Thursday, November 13, 2008

November bites

*The results of this year’s VegNews Veggie Awards are in, and you can check out the winners here. Now I really want to visit Portland, Ore.!

*If you’re at Whole Foods this month, you might like to pick up a free copy of Delicious Living magazine—this month’s issue includes recipes for a vegetarian Thanksgiving meal. Or you could just visit their Web site. I’m totally going to make that pumpkin-seed spread! Their Web site also has some printable coupons to save you a bit of money.

*The Humane Society is holding several grassroots meetings in North Carolina in December, which you can see on its calendar here. There aren’t any in the Triad, unfortunately; the cities are Asheville, Boone, Charlotte and Raleigh.

*Google has a page tracking flu trends in the United States. It’s based on search activity, which doesn’t sound like it would be a particularly accurate indicator of flu activity. However, a graphic shows that it mirrors CDC data surprisingly closely.

Friday, November 07, 2008

Vegetarian Thanksgiving

It’s only a few short weeks until Thanksgiving, and the Triangle Vegetarian Society is now taking reservations for its vegetarian Thanksgiving feast. I’m excited because I’m actually planning to attend this year! If you’re interested in attending, you’d better hurry up and make your reservations—they say they received 211 reservations in the first 16 hours!

Have any of you readers attended this before? I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!

Monday, October 20, 2008

Sustainable eating

Choosing foods that have as little impact on the environment as possible has become a hot issue lately. This idea of a sustainable food system is defined by the American Public Health Association as “one that provides healthy food to meet current food needs while maintaining healthy ecosystems that can also provide food for generations to come with minimal negative impact to the environment. A sustainable food system also encourages local production and distribution infrastructures and makes nutritious food available, accessible, and affordable to all.”

The Piedmont Environmental Alliance is holding a free event about sustainable eating on Thursday the 23rd. There will be a speakers, representatives from local restaurants and food samples. Click on the above link for more information.

Here’s a blog with some good ideas about eating sustainally on a budget.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Vegetarian vitamins

As the weather turns colder and we come upon the start of cold and flu season (achoo!), I’ve been thinking about vitamins and building up my immune system. Vegetarians can tend to be healthier than meat eaters, and we can get a nice dose of vitamins from our food, but we’re not immune to the viruses and bacteria that can make winter so miserable. But unless a bottle of vitamins says on the package that it’s vegetarian, it’s hard to know if you’re ingesting some kind of animal product (though gelatin capsules are a tip-off!). Luckily, Whole Foods and A&S Natural Health carry some clearly-marked brands of vegetarian supplements.

I also found this nice guide to vegetarian options for some common supplements on the Vegetarian Times Web site.

Friday, October 03, 2008

Changes to your chocolate

Do you love chocolate? If so, you might be interested in knowing that in order to cut costs, Hershey’s has taken the cocoa butter—which gives chocolate its creaminess—out of some of its products and replaced it with cheaper vegetable oil. These products include Mr. Goodbar, Take 5, Milk Duds, Kissables and Krackel. Because it can no longer be legally called “milk chocolate,” the labels now contain such words as “chocolate flavored,” “chocolatey” or “made with chocolate.”

As you can imagine, chocolate purists are in a tizzy about it—we chocoholics tend to get cranky when you threaten our beloved treat. Hershey’s has already had to switch Almond Joy back to the cocoa-butter recipe because of customer complaints. “Today” did a taste test, and it was 50-50 whether tasters liked the old or new formula better. But even tasters who enjoyed the new taste weren’t happy when they found out it didn’t contain cocoa butter.

Hershey’s is still using cocoa butter in its more signature products, such as Hershey bars, Kisses and Reese’s cups.

I tend to eat only dark chocolate, so I haven’t eaten any candy bars with vegetable oil instead. Have any of you noticed the change in your chocolate?

Friday, September 26, 2008

Breast milk ice cream?

Although I appreciate PETA’s pro-animal message, I often don’t agree with their methods. I generally find extremism to be more harmful than helpful in getting things done. In my opinion, their latest gambit—asking Ben & Jerry’s to use breast milk in their ice cream instead of cow’s milk—is just plain wacky, not to mention untenable. I can’t imagine that Americans would be very willing to reach for a pint of New York Superbreast Chunk. It has far too much of a kneejerk “ick” factor. If they were going to push for something, why not soy or rice, which are already components of some frozen desserts? Maybe they’re trying to develop an analogy between human and cow milk (why is one icky and the other isn’t?), but all in all, it seems like it’s mostly a stunt.

Readers, would you be willing to eat breast-milk ice cream?

