Spinach

Ho-ho-herbivore! A Guide to Vegan Christmas Shopping

2011-12-11T15:02:00.000-08:00

Got a vegan in the family? Did your teenager "go crazy" and start wearing hemp shoes and throwing your chicken pot pie out the window? Are you a new vegan and you're feeling lost and adrift in a cold, meaty world? Are you a vegan and you want to spread the green word without bashing people on the head with your soapbox? Here are a few ideas for gifts for vegans, animal rights activists, people on the fence, and people who won't stop badgering you about what you eat and you would rather a book or a DVD answered their questions for you. This list is made up mostly of books, but if your vegan refuses to read, just buy them a good chef's knife. Watching my friends try to cut up carrots with a 2 inch paring knife is a deeply painful experience.

General Vegan Guides

The 30 Day Vegan Challenge, by Colleen Patrick Goudreau

If you, or anyone you know, is thinking about becoming vegan but you have some questions about how you would accomplish such a feat, this is the book for you. Vegan activist Colleen Patrick Goudreau (you've read my raves about her marvellous podcast, Vegetarian Food for Thought) expertly lays out 30 days full of information about food, health, social situations, and practical matters such as how to stock a vegan kitchen, how to bake without eggs, and getting the right nutrients. A perfect book for anyone, man/woman, intellectual/practicalist/granola cruncher, who is interested in veganism.

The Kind Diet, by Alicia Silverstone

If vegan activists were sitting around waiting for a poster girl to champion their cause, they couldn't have asked for better than sweet, enthusiastic, and beautiful Alicia Silverstone and her gentle, occasionally slightly silly, but inspiring introduction to veganism. Coming from a semi-macrobiotic point of view, Alicia lays bare the ethical, environmental, and health reasons for veganism. She offers practical advice on making the change, allowing room for both people who want to "flirt" with a vegan diet and people who want to jump right in and eat a wholefoods vegan diet. She also includes a fair amount of recipes, some of which contain fairly unfamiliar, and sometimes pricey ingredients, but many of which are very simple and surprisingly delicious. A good, very unintimidating book for women.

Skinny Bitch, by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin

While some people find the irreverant and frequently profane tone of this book a little off-putting, I have to admit that I think Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin are kind of geniuses. When you pull the book off the shelf, it reads as just another diet book, but it is actually a thorough explanation of the horrors of the animal agriculture industry and a sensible guide to wholefoods eating. Rory Freedman has point blank admited that the snappy title was simply a marketing ploy, saying "I am well aware that in this day and age, in this society, people care more about their appearance than they do about almost anything else. It’s sad that that’s the case. I wrote the book so that women who only cared about how they look would learn about what they were contributing to in terms of animal torture, how they were poisoning their own bodies, and how being skinny is bullshit meaninglessness." I can't express to you how much I f***ing love that. Another good book for women, but there is also a counterpart, Skinny Bastard, which is aimed at men.

Ethical

Eating Animals, by Jonathan Safron Foer

Fiction writer Jonathan Safron Foer had a baby, and then decided that he had to feed that baby. This thought process led him to investigate the conditions of farm animals raised in the modern agricultural system. And THIS process led to him becoming vegan. Eating Animals is personal, creatively written, and pretty devasting. The book wanders through personal experience, story-telling, and overwhelming factual information. Safron Foer remains free of judgement of the reader's choices, fairly representing multiple perspectives on the subject of animal industry, and never pushing his point. A good volume for the philosophically inclined or those on the fence who can't handle more dogmatic, black and white reasoning.

Stuff I haven't read:

Professor Gary Francione's Books

Gary Francione is the father of the abolitionist approach in animal activism, meaning he is opposed to welfare reforms in the industry, and instead focuses his time on vegan outreach and education, in an attempt to abolish animal use in our society. I follow his podcast avidly, but haven't read any of his books yet. Rain Without Thunder is the standard.

Earthlings, directed by Shaun Monson

I haven't watched this documentary, and I have no intention of watching it in the future. But that doesn't mean I don't think YOU should. This documentary, narrated by vegan actor Joaquin Pheonix, is reputedly incredibly full-on, examining animal abuse in our society without skimping on the graphics. People walk out of the movie theatre and become vegan instantly.

Health

The Great American Detox Diet, by Alex Jamieson

I really like this simple little guide to healthy eating, written by the wife of Supersize Me's Morgan Spurlock. Based on the diet she put Morgan on after his month of McGrease, Jamieson enthusiastically lays out 8 weeks of cutting out dietary nasties, including caffeine, sugar, animal, protein, trans fats, and simple carbs. The book also contains a final section of several recipes, and most of these that I've tried have been pretty yummy. This book is a good introduction for anyone who is just starting to show a burgeoning interest in a healthy diet.

The China Study, by T. Colin Campbell

Everyone needs to read this book. Now. Read this book and understand cancer growth better, just how very much our diet affects our chances of getting cancer, heart problems, and autoimmune diseases, and how collosally, infuriatingly corrupt the American Food Standards Agency is in deciding what information and regulations make it to the public. Respected Cornell medical researcher T Colin Campbell has spent his long career examing the relationship between the standard Western diet and disease and a wholefoods, plant-based diet and good health, and he chronicles many years of findings in this book. Some animal activists object to the book on the grounds that some of Campbell's earliest work involved experiments on animals. Of course I don't approve of these methods, but I think that to ignore such a compelling and important work is simply shortsighted. Like I said, this book is a good idea for everyone. EVERYONE.

Also see: Forks Over Knives, directed by Lee Fulkerson

This documentary is pretty much a summary and film version of The China Study, and talks about the work of Campbell, Dr. Carl Esseylstyn, and Dr. John Mcdougall. The movie also includes interviews with several people who were on death's door, and have used a plant-based diet to turn their lives around become healthy, active people at an older age. And some of them are just so...adorable! A great introduction to the ideas in The China Study.

Stuff I haven't read:

Becoming Vegan, by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina

I feel a little silly admitting that I haven't actually read this book, but this is the quintessential guide to the nutritional considerations of turning vegan.

Cookbooks

Veganomicon, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romano

Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romano are the quirky, creative kitchen goddesses of Veganworld, and this all-purpose cookbook will stand on the shelves of all vegans for years to come. The book includes a comprehensive guide to stocking your kitchen and instructions for how to cook various vegetables, grains, and beans. The recipes are amazingly creative and delicious, with options such as potato and kale enchiladas, mole skillet pie, and jelly donut cupcakes. The only drawback to the book is that a lot of the recipes are very time consuming, and I would pay close attention of the time guidelines before you decide to make one of the dishes for a weeknight dinner. A good book for any vegan or vegetarian, or anyone who is truly interested in the endless possibilities of their kitchen.

The Vegan Table, by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

The second entry on this list for a Colleen Patrick-Goudreau book, this cookbook focuses on holiday and entertaining meals for the vegan table. Ironically, most of the receipes in this book are less complicated and quicker than the recipes in Veganomicon. This book is peppered with bits of cooking tips, foodie knowledge, entertaining ideas, and advice for the social challenges of eating as a vegan. The recipes are nearly all winners, including macaroni and cashew cheese, carmelized tempeh shwarmas, and FRUIT SUSHI. Patrick-Goudreau uses mostly familar, easy to find ingredients, and thoroughly explains any unfamilar ingredients. An all around good book for those new to the diet, or those who love to entertain.

Moosewood Cooks at Home, by the Moosewood Collective

Some may find the inclusion of the Moosewood cookbooks on this list to be controversial: they aren't vegan, or even technically vegetarian, a small amount of the recipes include fish, but my formative culinary years were shaped by the Moosewood Collective, and this cookbook is such a great introduction to vegetarian cooking. Many of the dishes are vegan, and quite a few can be easily veganised (although a few are centred around eggs, dairy, and fish). The cookbook is fantastic for weekdays, full of simple, uncomplicated recipes with mostly familiar ingredients that you can find in any ol' grocery store. Some of the recipes I've already featured on this blog, but other favourites of mine include the African peanut and pineapple stew, bulger burgers, cajun skillet beans, and pan bagnet (a pressed, garlicky baguette sandwich). A great cookbook for those just starting out in the kitchen.

Moosewood Celebrates, by the Moosewood Collective

I love this cookbook! We're focussing on entertaining and celebrating again here, and reading this book will make you want to cook (and eat). Divided into season and then into different holidays, each seasonal introduction will get you excited about seasonal cooking, and each description of each holiday will make you want to entertain, travel, and learn more about world food. The various holidays include familiar Western ones, as well as, also Diwali, Chinese New Year, Tibetain-American Losar Dinner, Juneteenth, and Setsubun (Japanese Bean Day). I have many favourite recipes from this book, some of which are greens and cashew curry, Indian potato pancakes, potato latkes, Tibetan style seitan burritos, and vegetable pot pie (this one isn't vegan, but I'm determined to figure out how to veganize it). Again, a few (very few) recipes have fish in them, although several of those recipes include a vegetarian option. Vegan recipes are helpfully indexed in the back, and plenty of the LO veggie recipes are easily veganized. A great book for any cook, but especially those looking to expand their horizons.

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero

We're back with Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, and this adorable little book is as cute as cupcakes themselves. This book includes many delicious and creative recipes, most of which use ingredients omnivore bakers will have on their shelves (agave nectar makes only the briefest appearance in this book*). The recipes are pretty much foolproof, but in case you are particularly foolish, there is an introductory section of helpful and clearly explained baking tips and troubleshooting. Try the banana split cupcakes (I love these and I don't even like banana), almond and apricot cupcakes, pumpkin and chocolate chip cupcakes with cinnamon icing, and the low fat vanilla cupcakes with berry topping. A great little gift for anyone...except a diabetic.

*note: I have nothing against agave nectar, but it seems odd to me that many vegans want baking books made entirely of recipes with agave, brown rice syrup, agar agar, and garbanzo bean flour, and then complain when veganism isn't mainstream enough.

Stuff I haven't read:

The Uncheese Cookbook, by Joanne Stepaniak

I don't have a copy of this, but I would like one! Stepaniak has gone through the exhaustive trouble of creating non-dairy recipes for many different kinds of cheese. My guess would be that the alternatives don't taste exactly like their dairy counterparts, but I thought I would include this book partially because cheese is the thing that omnivores cling to the most, and partly for the pure culinary innovation. And the cute title.

The Joy of Vegan Baking, by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

One more Colleen Patrick-Goudreau book (that I don't have), from what I can tell this book is exactly what it says on the tin: a comprehensive go-to book for vegan baking. UK readers, in case you're confused by the title, the Joy of Cooking and the Joy of Baking are longstanding, beloved cookbooks that every avid North Americn cook has on his or her shelf, given to them by their grandmothers.

Ethical Eats

Christmas Eve Cranberry and Dark Chocolate Cupcakes

The taste test is over, and these pink little pleasures have come through the winner. And by that I mean, I liked them the best of all the cranberry treats I tried and I'm not too bothered about what everyone else thought. These cupcakes are for more mature, intense flavour-loving palates, with bitter dark chocolate and tart cranberry. And they're ever so cute and pretty in pink. I've included a simple recipe for a cranberry jam-like concoction that you can use for a variety of purposes, but if you have a simple and sweet cranberry sauce at hand, you can just use that instead. The basic vanilla base for theses cakes are from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

Makes 12 cupcakes.

Base:

1 cup soy millk
1 tsp cider vinegar
11/4 cups flour
2 Tbs cornstarch
3/4 baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 cup good quality dark chocolate chunks
1 cup dried cranberries

Line a muffin tin with cupcake wrappers, and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Add the vinegar to the soy milk, whisk together with a fork and leave to curdle for a few minutes. Mix together the oil, sugar, soy milk mixture, and extracts. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet, and stir until no large lumps remain. Fold in dark chocolate chunks and dried cranberries. Using an oiled ice cream scooper or 1/4 cup measure, fill each wrapper two thirds full. Bake on the middle shelf of your oven for 20-22 minutes.

Cranberry Sauce:

This makes way more than you will need for this recipe, but you can use this sauce to fill a tart, spread on toast, or top a variety of things, including your morning porridge.

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Place the cranberries in a pot on medium heat and stir until the cranberries begin to get juicy. Add the sugar and lemon juice, and simmer, stirring often, until the mixture is thick, about 10 minutes. Because you are going to use this sauce in the frosting, I pureed it quickly with a hand held blender. At this point it should be quite gelatinous, and not at all runny.

Frosting:

1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup vegan margarine
31/2 cups icing sugar
3-4 Tbs cranberry sauce

Beat the shortening and margarine together until fully combined and fluffy. Add the sugar, one cup at a time, and whisk until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the cranberry sauce, and whisk until fully combined. Taste the frosting. If it's not cranberry-y enough for you, add a little more sauce. If the frosting is to liquidy, add some more icing sugar. If it's too stiff, you can add either a little more cranberry sauce, or a little dash of soy milk.

Once the cupcakes are fully cooled, frost them to your own taste (the cranberry sauce makes this frosting not ideal for a pastry bag, use a knife instead). Top each cupcake with crumbled dark chocolate (if you don't have any left over, just chop up tiny little bits of chocolate with a knife.)

My Life - The Vegan Year

2011-11-20T14:16:00.000-08:00

Well, folks, it's coming up to that time of year when we spend too much time reflecting on our life choices and we wonder what, if anything, we've gained from the last year of our lives. Up until this point, I've been a bit hesitant to make any bold statements about my transition to veganism, but at 11 months in, I think I'm finally ready to summarise some of my thoughts and feelings about my life as a vegan so far.

So what have I gained or learned or lost?

Well, perhaps surprisingly, the food related aspects of becoming vegan have been the easiest part. No, I don't miss cheese. No, seriously, I really don't. I will admit, about a month and a half into the year (for those of you not aware, I became vegan on New Years Day), I had some pretty powerful urges to eat cheese and store-bought, dairy laden pastry. Solution? I made some cupcakes out of the super-awesome-amazing-califragalistic Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (thanks Patty!). I bought Cheezly and put it on my pizza. And amazingly, my cravings have largely disappeared. I don't even think about what I'm not eating now.

To be honest, I think I've just been having to much plain ol' fun with food to miss dairy. I thought my culinary horizons were pretty broad already, but vegan cookbooks aren't messing around when it comes to gastronomic experimentation, and I've been making at least three new dishes every week. If you really want to make something no one at your dinner table has ever had before, pick up a copy of Veganomicon. Mole skillet pie? Butternut squash summer rolls with Cranberry dipping sauce? Yes please.

My tastes have lightened up, and I've become more in tune to dishes that are full of flavour but are lacking in heavy fat. That's not to say that you can't eat very heavy, creamy, fatty food on a vegan diet; those recipes are out there in droves, but I think I've learned that even as a lacto-ovo vegetarian, I was still quite addicted to animal fat, and I think a lot of dairy and egg eating vegetarians have a similar addiction. I've stopped relying on something fatty and unhealthy to provide the happy in a recipe (note: that doesn't mean I've stopped liking fatty and unhealthy things). My palate has really opened up in the last 11 months, and I get more enjoyment out of simple, clean, flavourful food than I ever have before. A good peach isn't just a good peach anymore. It's like a religious experience of peach holiness.

By throwing food out the door that I was probably actually addicted to, as many people are addicted to the casomorphines in cheese, I think I've learned that I can give up any one food without inflicting trauma on myself. My happiness is not reliant on cheese. If this seems like an overly-obvious statement to you...well, no, I don't think this does seem like an overly-obvious statement to anyone. I've come to realise that a significant proportion of people really do believe their happiness is reliant on cheese.

The health aspects of becoming vegan are pretty self-evident, and to be honest, I don't have that much to say about my own experiences health-wise. I didn't really have any significant health problems before becoming vegan, so it's kind of difficult to report on any changes in this area. What I can say is that besides saturated fat and dangerous animal protein, there is a lot of processed junk that many people eat mindlessly at the office, or the way home from work, or at parties that is automatically left out of the vegan diet. So in a way, there is a certain amount of effortless improvement to your diet that comes along with veganism.

On the other hand, I wouldn't be doing anyone any favours if I suggested that veganism is a panacea for all health problems, and that personal responsibility doesn't factor into your health at all. There are still health traps for the vegan. Sugar, white flour, added oils, and processed vegan foods can show up much too often in many vegans' diets. If I have noticed a significant change in my health it would be that in avoiding a wider array of unhealthy foods in my diet, I have started to really notice the difference in how I feel after consuming different foods. Eat fresh green salads, vegetable soups, whole grains and beans and I feel light and happy. Eat too much sugary food, white bread, and alcohol and I feel crappy and moody.

Easily the most difficult part of the transition has been the social aspects. Dining out, going to other people's houses for dinner, or trying to navigate through the mire of misinformation out there about animal products and animal rights has not been easy.

But on a positive note, I know a lot of people run into confrontations with others when they stop eating animal products, and while I have definitely experienced some very bull-headed and flat out rude behaviour in regards to my eating habits, I haven't really encountered very much of this as a vegan. Keep in mind, I am writing this from a country famed for its polite and reserved residents, so perhaps it's not that surprising that while living in England I haven't received a lot of flak about my diet.

The most difficult thing has been dining out, particularly in any British restaurant/pub. I've had to send back a few things that came with little bits of diary even after asking for the dish without. I've encountered odd situations, such as:

Waiter: Hmm, let me see...is it a milk allergy that you have?
Me: No, I'm a vegan.
Waiter: Oh, I know we don't have anything vegan. Absolutely nothing. Even the vegetarian stuff has diary in it.
Me: Oh really? Could you ask the kitchen if they could maybe make the vegetarian tomato and basil soup without dairy?
Waiter: Wait, let me see. It might not have any dairy. Just a second." (calls down the kitchen) "Yeah, it's vegan.

Or:

Waitress: So the chef can do a soup and a tagine, and some roast potatoes.
Me: Great!
Waitress: Are potatoes vegan?

My best advice is to never use the word vegan when trying to specify what you can or can't eat at a restaurant. No one knows what it means and it seems to terrify the living daylights out of servers. And yes, if you're wondering, I managed to respond that last waitress without laughing.

What I have found is that, firstly, calling ahead to the restaurant is the best idea. Secondly, being both polite and optimistic will go a long way. If you act like you are putting people out, they may believe you. If you act like you expect people to offer you the world, you will not be well received. However, if you are polite and cheerful, clear about what you can eat, and come prepared with some ideas of how the restaurant can modify something already on their menu for you, you will find most people surprisingly accommodating. Afterwards, be grateful, and be sure to thank the chef if he or she went out of their way to make you something special.

As for going to other people's houses, I find it's best to offer to bring something for yourself. Since I like to cook, I genuinely don't mind bringing something. And if someone wants to try to make something for you, at least you've offered, so you don't have to feel like you are a burden to your host.

The last social aspect that I've mentioned can be the hardest. Listening to other people talk about meat or hunting, or watching meat being cooked on TV has become much more painful for me than it ever was before. To be honest, I haven't found a great way of avoiding it. I've become acutely aware of the many, many different ways that non-human animals are abused by humans, and sometimes I find it hard to have a conversation with people without the subject coming up. I don't want to upset anyone, and I don't want to be constantly bringing the subject of animal rights up with people. I've yet to find a balance between speaking my mind when I really need to, and leaving something alone when it's just not the time and someone isn't going to be interested or open-minded. Often people have been more interested in what I know than I expected, and I've left the situation feeling that I should have been more open and honest with them, and given them more credit.

As for the personal aspects, these have been the most powerful but also the most distressing. Discovering how much abuse is in our society, and how inherent this abuse is was, and continues to be, very disturbing to me. On the other hand, I've seen my friends be open-minded and willing to change when hearing the truth about the animal agriculture industry or the health risks of animal products, and I've been amazed and thrilled with their reactions. People want to and can change. I know this for certain.

But the bottom line is, when I think over the last year and the decision I made, and the information I now know about the abuses inherent in dairy and meat production, I'm amazed at the change in my mindset more than in my practises. Making the decision to give up all animal products and attempting to make a change in the world with one little action, or rather lack of action, has been the best decision I've made in a long, long time. I can't imagine my life, or the person I would be without veganism, and thank God, thank Buddha, thank Zorathustra, or thank pure dumb luck that I found it.

Ethical Eats

Roasted Beets 'n Apples

Speaking of simple, flavourful food, this easy peasy dish will make a beet lover out of you. How can anyone not love beets anyway? Look how pretty!

Olive oil for drizzling
2 large beets or 4 small ones, peeled and sliced into centimeter thick slices
2 large apples, of a medium acidity variety, peeled and sliced into centimeter thick slices
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400/200 degrees.

Place the beet and apple slices on a large roasting tin or pan. Drizzle the olive oil and lemon juice over the beets and apples and toss to coat. Season to taste.

Roast the beets and apples in the oven for about 20 minutes or so, tossing them after 10 minutes. You can roast them until they are just tender, or a few more minutes until they are a little sticky and chewy. Toss the walnuts in for the last 5 minutes of roasting.

Serve!

Ch-Ch-Changes (the Health Edition)

2011-10-02T12:46:00.000-07:00

It's that time again, when the leaves turn orange and red, the air gets crisper, and I start to wax poetic about the bounty of the harvest. Last time around this year, I thought the autumn was a good time to talk about transitioning to vegetarianism. This time, I'm going to ask you all to put down the donuts, and think about transitioning to a more healthful diet. Here are some hows and whys.

1. Swap out your bread

This step comes first partly because it's essential to good health and partly because it's so easy. 20 years ago, dumping white bread for wholemeal might be tricky, but today you almost have to make a commitment to eating white bread to avoid wholemeal. Supermarkets bread aisles are lined with wholemeal products, and even restaurants; heck, even fast food places will often offer you the option of wholewheat bread or pizza bases. So swap out your daily bread, pizza bases, breadcrumbs, pasta, bread wraps and tortillas, couscous, and pita bread for wholemeal breads and bread products. And while you're at it, you should also oust white rice and replace it with chewy, nutty brown rice.

