The Vegetarian & Vegan Thread

[papa_levante]

You also have to watch out for sulphur dioxide which is basically poison.

I have been looking into how to avoid many preservatives that are found in foods with a shelf life or needs to retain color. It is difficult, but it can be done! I have gotten so used to reading labels that it has no longer become a chore.

 

[Neely]

Happy new year to everyone and I too want to "rejuvenate" my diet as well. I am going to cook more at home and although I love Amy's products, I am going to force myself to make more foods from scratch. I've also bought supplements and Vega to accomodate to my vitamin intake, esp iron and B12.

Also I thought it would be a great challenge to put together one raw vegan meal once a week or so... I found great recipes and videos here by Jonsi (lead singer and guitarist for Sigur Ros) and Alex, they are so cute

 

[auriphrygia]

I'm planning on going dairy free for one or two weeks in january! i drink a lot of milk and I want to replace it with almond milk, etc. i'm excited.
what changes have you guys experienced when you changed your diet?

 

[chanelnumber5]

I love dried pineapple and mango, its like a healthy version of sweets (candy) to me!

Do any of you eat blackstrap molasses on a regular basis? Its nutritional information looks amazing, 1 tbsp has around 17% RDA for calcium and 19% of iron, as well as a ton of other minerals.

 

[papa_levante]

what changes have you guys experienced when you changed your diet?

Some of the big things:

- not a lot of restaurants have a lot of dishes to choose from .... unless you want salad every time.
- opting for "specialty foods" can get pricy.
- if you decide to go back to drinking milk, do it slowly. From personal experience, I did not get as sick as I thought as I would. But it's still wise to do it moderately to keep from a bad stomach ache or a huge "offering" to the porcelain god.

 

[Ashcottmanor]

not a lot of restaurants have a lot of dishes to choose from .... unless you want salad every time.

Boy is this true! I rarely eat out anymore because of this reason alone. It isn't necessarily a bad thing though if you're watching your weight because restaurants can put a lot of hidden "fats" into your food that you have no idea about. Also, just because you ask for something to be vegan and the waiter or chef says they can do it doesn't mean they know what it means. I had a chef make me a special vegan meal once, it was delicious until I found out later he used chicken stock in it. Waiters often confuse vegans with vegetarians.

 

[papa_levante]

Absolutely, Ashcottmanor.

Some places that I have found to be vegan-friendly ...

Chipotle: rice, black beans (because the pinto are made in lard), fajita, mild/medium/hot salsa (I combine mild and medium together), guacamole, lettuce, and corn if you so choose (I do NOT choose it).

Pho: (pronounced "fuh" like in fuck) Vietnamese rice noodles with lettuce, bean sprouts, sometimes carrots. DELICIOUS! And gluten-free.

There is a local grocer in town called Mountain Mama's that has a sandwich/wrap shop in the back. Any other day I would have written off MM as just a grocery shop. Who knew there was a sandwich shoppe in the back?! Little surprises like that are always nice.

 

[cygnenoir]

I agree with papa_levante about Pho - yummm. But be certain to ask about the broth as not all Pho places have vegan broth. I learned that the hard way.

I was just at the grocery store and saw something I had never seen before - EatPastry Cookie Dough. They had several flavors and they are all vegan. Hoorah! Naturally, I had to immediately pick some up and I can't wait to make some peanut butter cookies.

Here's their website: eatpastry.com

The world is changing when one can find vegan cookie dough at a mainstream supermarket!

 

[papa_levante]

I agree with papa_levante about Pho - yummm. But be certain to ask about the broth as not all Pho places have vegan broth. I learned that the hard way.

Yes, ma'am! The broths are usually meat-based, usually beef. So ask! I get it without any broth, just a steamin' bowl of noodles!

 

[Neely]

I was just at the grocery store and saw something I had never seen before - EatPastry Cookie Dough. They had several flavors and they are all vegan. Hoorah! Naturally, I had to immediately pick some up and I can't wait to make some peanut butter cookies.

Ooh this I will have to investigate and find! Thanks cygnenoir and please let us know the (hopefully) delicious results!

 

[cygnenoir]

Yes, ma'am! The broths are usually meat-based, usually beef. So ask! I get it without any broth, just a steamin' bowl of noodles!

Oh that's smart! We have a zillion Pho places near my Uni, so there are a few with deeelicious vegan broth. It took me awhile to find them though.

(I get so hungry when I'm on this thread! )

I have yet to make any cookies yet and oddly have not even eaten any raw dough - as suggested on the package! Heh.

 

[parisia]

Chipotle: rice, black beans (because the pinto are made in lard), fajita, mild/medium/hot salsa (I combine mild and medium together), guacamole, lettuce, and corn if you so choose (I do NOT choose it).

Pho: (pronounced "fuh" like in fuck) Vietnamese rice noodles with lettuce, bean sprouts, sometimes carrots. DELICIOUS! And gluten-free.

Oh my gosh, those things sound so good!

We don't really have Mexican food here but I absolutely love it. I want to be able to make a yummy vegan plate for dinner at home and that Chipotle thing (edit: I just googled it and I think you're talking about a restaurant, not a type of food haha) you mentioned sounds perfect!

Can anyone give me a good salsa recipe? I love coriander (cilantro) so one with that in it is possible.

And how do you cook black beans...just boil them?

Actually any vegan Mexican recipes would be fabulous. I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[YoninahAliza]

I love using Quorn in my tacos, its such a great product that tastes great and is meat and soy free.

 

[papa_levante]

Actually any vegan Mexican recipes would be fabulous. I'd really appreciate it.

http://www.veganmexicanfood.com/

And I don't prepare black beans. I actually don't know how. I drain them from the can, put them in Tupperware, store them in the fridge and use them as I need them.

 

[Ashcottmanor]

Can anyone give me a good salsa recipe? I love coriander (cilantro) so one with that in it is possible.

And how do you cook black beans...just boil them?

Gwyneth Paltrow has one that quick and simple I really like it.
SERVES: 4
TIME: 10 minutes

• 1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped cilantro leaves
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped white onion
• coarse salt
• squeeze of lime
• as many finely chopped red jalapeños as you’d like (optional)

Combine the tomatoes, cilantro and onion together in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and lime. Reserve some of this mixture for the kids, and then add as much jalapeño as you like to the remaining mixture for the adults.


Black beans: I drain mine out of the can, rinse them under cold water to get all the sauce off then put them in a small sauce pan with about a teaspoon of chopped garlic, a couple sprigs of cilantro and just a little bit of water and simmer them for 10 minutes or so just until all the flavors mix together. But you can cool them however you like.

 

[parisia]

Thanks, both of you!

 

[Neely]

Daiya cheese is where it's at. I can't stop raving about and it actually melts!

My sister and I just consumed the most delicious vegan pizza I've ever had... We made it with red peppers, spinach and daiya cheese on TJ's garlic pizza dough. It was divine

Later we had vegan chocolate covered bananas.....ah reminds me of Arrested Development "There's always money in the banana stand"

 

[cygnenoir]

Yeah, there are a few restaurants in LA that are starting to use Daiya! It's pretty exiting to be able to order pizza or nachos like all the other kids.

And an EatPastry update: the cookies are pretty good! Yummy.

 

[seacarousels]

I had some amazing vegan, gluten free pizza recently in NY. First time having Daiya cheese and it was so good!

 

[parisia]

We don't have Daiya here