Friday, September 19, 2008

Palak Tofu

Indian food is one of my favorite ethnic cuisines (as long as it’s not too spicy!). It’s so vegetarian-friendly, and full of healthy herbs and spices. Lately I’ve been making Indian food at home quite a bit. Palak paneer is a favorite dish of mine to have out, but paneer isn’t something I stock in my refrigerator on a regular basis (or, actually, ever). So I came up with the idea to use already-cubed tofu in place of the paneer. Here’s my version:

Palak Tofu

One medium onion, chopped
10 oz. package of frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained well
One medium tomato, seeded and chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. garam masala
1/2 t. turmeric
1/2 c. plain yogurt
1/4 c. sour cream
3 T. milk or cream
1 package of cubed tofu, drained
1/2 c. chopped cilantro

Saute the onion until soft. Add the next six ingredients (through spices) and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a blender, and add the yogurt, sour cream and milk. Blend until smooth. (Sometimes I leave this step out if I’m in a hurry—it tastes just as good chunky!) Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, add the tofu, and heat through. Stir in the cilantro just before serving. Serve over rice and garnish with some more cilantro.

Adjust to your tastes. If you like spice, add some jalepenos or chili peppers.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Field to Table Festival

If you’re pondering a visit to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, Sept. 19-28 would be a fine time to go and take advantage of the estate’s Field to Table Festival: A Taste of Appalachia. There will be demonstrations of cheese-making and butter-churning, presentations by the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, an opportunity to meet local farmers, food sampling, seminars and talks by food writers.

One of the new trends among foodies is an attention to eating local produce and knowing where your food comes from. I love seeing events like this that help raise awareness of the food that’s grown in your area. It’s much better for the environment to buy products that have to be shipped only a few miles instead of halfway around the world. The last time I visited Biltmore, I was happy to discover that it has its own garden for use in its kitchens. Click the above link for a schedule of festival events.

Friday, September 05, 2008

Asheville and Burnsville

I spent the Labor Day weekend on a “girls trip” to the mountains with a couple of former co-workers. Our home base was in Burnsville, a tiny town about 25 minutes north of Asheville. I wasn’t expecting much in the way of neighborhood amenities (or vegetarian cuisine), but I was pleasantly surprised by the row of interesting shops along the short Main Street. I was even more impressed by the fact that Appalachian Java, the coffee shop where we ate lunch one day, was nicely vegetarian-friendly—definitely moreso than I was expecting. I had a hot vegetarian pita with a side of a truly yummy pasta salad. There was also a cold vegetarian wrap, plus homemade pastries and any kind of coffee beverage you could dream up. If I lived in Burnsville, I would hang out there often.

We took advantage of the proximity to Asheville to drive into town often. Of course we ate at the Laughing Seed (I had the pasta of the day this time, with a garlic-lemon sauce, which was fabulous), but we also ate at a wonderful place I hadn’t been before: Ophelia’s.

Like most Asheville restaurants, Ophelia’s is vegetarian friendly. Taking that even a step further, the menu lists which items are vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free, and which have the option of being prepared that way—now that’s helping out the customer! Everything we had was delicious, well-seasoned and well-cooked. It was unfortunate that the restaurant had only a few customers that day, but perhaps that was due largely to being a Sunday on Labor Day weekend. It certainly deserves to be more crowded!

Here are a few vegetarian items from the menu (I dare your mouth not to water): Tuscan Bean Soup With Grilled Fennel; Grilled S.C. Peach and Local Shitake Salad; Mango and Papaya Cold Vietnamese Spring Rolls; Roasted Eggplant, Portobella Mushroom & Pesto Quesadilla; Local Shitake & Tempeh Crepes; and Chana Masala. Side dishes are also well beyond the run-of-the-mill suspects, with such items as sweet potato bread pudding, roasted summer corn risotto and sauteed local swiss chard.

Ophelia’s doesn’t appear to have a Web site, but it’s at 15 Eagle Street, off Biltmore Avenue just south of Pack Square. Appetizers and salads run from $4 to $10, entrees from $10 to $22. I heartily recommend checking it out if you’re in Asheville (it’s closed on Mondays). I know I’ll be going back next time I’m in town—there are still so many items I want to try!

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Great Chefs Cook Vegan

This is one of the most lavish and exciting new cookbooks I’ve seen in a long, long time. In Linda Long’s Great Chefs Cook Vegan, 25 top chefs, such as Charlie Trotter, Daniel Boulud and Todd English, each created a three- or four-course vegan meal. Color photographs showcase the beauty of every dish. And the detailed recipes and plating instructions will make it possible to re-create some of these dishes at home.

I say some, because in part this is a cookbook to fantasize over. Few readers are likely to acquire a cotton-candy machine for home use as called for in one recipe. And although it may be in the realm of possibility for some home cooks, I’m not likely to attempt to make a pulled-sugar swirl decoration.

But it’s not just for dreaming. I’m eager to try the Caramelized Silken Tofu Brulee with Marinated Strawberries, minus the sugar swirl. And the Grilled King Oyster Mushrooms and Avocado Carpaccio with Charred Jalapeno Oil sounds and looks delicious – and like a dish a home cook could make without compromising the recipe at all.