2. Green your life

Dark, leafy greens are the most healthful foods on the planet. Nothing else holds a candle. Kale, spinach, Swiss chard, beet greens, romaine lettuce, watercress, bok choy (pak choi), and collard greens are full of minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and phytonutrients; in fact, the only thing they don't have a lot of is calories. What's more, they are super easy to chuck into whatever you happen to be cooking. Alternatively, you can saute them up with a little garlic and olive oil, or steam them and drizzle them with a simple lemon juice dressing and serve them on the side. Try to eat them every day and feel your body glow with greeny goodness.

34. Olives are a whole food, oil is not

I know I said that we would talk about the dangers of using cooking oils rather than using the nuts, seeds, and fruits that they are sourced from in a later post, and I really meant it. But for now, I'll just tell you that there are dangers when using cooking oils rather than using the nuts, seeds, and fruits that they are sourced from, so try not to do it. In a salad dressing, use nut butters or grind up some nuts or seeds to mix in with the rest of your ingredients. Saute vegetables in water or vegetable stock (or a combination of no more than one teaspoon of oil and water) and add olives, avocado, nuts or seeds later as a component of the dish.

4. Don't eschew the cashew

This step is super fun and very delicious. Dairy is dangerous to your health, but is much beloved, partly for it's creamy manifestations. Cashews in particular are perfect for making healthy creams that don't involve saturated fat laden dairy. Try cashew sour cream, cashew cream in replace of creme fraiche, or soft cashew "cheese" spreads instead of cream cheese. The flavour is not the same as the dairy foods you are used to, but it doesn't need to be. These creams are delicious, satisfying, and healthful in their own right.

5. Five a day is a minimum

I know that it's very popular in the media right now to encourage people to aim for five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, but I just think five a day is so weak. Yeah, most people aren't even reaching that meager goal, but the mediocrity of the masses should not be the ruler with which you use to measure yourself. Aim for 10 servings a day, and you will certainly reach five. Try to get a mixture of different kinds of vegetables: leafy greens, cruciferous veggies, root vegetables, starchy vegetables, and squashes. Even better, try to eat as many different colours everyday as you can: dark green broccoli, red tomatoes, orange carrots, purple plums, and white parsnips. Fans of Rainbow Brite will enjoy this endeavour.

6. Make sugar a treat

And a treat only. Eliminate this sneaky fiend from your regular diet. Sugar does absolutely nothing beneficial for your health. Nothing. Once or twice a week in a sweet treat, or on special occasions is fine, but cutting it out of your regular meals is essential to health. Watch out for sugar in your peanut butter, canned tomato sauces, juices, and any and all processed foods.

7. Fix breakfast first

Overwhelmed by all the changes you have to make? Fix one meal at a time, and start with breakfast. Taking all the simple carbs, saturated and trans fat, animal protein, and dangerous processed additives out of one meal at time allows you to adjust slowly in bite-sized pieces of change. Why breakfast first? Well, for one thing, it's the easiest meal to fix, most people are used to eating a simple breakfast. Secondly, it's the most import...oh, you don't want to hear that again. Lets just say, try starting your day with a bowl of raisin and walnut porridge with no added sweeteners, and compare how you feel all morning to how you feel when you start the day with a bowl of frosted flakes with some sugary flavoured yogurt on the side.

8. Plan for snack attacks

We can all argue till we're blue in the face about the necessity of including snacks in our daily diet, but the bottom line is, at some point your train home is going to be delayed, or your boss is going to forget that he's not the only in the office who eats, or your roommate is going to eat your dinner when you aren't looking (Aga, I'm looking at you). Keep some fruit (sturdy fruit not prone to juicing inappropriately), trail mix, or whole grain crackers in your bag or briefcase, and you won't storm and pillage the first pizza place you see when unplanned for hunger strikes.

9. Become additive aware

Since becoming vegan, it's come to my attention that some people are really horrified by the prospect of reading labels to find out what's actually in a food product. It's not that bad, people. Get some reading glasses! Anyhoo, we all need to be on the lookout for unnecessary unhealthful additives like sugar and it's various other names (glucose, dextrose, HFCS, etc), E numbers (i.e. E102), and hydrogenated oils. Look out for subversive words like flavourings and colouring. Food should be made up of ingredients that the average person can pronounce and find in their kitchen cupboards.

10. Start your own nutrition mini-library

More reading, I know. This one is partly for your own edification, and partly for motivation. Reading books for nutrition has the obvious benefit of teaching you more about nutrition, but also when you find that you've lost your way and have gone back to chips and soda, you can read these books to remind you of how bad these foods are for your health, and why you made the change in the first place. C'mon guys, reading nutrition books is fun!

11. Tell everyone in your life what you are doing

Okay, your postman probably couldn't care less, but let your spouse, partner, roommate, best friends, coworkers, and family members know that you're trying to adopt a healthier diet; otherwise, they may unintentionally sabotage your diet by continually offering foods you shouldn't be eating, but find very hard to resist. You will have to very specific; telling people that you are eating healthier and expecting them to understand exactly what you mean isn't going to work very well. Tell them exactly what foods you are eating more of, and what foods you are avoiding.

Now, it may be the case that some people in your life will continued to try and sabotage your new diet even after this point, either because they aren't taking you seriously, or because they resent your new habits. Sit these people down and tell them exactly why you are making the change. Did you have a warning from your doctor? Have you been feeling sluggish and ill? Does your parent's failing health make you more attentive to your own? Be direct and honest, and don't be intimidated by any one's attempt to belittle your choices.

12. Remember that diet really does make a difference

There exists a common misperception that you can't really do much to control your own health; that genetics are the determining factor. Bull. Thousands of studies have confirmed that people who eat healthy diets live longer and have lower incidents of disease, and in fact, research suggests that genetics only determine about 2-3% of your total cancer risk. So why do people from the same families get the same diseases? Uh, because they eat the same diet?

13. Consider the cost of an unhealthy diet

Eating an unhealthy diet doesn't just affect you and your life. It doesn't even just affect your friends and family who have to deal with the emotional repercussions your bad heath, or even your death. Everyone in your country has to pay for your illness. Think of the relief on the healthcare system of your country if diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and autoimmune diseases stopped being a major problem. Large drug companies get rich off of the high prevalence of these diseases and struggling taxpayers shoulder the burden.

14. Don't get caught in the trap of thinking you have to "give everything good up"

How many times have you heard (or maybe said) some variation of the following statement: "Sure, if you give up white flour, sugar, meat, cheese, saturated fat, donuts, cheesecake, and alcohol, you might live longer, but who would want to?" This thought is a trap. There is plenty of pleasure, even gleeful joy, in healthy eating. Most healthy eaters I know love food way more than junk food junkies, and their love of food is broader and more adventurous.

Consider this passage from T Colin Cambpell's The China Study: "Not long ago, one of my best friends suffered a difficult surgery for cancer and spent his last years paralyzed in a nursing home. During the many visits I made to the nursing home, I never failed to come away with a deep appreciation for the health I still possess in my old age....The enjoyment of life, especially the second half of life, is greatly compromised if we can't see, if we can't think, if our kidneys don't work or if our bones are broken or fragile. I, for one, hope that I am able to fully enjoy not only the time in the present, but also the time in the future, with good health and independence." (Campbell 222)

15. Give yourself time off

Don't worry, no one is expecting you to be a nutritional martyr. Let yourself have a meal off every now and then. Feel free to bake you and your friends some treats every other week or so. Enjoy holidays and the treats that always surround them. A little bit of most things won't kill you, but if you are ill or overweight aim for no more than 10% of your calories to come from unhealthful foods.

Vital Vittles

Lunchbox Black Bean Burritos

I created these burritos one day when I was making my lunches for the week and trying to use up various things in my kitchen that looked like that were on their last legs (bad choice of phrase for a vegan burrito?) Feel free to experiment with throwing different veggies into the mix, and add some guacamole if you are so inclined.

1 cup uncooked brown rice
2 cups water
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
juice of one lime
salt and pepper to taste

3 tbsp water
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 courgette, grated
1/2 cup corn (frozen, fresh, or canned)
1 can (or 1.5 cups) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 small green chili, chopped, or a pinch of crushed chili flakes
salt and pepper to taste

3/4 cup raw cashews
2 tbsp lemon juice (or if you want to keep up the lime theme, lime juice)
1/4 cup water
salt to taste

4-6 wholewheat or corn tortillas

For the rice:

In a small, covered pot, bring the rice and water to a bowl and immediately lower to a simmer. Cook until the rice is tender, about 45-50 minutes. Once the rice is ready, mix in the cilantro and lime juice. Taste and add a dash of salt and pepper if you like.

For the cashew sour cream:

Add the cashews, lemon or lime juice and water into a blender (if you only have an immersion or handheld blender, just use a tall container). Blend until creamy, adding water if necessary. Salt to taste.

For the rice and vegetable mixture:

Heat the oil and water in a large frying pan, and add the onion, sauteing until soft (about 7 minutes.) Add the garlic, and saute for another minute or so. Add the cumin, coriander, and chili or chili flakes, and saute for 30 seconds, then add the carrot, courgette, and corn. Saute the vegetable mixture another 5ish minutes, or until the veggies are soft. Add the black beans and stir to heat through. Taste, adjust seasonings.

Heat each tortilla wrap gently in a clean frying pan, just until warm and pliable. Divide the rice evenly between each tortilla, then top with the veggies and bean mixture, then top with cashew cream (and guacamole, if you want). Wrap and serve immediately.

Is a Vegan Diet too Expensive?

2011-08-27T05:58:00.000-07:00

“I would eat vegetarian more often, but vegetables are so expensive.” “I can't afford to eat healthy.” “Don't vegan ingredients cost more than normal ones?” Even from vegetarians, I hear these attacks of irrationality: “our grocery bills wouldn’t be so expensive if we weren’t vegetarian,”or “it’s a sad state of affairs that meat is cheaper in this country than vegetables.” Um, no it isn’t. Granted, meat and dairy are subsidized in many countries by the government, which means that meat and dairy are much cheaper than they should be, but they still aren’t cheaper than their vegan alternatives. Stop spreading lies!

I wouldn't have thought that the fact that sources of animal protein tend be amongst the most expensive things on our shopping lists was any big secret. If I were to make the bold claim that steak is more expensive than brown rice, I don't think I would shock anyone. So I'm truly baffled when anyone claims that veganism, the base of which is vegetables (any kind you want, they don't have to be fancy), fruits (ditto), grains, beans, nuts, and spices, is more prohibitive in cost than omnivorous diets that use the most expensive items in your grocery store as their staples. Saying that you would be vegan except that the diet is too expensive is like claiming that you would watch One Tree Hill but you don't think the show takes itself seriously enough.

To demonstrate this claim to those of you who are impudent enough to not just take my word for it, I’m going to compare a typical day of vegan fare to a day of typical omnivore fare. And before you get up in arms claiming that I’ve skewed the results to my own liking, I interviewed two (not one, two!) omnivores about their daily diets as the basis for my omnivore day, and used my own diet for the vegan day.

Although I love to shop at the farmer's market and rarely do my weekly shopping at a big supermarket, for the practical purposes of the post I’ve used the website http://mysupermarket.co.uk/ to price out the day on Tesco. I’ve generally chosen the cheapest option available, unless it was too budget even for me.

Typical Vegan Day

Breakfast: Porridge with Raisins and Walnuts

Morning Snack: 1 Apple

Lunch: Vegan Caesar Salad and North African Cauliflower Soup

Afternoon snack: 2 Plums

Dinner: Butternut Squash Timbales with Walnuts and Arborio Rice

Total cost of day: £2.70

Typical Meat Eater Day

Breakfast: Cereal with Milk

Morning snack: Banana

Lunch: Ham and Cheese Baguette

Afternoon snack: Individual Sized Yogurt

Dinner: Spaghetti Bolognese

Total cost of day: £4.32

You may notice that my vegan menu does not include so-called substitutes, and most people think these foods are more expensive than their animal alternatives. But I've drawn up a little comparison to show that most vegan staple substitutes aren't really any more expensive than the cruelty-full items.
For example:

In the UK a stick of butter costs £1.60, or 64p per 100g. A container of Pure vegan butter is £1.57, or 31.4p per 100g.
A carton of 1.1 litres of cheap milk costs 89p, or 7.8p per 100ml, and a container of cheap soy milk costs 59p, or 5.9p per 100ml.
Everyone who does eat dairy should only consume organic milk, aside from the ethical considerations, as the added hormones in regular milk are very questionable substances for your health. From a gastronomic perspective, basic soy milk cannot hold a candle to higher quality soy milk brands, so I've compared the price of a carton of 1.1 litres of organic dairy milk: £1.10, or 9.7p/100ml, to the price of my favourite Alpro Original soy milk: £1.09 per litre, or 10.9p/100ml.
A 500g container of Onken yogurt costs 99p, or 19.8p per 100g. A 500g container of Alpro yogurt costs £1.00, or 20p per 100g.
While I wouldn't consider cream a basic some people do (especially you cream-loving Brits), so it's worth noting that a 300ml container of Tesco single cream costs £1.00, or 33.3p/100ml, compared to a 250ml container of Alpro soy single cream, which costs 74p, or 29.6p/100ml.

You get the idea. Sometimes a vegan product might cost a little more than the dairy alternative, but often the price is competitive. The average price per gram/millilitre for the non-vegan items listed above comes out to 26.9p per 100 grams or millilitres. The average price per gram/millilitre for the vegan items comes out to 19.5p per 100 grams or millilitres. But of course you know that these processed substitutes shouldn't make up the bulk of your diet.

In my New Year's post, I mentioned that lentils and beans were the cheapest source of protein around. Beans are not only nutritional powerhouses full of iron, protein, complex carbs, fibre, and micronutrients; they are not only versatile nutritional powerhouses; they are dirt cheap versatile nutritional powerhouses. Despite all of the attention that soy gets, I think that most vegans consider beans to be their mainstay sources of protein.

Let's compare them to a standard source of comparatively cheap animal protein. One 1.23Kg package of chicken thighs costs £3.00 or £2.44 per Kg (priced at Tesco). A 400g can of kidney beans costs 24p, or 60p per kilogram. Cans of beans are very cheap, but it's even cheaper to buy dried beans and cook them yourself. While a 500g bag of kidney beans costs 79p, or £1.59 per Kg, in order to properly compare the price of canned and dried beans we must account for the drained weight of the cans and the cooked weight of the dried beans. Isn't this fun? Would you judge me if I told you that I really think it is fun?

Since the weight of the drained canned beans is about half the original weight, and the weight of the cooked dried beans is roughly double that of their dried weight, we can estimate this difference fairly accurately simply by doubling the price of the canned beans, and halving the price of the dried beans, meaning that the canned beans cost £1.20 per kilogram and the dried beans cost 76p per kilogram. So dried beans are even cheaper than canned beans, and both are so much cheaper than the chicken it's silly. Dried beans are only a little more than one quarter of the price of cheap chicken!

I don't think that the perception that vegan foods are more expensive comes from the actual cost of vegetables, fruits, beans and grains, I think it comes from the prices at stores such as Whole Foods Market, Planet Organic, and other uber trendy, organic-esque halls of granola. I've come to realize that many people believe that doing the bulk of your shopping at these over-priced hippy traps is a requirement for your annual vegan membership. The uncomfortably well-groomed organic produce sold at Whole Foods et all is no more of a requirement for the vegan diet than it is for the omnivore diet. Most vegans shop at the same stores that meat-eaters do (unless you do all your shopping at the butcher's), and only visit these shops every once in a while for hard to find specialty items.

I have to confess, the cheapness of veganity uncovered in this post has amazed even me. Go forth and buy beans.

Recessionpe!

Butternut Squash Timbales with Walnuts and Arborio Rice

These little constructions of yum look and taste fancy enough to serve at a dinner party or holiday meal, but I've made them for weeknight suppers without much fuss. The recipe is adapted only slightly from The Vegan Table.

2 cups of peeled and cubed butternut squash
2.5 cups vegetable stock
1 cup Arborio rice (this is the kind of rice used to make risotto)
1/2 tsp salt
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh parsley (2 tsp dried)
1 tsp fresh thyme
1-2 small sun-dried tomatoes
Black pepper
1/4 cup toasted, chopped walnuts
several leaves of dark greens such as kale or collard greens (about 2 per person)

Lightly oil 4 ramekins, mini-loaf pans, or smallish sized cereal bowls. Note: this step is optional. If you are making this dish for a weekday meal and aren't too fussed about presentation, you can just serve everything in a big old mess on a plate.

Steam or bake squash until just tender, about 10-12 minutes for steaming, 30 minutes for baking.

Bring stock and rice to a boil in a large saucepan. Add salt, and reduce heat to low, cover and cook about 20 minutes, stirring often (the rice should ideally be tender with some liquid remaining). Uncover, give a good stir, and take off heat.

In the meantime, toast the walnuts in a single layer on a small baking pan in the oven for about 5 minutes, or until fragrant. Saute the greens in either water or a little olive oil in a frying pan.

Heat oil or water in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Saute onion until translucent and just browning. Add garlic, parsley, and thyme, and stir for a few minutes. Add the sun dried tomatoes and squash. Remove from heat.

If serving in a big mess, simply arrange the greens on each plate, top with rice, then squash mixture, and then sprinkle with walnuts.

If serving fancy-like, place a quarter of the squash mixture in each ramekin/bowl, and press down to pack. Top with 1/4 of the rice mixture, and press down firmly again. Arrange the sauteed greens on each plate, and turn over each bowl/ramekin onto the bed of greens. If the timbale doesn't come out on its own, gently run a knife around the edge to dislodge it. Reshape carefully if needed. Sprinkle with walnuts and black pepper to taste.

I buy free-range eggs. So there's no problem, right?

2011-07-10T12:29:00.000-07:00

A Wild Chicken

Despite having eaten plenty of them in my lifetime, I've always found eggs a little disturbing. I mean, think about what an egg is, and think about what the human equivalent might be, and then think about eating that human equivalent. Now do you feel like eating frittata tonight? But I continued to eat eggs, partly out of habit and convenience, and partly because I couldn't really see a reason not to eat them.

Well, I've found some reasons.

Most of you probably already know what's wrong with battery farm eggs. We've seen the images of the tiny cages, the dark, dismal barns, and the crowds of birds smothering each other, often resulting in injury and death. We all know that in these systems, injured birds often go unnoticed, and are left to die a slow death while being trampled on by other birds. We all know that sometimes the corpses of these birds are not removed quickly, disturbing and distressing the other birds, and spreading disease.

We all know that a hen living in one of the cramped cages will often suffer from osteoporosis, broken bones, and sores on her body. We know that, despite being a very social animal, she will be cut off from any contact with other birds. We know that the feces from other birds will drop down on her constantly. We know that she will never see daylight.

You all ready have all of this information, so I didn't need to tell you. When I first saw the images of caged hens, I did the same thing a lot of other people did. I felt a wave of guilt, and started buying free range eggs instead. I thought the problem was largely solved. Was it? Is there a problem with free-range eggs?

Well, for starters, although hens would normally live more than 10 years, in the egg-laying industry they are considered spent (a charming expression) after 1-2 years, and are sent to die an unimaginably cruel death in a slaughterhouse. Just as with the dairy industry, the egg industry props up the meat industry, and anyone who has a problem with the meat industry must qualifying have a problem with the egg industry.

Unbeknownst to many, the free-range label also doesn't mean a heck of a lot. In the USA, in order to label their eggs free-range, a farm simply has to open a window or a door for some part of the day. The cramped conditions can remain the same, the unbearable temperatures can remain the same, everything else stays the same. Does anyone really think that the hens care or even notice whether or not a window is open? In Canada, there is no regulation whatsoever on what gets labelled free-range.

In the UK, regulations are a little stricter, but the living (and dying) conditions for these birds are still a cruel joke. Under UK law, free-range birds supposedly have access to the outside throughout the day, and under European Union law, each bird must have 4 square metres of space in the open-air range. Inside the barn, hens may be "stocked" (another charming expression) at a density of 9 hens per square metre.

In free-range systems, there are several factors that make regulations ineffective. The first of these factors should be obvious: farmers don't always do what they are told. Undercover investigations have shown farms that proudly proclaim the term free-range, or even Freedom Food stamps from the RSPCA, blatantly disregarding the rules of these terms, keeping the birds in cramped conditions, failing to remove the corpses of dead birds, and allowing injury and disease to run rampant.

Undercover operations have taken video footage of some of these farms, and some of that footage is available for you to see. The UK group Viva! and Sky News have done an expose on a free range farm here. Five News has done an expose on a free range farm in Norfolk that can be found here, and the sanctuary Peaceful Prairie has done a video on free-range farming in the US that can be found here.

A Wild Hen and Her Chicks

Although chickens are social animals, the flocks that farms keep them in are unnaturally large, and large flocks result in aggression in some of the birds. Aggressive birds will often guard the opening to the open air range, stopping other birds from getting outside, and keeping them in the cramped conditions indoors. As a consequence, many of the birds will rarely, if ever, see the outdoors.

Another consequence of aggression in these birds is a tendency towards pecking, which is not as cute as it sounds. Aggressive birds will give other hens sores and defeather them by pecking at them. They may also engage in cannibalistic behaviour that sometimes causes these birds to wound other birds fatally. This destructive pecking is stereotypic behaviour that occurs because of the stressful conditions the birds are kept in; it is not natural behaviour.

In order to combat pecking, one of the cruelest practices in chicken egg farming is almost universally used in free range systems. At a young age, each hen will have her beak seared off with a hot blade. Hen's beaks have a large nerve supply, and debeaking is a painful process that will often stop a hen from engaging in natural behaviour such as preening, indicating that she feels the pain of the hot blade long after the procedure has been completed.

Rats, mice, and red mite infestations can run rampant in free range systems, causing panic in flocks, often leading to hens been trampled and suffocating to death. These infestations spread disease, and make the hens stressed, increasing aggressive pecking behaviour.

In our society, baby chicks are admired not only for their fuzzy and adorable appearance, but also as symbols of innocence, youth, and spring fertility. Most people would agree that to hurt one of these sweet birds would be an act of incredible brutality. But what happens to these male chicks is perhaps the most shocking aspect of egg farming, and this aspect is something that occurs across the board in every single kind of egg farm: battery farms, free range farms, or organic farms. Considered useless by the egg-farming industry, each male chick is killed at one to two days old. Many are killed by being thrown alive into a macerator that grinds them alive. Many are gassed to death. Many are killed by being thrown alive into a garbage and left to suffocate.

