish -- it can be served warm, cold or at room temperature. It makes a great stuffing for pitas (its intended use), and I couldn't get enough of it as a bruschetta topping. I could also see it being mixed with pasta.

Could it be ... Seitan?

2007-02-07T17:57:00.000-05:00

Although the name sounds a little bit evil, seitan is a good thing for vegetarian cooks. Also called "wheat meat" or gluten, seitan is a handy meat substitute made from the protein in wheat.

It can be flavored in many ways, and has a satisfyingly chewy texture. Prepared seitan is available in health-food stores, and it is the basis for many pre-packaged meat substitutes. But it can also be made at home easily and at a lower cost.

Many years ago, I made a batch from scratch, starting with plain flour. This required seemingly endless kneading and washing, kneading and washing, kneading and washing. The final product was fine – but so labor-intensive that I've never done it again.

It's much easier to start with vital wheat gluten flour – the bran and starch are already mostly gone, so you don't have to wash it. Isa Chandra Moskowitz has an excellent recipe in her cookbook Vegan With a Vengance, and it's also available on her Post Punk Kitchen Web site at http://theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=112

The resulting seitan can be stored in its broth in the refrigerator for a few days, or frozen for longer storage.

The ever-reliable Vegetarian Resource Group has an article here on making and using seitan http://www.vrg.org/recipes/vjseitan.htm More good recipes for making and using seitan – including such treats as seitan "pepperoni" can be found in Joanne Stepaniak’s cookbook Vegan Vittles.

Although seitan has Asian roots, it can be used in recipes from around the world, as the seitan recipes collected at Gourmet Sleuth, http://gourmetsleuth.com/seitanrecipes.htm, suggest. It has recipes for Seitan Ropa Vieja; French Country Stew, Sukiyaki, Boston Baked Beans with Seitan, and more.

Mary's Of Course

2007-02-02T12:06:00.000-05:00

A vegetarian-friendly restaurant that I've recently "rediscovered" is Mary's Of Course, a small cafe at the corner of Brookstown Avenue and Cherry Street. Vegetarians will find a lot to tempt them, with hearty entrees that are more than just a token meat-free vegetable dish. I mean, how many other restaurants in the area serve tofu AND tempeh?

Breakfast and brunch are available all day -- try the tofu scramble, the tofu burrito or an omelet made with tofu or vegetarian sausage. In the mood for lunch? You can get a vegan burger, tempeh rueben, tofu satay or a barbecue tofu (or tempeh) sandwich -- the latter is a bun overflowing with cheese, slaw and cubes of tofu or tempeh in a tasty barbecue sauce. It's definitely messy, but oh-so-good.

There's always a vegetarian soup of the day, and they also have interesting specialty grilled cheeses -- one day it included pears!

A bonus to going to Mary's is the ever-changing artwork exhibits on the walls -- as well as the standing collection of toys and geegaws sitting around the restaurant.

Mary's Of Course is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the weekends.

A Happy Heart

2007-01-31T09:53:00.000-05:00

It's just a couple of weeks away: Valentine's Day. Whether you love the holiday or hate it, you still deserve a good meal that day.

I'm partial to eating in to avoid the crowds. There are plenty of wonderful ideas online for romantic meals. For example, Vegetarians in Paradise offers two complete menus, with recipes at http://www.vegparadise.com/cookingwith62.html and http://www.vegparadise.com/cookingwith52.html

For even more ideas, the Vegetarian Society of Britain has a menus and recipes at http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/valmeal.html and http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/lovers99.html

Those saucy Brits also have information on "The Food of Love," about the aphrodisiac qualities of vegetarian foods at http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/forget.html

The Vegetarian Resource Group has "Recipes for Valentine’s Day" at http://www.vrg.org/press/99janvalentine.htm This one sounds both delightful and super-easy:

ROSE-SCENTED RASPBERRY MOUSSE
(Serves 4)

Rose water can be found in gourmet stores or the gourmet section of your market. Orange-flower water would also work nicely in this tart, refreshing dessert.

One 10-ounce package frozen raspberries, thawed
2 Tablespoons rose water
One 12.3-ounce package lowfat firm tofu, drained

Drain raspberries. Reserve several raspberries and about a tablespoon of juice. In blender or food processor, combine raspberries, remaining juice, rose water, and tofu. Process until smooth.
Divide mixture into four dessert dishes. Refrigerate several hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled. Just prior to serving, garnish with reserved raspberries and then drizzle a little juice over the top of each dish.

Recipe by Mary Clifford, published in Vegetarian Journal, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203.

The nutritional breakdown sounds like this mousse will keep your Valentine's heart healthy, too:
Total calories per serving: 65
Fat: 1 gram
Carbohydrates: 9 grams
Protein: 6 grams
Sodium: 55 mg
Fiber: 3 grams

But for some, only a nice dinner out will do. So I’m asking for suggestions -- Do you know of any romantic restaurants in this area where vegetarian valentines can dine to their hearts’ content?

Vegan hedonism

2007-01-26T12:13:00.000-05:00

A co-worker forwarded me the link to this story in the New York Times, titled "Strict Vegan Ethics, Frosted With Hedonism" (if you don't already have one, you'll need to sign up for a free login to read it). It's about a punk vegan chef and how she creates luscious dishes -- especially cupcakes -- without the typical eggs, butter and cream. She and her co-author have two cookbooks: Vegan With a Vengeance and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and she also has a public-access TV show in New York. It's an interesting read.

Be sure to click on the "Related" recipe links -- the butternut squash rice paper rolls sound FABULOUS!

Say Cheese

2007-01-24T10:39:00.000-05:00

I'm still excited.