If you feel compelled to eliminate eggs from your diet after reading this information, great. If you feel disturbed by the information, but are not ready to completely stop eating eggs, don't bother buying into the clever marketing lie known as free range eggs. Just eat fewer eggs, and keep your mind open to the possibility of an egg-free life.

References

DEFRA, "Code of Recommendations for the Welfare of Livestock: Laying Hens," London: DEFRA, 2002. http://www.defra.gov.uk/publications/files/pb7274-laying-hens-020717.pdf

DEFRA, "The Welfare of Hens in Free Range Systems," London: DEFRA, 2001. http://www.defra.gov.uk/publications/files/pb7274-laying-hens-020717.pdf

Farm Animal Welfare Council, "Report on the Welfare of Laying Hens," London: FAWC, 1997. http://www.fawc.org.uk/reports/layhens/lhgretoc.htm

The Vegan Society, "Hens and Eggs," Birmingham: The Vegan Society, accessed July 2011.

http://www.vegansociety.com/resources/animals/hens-and-eggs.aspx.

United Poultry Concerns, "Chickens," Machipongo: UPC, accessed July 2011. http://www.upc-online.org/chickens/chickensbro.html

What's the deal with B12?

2011-05-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

It's said by some that in in the vegan community the issue of vitamin B12 is sometimes swept under the carpet, or mentioned as an afterthought. The vegan diet has a lot going for it from a health perspective, including lower rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases, and a good vegan diet will have ample amounts of all nutrients, but there is one dastardly little vitamin that escapes a plant-based diet: vitamin B12. Yes, it's true. The vegan diet is lacking in one nutrient. And the kicker is that we need such a tiny amount of it. In a whole lifetime, the average person only needs about 40 milligrams of B12! But I personally don't think we should ignore this problem and pretend it's not there, but rather bring the issue out into the forefront. Everyone starting out as a vegan needs to be aware of the need to either consume B12 fortified foods, or take a supplement.

When I first starting contemplating veganism, I was well-aware that vegans needed to supplement with B12. But it was only when I was collecting a plethora of positive health claims about veganism that I started to wonder why. Why would such a tiny nutrient, required in only micrograms a day, be left out of this otherwise incredibly healthy diet? So I looked the subject up, and here's what I found.

B12 is not inherent in animal products. It grows on bacteria. Meat is rich in bacteria because the bacteria is attracted to...dead flesh. Aren't we all? The story goes that herbivore animals usually obtain B12 from eating their own feces. Now, apparently in communities where a plant-based diet is the norm, such as in certain parts of India, B12 deficiency does not seem to occur; however, when people from these cultures migrate to more developed countries, they develop a deficiency. The culprit appears to be our "lifeless" soil that has been overly sterilised from pesticides, herbicides, and chemicals. Since B12 is produced by bacteria, it doesn't seem to want to grow in this squeaky clean soil. Studies have also noted that countries such as India often seem to have water that is contaminated with bacteria, including bacteria from feces, and that B12 is sometimes obtained from that water.

Personally, upon hearing that my options are either eating bacteria-ridden dead flesh, my own feces, or drinking water contaminated with other people's feces, my reaction is, um, I'll take the little supplement pill, thanks. I don't know about you.

Some people have suggested that several plant-based sources of B12 might be used instead, including seaweeds and our own intestinal bacteria, but none of them have been found to be very reliable sources so far. There is some evidence that organic produce, a certain type of algae, or tempeh might turn out to be reliable, but at the moment, the best we know is that vegans should take either a supplement, or be sure to eat sufficient amounts of B12 fortified food. I myself take a supplement. I don't want to be bothered to try and drink a certain amount of non-dairy milk a day, and I don't eat a lot of meat analogues, nutritional yeast, or breakfast cereals, which are the foods typically fortified with B12. If you are abstaining from both meat and dairy, you really need to be doing one of the following: eat fortified foods with at least 3 micrograms of B12 per day, take a B12 supplement of 10 micrograms a day, or take weekly supplement of 2000 micrograms.*

Even though it's true that many people have a built up store of B12 for several years when they first become vegan, assuming that you are one of these people is not very wise. Overt B12 deficiency is no sweeping-under-the-carpet matter; it can ultimately result in blindness, deafness, or dementia. Early symptoms can include fatigue and a tingling in the hands and feet. Mild B12 deficiency may not come along with any symptoms, but will cause elevated levels of homocysteine, which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.

If there is any tendency in the vegan community to keep quiet about the need for B12, I think it may be due to the concern that in lacking one little vitamin, veganism might seem like an "unnatural" diet. I think this supposition is illogical on three counts. First of all, vegans are not the only people who get B12 deficiency. Lacto-ovo vegetarians and meat-eaters also suffer from it. In fact, doctors recommend that people older than 50 years take a B12 supplement anyway. Secondly, while we don't know for sure, the evidence certainly seems to suggest that our soil is the problem, not the vegan diet. Thirdly, and here's the part where I give these members of the vegan community a little tough love, who cares? Don't monkey around with your health like that! You're worried that people won't think veganism is a natural diet? What does a natural diet even mean? None of us are eating what our cave people ancestors ate. We've moved past that. And I think we need to give people a little credit. If people are compelled by the ethical reasons of veganism, have heard of all of the fantastic health benefits, and they're at the point where they think they might be willing to actually change their diet, they're not going to be dissuaded from doing so by the fact that they have to take a pill once a week. And if they are, they were never serious about the change in the first place.

Vegans should be supplementing with B12, and we don't need to make this recommendation in a whisper. Take the supplement, and tell others to take the supplement. Unhealthy vegans are a much worse advertisement for veganism than a pill. And keep in mind that when you are taking that supplement, you are missing the saturated fat, unhealthy animal protein, trans fat, and cholesterol that come along with the B12 in meat and dairy.

*click here to see a complete list of age appropriate B12 recommendations.

Vital Vittles

Vegan Caesar Salad

Since we're talking about a nutrient that's not really food based, there isn't really a related recipe. So instead I'm giving you Alicia Silverstone's recipe for vegan caesar salad, only slightly modified, because I've been obsessed with it lately. It's quite salty and tart, so if you're sensitive to these tastes, you might want to add the mustard and soy sauce sparingly. The original recipe can be found in The Kind Diet, (UK), (Can).

Croutons
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp sea salt
3-4 slices wholemeal bread, cut into cubes
Olive oil

Dressing
2 tbsp blanched or roasted almonds
3 garlic cloves, minced
1.5 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil

1 large head romaine lettuce, washed, torn and patted dry

Preheat the oven to 325 F/160 C. Toss together the bread cubes, rosemary, and salt in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, and then toss again. Spread bread cubes onto a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until dry and toasted. Cool completely.

Combine the almonds, garlic, mustard, soy sauce, tahini, lemon juice, and oil together in a food processor or blender, process until well-blended.

Toss the lettuce, croutons, and dressing together in a serving bowl. Serve immediately.

References
Campbell, T. Colin, The China Study:The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health. Dallas: BenBella Books, 2006.
National Institutes of Health, "Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin B12," http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitaminb12/, accessed 17 May 2011.
Norris, Jack, R.D., "B12: Are you getting it?" Veganhealth.org, accessed 17 May 2011.
Norris, Jack, R.D., "What every vegan should know about B12," Veganhealth.org, accessed 17 May 2011.

What do I need to give up and how do I do it? A guide to vegan substitutes

2011-04-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

When people are contemplating veganism, I don't think it's any secret that a lot of people get stuck dwelling on what they have to "give up." The popular public perception of vegans is one of asceticism; apparently we all sit around joylessly chewing on dry spinach leaves, waiting for Anna Wintour to walk by in her fur coat, so that we can throw red paint on her (c'mon, who wouldn't throw red paint at Anna Wintour?)

I assume that you, dear reader, are informed enough on the subject to know that there is an amazingly broad world of delicious vegan food out there. But I know that plenty of people still get confused, and even a little scared, at the prospect of giving up food that they have eaten since childhood, and a lot of people aren't really sure what exactly vegans do or do not eat.

OK, so, here is the basic lesson. Vegans do not eat meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and some do not eat honey. In this post I will explain and recommend some substitutions for these products; as well as, put your minds at ease regarding some items of confusion. Some of the products I'll recommend to you will be things that I haven't tried myself, but that are so highly regarded in the vegan community that I feel pretty confident in including them. The recommendations are as multi-regional as I can make them.

Let's start with the easy stuff. Milk: Substitutes for milk are Plentiful with a capital P. There are many different kinds: soy milk, rice milk, oat milk, almond milk, hemp milk, hazelnut milk, quinoa milk...I'm sure I've left some out. If you don't like one, keep trying others. Soy milk is most common, and is still my favourite, especially for putting in my tea and coffee. Note that while many people find the initial taste of soy a little off-putting, after drinking soy milk regularly, they either don't notice the same taste anymore, or they start to enjoy it.
Brand: Quality varies hugely from brand to brand, even for the same variety of milk. In the UK, I would recommend Alpro Soy Milk (I'm particularly fond of the long-life original), Rice Dream, So Good, and Oatly. In Canada and the States, I would recommend Silk and Rice Dream.
Uses: Pretty much the same as dairy milk.
Where to buy: Soy milk is available EVERYWHERE, even corner shops and gas stations. I really doubt that you live somewhere with no access to soy milk. Rice milk is probably the second most common, and can often still be found in your regular grocery store. For other varieties, try a health food store.

Butter: Butter is easily substituted by margarine, or canola oil in baking. Be careful when you are buying margarine, most brands use some amount of milk as a cheap filler or texture regulator.
Brands: In the UK, I buy Pure, which comes in either a soy version or a sunflower version. In Canada and the States, I haven't ever tried it, but I've heard many, MANY recommendations for Earth Balance.
Uses: Same as dairy butter. Canola oil works very well in many baked good recipes.
Where to buy: Your regular grocery store. In the UK canola oil is usually labelled as rapeseed oil or just vegetable oil.

Eggs: Replacing eggs in cooking in baking is probably a large enough subject that I'll do a separate post on it one day, so I won't really go into detail here. In cooking, tofu is often used to substitute eggs successfully in a variety of different dishes. In baking, a multitude of techniques exist, including a mixture of baking powder/soda and vinegar, a commercial egg replacer, flax gel, or fruit puree such as applesauce or mashed banana.

Meat: This topic also begs it's own post, so this is a very brief overview. Meat is sometimes very successfully replicated, sometimes not. I would recommend veggie burgers, vegan sausages, and ground/minced not-beef pretty confidently. However, if you are looking to replicate having a hunk of meat at the centre of your plate, meat substitutes might be a little hit and miss. Besides commercial meat subs, try tofu, tempeh, and seitan as the hunk of meaty protein in your meal (again I will do a separate post on these items).
Brands: In the UK, try Redwood, Fry's, and Goodlife. Quorn and Cauldron, the major meat substitutes available in UK grocery stores are NOT vegan, and have outright rejected proposals develop a vegan line (should this make us suspicious of their ethical motives? I think so). In Canada and the States, Yves veggie burgers and veggie ground round are pretty dead on replicates of fast food burgers and ground cow, but without the blood and gristle. You should also try Gardein and Boca products.
Where to Buy: Try your local healthfood store for Redwood and Fry's. Goodlife can be found in Waitrose. Yves, Gardein, and Boca can be found at regular grocery stores.

Cheese: Oh, the quest to find a true cheese replicate. I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but again, cheese deserves it's own post. Cheese subs also vary hugely in quality from brand to brand, and work best as a component of a meal, rather than as the focus. Cheese subs are often made from soy, rice, and nuts. You can also make your own substitutes at home (try Joanne Stepaniak's The Uncheese Cookbook, UK, CAN).
Brands: In the UK, I quite like Cheezly, although I think differing opinions exist. Scheese is also controversial, while I haven't tried it, I've really good things about their cheddar subs, and really bad things about their blue cheese subs. Tofutti makes a cream cheese substitute that'll do. In Canada and the States, I've heard good things about Daiya, Follow your Heart, and the pricier Dr. Cow.
Where to Buy: Tofutti, Cheezly, and Scheese are both available in health food stores, Cheezly more widely that Scheese. Daiya is available in health food stores in Canada, and I think more widely available in the US.

Yogurt: Soy yogurt is a good substitute for dairy yogurt, and I think you won't notice much of a difference. I've heard rave reviews of coconut milk yogurt, which I haven't found yet in the UK.
Brands: In the UK, Alpro yogurt is the standard, and comes both in large tubs of plain, and individual servings of flavoured. In the States, I've heard recommendations for So Delicious Coconut Yogurt. In both Canada and the States, Silk has a soygurt product.
Where to buy: Alpro and Silk are ubiquituously available.

Mayonaise: Commerical non-dairy mayos are good replicas. You can also try making your own, just search online for a recipe.
Brands: In the UK, Plamil makes a variety of different vegan mayos. In Canada and the States, Vegenaise is the gold standard.
Where to buy: Plamil is sold in health food stores. Your local chain grocery store will probably carry vegan mayo in their Free From aisle. Veganaise is widely available.

Sour Cream: Sour cream is also something that can be made at home using tofu or ground up cashews and lemon juice. Like I said before, yogurt can be substituted for several different uses, such as a dollop in your borscht.
Brands: Tofutti makes a non-dairy sour cream I haven't tried but that seems to be well-liked.
Where to buy: Health food store.

Now that we're done with the obvious stuff, here's the confusing stuff:

Bread: Vegans eat bread. 99% of the bread available is probably vegan, but occasionally milk products are used as cheap filler, so check the ingredients list just in case. Note: egg bread contains eggs.

Chocolate: Fear not, you will not have to put down the chocolate, but you might have to switch brands. Good quality dark chocolate will almost never contain any milk products, but crappy dark chocolate brands sometimes use it again as...cheap filler. I don't want to blow anybody's mind, but milk chocolate contains milk. In terms of baking with chocolate, or making hot chocolate at home, you won't notice a difference, as cocoa powder is vegan. Cocoa butter, in case the inclusion of the word butter incites confusion, is also vegan. Smile.

Peanut butter: This misconception is a pet peeve of mine. Peanut butter DOESN'T CONTAIN ANY BUTTER! On the same note, neither does apple butter, pumpkin butter, or other similar foods wherein butter is used to refer to the texture, not the ingredients.

Pizza bases, pre-prepared pastry, and other surprises: Traditional Italian pizza bases never, ever contain dairy or eggs, but we here in the modern world are in the business of bastardising other cultures' cuisine, so check with your local pizza place to make sure. Phyllo pastry is also traditionally and typically vegan. Surprisingly enough, in the UK, Jus-Rol makes vegan puff pastry and shortcrust pastry, and in Canada and the US, Pepperidge farm frozen puff pastry is vegan as well.

In short, check the label, and you might be surprised what is vegan. Of course, sometimes you might be surprised at what isn't. But no matter what the product is, chances are, someone has come along to make a vegan version.

If anyone reading this has any brand recommendations, feel free to add them in the comments. Next time we revisit this subject, I'll talk about vegan clothing and other inedible products. Excited?

Recessionpe

Asparagus and Thyme Quiche-ish

This recipe is timely for this post for two ways: one, the very short asparagus season is in swing right now; grab 'em while you can. Two, this recipe is a good example of a way to create an equally pleasing vegan version of a traditional, non-vegan dish.

For the pastry:
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (whole wheat pastry flour if you have it)
1/2 cup white flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup vegan margarine
1/4 cup ice cold water

For the filling:
1 tbsp olive oil, or water
1 leek, sliced into half-moons
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch asparagus, chopped into inch-ish long pieces*
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 of a 420g package of extra-firm tofu (not silken)
3/4 cup non-dairy milk
2.5 tbsp flour
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes (optional)

For the pastry, combine the two flours and salt in a mixing bowl. Divide the margarine into small chunks, and toss into the flour mixture, and work quickly with your fingers or a pastry cutter to combine until small crumbs form. Sprinkle in the water a few spoonfuls at a time, and combine until the dough holds together in a firm ball. Refrigerate until you are ready to use it.

Preheat the oven to 375/190 degrees. Heat the oil in a medium sized pan, and add the leeks and garlic. Saute for 5 minutes or so, until soft. Add the asparagus, thyme and 1/4 tsp salt, and saute for another five minutes or so, or until the asparagus is tender-crisp.

Blend together the tofu, non-dairy milk, flour, 1/4 tsp salt, and nutritional yeast, until smooth. You can do this with either a food processor or a hand-held immersion blender. Combine the tofu mixture with the leek and asparagus mixture.

Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and place it into a pie plate. Prick some holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork, make the edges of the crust look as fancy as you like, and then add the filling, and bake for 45 minutes, or until the filling is set and the pie pleasingly golden.

*to stem the woody ends of asparagus easily, bend the lower half of each stalk with your hands. The stalk will naturally and crisply snap right where the woody part ends.

Why won't those wacky vegans eat cheese?

2011-03-07T06:12:00.000-08:00

"Ok," people say to vegans, "I get the idea behind not eating meat. But dairy? How on earth can you give up cheese?"

This post details the ethical problems with dairy, and the powerful industry that's painting milk across the upper lips of teen idols and pouring it into our cereal bowls. While I think that there is a plethora of scientifically sound reasons to give up dairy for health reasons, I'll talk about those in a different post.

I can hear you rolling your eyes. And I can hear you thinking, "milk is a natural food. Cows give it to us naturally. They need to be milked; farmers are doing them a favour. And cheese is awesome." I can hear you, because these thoughts are all things I thought myself before I discovered the truth behind the cheese.

Natural, eh? We are the only species on earth that drinks the breast milk of another species, and the only species that continues to drink this breast milk past infancy. Doesn't that sound kind of...icky? And certainly not natural. Lactose intolerance is often referred to as some kind of disease or condition, but in fact, we stop producing the enzyme that our body needs to properly digest milk around the age of 18, because we aren't supposed to be drinking it anymore. If you are lactose intolerant, you don't have a special medical condition, your body is just behaving the way it should.

When I was a LO vegetarian, I thought that cows needed to be milked, or else they would be in physical pain. Someone told me this once, (probably one of my parents, I don't really remember), and I just believed them. And I think most people are told this pleasant fiction at some point or another, and most people just accept it as fact. Why does the cow need to be milked? That part we don't really think too hard about. Cows are just milk machines, right?

We don't think too hard about why cows need to be milked, because the idea that cows produce milk for no reason is a load of bull. Cows don't constantly produce a never ending stream of milk just waiting to be turned into your next pint of Ben and Jerry's. They are artificially impregnated 90 days after they give birth, every time that they give birth, so that they can be constantly milked with the use of an artificial insemination instrument called a rape rack. Think of the stress that a human female body undergoes from just one pregnancy, and now imagine that she is forced to undergo this every year, with no time to recover, and no choice.

This photo comes from Blaikiewell Animal Sanctuary

Dairy cows are fed Bovine Grown Hormone (BGH), a synthetic hormone developed to produce more milk, and through a combination of messing around with their genetics and intensive production technology they produce 100lb of milk a day, which is ten times more than they would normally produce with a natural pregnancy. A dairy cow is often forced to produce so much milk that her swollen udder will drag on the floor.

After about 3-6 years of this unnatural cycle, the cows are spent. Normally a cow would live to about 25 years of age, but in the dairy industry when a cow stops producing milk, she is sold for meat and sent for slaughter. The dairy industry props up the meat industry in a very real way.

A dairy cow is hooked up to a milking machine several times a day. The constant stress of this unnatural cycle will put her at risk for numerous health problems, including Bovine Leukemia Virus, Bovine Immunodeficiency Virus, and Johne's disease (which is like the human Crohn's disease). This milking machine will suck her udders dry and often transmit bacterial infections to her, such as the very painful infection of the udders called mastitis.

Do you like drinking pus? Good. Because thanks to mastitis, a condition from which 30% of all British dairy cows suffer, pus is in your milk. Under governmental regulations 400 million pus cells are allowed into every litre of milk. If this disgusts you for your sake, think of the cow that has to put up with having her swollen, infected udder sucked dry several times a day, every day of her life, until she is sent to slaughter.

The dairy industry, like any profitable industry, is a business. Businesses are after money, and the welfare of cows will never be more important in a dairy farm than the financial bottom line. Therefore, cows will always be treated as machines, not living, sentient beings. In one type of milking system, cows are confined to windowless sheds and chained by the neck for the duration of their lives. In another, they are crowded into outdoor enclosures where they must continuously stand or lie on feces and urine caked soil. Their painful medical problems often go unnoticed and untended; the cows simply suffer through infections, illnesses, and injuries. Investigators have documented that animals who are so sick or injured that they are unable to walk or even stand are routinely beaten, dragged, or pushed with bulldozers in attempts to move them to slaughter.

I am by no means a maternal person, but the part of the dairy industry that affects me the most is the manipulated of the relationship between mother cows and their calves. The bond between a mother and child is undoubtedly one of the most sacred, primitive, and natural in our society, and as egocentric as our species can be, we all recognise that we as humans do not have a monopoly on this bond. We know that this bond exists between all mothers and their offspring, regardless of species.

So if cows are continuously impregnated, what happens to their calves? The calves produced by these pregnancies are taken away from their mothers immediately after birth. The females will be used as dairy cows. The males will be kept in unthinkable conditions for a few weeks, and then sold for veal meat or other beef. Mother cows, normally docile, will fight against their calves being taken away from them, and will search and call out for their children for days after they are taken away. The painful image of mother cows frantically calling out for their children affects me and stays with me the most, possibly because in the end, it would be better for her really to not know what happened to her child.

So, I don't think that milk is a natural food. I don't think that cows give it to us freely. And I don't think that farmers are doing them a favour.

Ethical Eats

Vegan Blueberry Pancakes

Tomorrow is Pancake Tuesday, and don't think that vegans have to opt out of it! Here is a dairy free, egg free recipe for delicious blueberry pancakes. Please note these are in the style of the fluffier Canadian pancakes, rather than the more crepe-like British pancakes. Blueberries aren't in season right now, so look in the freezer section of your local store for frozen berries. Of course you can substitute any kind of berries you like, or take them out completely if you have something against fiber and phytonutrients. Double the recipe for a family.

1 cup plain flour (or 1/2 cup plain flour and 1/2 cup whole-wheat)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup soy milk
2.5 Tablespoons canola oil (also known as rapeseed oil)
1/2 cup thawed blueberries

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir in soy milk and oil, and mix until just combined (lumps are ok). Gently fold in the blueberries.

Heat a frying pan on medium-high heat, and add a small amount of oil. I use a 1/4 cup measure to spoon out the batter into the frying pan. Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side, bubbles will form on the top side. Flip, and cook 2 minutes on the other side. Don't worry if the fist pancake looks a little funky, the first pancake in any batch of pancakes you will ever make is usually a "throwaway" pancake. Except I throw it away by eating it while the others are cooking.

Top with more fresh fruit, maple syrup, non-dairy margarine, brown rice syrup, jam (preferably sugar free), or applesauce.

References
Butler, Justine, White Lies, Bristol: Vegetarian and Vegan Foundation, 2006. Available at http://www.vegetarian.org.uk/campaigns/whitelies/wlreport01.shtml.
Farm Animal Welfare Council, "Report on the Welfare of Dairy Cattle," LFAC, 1997. Available at http://www.fawc.org.uk/reports/dairycow/dcowrtoc.htm.
Farm Sanctuary, The Welfare of Cattle in Dairy Production, NY: Farm Sanctuary, 2006. Available at http://www.farmsanctuary.org/mediacenter/dairy_report.html.
Vernelli, Toni, The Dark Side of Dairy: A report on the UK Dairy Industry, Bristol: Viva!, 2005. Available at http://milkmyths.org.uk/report/index.php.

Spinach goes to Spain: Travelling as a Vegan

2011-02-10T09:29:00.000-08:00

If off-season flight prices hadn't been involved, I probably wouldn't have chosed Spain as my first trip abroad after transitioning to veganism. Spanish food is often cited as the worst for vegetarians, let alone vegans, with Spanish vegetable dishes often containing hunks of pigs. But when my boyfriend proposed a trip at the end of January, flights to Madrid were so cheap that I kind of forgot I was vegan.

I'm not going to tell you that Spanish menus aren't mostly made up of pigs and squid, because they certainly are. But at every meal, I wondered if my task of finding vegan food in Spain was about to become arduous. It never did. I was never told that a restaurant couldn't accommodate me, and most restaurants had several things on their menus that were already vegan.

This happy experience occurred in part because of the wondrous miracle that is http://happycow.net/, a very useful site that lists the vegan, vegetarian, and veg-friendly restaurants in pretty much every city in the world. I just printed off the listings for our two destinations, Madrid and Granada, and shoved them into our travel guide.

Because I was travelling with my meat-loving boyfriend, I didn't solely visit vegetarian restaurants, but I did go to a few, and I'm very excited to tell you about the three delicious, veggie restaurants we found.

1. For lunch our second day in Madrid, we went to an awesome vegetarian cafe called Viva la Vida (they have two locations, we went to the one in La Latina), that was my favourite place for the whole trip, so much so, that we ended up going twice. Viva la Vida is a buffet place (you pay by weight), and there are plenty of clearly marked vegan options. Over the course of two visits, I stuffed my face with polenta, paella topped with a really delicious smoky tomato sauce, roasted potatoes, vegan croquettes (swoon), sushi with a creamy, dreamy carrot mousse filling, Thai rice paper rolls, spanish rice, and a seitan dish.

2. For dinner that same night, we went to another vegetarian place, called El Estragon. Because vegetarians like to move in packs, El Estragon is in the same square in the La Latina region as Viva la Vida. I had a really good dish of soy and lentil meatballs with a paprika-seasoned tomato and bell pepper sauce, and perfectly crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside, sliced potatoes.

3. Our first day in Granada, we got lunch from a take-out salad bar called El Piano. This place was all vegan, all gluten free, all organic, and you get your selection of salad in a little biodegradable wooden boat! You heard me right, a vegan, gluten-free, organic, environmentally conscious salad bar IN SPAIN. It was also all delicious: I had a seitan estofida and rice with eggplant, and a brownie.

If you are heading off to Espana, I would remember a few things. Firstly, there are several traditional Spanish delights that are already vegan: freshly squeezed orange juice; green olives; fresh oranges, figs, and other fruit; gazpatcho; and other cold soups (not always prepared vegan, but traditionally should be). Secondly, you will want to learn the names of things you don't eat and just ask for the dish without them, rather than assuming waiters will know exactly what vegano or vegetariano means. No one made a fuss when we asked for a dish without something. Lastly, your life will be so much easier if you just research ahead.

If you remember from Mon Histoire, travelling and still being able to enjoy different food from different cultures was one of the things I was most concerned about when becoming vegan. The pleasant irony of the trip was that food was the thing I was concerned about when we set sail, but thinking back on the trip now, our culinary experience was one of the best parts. Buen provecho!

Receta

Vegan Churros with Chilli-Orange Chocolate Sauce

The only thing I really regretted in Spain was not being able to have churros! Churros, if you are sadly unacquainted with them, are little Spanish doughnuts that are fried, and then rolled in cinnamon sugar, and served with a thick chocolate sauce. Interested? Since I couldn't eat these in Spain, I couldn't wait to get home and make a vegan version of them.

1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup boiling water

3 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup dark chocolate pieces
1 cup soy (or other non-dairy) milk
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp orange zest
1 dash cayenne pepper

Canola oil for frying

Mix together the flour, salt, and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. Pour in the cup of boiling water and mix together quickly. Stir constantly until a firm dough forms, about five minutes.

In a small plate or bowl, combine the 3 tbsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon with a fork.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a small saucepan. If you drop a small piece of bread in the oil, it should be brown in about 30 seconds.

You have two alternatives: piping the churros onto a plate first and chilling it before frying, or piping them in shapes directly into the oil. Not trusting my ability to pipe into boiling hot water without losing a hand, I chose the former option, if less pretty, option. If you have a pastry bag, now is the time to break it out, and use a large star tip. If not, just cut the tip off a plastic sandwich bag. Whichever method you choose, churros are usually made into long oval shapes. If you pipe them onto a plate, carefully lift thim off the plate with a knife (you might want to brush the plate with a bit of oil first), and carefully drop them into the oil. Fry them for a few minutes, until golden brown on each side.

Lift the shapes out of the oil, and place them on a plate covered in paper towels. Once cooled for a minute or two, roll them in the cinnamon sugar, then put them aside.

To make the chocolate sauce, carefully melt the chocolate pieces either in a double boiler, or over low heat in a saucepan. Watch the chocolate carefully or it will burn. Add the soy milk (or any dairy alternative you like), and whisk together. Add the cornstarch and whisk together. Add the orange zest and dash of cayenne, and continue to whisk constantly until the mixture thickens up a bit, about 5 minutes or so. If you want it thicker, whisk for longer, or add a bit more starch, but I find that I don't like it too thick.

Serve the sauce in a small bowl or cup (if you have cappuchino cups, this is a perfect use for them) for dipping, and the churros on the side.

Big Fat Post

2011-01-30T09:43:00.000-08:00

Fat. The word doesn't sound like a hallmark of good health. The only thing most of us know for sure about fat is that we love it, but we don't want to BE it. The low-fat craze in the 90's died down once we realized that all of those low-fat products just contained a load of sugar, and we then decided to stop thinking about it so much. Fat tastes awesome, and besides, saturated fat turned out not to be that bad, right? Doctors don't really know if fat is good or bad, anyway, so I can just eat whatever I want.

Wrong. Here's the thing I think most people don't understand. Many different things can be bad for you all at the same time. Because one kind of fat starts making headlines about causing diabetes and heart disease, doesn't mean that another kind of fat has stopped causing diabetes and heart disease. It means that both kinds of fat are causing diabetes and heart disease. That's why there's so much, um, diabetes and heart disease in our society. Medical researchers know exactly what kind of fat you should be eating or avoiding. But there are big, powerful, scary industries that really don't want you to be well-informed on the situation, and the media, which revels in public confusion, plays along.

So do we need fat at all? Fat is absolutely a necessary nutrient. When we talk about fat as a nutrient, we use the term essential fatty acids, or EFA's. You know from the protein blog, that in health terms the word essential means a nutrient that we need, and that we have to get from food. EFA's help in blood clotting, vitamin absorption, brain function, cell and hormone production, and they provide energy. Fat is in almost all foods, in varying amounts, so having a fat-free diet is actually impossible, and good thing too, because you need EFA's to live. However, our confusion mostly centers around which kinds and how much we need. Kinds of fat can be divided into three main categories: saturated fat, trans fat, and unsaturated fat.

Does saturating your arteries in a mostly solid, greasy substance sound like a good thing? Okay, that might not be a technically accurate description of what happens when you consume saturated fat, but the fact remains that you should be eating as little saturated fat as possible. Saturated fat increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, high cholesterol, and atherosclerosis. SatFat causes high blood pressure, depresses the immune system, and increases the risk of cancer. Wait a second...something that we're doing could be causing cancer? It's not some inevitable punishment from the gods that has randomly increased every year for the last 80 years for no reason? Weird.

So where does saturated fat come from? Herein lies the clue why we're being fed misinformation: the main sources of saturated fat are meat, dairy, and eggs. Surprise! Coconut and palm oils are mostly made up of saturated fat as well, although in the western world, most of us don't eat very much tropical oil, so these are not as much of a concern. The American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than 7% of your calories from saturated fat, but those of us who consume meat, dairy, and eggs usually consume almost double that amount. Saturated fat is not kinda, sorta bad. Saturated fat has killed so many people it makes Charles Manson look like Father Christmas.

Trans fat is much better understood by the public, and we receive a clearer message about it, I think. Trans fats were the Big Bad for the last few years. They are naturally found in small amounts in meat and dairy, but they are also found in hydrogenated oils and partially hydrogenated oils, which are an entirely human innovation. Hydrogenated oils are formed during, well, hydrogenation, a process with forces hydrogen gas into oil at a high pressure. This process came into being in order to prolong the shelf life of packaged foods, as hydrogenated oils don't go rancid as quickly. Trading our health for longer lasting cookies was such a great idea. Trans fats lower your good HDL cholesterol, and raise your bad LDL cholesterol. They increase your risk of heart disease and stroke, clog up those arteries, and increase your risk of diabetes.

So how to you avoid this junk? Under European law, trans fat doesn't have to be listed in the nutritional info of a product, but hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oil do have to be listed in the ingredients, so if you have a product that does not list dead flesh or animal juices in the ingredients, and also does not contain hydrogenated oils, you have a trans fat free product. You will want to carefully check the labels of pre-packaged cookies, biscuits, crackers, and other baked goods, and of course, fried fast food (including chips!) are usually fried in partially hydrogenated oil.

Health experts recommend consuming no more than 2% of your daily calories from trans fatty acids, but honestly, you don't need any trans fats in your diet. Aim to consume none. If you live in UK (A.K.A Chiptoria), and you ever socialise, you won't succeed, but try.

Over the past several decades we've been swept up in a muddle debate over which is superior from a health standpoint: margarine or butter? One year, we hear margarine is the only way to go, the next year butter is not that bad, and margarine is the new taboo. The bottom line is, in reference to most commercial margarines, neither butter nor margarine are healthful, and both carry some concerning health risks. Butter contains small amounts of trans fats and concerning amounts of saturated fat, most margarines

LDL cholesterol (the bad one) and raise your HDL cholesterol (the good one). They contain circulation promoting arginine, antioxidants, fiber, protein, calcium, magnesium, and other minerals. They lower your risk of heart disease, and extend your lifespan and protect against common disease of aging. In fact, studies have found that those who consume one little ounce of nuts a day lower their risk of getting fatal coronary heart disease by 59%. A fifty nine percent decrease in risk of the biggest killer in any developed country today wrapped up in a delicious little package? Yes please.

In Dan Buettner's book, The Blue Zones, he studies four different areas of the world that have an unusually large percentage of inhabitants who live past 100 years of age. One of the areas he visits is the Seventh Day Adventist's region, Loma Linda, California. The mostly vegetarian residents had a love affair with nuts (stop giggling), and this love affair was pin-pointed as one of the main factors contributing to their long lifespans.

I know some people have a fear of nuts and avocados, due to their high-fat content. Some of you may fear that eating these items will give you a high-fat content yourself. Relax. Studies have shown that people who consume nuts actually have lower BMI's than those who don't. Nuts satiate hunger better than animal fats or plant oils, and actually aid in weight control. Now, it's true that a gram of fat contains 9 calories, as opposed to the 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate or protein. So obviously, you don't want to go, well, nuts on any source of fat, especially if you are watching your weight. A few handfuls a day of nuts or seeds, or a few slices of avocado should suffice.

Opinions do vary quite a bit in regards to what percentage of your calorie intake should come from fat. The standard, government approved figure is around 30%, other health experts working with people who have a specific reason to worry about heart problems would tell you try to keep it closer to 10%. However, assuming you are already in reasonably good health, I would spend more time focusing on the quality of your nuts, rather than quantity, and simply don't buy nuts in large quantities (they go rancid fairly quickly anyway).

The next time we chew the fat about fat, we'll talk about the health benefits of plant foods and oils made from plant foods. But right now, I'm pretty proud that I made it through the whole post with only two nut puns, so I'm going to leave on a high note. Only two puns? That's peanuts!

Vital Vittles

African Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew

While I was writing this blog, I was racking my brain trying to think of the perfect recipe for this post: one that would be focused on healthy fats without using oils. And completely by co-incidence, I made this stew that evening, having found it in The Vegan Table, UK, Can. Delicious and nutritious, the recipe features peanut butter, and uses water for sauteing, rather than oil. Serve it with either whole-wheat couscous or brown rice.

Serves 6-10

3 tbsp water, for sauteing
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 red peppers, chopped
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/3 to 1/2 cup natural peanut butter (either crunchy or smooth will work, but look for a brand without sugar or added oils)
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 can kidney beans (or 1.5 cups cooked beans from scratch)
1 can diced tomatoes
4 cups veggie stock
1 tsp salt (or too taste)

Head water in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add bell pepper, cover, and cook for another minutes. Stir in brown sugar, finger, cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper, and stir constantly for 30 seconds. Stir in peanut butter, distributing evenly throughout. Ad sweet potatoes, kidney beans, and tomatoes, and stir to coat. Add veggie stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until sweet potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes. Salt to taste, and serve.

Notice that this recipe makes a large amount, and the stew is fairly filling, so unless you're throwing a dinner party, or you're a Huxtable, you will have copious leftovers. Which can't possibly be a bad thing.

New Year, More Money!

2011-01-05T08:15:00.000-08:00

I know some people don't like New Year's resolutions, but I don't think there's anything wrong with a little self-improvement. I also know that today is 5 days after New Year's, but I think you get the whole of January to make them. Especially if you only keep them a week, deciding on them later in the month will make people think that you actually kept them longer. Frankly, there are enough resolutions running around about losing weight and eating better, so instead I thought I would propose a few penny-saving resolutions instead. January, being cold and dark, is a crappy time to try to lose a bunch of weight, but most of you probably spent to much money over the holidays, making January an excellent, and possibly compulsory time to save some money. So here are some ideas for running a cost-efficient home kitchen.

Resolve to:

1. Replace more expensive protein-rich foods with beans and legumes. Beans and lentils are not only nutritional powerhouses, they are the cheapest sources of protein you will find. If you don't eat them very often, resolve to keep some cans in your cupboard and eat them at least couple of times a week. Eat the beans, I mean, not the cans. Cans of beans are very cheap, but if you really want to spend next to nothing, buy dried beans and soak and cook them yourself. I like to cook beans myself, not only for the financial benefits, but also because something about the practise makes me feel pleasantly medieval.

2. Start throwing dinner parties instead of going out to eat. You might think that you will spend more hosting dinner for other people than going out, but I find that as long as you keep costs in mind (and your guests bring the drinks), you can entertain very cheaply in your own home, without sacrificing deliciousness or fun. Consider starting a dinner party ritual with your friends, alternating the host. If you decide on potluck dinners your bank account won't even notice that you're having fun. And while playing tipsy charades (an essential part of any dinner party) is frowned upon in restaurants, no one but your loved ones will judge you in the privacy of your own home. And even if you live in squalor, you will be amazed at what a thorough cleaning and some tealights can do.

3. Replace sugary cereals with porridge. Porridge is the cheapest breakfast imaginable, while most processed cereals are simply charging you stupid amounts of money to give you diabetes. Sure, you might not want a bowl of steaming hot porridge in the middle of July, but for most of the year, porridge is the healthiest, and most economical breakfast around. Endless ways to prepare porridge abound, from dried fruits and nuts, to fresh berries, apples and cinnamon, jam, and natural syrups.

4. Start packing your lunch 4 days a week. Granted, this piece of advice might not be terribly original. But no one's doing it. Having been in plenty of different offices in the last couple of years, I can confirm that the only time most people bring their lunch is when buying their lunch would involve walking long distances. If you struggle to remember to prepare lunches, you have two alternatives. Either make extra dinner and bring the leftovers the next day for lunch, or make large batches of substantial dishes on Sundays, and store them in individual portions. Brain surgery, right? But no one's doing it.

5. Learn a few soup bases. Learning the basics of how to make soup is oh-so-important. You will save money and eat less by adding lots of soup to your diet. And the possibilities are capital E Endless. Anything! You can put anything in soup! Dig through some cookbooks or the internet for recipes for blended vegetable soups, chunky vegetable soups, minestrone, miso soups (my recipe is for one is at the bottom of this post), lentil soups, bean soups, and whatever-else-you-can-imagine soups. Once you understand the basic formats of a few different soups you can play around with them and add whatever you have on hand that will compliment the recipe. Such flexibility and improvisation allows you to avoid that huge drain on your wallet known as wasted produce.

6. Save and use everything. Preposterous amounts of food get wasted by the foolish everyday. Join the ranks of the elite group of people who know how to recognise when a vegetable is about to go off (without the use of meaningless supermarket best before dates), and can put the middle-aged veggie to use. If you have some produce that is going off and you can't find an immediate use for it, throw the produce in a resealable bag and chuck the bag in the freezer. Prioritise your weekly produce: use up things that expire quickly, like leafy greens, at the beginning of the week, and save more robust things, like squash, for the end of your shopping week. Always save leftovers for later; even small bits of dishes can be put away for an easy snack later on. Even the skins and ends of your veggies can be saved for compost if you have your own garden, or for soup stock. Read Stone Soup (UK), (CAN), for inspiration! Hey, that book works for Resolution 5, too.

7. Keep some homemade frozen dinners in your freezer. Note the word homemade. I do not condone or encourage you to buy or eat factory-produced frozen dinners! Keeping some delicious, healthy dinners in your freezer at all times will help you out on those evenings when you are too tired to cook, and the take-out menu drawer looms dangerously near. I'm not suggesting that you never get take-out or go out for dinner, but any such indulgences should be planned into your week and budget. Make sure that the dinners are something you will actually want to eat as well, and your hunger will stop ruling your debit card on lazy, tired evenings.

May you enjoy pain-free frugality this year. And quit smoking. Blech.

Recessionpe!

Rainbow Red Lentil Soup

This wholesome, homey soup is based on another recipe in Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, (UK), (CAN), that I've modified only a little, to make it rainbow-y. And better. Having unintentionally made the soup multi-coloured once, I fell in love with the pretty pastels of the purple "red" onion, yellow bell pepper, and orange carrots and lentils. You also get red from the tomatoes, and green from the spinach. Feel free to play around with the recipe, and add different vegetables or spices. This soup is works for this post on different levels, because lentils are traditionally served at New Years, as their coin-like shape is seen as representative of good luck, abundance, and wealth. See, that's what you get when you take recipe suggestions from an English grad. Double-metaphor soup.

1.5 cups red lentils
6 cups vegetable stock (or 6 cups water and 1-2 stock cubes)
3 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 slices fresh ginger root, each about the size of a quarter

2 medium carrots, chopped
1 cup canned tomatoes
1 yellow bell pepper

1 large red onion
1 tbs olive oil
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1.5 tsp ground coriander
pinch of cayenne
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
1-2 cups baby spinach
salt and pepper to taste

Chuck the lentils, stock, bay leaves, garlic, and ginger in a pot, cover and heat on high. Add the carrots, tomatoes, and bell peppers. Bring to a boil, stir, and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, covered, until the lentils are tender. Add the spinach a few minutes before the lentils are done cooking.

In the meantime, saute the onions in the olive oil until soft, for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the cumin, coriander, and cayenne, and cook for another minute, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat.

Remove the ginger and bay leaves from the lentils. Supposedly, people have choked on bay leaves before, so make sure you get all three. Stir in the onions and lemon juice, and season to taste.

Some crusty whole grain bread and a fresh salad will make this soup a complete, wholesome lunch.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2010-11-30T14:15:00.000-08:00

I love the autumn. Something really amazing happens to the earth at this time of year: trees burst into brilliant colour (yes, even in London this year), we bring out coats and gloves and become immediately more stylish, and the farmer's markets suddenly become laden with plump and cheerful squashes and pumpkins. All of these seasonal evolutions remind me that change is more exciting than it is scary. So I thought this would be an appropriate time of the year to talk about transitioning from meat eating to vegetarianism.

If you are looking to make the leap from omnivore to herbivore, there are a myriad of approaches. You could start by having three vegetarian days a week, and then add more. You could turn around one day, and immediately eliminate all animal products from your diet. You could set a day in the future to be your last meat eating day. If your diet has been riddled with tons of animal products up to now, throwing them out the door immediately might be a shock for your body. On the other hand, if you already eat a lot of fresh, wholesome food, an immediate meat-out might feel fantastically freeing.

Regardless of how you decide to make the change, you are going to encounter some splendiferous benefits, and some causes for concern. Here are some tips to guide you through the first couple of months:

DO:

Learn to cook. I've said it before, and I meant it. Don't be scared. If you can read and follow directions, make slicing motions with a knife, and turn on a burner, you can cook. Everyone should cook, obviously, but preparing your own food is particularly important for anyone not eating a standard western diet, because most processed, pre-packaged food is aimed at people who do eat a standard western diet. So unless you really, really, really like toast, you need to start cooking.