An email this morning from Vegan Essentials, a mail-order company, indicates they now offer Isle of Bute Sheese, a vegan cheese alternative imported from Scotland. Seven flavors are available - Gouda, Mozzarella, Blue, Cheddar & Chives, Hickory Smoked Cheddar, Strong Cheddar and Medium Cheddar. At $9.95 for a half-pound, it's pricey. Still, I'll be placing my order tonight.

After all, this is a product that was among the winners of VegNews magazine's 2006 Veggie Awards. It was the editors' pick for "Food You Can’t Find in the U.S.," and they described it as "so authentic even omnivores can’t tell the difference." So I have been eagerly awaiting a chance to sample this wondrous-sounding product.

I'll let you know how it is!

Taking vitamins and medicines

2007-01-19T12:16:00.000-05:00

Cold and flu season is upon us, and that got me thinking about vitamins and medicine. I buy vegetarian versions of vitamins and supplements whenever possible -- even Vitamin E, which is tough to find in vegetarian versions. Most vitamins aren't vegetarian -- they contain stearic acid or gelatin -- but there are versions made with vegetable stearic acid or vegetarian capsules. You generally can't find these in your corner drug store. You'll need to visit a natural-foods or health-food store to get them, and they're usually a bit pricier than the non-vegetarian versions.

But when it comes to prescription medicines, it's almost impossible to avoid animal ingredients -- or animal testing. If you need a particular medicine for your health, the alternative -- not taking it -- isn't a very viable option. So I take the medicines I need to and do the best I can otherwise to keep things vegetarian.

A vegetarian friend was upset recently when she saw that a medicine her doctor gave her was tested on animals. Unfortunately, this is a common occurence. Obviously, early trials of medicines cannot be done on humans, so alternatives must be used. More non-animal alternatives are being used than in the past, and it's my hope that fewer and fewer animals will be killed or put through misery for our comfort.

I confess to not knowing much about the issue -- I think my distaste for the subject has kept me from wanting to know much about it and taking something of a "head in the sand" approach, beyond looking for the "not tested on animals" line on products. Not something I'm proud of. In doing some online research for this blog entry, I came across the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which is a group of "Doctors and laypersons working together for compassionate and effective medical practice, research, and health promotion." Its Web site has a wealth of information on the use of animals in research and education, and the alternatives that it promotes.

What about you? How do you approach vitamins and medicines as a vegetarian?

Restaurant Roundup

2007-01-16T12:42:00.000-05:00

A reader recently asked the Journal's food editor, Michael Hastings, for advice on vegetarian-friendly restaurants in town. The reader has vegetarian guests coming and wants to take them to places where they will be comfortable.

The fist thing to consider in this situation is whether your guests are vegetarian or vegan. In general, vegetarians don't eat meat, poultry or fish, but include dairy products and/or eggs. Vegans don't eat any animal products at all. In my experience, it's easier to find a vegetarian restaurant meal than a vegan one. But there are vegan options out there - you just may need to do extra research before choosing a restaurant.

Some cuisines are usually a good bet for vegetarians: Italian, Asian (Chinese, Thai) and Indian, for example. Some are not – obviously, barbecue restaurants and steak houses are not going to be your best choice. You may want to inquire before choosing a Southern, family-style restaurant or cafeteria – even the vegetables may be seasoned with meat.

Cassandra and I write about notable restaurants from time to time, but we haven’t done a "roundup" before. The following is not comprehensive, but suggests the variety of options in town. These are moderately priced restaurants that I tend to go to again and again.

Athena Greek Taverna, at 680 S. Stratford Road. From a simple vegetarian pita sandwich to an elaborate vegetarian moussaka, this restaurant offers a lot of tasty choices.

California Fresh Buffet – 1370 Peters Creek Pkwy – (On the Web at www.californiafreshbuffet.com) This may have the best salad bar in town. And on the hot bar, vegan items are clearly marked. A restaurant with something for everyone.

Cha Da Thai (on the Web at http://www.chadathai-nc.com/) at 420-J Jonestown Road, Winston-Salem. A beautiful, intimate restaurant with many vegetarian and vegan options.

Finnegan’s Wake – 620 N. Trade St. Through the use of faux meats, this Irish pub offers everything from a vegetarian shepherd's pie to a vegetarian reuben.

La Botana Mexican Restaurant – 1547 Hanes Mall Boulevard. An extensive regular menu has all the usual suspects, done well. But the specials menu (you may have to ask for this, since it is separate) includes several vegetarian dishes that you won't find anywhere else.

Nawab Indian Cuisine, at 129 S. Stratford Road. The menu in the restaurant (although not online) indicates the vegan specialties among its many vegetarian dishes.

Szechuan Palace, at 3040 Healy Drive. Elegant Chinese food, with a knowledgeable waitstaff that will help you choose vegetarian or vegan options from the extensive menu.

West End Café, at 411 W. Fourth St. From soup, salad and sandwiches to fancy dinner specials, this Winston-Salem institution has it all, and a fair bit of it is vegetarian.

Again, this is by no means a comprehensive list, but just a starting point. Readers, please let me know about the must-go places that I’ve left out.

Blogged to order!

2007-01-12T12:15:00.000-05:00

Julie and I have been doing this blog for several months now, and we'd like to know what you'd like to see more of -- or less of -- in the blog in the future. Do you want more vegetarian recipes? More ethical discussions about being a vegetarian? More links to cool sites or vegetarian-related news stories? Or is there something we haven't even touched on yet that you wish we would?

We want to get some good discussions and feedback going, so please let us know what YOU'RE interested in reading about!