Buy a good vegetarian cookbook. So, you've decided you don't want to eat meat anymore. You've decided you want to turn over a new leaf both for yourself and for the victims of the meat industry. You're excited and raring to go, but like many people, you were raised eating a slab of meat with some boiled carrots for dinner What the face are you supposed to eat? Enter the glorious and inventive array of vegetarian cookbooks. Buy a good, all-purpose vegetarian cookbook, and try to make every recipe in it (not all at once. Well, maybe all at once). To start off with, one all-purpose everyday vegetarian cookbook, one special occasion-oriented cookbook, and one baking book will serve your purposes very well. I could spend the entire blog recommending books, but for newbie vegetarians I would recommend the Moosewood Collective, (UK), (CAN), Colleen Patrick Goudreau, (UK), (CAN), or Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, (UK), (CAN).

Scouts and new vegetarians need to be prepared. I've never really figured out what Scouts need to be prepared for (some sort of Lord of the Flies situation, I guess?), but new vegetarians need to be prepared for the hostility they will encounter from some awesome geniuses who think it's ok to question other people's food choices. To deal with people who are trying to convince you that carrots have feelings too, I would recommend my boyfriend's method of ending arguments he doesn't want to have: while the other person is arguing, shut your eyes and emit a high-pitched, child-like squeal until they stop talking. After a few moments of stunned silence, change the subject to TV.

Feed your friends and family. Your parents might be frustrated, worried about you, or even feel rejected, as you suddenly refuse to eat the food they've been preparing you since you were small. Your friends might not understand, and might feel that you are getting high and mighty. Most of my friends and family were very supportive of me, but I know that not everyone is so lucky. The solution? Patience and deliciousness. Cook and bake food for everyone. They will get off your case once you've made them sweet potato burritos. Happy tummies do more good than all of the animal rights literature in the world.

If you are still living with your parents, help them with the cooking, especially if they haven't cooked a lot of vegetarian meals in the past.

When people ask you about the change that you've made, be sure to explain it personally. Saying, "I gave up meat because eating dead animals is wrong and disgusting, and anyone who participates in the meat industry horror show should be ashamed of being culpable in the slaughtering of sentient beings, and will die of obesity-driven heart disease at 45" is being kind of confrontational. I am by no means recommending that you shy away from giving your real reasons for your change; I think you should be absolutely honest, but people are much more likely to be on your side if you explains things in the context of personal decisions, ie "I really love animals, and I found that for me, eating them didn't feel right anymore," or "I personally feel so healthy and clean now."

Research nutrition. We've talked about this before. Everyone needs to research his or her health, but now you've got an opportunity to become more informed. Learn what will need to plan for, in particular, vegans need to start supplementing with vitamin B12. Researching your health will also set your family's mind at ease. Once they see that plenty of reputable studies and doctors recommend vegetarianism and veganism, and once you've made them sweet potato burritos, they will really get off your case.

Draw your own line in the sand. Do I eat/wear red meat, white meat, fish, dairy,eggs, free-range, honey, gelatin, stearic acid, or wool? There are a million different stances that people take on their diet. Many veg*ns (vegetarians and vegans) debate constantly about these issues with no real answer in sight. You have to make up your own mind as to what you think is wrong or right, unhealthy or not a big deal, or a manageable change. That doesn't mean that other people won't come up with arguments that make sense and help you refine your diet, but ultimately it's your decision.

Learn how to shop. If you are converting to lacto-ovo vegetarianism and you live in the UK, you don't really have to worry about this one. Every single truly vegetarian food item in the UK is labelled as such by law. Amazing! However, if you live elsewhere, or if you are also giving up dairy and eggs, you may want to learn the names of the different additives in food. The most significant sneaky dead animal additive is gelatin, which is made from boiled pig fat and horse hooves, and is found in jelly candies and the like. For vegans, the big ones are casein and whey. Some people choose to worry about every little additive in their food, and some people take the attitude that these things are the byproducts of the meat industry, not the cause of it.

Get familiar with www.happycow.net. Happy Cow is a very comprehensive website and has many uses, my favourite of which is their database of vegetarian restaurants from around the world. You'll be amazed at the vegetarian restaurants you can find in Paris, Texas, Dubai, or anywhere else in the world!

Feel free to experiment with different meat substitutes. I don't eat a lot of them now, but meat substitutes are perfect for your transitional phase. Some are amazing, some are disgusting, and some will simply suffice. If you ever feel yourself craving a meat dish, trust me, someone somewhere has vegetarianised it. Example? Vegan meat cake. Veggie burgers are great for satisfying meat cravings. They are familiar, they can be dressed up just like their meat versions, they are easy to find even in the middle of nowhere, and there are a million different versions for you to try. I've also had good veggie mince, chicken pieces, chicken nuggets, and meatballs. In fact, I like them much better than the meat versions. Vegans be warned: some vegetarian meat substitutes contain eggs, so check the label.

Focus on what you are gaining, not losing. Most vegetarians find that they have more options than meat eaters, not less. There are hundreds of different plant foods to explore. There are only a handful of different kinds of meat. When you start cooking vegetarian, you start to think outside of the box, and discover culinary creativity you didn't even know existed.

Have fun! Seriously, I'm a little envious of new vegetarians. The world is your artichoke! When people go vegetarian, they will inevitably try new cuisines, new vegetables, new flavours, new recipes, and new products. So many people say that they feel cleaner and lighter, and have more energy.

DON'T:

Stress. If you're met with opposition from friends and family, don't worry about it. They will come around. Be patient, and feed them. Trust me.

Expect everyone to jump onboard. You might have watched Food, Inc, (UK), (CAN), or Earthlings and had an irreversible epiphany, but others might not have the same reaction to new information. You might have been moved by The China Study, (UK), (CAN), to make a change in your own health, others might be moved to go to Burger King. Your choices are your choices, you can't force them on anyone else. Don't bother trying.

Assume everyone knows what you can or can't eat. Right at this very moment, someone's grandmother is trying to convince them that vegetarians can eat chicken, because chicken is fowl, not meat. Plenty of people still genuinely don't really know what vegetarians/vegans can or can't eat. If someone else is preparing you a meal, you may have to be very specific about your diet, and don't forget to mention things like chicken stock and gelatin.

Get on your soapbox. When you first find out what's going on behind closed slaughterhouse doors, you might think that if only you could share this information with the world, you could single-handedly bring peace to our furry and feathered friends. Cut to you berating everyone you meet with animal rights slogans, UN statistics, and World Health Organisation reports. Cut to you playing Jenga with your cat on Saturday night. Educating people is all very well and good, but you might want to wait until they ask.

Try to be perfect. Vegetarianism is not a perfect science. Period. You will never be a perfect vegetarian. Ever. Excluding every little tiny bit of animal products from your life isn't the point. And when you take a bite of something you didn't realise contained meat, you can't beat yourself up about it. That bite won't be the last bit of animal you accidentally ingest. Shrug it off and move on.

Don't OD on processed substitutes or cheese. I know I said earlier to have fun with substitutes, but at the same time, a lot of the pre-made meat/cheese substitutes aren't exactly health food, so don't go too nuts. On cheese, don't make the mistake of 1970's LO vegetarianism, and substitute the meat you've taken out with a whole buncha cheese. Eating silly amounts of cheese isn't going to help your health or the dairy cows.

Worry about going out for dinner. Almost everywhere has lacto-ovo vegetarian options, so if you are still eating eggs and dairy, you will nearly always have at least one option on the menu, even at steakhouses. Vegans, eating out at restaurants that focus on British or French food isn't going to be the easiest, and both vegans and vegetarians will find more options at ethnic restaurants. But don't that stop you from going to western-style place; restaurants do not exist merely as glorified butchers. If you don't see options for you on the menu, ask for them! Restaurants are there to serve their customers. They aren't there so that we can beg a meal from them and eat whatever they are willing to serve us.

This post seems like a good time to give an update on my own transition from lacto-ovo veggie to vegan.
I like gradual changes. When I gave up meat, I cut out red meat for a year before I cut out white meat and fish as well. Now that I'm giving up eggs, dairy, and honey, I'm taking a year to say goodbye to those things I love the most. I like slow changes because I think it makes me less likely to feel wistful cravings for the things I've decided not to eat anymore. I won't be turning around saying to a tub of cookie dough ice cream, "we never even got to say goodbye," because I have every intention of slowly and deliberately saying goodbye to Ben and Jerry's. Thirteen years ago, on New Years, I gave up meat entirely. I've set the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve as my cut-off point for eggs and dairy.

I thought at this point I would be dragging my heels, desperately clinging onto some brie, but actually, I'm really excited to make the change. I think I'm going to feel amazing. I think I'm going to relieved not to be eating any animal products at all, and I'm looking forward to exploring more vegan food. I'm already noticing that I've stopped thinking of dairy as a staple food, and as for eggs, giving them up is a non-issue.

I'm also really, really looking forward to those vegan superpowers I heard so much about in Scott Pilgrim vs the World, (UK), (CAN). Who knew?

Karing Kitchen

Dan Gerou's Meatless Spaghetti Bolognese

This yummy recipe is my boyfriend's culinary pride and joy, and with it's familiar, meaty texture, pretty perfect for your transitional phase. He is reluctantly letting me borrow it. I asked him if he wanted to contribute an introduction for the recipe, and his contribution is, "don't mess it up."

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 carrot, grated
4 mushrooms, chopped
400g of veggie mince*
2 tins tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
pepper to taste

100g spaghetti per person

Heat the oil a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, saute until onions are golden brown. Add mince, season with first tsp of salt, mix together. Add carrot and mushrooms and saute together for a minute or two. Add two tins of tomatoes and mix together. Add herbs, remaining salt, pepper, sugar, and red wine. Bring to a boil, then simmer. Dan says to simmer for a minimum of an hour, but he's done it for 20 minutes or so before and it's been good. In the meantime, bring a pot of water to a boil, and cook the pasta until al dente. Plate the spaghetti and top with the sauce.

This recipe makes a large amount of sauce, and will keep well for a few days.

*Choose your favourite veggie mince, but be warned that Quorn contains eggs. If you are in Canada, Yves Veggie Ground Round is a good option.

In Defense of Carbs

2010-11-15T05:08:00.000-08:00

We have no idea what to think about carbs. We're completely baffled by them, even terrified of them. We know that we like things that are high in carbs, but we're pretty sure we're not supposed to like them. They're bad for you, right? They make you fat. We have some idea that there is a difference between starch and sugars, but we're pretty unclear about what the difference means, so just to be safe, we should probably avoid both. Because they make you fat.

Our confusion didn't come out of nowhere. While the low-carb movement was not actually started by this infamous man, we can put the blame for the popularity of carbophobia squarely on his pudgy shoulders: Dr Robert C. Atkins. Most of us know all about this diet, but just to recap, Dr Atkins looked around at the fat camp that is contemporary America, and decided that the reason we were all fat and getting fatter, is because we weren't eating enough meat and cheese. Genius! He looked around at our inability to turn off the TV, the computer, and the playstation; our obsessive intake of chocolate; Mcdonald's 245 billionth sale of greasy burgers; our massively excessive intake of animal protein, grease, and fat; our continuously effed-up relationship with food and body image; and our overdependence on machines to do everything for us including walking, and decided the problem wasn't the Big Mac, the problem was the bun the Big Mac came on. Ok, I'm exaggerating a little (but only a little). What he actually decided was that simple carbs, including white flour and sugar, were responsible for the obesity crisis. Ok, sugar's culpability is something Bob and I can agree on; sugar is a big, fat problem in our society, which I will give a big, fat post all on it's own later on. But I can't help feel that he was missing something, namely, the burger. And greasy fries. And the fatty milkshake. And the minivan you stuck your arm out of in order to obtain the food.

Atkins proposed a diet in which the first phase restricts your carbohydrate intake to 20g a day. To limit your carb intake to only 4% of your diet you must not only out cakes, cookies, and white bread, you also have to do away with wholemead bread and pasta, potatoes, both white and brown rice, fruit, and most veggies. Ah yes. Raspberries and their infamous fattening powers. The final "life maintenance" phase of the Atkins Diet restricts you to 90g of carbs a day. That's still only 18% of the average diet, and general medical recommendations are to consume no less than half of your calories from carbohydrates. So what can you eat without restriction on Atkins? Red meat, chicken, fish, cheese, eggs, mayo, cream and butter.

Let me repeat that, because you probably thought you misheard me. To lose weight, you must replace the brown rice and apples in your diet with cream and steak. Really? Really? Are we that stupid, really?

Yeah, we are. Atkins died a millionaire. Proof, if we ever needed it, that people will believe anything you tell them if they think there's a chance it will make them skinny.

But carbs make you fat, so who cares, right? The low-carb movement has a lot of followers, and there is a reason for this loyalty. When people go on Atkins or the Zone, or any of the similar diets, they tend to lose a lot of weight very quickly, as much as 10lbs a week. You can see how the diet made the evening news. The problem is, this weight loss mostly comes from water loss and muscle loss. Muscle is heavier than fat, but more compact...so if you trade in some muscle for fat, the number on your weigh scale will be lower, but you will look heavier. And lumpier. Do we think the lumpy look is coming back anytime soon? What's more, muscle tissue burns calories even when you are at rest; therefore losing muscle mass means a decrease in your metabolism, which is not exactly condusive to continued and sustainable weight loss.

Low carb diets are notorious for being unsustainable. Know anyone who initially lost a lot of weight on one of these diets? Maybe. Know anyone who kept it off for more than a year or two? Doubtful. These diets are unsustainable because your body hates them. Studies have found that these diets cause artery damage, long-term damage to blood vessels, inflammation that is linked with heart and artery disease, reduce blood vessel dialation (this is a bad thing), and could more that double your risk of certain cancers. In 2001 the American Heart Association stated that low-carb diets contribute to heart and kidney disease, and that high protein diets are missing certain essential vitamins, nutrients, minerals and fiber.

The problem isn't just what low-carb diets lack: fiber, fruits, veggies, whole grains, legumes, and the above mentioned essential vitamins. Low-carb, high-protein diets also contain too much, well, protein, and we've already discussed the problems with that in the protein blog. They also contain way too much saturated fat. The American Heart Association recommends that fat intake in total comprise no more that 35% of your diet, but only 7% of your calories should come from saturated fat. Eating less than 7% saturated fat is pretty much impossible on a low-carb high protein diet.

I ran a sample Atkins diet through an nutritional anaylisis tool, and eating this menu would involve consuming 103g of fat (64% of this hypothetical daily menu) and 24.4 grams of saturated fat (27% of the hypothetical daily menu). I feel greasy and gross just looking at those numbers. I'll do a seperate post about fat someday soon, but for right now I'll just say that the confusion over saturated fat is driven, not by the general medical reseach community, but by the media and a few rascally instigators. Saturated fat is just as bad for you as we thought it was in the 90's.

I know that a lot of people are confused about the difference between good carbohydrates and bad carbohydates, so here's a quick explanation for you. Carbs are a ideal source of energy for our bodies. They are more readily converted into glucose than either protein or fat, and sources of complex carbs tend to be high in fiber. They are divided into two main different kinds: Complex (good) and Simple (usually bad). Complex carbs are composed of starches, which are again divided into natural starches, such as some fruits and veggies, beans, legumes, wholemeal bread, potatoes, and whole grains, and refined starches, such as white bread, white pasta, and white rice. Simple carbs are divided into natural sugars (still good), such as those found in fruits and vegetables, and refined sugars (bad), such as found in, well, sugar, as well as, cakes, cookies, and all kinds of other sugary crap. Complex carbs are the carb heros, they provide slower, more sustained release of energy. Refined sugars should comprise of no more than 10% of your diet; your focus should be on the fruits, veggies, beans, potoatoes, wholemeal breads and pastas, and whole grains.

It's probably no secret that the vegetarian community and the low-carb community are constantly at ends with each other. Following a diet like Atkins and being vegetarian would be pretty darn difficult, and trying to do it vegan would be pretty darn impossible. So, while it's true that when you attack carbs, to some extent you attack vegetarianism, I'm not promoting the consumption of carbs to trick anyone into vegetarianism. Everyone should be eating complex carbs, whether vegan or steakatarian. Reading stories about diabetics avoiding carbs hurts me deeply, especially when they are one group of people who so desperately need the fiber present in complex carbs. As long as you are getting at least 10% protein and 10% healthy fat in your diet, you are very unlikely to eat too many complex carbs. Really. You need to focus on the quality of your carbs rather than the quantity.

So what makes for high-quality carbohydrates? Just like in drinking buddies, a lack of refinement is best. The less stuff done to your carbs, the better. Think about it: sugar cane is ground, juiced, clarified, evaporated, crystalized, and then refined to removed any remaining molasses and minerals, then evaporated again, and then dried. Not health food. The much maligned potato is...plucked from the ground. And then washed, but even that part is optional. Generally speaking, the closer the food that you are eating is to the state it's found in nature, the more you can pat yourself on the back for eating it. What does this mean when it's at home? Good, unrefined sources of carbs include fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, potatoes, and whole grains.

Now, those of you who know me well probably assume that I'm going to spend the rest of this post talking about potatoes. Well, I'm a little tempted. I love potatoes. I love them a lot. But no, I think there is another group about the deserves more attention right now. The mysterious whole grain. I say mysterious because I think that a lot of people don't really know what to with whole grains, and sometimes don't even know what they are. I'm not saying this to make anyone feel stupid; whole grains simply aren't talked about enough in the media, which is unfortunely the main source of nutritional information for most of us. I mentioned wholegrain pasta and bread above, and while I do think these foods are nutritious sources of complex carbs, I really think that wholegrains should have a higher place in our diets than any flour product, which are always more refined than the humble grain.

Here are some grains with super-amazing nutritive powers of complex carbozation. Most of this info is borrowed from Alex Jamieson's The Great American Detox Diet, (UK), (Can).

Barley: Not only fun to make Brits pronounce, this high-fiber grain has been traditionally used to support the gallbladder, digestive system, and nervous system. Barley also prevents dietary cholesterol absorption, which is something those Atkins diet followers could sure use.

Buckwheat (gluten-free): Known around Eastern European parts as kasha, buckwheat is a complete protein, neutralizes toxic acidic wastes in the blood (I'm not really sure what this means, but it definitely sounds like a good thing), improves circulation and kidney function, and is high in calcium and vitamins B and E.

Millet (gluten-free): If you attended Brownies or Boy Scouts, this grain might sound familiar. Possibly you earned your bird-feeding badge by filling a bird feeder with this stuff. Good for the birds. Millet is high in protein, iron, lecithin and choline, and is once again good for keeping cholesterol down.

Oats (not technically gluten-free but most people with gluten sensitivity can handle them): Oats are not only comfortably familiar, they are high in fibre, used to stabilize blood sugar levels, high in protein, lower cholesterol, and according to Jamieson, improve stress resistance. Whatever that means.

Quinoa (gluten-free): Quinoa is so trendy right now, you can't look at a hippie menu without running into it. But who's complaining? This sacred grain of the Incas is a complete protein, a good source of iron, B3 and B6 vitamins, and phosphorus. It's also kidney supportive, and just darn cute.

Brown rice (gluten-free): Switch from white rice to brown rice and in a few months you will see the obvious superiority of nutty, chewy brown rice, not just nutritionally, but gastronomically. Brown rice is simply more flavourful and has a more pleasing texture. I hear you groaning that it has to be cooked more than double the time of white rice, which is true, but it's worth the wait. Brown rice is packed full of protein, lysine, fibre, vitamin B6, vitamin E, calcium, copper, folate, and iron.

Wild rice (gluten-free): Wild rice not only gave it's name to the Southern Ontario lake I grew up nearby, it is also rice in protein, vitamin B3, calcium and potassium. It does tend to be very expensive, so you may want to mix it in with other, cheaper rices.

Other grains worth getting to know are cornmeal, kamut, rye, spelt, amaranth, sorghum, and teeny-tiny teff. Preparing these grains and fitting them into your diet is easy-peasy. A general method is to combine one part grain with one to two parts water or vegetable stock, a dash of salt, and bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover the pot and simmer until ready. The cooking time varies from the quick cooking quinoa, to slow cooking brown rice, so check the package. Grains can be used in salads, pilafs, as the base for curries and stir-fries, porridge, or mixed with nuts, herbs, and dried fruit for a side dish. Remember that grain has been at the base of many cultures for years. Asian countries are fanatical about their rice, South American countries love their corn and quinoa, Ethiopian runners blow Westerners away fueled by teff, and Italians fight off heart disease with pasta and polenta. And we too used to reap the benefits of barley and oats until we decided to kick our own asses and replace grain with meat and fast food.

Dr. Atkins liked to broadcast his own good health as a promotion for his diet. However, at the age of 72, he died after injuring his head, apparently falling after slipping on a patch of ice. Through some morally questionable actions of a fellow doctor, his medical examiner's notes were released to the public. Ethics of this relase aside, we now know that Atkins suffered from coronary artery disease, had suffered a previous heart attack, and was overweight. Quite a lot of debate has occured over the last revealation. The medical report shows that at the time of his death Atkins weighed 258lbs, which at his height (6 feet) was obese. Both his wife and brother have claimed that this weight was due to the coma he suffered as a result of the fall, and that upon being admitted to the hospital, he was only 195lbs. Well, his wife and brother may well be correct, but I think it's worth a passing mention that 195lbs is still overweight for a 6 foot tall man. I'm not bringing any of this up to make a personal attack on a dead man. He is, after all, a dead man, and we will never know how much he really believed in his own diet, and how much he was motivated by money, so we may as well give him the benefit of the doubt. But I don't think we can ignore his medical status, any more than we can ignore the fact that in 2000, 16 year old Rachel Huskey died of cardiac arrest, after following the Atkins diet for seven weeks. She had no pre-existing health complications.

Vital Vittles

Rice Pilaf with Dates and Almonds

This recipe is borrowed from the vegetarian/pescatarian, Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, (UK), (CAN), a very useful cookbook that is one of my favourites. This sweet dish seems and tastes very decadent, but is really very healthful. The concept of this pilaf could be adapted for a variety of different grains, or even wheat products such as bulgar and cous-cous. Serve it as a main dish, or serve it as a grain side dish with some steamed greens and tahini dressing, and spiced chickpeas.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup dates, chopped.
3 cups cooked brown rice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, and add the onions and garlic. Saute on medium high heat until soft. Add the bell pepper and mix in. Stir in the turmeric and cinnamon. Add the chopped dates, rice and parsley. Sprinkle on the water, and heat for a few minutes. When the rice is hot, stir in the almonds, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

YUM!

This Little Piggy went to the Market

2010-09-25T15:29:00.000-07:00

Shopping in the overly clean produce section of chain supermarkets makes me feel a little dirty. I have to do it every once in a while, but I feel no connection to food when I walk down the neatly packed aisles, and pick out a shrink-wraped head of broccoli and a pre-packaged bag of spinach. In the supermarket, only tiny fluctuations in price and availability give any indications as to the season, and the aisles are stocked with the same items year-round. Which might not sound like a bad thing, but I can't imagine anything more boring than eating the same thing year-round, unless it's reading Anne Murray's biography.

But what else is a city-dwelling, flat-dwelling vegetarian to do? I think my ground floor neighbours might get a little tetchy if I tore up their back garden to grow my own carrots, and I applied for an allotment with my local council, but 174 people in my area have to give up their allotments (or die) before I get one. So in the meantime, every Saturday morning my boyfriend and I trek out to our local farmer's market to find a bounty of local, seasonal produce itching for my love and attention.

I think when you look at the reasons why I love farmer's markets, you won't find this habit excessive or unnecessary. There are many reasons to grab a canvas bag and frequent your local market, and here are my favourite:

1. Save that Shiny Green Earth:

The overpackaging in UK supermarkets completely baffles me, but I don't see it ending anytime soon. I routinely witness customers picking up prepackaged produce that is being sold right next to the exact same, yet less expensive, loose produce. Baffling. Never once have I seen a cucumber in an English supermarket NOT shrink-wrapped, nor have I even seen loose salad leaves for the picking. I wonder if children know that peaches don't grow in cardboard trays and plastic (although if tv programs are to be believed, kids today don't even know what peaches are, let alone how they grow). My Canadian counterparts tell me that rather than becoming more conscious about waste, Canadian supermarkets are becoming more overpackaged as well.

We all know that excess packaging creates a lot of waste, and that a lot of waste is bad for the environment, and that things being bad for the environment is A Very Bad Thing. But what you may not realise is when food is wrapped in plastic packaging, there is a risk of the toxins on the plastic leaching into your food. Toxins in your food are also A Very Bad Thing. But when I wander into the bustling farmer's market, my sleepy, Saturday morning eyes witness crates full of unwrapped cruciferous vegetables and bunches of leafy greens bound only by a single, reuseable rubber band. At most, veggies and berries are placed into a recylable plastic punnet, with no wrapping around them. So much better.

2. You can talk to the people who grow your food:

The possibility of having a conversation with a real live farmer who grew the food I am actually going to eat shouldn't fill me with a sense of amazement, but it does. Most of us are so far removed from the source of our food that we have no idea how it even grows. So talking to someone who actually works at or owns the farm that produced the ingredients of my dinner, someone who not only knows what a Jerusalem artichoke is, but can tell me how to prepare it, is a weird and pleasing sensation. Having the farm workers present at the market also means that you can talk to them about their growing methods; some of the farms aren't organic, but don't use spray pesticides. Some of them may be in the process of obtaining certification as organic, as the process takes years and is costly. And you can't beat that personal touch: the boyfriend and I once stared long enough at a patty pan squash, trying to figure out what the heck it was, that the seller offered it to us for free to see if we liked it. I can only imagine the bewilderment that I would encounter if I were to ask a chain supermarket worker if I could have something for free just to try it.

3. Seasonal Seeds:

I love the changing of the seasons, and nowhere is this change more apparent than at the farmer's market (especially since the weather doesn't actually change from one season to the next in London). I love not knowing what I'm going to find, and whether or not rhubarb, or strawberries, or zucchini, or butternut squashes are in season yet. Markets make me feel connected to the earth in a hippy, crunchy granola, earth goddess, Gaia kind of way. I feel motivated to make the most of the short seasons of asparagus and tomatoes, knowing that next week they might be gone. Every week there seems to be something that wasn't there last week, and I leave every week happily anticipating what I'm going to find next week.

4. Branching Out:

In the last two weeks of market going I've purchased purple cauliflower (yes, I said purple cauliflower), ruby chard, dark and rich green cavelo nero, teeny baby yellow squash, curly kale, humble hubbard squash, courgette flowers, and orange cherry tomatoes, alongside the stock carrots, potatoes, and onions. I've never seen six of those items in a chain supermarket. Health experts recommend eating as many different varieties of plant foods as possible, and all of those items I listed above were not only rich in variety and nutrients, they were local produce that was in season. Who knew that such exotic produce existed right here in England?

5. Being Neighbourly:

I've got nothing against New Zealand farmers, but I don't particularly want to eat their produce, unless I'm actually in New Zealand. Farmer's markets give you the chance to support local farmers. If you're worried about food miles (and I think we all should be conscious of the issue), the produce at your market has at most been driven, not flown, a few hours. Cooking with local produce is better for the planet, and it's better for you; eating tropical fruit that's flown for 8 hours so you could eat it in January just makes no damn sense.

So how does one go about fitting a weekly visit to the market into their shopping? Because you don't necessarily know what you are going to find at the market, shopping has to be done a little differently. Experienced cooks will be able to semi-plan meals as they go along, but even if you have no idea what you are doing in the kitchen, you can simply estimate as best you can how much produce you will need to make at least 5 wholesome dinners. Once you come home from the market, turn to your recipe books and the internet for inspiration on what to make. You can either make a seperate trip to a regular grocery store, or simply pick things up throughout the week as you need them, whichever way fits into your schedule better. A very easy and delicious way to utilise what you buy in the market is to make simple preperations of veggies with side dishs of legumes and grains. Using this macrobiotic-esque method creates a nutritious, delicious and easy-to-prepare plate that will also be visually appealing. If you would rather make more complicated dishes, or follow recipes, don't be afraid to make substitutions; you might end up spending a fortune if you follow every recipe to a T, and most recipes are quite happy to be messed around with a bit. If you need to do all your shopping in one trip, think about bringing your most-used cookbook with you to the market with a pen and paper, and just sit down and plan your week before you go to the supermarket.

The second way to market shop requires less time, but a little more organisation (and glorious, glorious lists). If you are the kind of person who likes to have a constantly well-stocked pantry, you can simply make a list of every non-perishable/long-life item you want to keep stocked, and mark down when you've used something up. That way you can visit the market every week, and always be sure of having the non-market items you need to make a recipe. Using this method, you may only have to visit the grocery store once or twice a month, but the shopping trips will be big ones. I don't think shopping this way really costs anymore money, but does require forking out more money at one time, so it's not going to be suitable for everyone. But doesn't the idea of constantly having every pantry item you could ever need always on hand just make your toes wiggle?

Because you are buying local, seasonal produce to base your meals around, shopping at the market is usually completely inexpensive. However I should warn you that if you are currently on an emergency budget, you will have to use a lot of restraint during your trip to the supermarket, because making two different shopping trips can often result in spending more. Otherwise, farmer's markets are competely affordable, delightful options. And yes, they are a little time consuming, but I think most of us spend our time in a lot less efficient ways that focusing on our food and our health. Like the 45 minutes you just spent reading the moronic comments on an online article.

So look up your local market. If you are in the UK, a list of them can be found here, if you live in Canada, try going to this page and click on your province (not all provinces are listed), and if you live in the States, there is a national farmer's market search engine on this site.

You can thank me after you're finished tucking into a pile of velvety squash, crispy roasted cauliflower, and lemony kale.

Recessionpe!

Marketable Curry

Most of the time when I'm shopping, I come up with meal ideas in my head. However, there are times when we come home, put everything away, I stare proudly into the fridge at the spectacle of vegetable, and then say, "Crap...what the blerg am I supposed to make with all of this?" That's when I make this curry. You can shove pretty much whatever veggies you bought into this dish, but try to come up with a similar variety of types of veggies to the ones I have listed.

3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 small green chilli, chopped (remove the seeds for a milder curry)
1 cup of cauliflower, chopped into florets
1 potato, cut into thick sticks
1 cup winter squash, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
4 largeish mushrooms, cut into quarters
1 cup leafy greens such as spinach or kale, roughly chopped
1 bunch fresh cilantro, remove the staulks from the leaves and chop (optional)
2 tins of plum tomatoes
1 tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
2-3 gloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (optional, but adds a rich zing)
2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted if you like
1 tsp coriander
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
2 tsp garam masala

Heat the oil in a large frying pan (you will likely need the biggest pan you have), and add the onions and one tsp of cumin seeds. Saute until the onions become translucent. Add the cilantro staulks, turmeric, salt and chili and saute for a minute or two. Open the tins of tomatoes, and use a cheese grater to grate the tomatoes into a bowl. Add the tomatoes to the pan and conserve the remaining tomato juice. Add the garlic, ginger, remaining cumin seeds,coriander, and optional balsamic vinegar, and simmer together for a few minutes. Add the potatoes, squash and cauliflower, with the tomato juice of one can. Coat the vegetables with the tomato mixture, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and peas and chickpeas, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. If the mixture is getting too dry, add the remaining tomato juice, or water if needed. Add the leafy greens, cover, and simmer for another 5 minutes. Test the potatoes and squash, and cook longer if needed, adding more water as necessary. Once cooked through, add the garam marsala and stir it in as best as possible. Add the chopped cilantro leaves, cover and leave off the heat for as long as possible before eating. Serve with brown rice.

Will be toe-curlingly good the second and third day.

Be Kind to the Meat Eaters

2010-08-31T12:39:00.000-07:00

There are some meat eaters, and I'm happy to say that the majority of my meat-eating friends fall into this category, who give me faith in humanity. They are the meat eaters who would never dream of challenging the ethics of vegetarians, who never demand that their spinach-munching friends defend themselves, who are completely capable of happily eating a meatless meal when necessary, and who always thoughtfully ensure that vegetarian options are available for any social occasion they host. These lovely creatures fill me with the hope that one day, all omnivores and herbivores will eat together peacefully, then link arms and go skipping down tree-lined paths singing maritime folk songs and collecting daisies to braid into wreaths.

This blog is not about those meat eaters.

This blog is about the other kind of meat eaters. Long term vegetarians, you know exactly what kind of meat eater I mean. The kind who is completely incapable of treating a vegetarian with respect and acceptance, who froths from the mouth with venom in between bites of a bloody hamburger, which they think is oh-so-hilarious to offer you.

I know, I know. They're jerks. They're such jerks. No, not just because they eat meat. Contrary to popular belief, very few vegetarians actually think meat eaters are jerks, just because they eat meat. They make stupid counter-points to arguments about vegetarianism that you didn't even start. They pester you with inane, asinine questions like, "would you eat a piece of meat if somebody put a gun to your head?" Some of them badger you so much that you start to fearfully wonder if they possibly are going to put a gun to your head. One very well-known meat eater and professional bully even threatened to electrocute his children if they became vegetarian.

So why on earth should we be kind to them?

Well, to get to the bottom of the problem, lets look at the different reasons WHY some meat eaters throw their manners out the door when confronted with vegetarianism. To do so, we should examine the typical interaction between vegetarians and meat eaters. Here is a normal interaction between a vegetarian and one of the first kind of friendlier, gentler meat eaters:

Friendly Meat Eater: Hey, do you want a bite of my hamburger?
Vegetarian: No thanks, I'm vegetarian.
Friendly Meat Eater: Oh, ok. I've thought about being vegetarian before, but I don't think I could give up chicken.
Vegetarian: Ah. I understand. (Conversation moves on to other subjects).

What a pleasant exchange! And here is a normal interaction between a vegetarian and one of the second kind of surly meat eaters:

Grumpypants Meat Eater: Hey, do you want a bit of my hamburger?
Vegetarian: No thanks, I'm vegetarian.
Grumpypants Meat Eater: YOU'RE ONE OF THOSE?! (Head explodes).

See? Just not a normal reaction. I think we can assume that there is something going on behind the scenes here. I think there are a couple of different types of these meat eaters, and a couple of different reasons why they act they way they do. Here are the categories I have noticed:

The Deeply Concerned for Your Health Meat Eaters: These meat eaters aren't really jerks, but they can be very frustrating to deal with politely. These are the meat eaters who think that they they are doing you a favour by pointing out to that their sister's high school basketball coach assured them that you absolutely must have animal protein to participate in sports, and that all vegetarians are certainly going to die by Tuesday. Their motivations can generally be divided into two categories: those who use the mis-perceptions about vegetarian diets to justify their own meat eating, and those who are genuinely under the impression that vegetarianism is not good for you. How to be kind to them? Treat them all with the benefit of the doubt. Smile and non-confrontationally assure them that you are very well informed regarding nutrition and that you are perfectly healthy, and let the discussion end there. If they decide to press the issue, and you're feeling up for a debate, refer them the writings and studies of prolific vegetarian doctors such as Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. John A McDougall, and Dr. Dean Ornish. Since this discussion usually centers around protein, refer them to this blog. Be well-informed, and stay calm and friendly. Even if they don't.

The Playground Antics Meat Eaters: These little rascals are a tiresome group indeed. These are the meat eaters who demand to know why you don't care about the feelings of plants. These are the meat eaters who apparently think they are being cute by asking vegetarians what's wrong with them (cute like a stomach virus). These are the meat eaters who childishly taunt you with how difficult your life is compared to theirs because they "can" eat meat and you "can't." This group is trying to offend you, yet when you are actually offended, they accuse you of not having a sense of humour. However, should you ever, say, respond to their joke about rabbit food by pointing out that they are eating cat food, their faces fall as they sputter in dismay and confusion "Wha...that's just...what are you...that's just...stupid...and...MOMMY!" So why on earth should you be kind to them? Because just like when they used to pull little Janey's hair on the playground, something is behind their bratty behaviour. These people are trying to deflect the seriousness of the subject of vegetarianism, not out of any desire for social ease, but because they feel threatened by it. They may claim to not care about the animals, but they do. They care a lot. They wouldn't need to pull your hair if they didn't. Your ability to look the meat industry in the eye and refuse to accept the omnivore status quo is threatening to them, and you don't have to do a damn thing to produce this reaction in them. So to be kind to these frightened little bunnies, and don't do anything to increase their fear of threat. Smile thinly and change the subject. Should they continue to pester you, gently remind them that you have never questioned their eating habits, and that you aren't looking for a discussion (trust me, you will not get an intelligent one out of these people).

The Snarky Meat Eaters: These are the people who make rude, cutting little comments to you like, "I made sure to eat something before I came to your dinner party, because I knew you'd only be serving vegetarian food, " or making comments to others in your hearing, that obviously too much meat is bad, but of course you need to eat a little, or responding, when you tell them that you are vegetarian, "what would you want to do that for?" Snarkies tend to fall into two categories: those who are just joking and have no idea that they are actually causing you offence, and those who just don't care that they are actually causing you offence. The first category deserves your understanding, because even though they are being rude, they probably don't mean to be. If they are not people you know well, look at them quizzically, and simply respond, "What a thing say," and change the subject. If they are friends or family, privately speak to them to explain that although you know they are joking, their comments are upsetting to you. If they continue to make these comments after this conversation, stop inviting them to your dinner parties, introducing them to your friends, and just stop returning their calls, because they aren't feeling insecure or oblivious, they're JUST JERKS.

The Hypocrisy Police Meat Eaters: These are the people who really want to check your closet for leather products. Ever had anyone point out to you that if you take Tylenol there's really no point in being vegetarian, because there may be animal products in the tablet? That genius fell into this category. They are desperately trying to catch you out, because they think that you think you're perfect. They are feeling insecure because of your attempt to stay loyal to your ethics and they think you are judging them for not doing the same thing. Therefore, they try to find a way to bring you down to their level by attempting to make you look hypocritical. Assure them that you are not some higher, angelically moral being. When they make comments like this, simply assure them that because vegetarianism isn't a perfect science, you aren't going to be perfect yourself, but you try your best because you care about the issue. They will usually calm down pretty quickly when they realise that what they were asking you to do was be just that: perfect.

The Grand Poobahs of Crazy Meat Eaters: So far we've talked about anti-vegetarianism behaviour that manifests itself in ignorant, irritating, or even rude ways, but now we've come to the bottom of the barrel, the really kind of scary meat eaters. Every vegetarian has encountered them; the people who react with real hostility and anger when you speak the completely innocent words "No thanks, I'm a vegetarian." You may not encounter these people so often in real life (although again, every vegetarian has experienced it), but the internet has spread these reactions like the clap, with comments such as " I hope that somebody grabs [vegetarians] and forces a nice big juicy hotdog down their throats," or "Vegetarians = pussys(sic), everyone knows this." Classy. Obviously, their reaction is not about you. I think it's obvious from the very extremity of their reactions, that simply by being the vegetarian in the room, you have touched a sore spot. Like the Playground Meat Eaters, these people do care about the animals, and they aren't able to deal with their own actions. Like many meat eaters, they feel judged by you without you having to say anything. Do not engage in a debate with these people. They are not in their happy place. When they try and provoke you, you can simply ask them why vegetarianism upsets them so much. Point out to them that you have not tried to convince them of anything, and aren't looking to change their minds. Tell them if they are really interested in having a debate about it, you can arrange to talk to them later, but you don't think right now is the time and place.

Fair or not, meat eaters tend to have the stereotype of the preaching, paint-throwing vegetarian in their heads when they talk to you. I think vegetarians can ease the situation by never being this vegetarian. Be kind to the meat eaters because:
1. They may simply be ignorant: Not everyone has super-amazing bloggers to tell them everything they need to know about vegetarian lifestyle. Politely correct their misperceptions and refrain from accusing them of not having cracked a book since the 1970's.
2. They feel threatened by you: People are afraid of other people who wear their morality on their sleeves. Don't make any sudden noises and don't call their own habits into question.
3. They don't realise they are being offensive: I think it's hard for non-vegetarians to understand how deeply vegetarians feel about the subject, probably because we're restricted from talking about it freely. Let them know they're upsetting you before you write them off completely.
4. They're afraid you think you're better than them: Obviously no one deals with holier-than-thou people very well. Be humble, and let them know you don't think you're perfect (it helps if you genuinely don't think you're perfect).
5. They feel that their own actions are being called into question: As abusive and downright mean as some meat-eaters can be, remember no one acts this way without having some issues of insecurity with their own lifestyle.

Remember that most meat-eaters don't actually know very many vegetarians, so you are in a way expected to act as the Ambassador of the Vegetarians. While your job is certainly not to convert anyone to the cause, a meat eater's impression of you will inevitably be linked to their impression of vegetarianism. Therefore, who loses out when vegetarians rise to bratty meat eaters' bait? Not the meat eaters, you'll simply have confirmed their suspicions. The animals lose out. So take a little bit of that compassion and kindness you feel towards victimised animals, and turn it towards your meat eating acquaintances. And hug one of the friendlier meat eaters today.

Karing Kitchen!

Baby Squash and Sun-dried Pesto Linguine

One way to be kind to meat eaters is to feed them delicious vegetarian food! Italian food is a great middle-ground between herbivores and omnivores because it's both comforting and familiar, and easily made animal-free. This dish could also be made with courgettes/zucchini, but baby squash have the advantage of being one of the cutest foods ever.

Serves 3-4

3-4 baby squash, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil (you may need a little more later on)
1 tsp balsamic vinegar (you may need a little more later on)
300g linguine noodles

Sun-dried Tomato Pesto

You can either made the pesto from the recipe below, or use a store-bought variety. You may not need all the pesto this recipe makes, so if you're not used to using pesto, start with a few spoonfuls, coat the pasta, taste it, and add more as you like. Note: you will need either a food processor, hand held blender, or pestle and mortar to make this recipe, so if you don't have any of these things, don't feel lazy for buying a pre-made jar.

2/3 cup of oil-packed sun dried tomatoes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup of walnuts/pine nuts, lightly toasted
1 tsp dried basil leaves
3 cloves garlic, chopped
dash of cayenne
salt to taste

1. Put a large pot of boiling water on to boil. Add the pasta, stir, and cook until al dente, or your preferred texture.
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan on medium heat. Add the vinegar, made the sure the pan is coated, then add the baby squash slices. There must be no overlapping, so you will likely need to do more than one batch, which is why you may need more oil and vinegar. Fry on each side until well-browned (even blackened if you like), about 5 minutes on each side, only move the slices to flip them.
3. While the squash is cooking, add the ingredients for the pesto into your food processor, minus the olive oil. While you are blending, drizzle in the olive oil until you have a delicious paste. Taste and season if necessary. You can of course use a pestle and mortar if you're feeling medieval, or forgot to pay your electricity bill, but I've never made pesto with a such a device, so don't look to me for guidance.
4. Coat the linguine with the pesto, and toss the squash into the pasta.
5. Serve either by itself, or with some nice Italian crusty bread and a small green salad.

Makes great leftovers! Any leftover pesto can be stored in a jar in your fridge for about a week.

Protein gets too much Press

2010-07-28T04:32:00.000-07:00

I can't think of any aspect of our diets that we receive dumber messages about than protein. There is misinformation about protein in the news every damn day. Apparently, none of us are getting enough protein, and not getting enough protein is simultaneously causing you too be too fat and too skinny and we are all just one cheeseburger away from dying of protein deficiency. And since the best sources of protein are eggs, dairy, and steak, there's no way that a vegetarian diet could possibly be healthy.

Do I sound a little cranky? Well, maybe, but after you read this blog you might be feeling a little cranky with all the protein propaganda too. I guess it's easy to see why people feel so jazzed about protein. Even the name sounds undeniably positive. We've been completely baffled by carbs for a decade, and the problems with fat are in the title, so I can see why people might assume that protein is going to save us from our malnourished obesity crisis. But I think we're forgetting that protein is just one macronutrient, and is something that we can't overdose on, any more than we can overdose on butter-drenched white garlic bread.

Let's start with the basics of what comprises protein. We all know that calories come in the form of either carbohydrates, fat, or protein, and many of us know that the standard recommendation is to get 55% of calories from carbs, 30% from fat, and 15% from protein. Protein is essential for the growth and repair of your muscles, and plays a crucial role in all biological processes in the body. Basically, I'm not saying protein is bad. You need it.

Now, you may have heard people talking about complete protein and accusing vegetarians of not consuming it. There are 20 different amino acids (proteins), 8 of which are labelled essential, which means that they are necessary to our survival, but not produced by the body, so we've gotta get them from food. I'm never going to reference the individual proteins again, and both of us are pretty likely to forget this as soon as we move to the next paragraph, but for your information, the 8 essential amino acids are leucine, isoleucine, valine, threonin, methionin, phenylalanine, tryptophan, lysine, and in children, histidine. Sources of complete protein are foods that contain sufficient amounts of all 8 amino acids. Comprendez-vous?

Meat does not have different protein, it just has complete protein. Animal sources of protein tend to be complete. Plant sources tend to be low in one or two amino acids (with some exceptions listed later on), so one can see how the myth of the protein-deficient vegetarian diet got started. Eggs are considered to be the ideal protein against which all other sources of protein are measured and milk comes in second place, so Lacto-Ovo Vegetarians really need not worry about getting proper protein. But vegans can rest easy too, because the lack of complete protein in individual plant foods does not mean that vegans lack complete protein in their actual diets.

So where did the idea that vegans need to worry about protein come from? In 1971, a woman named Frances Moore Lappe wrote Diet for a Small Planet, in which she recommended that to achieve complete protein, vegetarians combine different sources of proteins, also known as complementing proteins, or protein combining. The idea of combining, say, rice and beans, or peanut butter and wholemeal toast, became very popular in vegetarian diets. Ten years later, Lappe published an anniversary edition, retracting her position on protein combining, saying that "I gave the impression that in order to get enough protein without meat, considerable care was needed in choosing foods. Actually, it is much easier than I thought....if people are getting enough calories, they are virtually certain of getting enough protein." Today's nutritional expects back Lappe up; protein combining is just not necessary as long as you are eating a healthy diet with good variety. Despite the fact that protein combining was debunked in the eighties, I've heard tell of the myth still floating around in medical textbooks today.

So what are good sources of protein for vegans? Soy is the classic vegan protein source, which is no surprise to anyone. Soy protein is equal in quality to eggs, dairy, or meat. But if you don't like soy, you don't need to eat it just because you are a vegetarian. We won't kick you out of the club. There are several other complete sources, including amaranth, buckwheat, hempseed, quinoa, and spirulina. Other good sources of protein are nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, and grains. In fact, all plants contain protein. Unless you've ejected all forms of food other than cassava and fruit from your diet, you're getting enough protein.

And lets think about it: how many people do you know who have protein deficiency? Have you ever met one? Unless you spend your time working with starving Africans (and kudos to you if you do), you're pretty unlikely to come across it. On the other hand, have you ever met someone with cancer or heart disease? Read on.

With all the positive news around protein, I think that we can too easily forget that getting too much protein is entirely possible. In fact, statistics abound that the average American eats between 50% and 175% more protein than they need. I think we can stop feeling smug and superior to the Americans for a second and admit that in Canada and the UK, we're not doing much better. Excessive protein consumption can cause osteoporosis and kidney failure. Getting too much protein and not enough carbs can cause a state known as ketosis. Low-carbs diets "work" because the induce a constant state of ketosis, causing people to lose weight. However ketosis also increases insulin resistance, which is a major risk factor for increased blood triglyceride levels, increased blood pressure, depression, and the development of coronary artery disease. Ketosis can actually cause weight GAIN as well as weight loss. It also causes glucose intolerance, which may be a pre-curser to diabetes, and can cause hypertension, mild dehydration, dizziness, headaches, confusion, nausea, fatigue, sleep problems, and kidney problems. Awesome. Too much protein is also linked to not getting enough fiber, which can cause constipation, hemorrhoids, colon cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

I've had athletes assure me that they NEED animal protein in order to able to compete. Complete bollocks. Not only can athletes manage just fine with plant protein, too much protein and not enough carbs can result ransack your glycogen stores, resulting in crappy athletic performance. Athletes do not necessarily require more protein in their diets. As your caloric intake increases when you take on significant extra activity (which it should), you will naturally eat more protein. Vegan athletes exist. Google it.

So how much protein do you need?

You may find slightly different numbers depending on where you look. The government standard number is 15% of your caloric intake, which for the average diet is going to be about 45 grams for women and 55 grams for men. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness tells us that people who train for more than 12 hours a week for 5 years need 1.37 grams of protein per kilo of body weight, as opposed to sedentary people, who only require .73 grams per kilo. Does anyone actually train for 12 hours a week, and keep it up for five years? Amazing.

Truthfully, I never really worry about getting enough protein. I might think about getting enough vitamins and micronutrients, but in the developed world, we are not running out of sources of protein. People are different, so you might find you like to eat a lot of beans, lentils, and tofu, or a only a little, but the need to sit around with a calculator worrying about your protein intake has bene entirely manufactured.

By whom, you ask? Hmmm...what industries have a whole lot of control over the media, and stand to gain financially from you thinking that meat and cheese are healthy diet foods? Interesting.

Vital Vittles

Savoury Quinoa and Roasted Rooties

I thought for this blog's recipe I would feature one of the plant sources of complete protein, and what better source than the trendy, kooky, and quirky grain we call quinoa (keen-wah). This salad is my favourite way to prepare quinoa. Any combination of roasted vegetables you like would probably work fine, these are just my favourites.

1 cup quinoa
1.5 cups vegetable stock
2 carrots, sliced
1 small sweet potato, chopped into cubes
1 small turnip, chopped into cubes
2 cups mushrooms, quartered
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar (or more if you like)

1. Turn the oven to 200 degrees C. Toss the vegetables with the olive oil and vinegar, and roast in the oven for 30 minutes, or until tender, flipping half way through.

2. Put quinoa and stock into a small saucepan, and bring to boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer, and cook on a low heat until done. This will take about 15-20 minutes.

3. Once the veggies are ready, combine the quinoa and vegetables in a big bowl, and serve. Can be eaten hot or cold.

Simple as that.

Emergency Budget Food

2010-06-27T01:57:00.001-07:00

I pretty much always eat cheaply at home, but every now and then I have a budget emergency and have to pull out the big guns of frugality. If you've lost your job and your savings are dwindling, or you're a student and your part-time coffee shop job is barely paying the rent, or you're saving up for something big, you might have to make a few panic-driven sacrifices in your budget. When you don't have enough money to indulge in, well, anything at all, it's really easy to throw healthy eating out the window, and survive on cheap, refined sugar and greasy, simple carbs. But while you're rationing out your tater tots and custard creams, consider that these foods are not only not good for you, they are actually doing damage to your health. You're paying someone to make you sick, which makes even less sense when the only thing in your wallet is a coupon for a free coffee. Also, you will feel like crap if you eat these foods, and feeling like crap makes acquiring more money a whole lot harder.

Eating healthy food in the middle of your own financial meltdown is completely possible, it just takes a little ingenuity. Below are a list of foods and secrets of the truly cheap to help you through it.

Emergency food #1: The Potato

Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes! I love them so much! They are incredibly cheap and incredibly versatile. They are also very nutritious, and the starch in them has been linked to protection against colon cancer, improved gluten tolerance, supressing appetite, and reducing fat storage. As you probably have already noticed, one medium-big potato can go along way in satisfying your hunger, and doesn't need very much to make it palatable. Potatoes can be roasted, boiled, mashed, baked, and fried, and can be the foundation for soups, stews, casseroles, bakes, croquettes, curries, patties, and...I could go on but I'm getting tired. They seem to have acquired a bad rep in terms of what they will do to your figure, but that's just nonsense. They will not make you fat, and they might even make you skinny. Ok, if you load them up with cream and cheese, they might make you fat, but people on emergency budgets don't have money for cream and cheese anyway. Search around your supermarket for the cheapest, biggest bag you can find.

Emergency food #2: Lentils

People think they don't like lentils, but they're wrong. You like them. Yum. There is so much that you can do with lentils with so very little effort. The main kinds you will come across will be red split lentils, brown lentils, and Puy lentils (also known as lentilles vertes). Lentils are a fantastic source of cheap protein, iron, fiber, folate, and B vitamins. They are also very filling and very easy to prepare. You can use them to make salads, soups, stews, dahl-type concoctions, curry-type concoctions, on their own with some seasonings as a side dish, casseroles, pasta sauces, and croquettes (why do I keep bringing up croquettes?). As I said in the Art of Shopping blog, make a note in your grocery store of where you can find them priced most cheaply; sometimes you will find them at twice the price in one aisle to the next.

Emergency food #3: Yellow Split Peas

Yellow split peas can do pretty much the same things lentils can, so I wont go on about them, except to say that they are a great source of fiber, protein, manganese, folate, vitamin B1, potassium and phosphorus. They are often even cheaper than lentils.

Emergency food #4: Pasta

Duh. Everyone knows pasta is stupidly cheap. And everyone knows what to do with it, so I won't tell you. Pasta is another food that has a bad diet rep, but only because idiots are allowed to say whatever they want in diet books. Italians have the lowest rates of obesity in Europe, and last I heard, they were kind of okay with pasta. Again, don't load it up with cream and cheese. We all know whole-wheat pasta has a better nutritional profile than white pasta, but your body still processes white pasta as a complex carb. So don't feel too badly if you really can't spend the extra few pennies, but do remember that the whole-wheat pasta also contains more fiber and other nutrients.

Emergency food #5: Barley

Barley is so cheap its just silly. And yet, I never see anyone but me buying it. But it's everyone else's loss, because not only is barley comfortingly chewy and satisfying, it's amazingly healthful. Barley is high in fiber, and has been traditionally used to support the gallbladder, digestive, and nervous systems. Barley also helps prevent dietary cholesterol absorption. Amazing! Barley might sound a little bland at first, but can be used in lots of different ways: soups, stews, casseroles, as a side dish, pilafs, and even as a substitute for rice in risotto.

Emergency food #6: Brown Rice

Yeah, white rice is a little cheaper than brown rice, but the difference in nutrition makes it hard for me to recommend buying white rice instead. And white rice may be cheaper but brown rice is still pretty dirt cheap. Brown is a source of protein, fibre, calcium, irion, B vitamins, and zinc. It can be used as a grain accompaniment for countless curries, stews, stir-fries, sautes, and can also make fried rice, pilafs, mock-risottos (real risottos require arborio rice or something similar), and...croquettes. Your best bet for getting it cheaply is to look for the biggest bag in the wholefoods section.

Emergency food #7: Beans

Kidney beans, pinto beans, haricot beans, cannellini beans, black eyed peas, chick peas, black beans, azuki beans...you're not going to run out of choices. Beans are fantastic. They are wonderful sources of protein, fiber, complex carbs, iron, and folate. Canned beans are already pretty cheap, but if you really want to tighten the purse strings, buy them dried, soak them overnight, and cook them for about an hour before you plan on using them. Beans are also very versatile, and can be used in soups, stews, casseroles, chilis, burritos, as a side dish, curries (chickpease are best for curries), sautes, simple rice and bean dishes, and, oh yes, croquettes (seriously, I almost never make croquettes). Beans, like lentils, are another thing you want to check various aisles for price.

Emergency food #8: Tinned Tomatoes

Perhaps not the most inspiring ingredient, but incredibly useful. Tomatoes contain vitamin C, vitamin A, and lycopene, an antioxident with cancer fighting abilities. Tomatoes can be used to make dishes with all of the above, plus, they're amazingly delicious! If you have the space, you can sometimes get really good deals buying cans in bulk, otherwise, stop being a snob and buy the basic value option. Many cheap, flavourful dishes will be immediately at your fingertips.

Emergency food #9: Oats

If you are on an emergency budget, you'd better learn to like porridge. There is no cheaper, healthier, more satisfying breakfast out there. If you go digging around the bottom shelf of your supermarket, you will usually find a budget brand of oats for about £0.59 per KILO. That's a lot of breakfasts for very little money. There are endless ways to dress porridge up: with berries, with bananas, with homemade fruit sauce, with a spoonful of jam, with nuts and dried fruit, or by itself with a little dairy-free milk. I'm sure you can think of even more ways yourself. My favourite budget way is a spoonful or two of St Dalfour jam (it's sweetened with fruit juice instead of sugar!).

Emergency food #10: Spices and Condiments

Essential, budget-friendly spices and condiments: salt; pepper; olive oil; any kind of cheap vinegar that you like; soy sauce; veggie stock cubes; dried herbs such as basil, thyme, sage, rosemary, parsley, and oregano; spices such as cumin, coriander, cinnamon, paprika, turmeric, and garam masala. The herbs and spices I picked out are the most commonly used and inexpensive choices, and for these, try looking in your local Asian grocery store, as they will usually have little bags that are a better deal than the little bottles you find in the standard supermarket. As with the tomatoes, the cheapest, most basic version you can find of all of the above will do just fine. Coconut milk is another fairly cheap condiment that you might use less frequently than the others, but can be added into dahl or lentil based soups to perk them up, or combined with some curry paste, veggie stock, and veggies to make a cheap Thai curry. Make sure to alternate between using different flavourings! Nothing will kill your budget faster than getting bored with your diet.

Now, if you know your nutrition, right now you should be concerned about the lack of vegetables on my list. So here's the budget veggie advice: if you have one of those cheap markets nearby you that sell bowls of veggies for £1, delve in. If you have an Aldi or a Lidl nearby you, stop turning up your nose at it, and suck it up.

We know that seasonal produce is cheaper, but things that are generally always cheap are: apples, pears, bananas (get fairtrade, they're still cheap), carrots, cabbage (please don't boil it), big bags of bell peppers, brocolli, garlic, ginger, and onions. Sleuth around a bit to find what other good deals they have at the moment. Measure carefully on the store produce weigh scale to make sure you aren't overspending. Frozen vegetables and berries are good deals, and just as nutritious. I like frozen blueberries, corn, peas, and green beans.

Bring a calculator to the grocery store and add everything down to the pence. You'll look nuts, but who cares? If you overspend, PUT SOMETHING BACK.

On eating out on an emergency budget: you kind of can't. Your best bet is to hang around your friends who have more money than you, and make big puppy-dog eyes at them. They'll take pity on you and pay. Trust me. And you can return the favour when your financial crisis is over. If your friends are as broke as you, consider inviting them over for a budget home-cooked meal.

Recessionpe!

Yellow Split Pea Stew

1 tbps olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander

1-2 carrots, chopped
1 large potato, chopped into smallish cubes
2-3 mushrooms, sliced
1 generous cup yellow split peas
1.5-2 cups vegetable stock (I make stock using the cubes)
Handful of leafy greens such as spinach, kale, or chard.
salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot, saute the onions and garlic in the oil for a few minutes until soft. Add the carrots, mushrooms, and potato and saute for a few minutes more. Add the spices and cook for about 30 seconds. Add the split peas and stir until coated. Quickly add the stock, turn the heat up to boil, then lower the heat and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for about 40 minutes, or until the split peas are cooked, they will be mushy and smushy. You may need to check it occassionally to make sure it doesn't need more water. About 5 minutes before the stew is done, throw in the leafy greens if using. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

This stew can be served by itself, over rice, or with some crusty brown bread.

Mon Histoire

2010-06-03T02:33:00.000-07:00

My parents like to tell the story that when I was 5 years old, they bought a KFC bucket of chicken and took me down to the river for a picnic. There were some seagulls playing nearby. I looked up at my father, and said, "Dad, I'm a little uncomfortable eating bird in front of a bird." They like to joke that from that moment on, they knew I'd end up vegetarian. 11 years went by before I went completely vegetarian, but I can't really remember a time when I really wanted to eat meat. Like many wannabe vegetarian children, my mother was worried about my health, and reluctant to have to make two seperate dinners, and pretty much forbade me to become vegetarian. At 15, my oldest brother having paved the way by becoming vegetarian a few years ago, I gave up red meat for a year.

The next year, on New Years Day, I grumpily informed my mother that I had done the research she had demanded that I do on vegetarian health, and was not going to eat meat anymore. She reluctantly consented.

My mother accepted the situation (although was perpetually convinced that I was anaemic). My father resisted by cooking himself steak everynight. But he eventually took over the cooking from my tired mother, and both became excited about vegetarian food. They both still eat meat, but have become very supportive of my vegetarianism. A year or two later, my other brother became vegetarian as well.

While I was the only vegetarian in my social circle for both high school and university, none of my friends really ate much meat, so considering my family situation, I existed in a fairly vegetarian bubble. I never missed meat, and completely stopped considering it food. The only thing I really ever missed was fish and chips. As a child, fish and chips had been a favourite of mine, and my restaurant standby.

7 years after having become a lacto-ovo vegetarian, I moved to the UK, and this slight hankering for fish and chips became a problem. Everyone knows that England's national dish is fish and chips, and I had a slight curiousity to what my former favourite food would taste like in it's country of origin. And I gave in and had some. A few times.

About a year after having moved ot the UK I started to date my carnivorous, meat-loving boyfriend. I had been reading a lot (of what I know realise was propaganda) about the health benefits of fish, and a good friend of mine, who ate fish but no meat, told me that fish don't feel pain. I looked up the latter idea and found studies backing her up. I caved, and decided to try introducing fish into my diet.

I can't remember how long this period lasted. I wasn't really comfortable with the idea, and didn't eat much fish, but looking back, I can't imagine what on earth I was thinking. Luckily, a trip home to Canada came along to save me from my dulled self-hatred. While going home for a vacation, I read an article in the amazing magazine Vegetarian Times, about the supposed health beneifts of fish, and that often heard term, omega 3. The article informed me what I should have already realised, that omega 3 is a plant-based nutrient. The fish gets his/her omega 3 from plankton, and we then kill the fish and eat it, rather than just getting omega 3 from plant based sources, such as nuts, seeds, and sea vegetables. I felt so...relieved. I looked up the studies of fish and pain again, and discovered that the studies proposing that fish felt no or little pain had mostly been debunked. I happily gave up fish again. Since then (about a year ago), I have not looked back.

I think something good came out of those months as a fish-eater. I came back to the cause of vegetarianism with renewed vigour. Not that I had been, unvigourous, before but the issue had been less fresh in my mind. I began to research vegetarian issues online, and think about it more, and consequentially talk about it more. One day, while looking online, I stumbled across Alicia Silverstone's book about veganism, The Kind Diet, (UK), (Can). I'd always really liked Alicia (what teenaged girl in 1995 DIDN'T want to be her?), and I'd known for years that she was an animal rights activist, so I read through some of the reviews of her book on Amazon.

For the past 11 years, I had obviously been aware of veganism, and sympathetic to the cause, but I hadn't really personally thought it was necessary. Once I found out about the horrible conditions of modern-day egg farming, I bought free-range eggs and slept witha clear conscience. When I was younger my brother, who is not exactly vegan but hates diary and eggs, once pointed out to me that dairy cows were abused. I asked my parents about it, and they denied it. I believed them. In retrospect, I have no idea are why I believed them, but I did. And once I'd moved to the UK? As if! Despite it's crappy culinary reputation, the UK knows a thing or too about producing delicious dairy. Yogurt, cheddar, somerset brie, sour cream, whole milk...the UK versions of these things laugh in their Canadian versions' flavourless faces.

So for most of the time I'd been vegetarian, my line on veganism had been, "I completely respect vegans, and think they're probably right, but I could never give up dairy and eggs, and I don't really see why I should have to. I buy organic milk and free-range eggs."

But in reading about Alicia's book, I heard a few things I probably didn't want to, about the treatment of dairy cows and egg-laying hens. I started to think about veganism, but still not seriously. Ever eaten a cannoli on the side streets of Rome? It would addle anyone's moral convictions. But something in me wouldn't just dismiss the issue. I eventually looked up the comforting statement that every non-vegan tells themself, "cows need to be milked. They would get ill without the farmers doing it for them."

What I found changed my mind immediately. I stumbled upon Colleen Patrick Godreau's wonderful, WONDERFUL podcast, Vegetarian Food for Thought, in which she addresses that very question. And the answer? No. Cows don't need to be milked. Because they don't have milk unless they are pregnant; therefore, it is the job of the dairy industry to make sure that they are constantly pregnant, (the babies are sold for as veal), and then sold for meat once they unable to reproduce anymore.

I will go into the specifics more in a later blog. Suffice to say, I was shocked by the abuse of the dairy industry. And that happy little label "Free Range" on your egg carton means dick all.

From that moment on, I realised, somewhat dismayed, that I no longer had a choice. Either I cared, or I didn't care, and I had always said that I cared a lot. And caring for me, now meant becoming vegan.

This was only a few months ago. I have made some changes, and in some ways I'm surprised to notice how vegan I already was. I have not made a complete transition yet, but intend to, once I have said goodbye to anything dairy that I love, and figured out how to eat out as a vegan. And I like being vegan. I'm enjoying coming up with ways to replicate dairy using natural ingredients. I feel lighter. And the transition is opening me up to so many related issues of environmentalism and commercialism that I'm so so happy I stumbed upon all of this vegan information.

But seriously, eating out is a bitch.

Karing Kitchen!

The "I could totally be Vegan" Vegan Brownies

I've made many, many, MANY a brownie in my day. This recipe is hands down the best I've ever used. And no, they aren't healthy, but they're so awesome you won't be able to care.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup (and a few extra tablespoons if you want them really chocolatey) good quality cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
few dollops maple syrup (or other rich and flavourful syrup)
1 cup water
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Pour in maple syrup, water, vegetable oil and vanilla, and mix well. Pour into a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into squares.

If Eating Meat is so Necessary, Why are Vegetarians still Alive?

2010-05-14T06:03:00.000-07:00

As I've said before, the meat industry has done a really good job of convincing us all that we need meat in order to get proper protein and iron. Many people continue to eat meat on the basis that they think they need it to survive.

But think about it...picture in your head a vegetarian that you know who has not eaten meat for years. He or she is still walking around, right? Still breathing, still functioning, still able to support the weight of their head with their neck, right? If we need meat so badly, how is that possible?

Because we don't need meat to survive. That statement is not a theory, a hypothesis, or an idealistic flight of fancy, it's a FACT. We don't need meat to survive. Fact. What's more, we don't need it to be healthy. Don't believe me? Well, you shouldn't just take my word for it.

The Dietitians of Canada website contains the following position: "It is the position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada that appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritinally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases." The UK's NHS website points out that, "Studies have suggested that, in general, vegetarians have a lower risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes."

Aside from these national institutions there are plenty of medical studies that emphasise the healthiness of vegetarianism. In 2008, Dan Buettner published The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest, (UK), (Can), a study of five areas of the world in which people regularly lived active lives past 100 years of age: Sardinia, Italy, Okinawa, Japan, Loma Linda California, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica, and Icaria, Greece. What did all the areas have in common? Considerations such as family, active social lives, no smoking, and moderate physical activity featured in all five areas; as well as, a plant-based diet. Pig is not a plant, in case you were wondering. These areas were not expressly or ethically vegetarian (except Loma Linda), but any meat was occassional and supplementary.

You may have heard of Dr. T. Colin Campbell's The China Study, (UK), (CAN), a report on the China Project. The project was a survey of various studies conducting in 65 mostly rural counties in China, and the relationship between cancer, death rates, and diet (as well as lifestyle and environmental factors) conducted by Cornell University, Oxford University and Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine over the course of 20 years. Campbell and his son conclude that animal-based foods are linked to heart disease, cancer and Type 2 diabetes. They recommend the avoidance of meat, fish, eggs, and dairy, and the adoption of a whole-foods, plant based diet.

So what do you eat on a whole foods, plant based diet? Plenty! One of the most commonly asked questions of vegetarians is, "so (confused pause), what do you eat??" Here's a quick breakdown.

Veggies:
Asparagus, artichoke, avocado, arugula, beets, boy choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, chard, corn, carrot, eggplant, garlic, green beans, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, onion, pumpkin, potatoes, peppers, peas, spinach, squash, turnip, tomatoes, zucchini.

You know you're supposed to be eating 5 servings a day. That's a MINIMUM. Meaning, eat more than that.

Fruits:
Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit, bananas, apples, pears, rhubarb, cherries, plums, peaches, grapes, mangoes, pineapples, passion fruit, pomegrates.

Yes, I put vegetables and fruits in two seperate categories because you need lots of BOTH OF THEM.

Whole Grains:
Barley, oats, quinoa, bulgar, wheatberries, amaranth seeds, millet, whole-wheat couscous, buckwheat, brown rice, wild rice.

Dr. Atkins can suck it. And no, I don't feel mean saying that about him because he's dead, because he made large personal gains from marketing a diet that's really unhealthy, and hundreds, maybe thousands of people's health is going to suffer for it. You need carbs. You need complex carbs. Grains have been at the centre of our diets for many a year before we ever had an obesity epidemic.

Legumes:
Kidney beans, chickpeas, black-eyed peas, red lentils, brown lentils, puy lentils, black beans, white beans, pinto beans, split peas, split yellow peas, soy beans.

I love beans and lentils! And you will too once you get to know them. Beans earthy flavour and comforting texture will kill your sugar cravings, and lentils are wonderfully-versatile little flavour soakers. Chock full of protein, fiber, and complex carbs, this family are a vegetarians best friend.

Healthy fats:
Walnuts, almonds, peanuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, brazil nuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, olives, avocado.

Yes you need healthy fats in your diet. No, you shouldn't eat the entire bag at once. All of the above foods are high in mono- and poly-unsaturated fats, and low in saturated fats. And they're delicious! None of them in their raw forms contain trans fats or dietary cholestorol. But dont go NUTS, try to stick to a handful or two a day.

Tofu and Tempeh:

Contrary to what many people think, vegetarians do not exist entirely on tofu! But tofu is a great food to include in your diet here and there. Tempeh is fermented tofu, and has an appealing, meaty texture. Tofu is high in calcium, protein, and isoflavones (believed to prevent certain kinds of cancers). Miso, another soy product, is also incredibly healthy and delicious!

Sweeteners:
Agave nectar, brown rice syrup, date sugar, maple sugar, barley malt syrup, molasses.

I'm not going to claim that I never eat sugar. Because that would be a bold-faced lie. But the above sweeteners are much gentler on your system and blood-sugar levels, and even have nutrients (gasp!) in them. I'll do another blog later on to explain the different uses for each one.

Different health experts have somewhat differing ideas about the ratios of all of the above elements in your diet. Some advocate a lot of starch, some less. If you have specific health problems, you may want to look at the research of Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Dean Ornish, and Dr. Neal Barnard to see if they can help you. But for most of us, I believe that as long as we are eating 90% of our diet from these foods and observing general guidelines, we will find what's best for our individual needs.

I'll be frank, I have no formal training in health and nutrition. I'm not a doctor. But I'm pretty sure I know more than many, many doctors about nutrition. Why? Because doctors aren't trained in preventative medicine. Preventative medicine would otherwise be known as your diet and lifestyle. I'm not saying this to take a shot at individual doctors. It's not their fault. They didn't design the educational systems that don't prioritize nutritional, and provide their students with fewer hours of nutritive training that high school students. Many doctors themselves have come forward to condemn the current system for its lack of attention to the importance of diet. So instead of listening to your doctor, listen to me. No, I'm joking. But don't rely on your GP's advice, because unless they have taken a special interest and done research on nutrition, they just may not be the best person to help you. Instead, do the research yourself. Read the studies above, and many other like them, and learn for yourself what you should be eating. Most of us would admit that we probably don't know a whole lot about preventative medicine, but there are informed people out there, because they taken it on THEMSELVES to learn about food. You must read the research, and you must decide for yourself what makes sense to you.

Vital Vittles

Super Duper Healty Miso Soup

3 sections soba noodles
1 block of tofu, cut into 1"x2" rectangles
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp dry sherry
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small knob ginger, minced
1 tbsp sweetener like barley malt or brown rice syrup
1/2 cup shitake mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup carrot, cut into strips
1/2 cup daikon (Japonese radish), cut into strips
2 heads bok choi, ends removed (also known as pak choy)
1-2 scallions, chopped
1-2 big spoonfulls miso paste

Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the noodles. In the meantime, combine in a flat bowl or pie plate the oil, soy sauce, sherry, vinegar, garlic, and ginger, and place the tofu in the bowl to marinade. Marinade on each side about 5 minutes. In a soup pot, cook the mushrooms, carrot, and daikon in some water, on medium-high heat. Add about 4-5 cups of water, bring to a boil, and then lower to a simmer. Add the tofu, and any remaining marinade liquid. Mix the miso in a small bowl or cup of water, and stir into soup. Add the boy choi and simmer lightly for a few minutes. Take off heat and sprinkle scallions on top.

Makes 3 big portions.

Note: You can fry the pieces of tofu in canola oil before you marinade it, but doing so obviously makes the dish less healthy. But delicious.

The Art of Grocery Shopping: tips for thrifty food shopping

2010-04-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

Two things I know for sure about myself are that I am compulsively cheap, and I love food more than life itself. These two facts have resulted in me being well-versed in eating well very cheaply.

There are many different tricks to know when it comes to cheap, healthy food, but this post will just focus on the place you actually plunk your money down, the art of grocery shopping. I spend less than £15 per person weekly, and have been known to eat well on less than £10 per person weekly. Here’s how it happens.

My own weekly shop usually starts out with a trip to the farmer’s market, wherein there are slightly different rules (on which I will elaborate on in a later post); however, in the interest of making this post a little more ubiquitous and useful for people without access to a market, this advice is mostly geared towards shopping in a standard grocery store.

Plan your week. Plan, plan, plan. It doesn’t have to be exact, but putting in a little extra effort before and during shopping will save you a lot of money (and stress). I cannot shop without a list. If I ever fail to make one, I wander around the store aimlessly , throwing random items into the cart, none of which will make a meal. So every week I faithfully make a list and I actually stick to it.

Before you go out to the grocery store, sit down and plan out what you are going to eat that week. Doing so takes about 20 minutes. If you know you will be going as soon as you get home from work, do your planning the night before. Do it when you are relaxed and happy. I love this part of my shopping routine because it means I get to immerse myself in my cookbooks! Make a list of all of the ingredients you need, and take an inventory of your kitchen to see what you already have. Don’t forget to plan for your breakfast, snacks, and lunches; people end up spending silly amounts of money at lunchtime when they fail to plan for these things. Write down EVERY SINGLE THING you will need. At the risk of sounding bossy, I’m going say, don’t put things like “large bag of chips, 2L bottles of Coke, tub of chocolate” on your list. Writing down that you’re going to buy junk doesn’t make it cheaper. Don’t plan to buy it and don’t buy it.

I will admit that I take a long time to shop, especially when I’ve shopping in a new store. Why? Because grocery stores are actively trying to trick you into spending more money. Maybe yours is an honest, independently owned store with a conscience, and would never dream of trying to trick you, but mine definitely aims to deceive. However, I evade their trickery with a little time and care.

When you are shopping for produce, you will notice that prices are listed by weight. Pay attention to this pricing. I often enough see packaged produce right next to the same product sold loose, and if you pay attention to the price by weight, you will notice how often you are being charged extra money just to buy the produce pre-packaged. Keep in mind that pre-packaged produce often contains chemicals that are applied to packaging as a pesticide or preservative. These chemicals obviously get onto the food, but regulators do not require that they be listed in the ingredients, as they are not classed as food. Does that sound like something you want to pay more for?

We all know that local, seasonal produce is cheaper, although I think a much smaller percentage of the population could actually tell you what is local or seasonal. I’ll do another post at another time on farmer’s markets, and how great they are for finding out what is in season, but if you don’t have a market nearby you, you might want to go online and print off a chart of seasonal fruits and veggies, and stick it on your fridge. Even in the more ubiquitous environment of the supermarket, seasonal produce will be cheaper.

In most grocery stores there will be a bin or two of discounted produce. I always check through it, but only occasionally find anything worth buying. Obviously if something already on your list happens to be in the discount bin, it’s a good purchase. You may also find a substitute for something on your list; something like discounted kale for spinach is a pretty obvious switch. Sometimes I see a bunch of fresh herbs for .10p or so, and I can generally find a use for them. However, keep in mind that a small bag of chopped carrots at .50p marked down from a pound is still a rip-off.

When you’re looking through aisles, keep in mind that the most expensive items are stacked at eye level, cheaper items may be along the top or the bottom. In the same vein, try the budget line. There are many staples such as rice, tinned tomatoes, beans, etc, with which you will not notice a difference in taste, but are drastically cheaper.

Take a moment to carefully check the price of staple items by weight as well. You’d be surprised at the difference in prices in some items when you use a little detective work.

You’ve heard this one before, but don’t be fooled by 2 for 1 offers unless it’s something already on your list, and something you use/eat a lot of. Similarly, something being on sale is only beneficial if it’s on your list. Buying in bulk is often a money saver, but use your discretion. Sometimes you simply don’t have room for bulk items, and sometimes buying more just means you will eat more. Unlike the produce bin, I’ve never once seen anything worth buying in the general discount bin.

The store that we shop in for our staple items is huge, and often has the same item in several different locations. I make a note of the price I see an item at first, and compare it to the item in other locations in the store. For example, the nuts in the baking aisle are the same damn nuts in the wholefoods aisle, but at half the price.

STICK TO YOUR LIST. If you didn’t need it when you were making the list, you don’t need it in the store. On a similar note, never ever EVER go shopping hungry. Hunger makes sticking to your list almost impossible.

Finally, check your receipt and change before you leave the store, just to make sure you weren’t overcharged. It doesn’t happen very often, but you’d hate to miss it.

I hope you find this collection of tips and tricks helpful. I really believe that how you shop makes as big a difference to your bill as what you buy, and ultimately helps you to stick to your health plan. You can’t eat a package of cookie dough that you never bought.

Recessionpe!

Red Lentil Comfort Food

This is one very cheap way to prepare lentils, a recipe I modified from Moosewood Celebrates. The zest of the ginger and lemon perk up the warm, comforting flavours. I call this comfort food because it is the perfect thing to curl up with on a cold day.

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp ginger, minced or grated
3 carrots, sliced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
11/2 cups red lentils
2 cups vegetable stock
1 tbsp lemon zest
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions, and sauté until soft. Add the ginger, cumin and cinnamon, and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the carrots, and sauté for a few minutes. Add the red lentils, and stir until mixed with the other ingredients. Add the vegetable stock, bring to a boil, and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender. The mixture should have a dahl-like consistency. Stir in the lemon zest, and season.

Serve by itself, or over brown rice.

Ethics 101

2010-03-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

I'm sure every vegetarian could come up with several different, ethical reasons for being a vegetarian. Please feel free to post your own reasons below, but the following reasons are my own fundamental ethical reasons for turning my nose up at meat. These reasons are not meant to hit anyone over the head with my personal philosophy, but to give those who questioning their own practise of eating meat, some food for thought.

1. Meat is for pleasure, not survival

The meat industry has worked really really hard to instill the idea into all of us that we need meat to survive and be healthy. And judging by the amount of comments I get about how I have to be "so, so careful" about my diet, they've suceeded. There are plenty of arguments out there for why vegetarianism is healthier than eating meat, but for right now lets just settle on the fact that vegetarianism is certainly as healthy as diets including meat. Don't believe me? Check any national health website, no matter what country you are in. We do not need meat to be healthy. That means the only reasons we kill animals for food is pleasure and habit. Consider that fact while you read through the other points.

2. What's the difference?

To me, there is no moral difference between eating an animal and eating a human. I don't feel that we are superior to animals, so to me there is no difference. And since I'm not keen to eat a human, I can't justify eating an animal. Simple as that!

3. Unnatural breeds of animals

In our quest to make the meat industry as financially lucrative as possible, we have created some frankenstein animals, bred specifically to yield unnatural amounts of meat. Chickens are bred to have unnaturally large breastsand pigs are bred to be so fat they are unable to support their own weight. These animals are unable function as they normally should, and live lives of pain purely for the financial advancement of another species. The more people who convert to vegetarianism, the more chance that these breeds will be allowed to die out, ending their painful and unnatural existences.

4. We have an instintive love of our fuzzy, furry, or feathered friends

Children are born with a natural love of animals. Parents encourage this love with family pets, plush animal toys, viewings of Bambi and The Lion King, and trips to petting zoos. But as we grow up, the idea is instilled in us that animals exist as tools for human pleasre, and we begin to view those interested in animal rights as nuts, loonies, and fantasists. Remember the affection you felt for animals as a child. There is nothing nutty about compassion and consideration.

5. Cows don't live in grassy meadows

Even if you don't think there is an inherent problem with humans eating other animals, I'm willing to bet you don't want these animals to be raised in horrible conditions wherein they suffer their entire lives, and are killed inhumanely purely for money and your pleasure. But animals DO live in horrible conditions and ARE killed inhumanely. Many people are vaguely aware of the conditions of factory farming, but I think if we are going to include meat in our diets we are obligated to understand exactly how this meat is raised. There are plenty of books and videos on the situation: check out Meet your Meat, Food Ink, Earthlings, Fast Food Nation, or The Food Revolution.

6. Eating less is still too much

Some people look at the above resources and think that if they reduce the amount of meat consumed, or make efforts to improve the conditions the animals are raised in, the problem of factory farming will be solved. Reducing consumption and improving conditions are good first steps, but they are only first steps. The meat industry is necessarily a business, and as a business, the animals involved will always be treated as a product. Business sense will always win out over compassion. When we commercialise another life, we've already thrown a level of compassion out the door.

7. Owning another life is morally impossible to me

Can anyone really own another's life for financial purposes? Don't we call that slavery, and don't we condemn slavery? And yet we condone it in the meat industry. Why do we think that because cows, pigs, and chickens can't talk, their lives are ours for financial purposes? Can I sell a mute for money? Do we think we own animals because we perceive them as being less intelligent? Can I sell a mentally disabled person for money? There is something so disturbing to me about the idea that we think we own these animals and have the right to do whatever we want with their lives.

8. Why some animals and not others?

This is a familiar argument to both vegetarians and meat-eaters. Why do we fawn over some animals, turn them into our pets, and even take them to pet hairdressers, and look the other way while other animals suffer painful lives and slaughter? While some cultures eat dog, western countries generally view this habit with revulsion, mockery, and contempt. Yet, cows, pigs, chickens, and lambs are no less adorable, sweet, inquisitive, amusing, and capable of returning love than dogs and cats. If you couldn't eat your dog (and I suspect most of you couldn't), does it really make sense to condone eating adorable pigs, sweet-eyed cows, curious chickens, or playful lambs?

9. I have the power to control my actions

Some people do think that people are superior to animals. That our power of reason and morality put us on pedestal over the animals we eat. I don't personally agree that humans are superior to animals, but if we do have these wonderful superior abilities to behave reasonably and morally, why can't we bestow this on our animal friends? What is a better use of reason than to produce food in a sustainable, healthy way? What is more moral than compassion? If we have been given the power to control our actions beyond nature, what better way to exercise this control than to stop inflicting cruelty on the earth and all its inhabitants?

Recessionpe!

These muffins are vegan, and as far as sweet muffins go, pretty healthy! If you've never had zucchini in muffins or cakes, prepare to be pleasantly surprised.

Zucchini and Molasses Muffins

Makes 12

1/2 cup canola, safflower, or coconut oil
3/4-1 cup Billington's molasses sugar (you can use any brand, but this is the only one I know)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp white vinegar
2-3 tbsp water
2 cups grated zucchini
2 cups all-purpose flour*
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350/180 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together oil, sugar, and vanilla. The sugar may be a bit lumpy; you can mix it in totally, or leave the lumps for delicious little pockets of sugar in the final product. Combine baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl, and whisk with a fork until bubbly. Mix in with the rest of wet ingredients. In a seperate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix together wet and dry ingredients until just combined. Stir in water on tablespoon at a time, until you have a batter. You made need a little mor, but add it cautiously. Don't overmix. Stir in the zucchini.

Spoon the batter into muffin tins (either grease the tins, or use paper liners), and bake for 15-20 minutes. It may take longer, depending on your oven. The muffins should be puffed and golden brown, and an inserted knife should come out clean.

*You can also use a mixture of 1 cup all purpose flour and 1 cup whole-wheat. If you decide to do this, you will likely need to add some more water to create a more batter-like texture, and then bake it a little longer.

I like to freeze these muffins, and pop one into my lunch bag for an afternoon snack.

Healthy, Wealthy, and Kind

2010-03-11T12:14:00.000-08:00

I love being a vegetarian. I love the word, I love the food, and I love the ethos. I think there are many reasons to become vegetarian, including the benefit to your health, your wallet, or the environment. However, I would like to say at the start that the real reason I am a vegetarian is the animals. I love them and I think that eating them is about as necessary and as morally defensible as frying up your neighbour. When confronted with someone who doesn't want to kill animals for a snack, some meat-eaters react with thinly-veiled anger and resentment. As a result, vegetarians often avoid discussion the ethical considerations of a plant-based diet. I would like to think that I can speak my mind about my true reasons for not eating meat without slapping meat-eaters in the face with my choice.

But as I said, there are many other great reasons for marrying a carrot. The first of these reasons is health. Over the course of this blog, I hope to dispell the ridiculous and outdated health myths about vegetarianism still running rampant in our collective minds.

People don't like it when you nag them about their bad eating habits. I know this, because I nag people about their bad eating habits all the time. And they usually aren't very pleased with me. And you know what? I don't really care. Because if I don't lecture them, I have to hear them constantly complain about being fat, having no energy, and getting ill every other week. Do you think maybe, just maybe, a possible solution could be that you haven't eaten a vegetable in two weeks, you just downed a pound of chips and an entire fried fish for lunch? Is it possible?

So much energy in the media gets devoted to trying to convince us that being slim and healthy is really difficult and really complicated. We are bombarded with conflicting messages about carbs, protein, and fat. Magazine articles try to highlight certain super-duper fruits and vegetables that we need to eat obsessively for a fast-track approach to nutrition. I believe in a varied and seasonally-based whole food diet. Such a diet is simple, delicious, and wonderfully healthy. Once you are well-informed about eating a whole foods diet, you will never have to obsess over getting single nutrients again.

If there is anything I know that I am good at, it's saving money. Sometimes this ability of mine can be a problem; for instance, I think I might be physically incapable of throwing out old clothes, no matter how many holes they have in indiscreet places. Yet 5-6 nights of the week, I provide my boyfriend and I with a different, delicious, healthy meal for mere pocket change. You know that Sainsbury's ad with Jamie Oliver instructing some slack-jawed yokel how to produce enough spaghetti to feed four people, for (shock!) under £5? I laugh in the face of that ad. Anyone, no matter how bad in the kitchen, or clueless in the grocery store, can make a meal for several people for £5. I'm here to show you that there is culinary life under five pounds, that need not even involve spaghetti! Or Jamie Oliver. Who, bless his plump-faced little soul, probably hasn't had to feed anyone for under five pounds for 15 years.

Having been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for 11 years, I have recently been thinking about becoming vegan. In fact, having learned some truly horrible things about the egg and dairy industries, I feel that I have no real choice. But I love cheese! And I love sour cream! And I love to travel, and for me half the point of travel is trying local food. And by half, I mean 90%. Local food is rarely vegan. Therefore, during the course of this blog I will be recording my challenges and discoveries about transitioning to veganism.

Recessionpe!

Every week I hope to publish a vegetarian recipe. This first week I'm giving you the first vegetarian thing I ever learned to make! A delicious, cheap, and easy hummus recipe.

Delicious and Easy Hummus
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2-3 gloves of garlic, minced
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 generous tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
scant 1/4 tahini*

Blend chickpeas in the food processor. Add garlic, water, lemon juice, ground cumin, and salt, and blend. Blend in or stir in tahini. Serve with grilled pita bread, raw veggies, plain rice cakes, as a sandwich spread, or whatever you like! This recipe will keep for up to a week in the fridge.

*For those of you concerned about the cost of tahini, the recipe is still good without it, but the tahini really makes it delicious! Middle Eastern grocery stores often carry cheaper brands of tahini than standard supermarkets.