Vegan blogs

Last summer, I decided to go vegan one more time. Not really a huge jump, as I've been a vegetarian since 1972. But in the past, my few attempts at moving totally away from dairy and eggs had not been successful. With the opening of VegiTerranean, Akron's first vegan restaurant, I felt the time was right to try again.

You may be wondering how I managed during this past year. For the most part, veganism was easy to achieve. Vegetables, fruit, grains, pasta and lots of soy in all its manifestations were my staples. During the school year, I did lots of vegetable stews and soups in the crock pot, so I didn't have to do much food prep after a long day of school plus rehearsal.

I bought some vegan cookbooks to augment my collection of old favorites (Soy Not Oi!), but the most helpful source of vegan recipes turned out to be Google. Every time I had craving for something I used to fix that might have once included eggs or cheese, I'd simply type in vegan plus macaroni and cheese, for example and get a wealth of vegan possibilities. It's much easier to cook looking at a recipe on a computer screen than hunching over a cookbook.

The only problems I had with veganism were away from home on trips to places I'd never been before. I will confess to putting actual dairy cream into my coffee when soy milk was not available. Sometimes at celebrations, I simply ignored the fact that the birthday cake was probably made with eggs and milk. But generally speaking, restaurants will have a vegan option, even if it is only a Bocca burger and a salad.

I'd like to recommend a new recipe I just found online this week at Two Silly Vegans blog for chocolate chip raspberry scones. I had some fresh organic raspberries that I wanted to do something with, so I Googled and arrived at this recipe which I promptly tried out. Soy yogurt provides the binding agent. This recipe also uses a small amount of sugar, and as I halved the recipe to begin with, that turned out to be 3/8 cup. I used whole wheat flower and vegan chocolate chips and they turned out great!

Once I realized that people actually blog their vegan recipes, I did a search and compiled a new vegan blog roll for your convenience and mine! Just scrolling through these blogs gives me all kinds of new ideas for creating interesting and tasty new vegan meals.

So if you have been thinking about going vegetarian or vegan, why not give it a try? You'll be doing the planet and your body a huge favor. And oh, by the way -- a new scientific study shows that vegans and vegetarians live longer than meat eaters.

VegiTerranean serves lunch

As announced earlier, VegiTerranean is now open for lunch during the week. My good friend and Kinks-buddy Tony from San Diego was in town this week, so we headed over to try out the lunch menu.

We both ordered burgers, and boy they were good! Makes the thought of heating and eating a Bocca Burger kind of not so appealing.

I haven't eaten meat since 1971, but I can remember how eating actual ground meat often times meant chewing on a piece of gristle, and then there was all that animal fat laden with the accumulated toxins from pesticides on the grain the animal was fed to hormone shots and various antibiotics. These things tend to accumulate in the fatty tissues. I'm very glad I haven't been consuming them for over 30 years. Which is not to say I haven't picked up a lot of pesticidal residue on various plant matter, but not nearly as much as regular meat eaters. Here is a list of the ten top toxic fruits and vegetables to avoid -- always look for the organic versions.

Our burgers arrived on whole wheat buns with a very generous side of salad. Along with our burgers, we shared a plate of fries made with a sprinkle of rosemary and homemade fresh tomato ketchup on the side

It feels so civilized -- to have a vegan restaurant in Akron! I'm not the only one with that opinion, I'm sure. The place was packed, and it was 1 PM on a Thursday afternoon. All ages from kids to grandparents and everything in between. We had called in reservations, but the answer machine had gone on overload. Fortunately, we found a place at the bar with a great view of the Y-Bridge and the valley beneath it.

Plans for the new year include a bakery and coffee bar.

Here's a sneak peak of what to expect. The coffee bar area is almost ready to go. The baked good prices look very reasonable. On display in the cases are vegan deserts that are available on the restaurant menu. They look just as sinful as anything you'd find made with eggs and dairy products!

The ambiance is definitely inviting! Tony and I spent a delightful hour and more at the bar, lunching and enjoying a holiday drink, and chatting about the possible Kinks reunion. Would they tour or only do a one or two off reunion concert like Led Zeppelin just did? No matter, we made a pact to get tickets and get to the concert site, no matter which side of the Atlantic!

The restaurant is located at 21 Furnace St on the ground floor of the new Northside Lofts. That's the building at the foot of Luigi's off of old Howard Street. Phone for reservations: 330-374-5550. It's the perfect place to take your out-of-town friends
and impress the heck out of them!

Go vegetarian and save the planet

PETA is going after carnivores like Al Gore who are perhaps avoiding another inconvenient truth -- that one of the major causes of global warming is the raising and slaughtering of animals for human consumption. A recent NYT article examines the work of a number of environmental groups that are banding together to promote the idea of going vegetarian to save the planet.

My meat-eating friends don't want to hear about it, and I'm guessing Al doesn't either. There seems to be something almost sacred about meat-eating to those who will not or cannot give up animal products. I stopped so long ago that I can't remember what it was like to load up the plate with slices of cow, pig, lamb, chicken, turkey or fish. I've forgotten what it is like to pick up bones from a plate and gnaw on them, and I don't ever have to bite into a burger or hot dog and crunch down on bits of gristle any more.

But aesthetics aside, the facts remain: the production of meat is not good for the soil, the water or the atmosphere. A UN report issued within the past year states that meat production produces "more greenhouse gas emissions than all forms of transportation combined."

Which is going to be easier, getting Americans to give up their SUVs or their steaks and burgers? I'm betting they'll switch to hybrid cars faster than switching to a soy-based diet.

But for those who are interested, there are plenty of great resources online and off. One of my personal favorite cookbooks is called Soy Not Oi. Created in the early 90s by an anarchist collective of punk rockers knowns as Hippycore, this little cook booklet has practical and fun recipes for going vegan. The writing of these recipes makes you want to run to your kitchen and to your stereo and start cooking. Here's an example to give you an idea of the style:

"The Best Goddamn Fried Potatoes You've Ever Eaten by joel.
Cookin' Tunes: Last Option "Burning" (It's a great LP plus Jeff is a total potatohead)
"Exclusion" compilation LP

This is a fucking great thing to cook, it's so goddamned delicious. It's best eaten after you win a tough hockey game 7-4 in the playoffs against the best team in the league and you're a bit buzzed cos you drank too much post-game beer and you have the total munchies, but uh, I make it for dinner a lot, too.

potatoes, 9-12
onion, 1-2
green onions (scallions), 1-2 bunches
tofu, 1 pound
corn on the cob, 1-2 cobs
kidney beans, 1 can or 1 cup cooked yourself
green bell peppers, 2-4
mushrooms, handful or two
zucchini, 1 if you feel like it
tomatoes, 2-3
spices: garlic powder, garlic salt, lemon pepper, cayenne pepper, cumin, coriander, curry powder, ground basil leaves, black pepper, chili pepper, etc.
Any other veggies you may fancy (like chile peppers)

Take the potatoes, wash them well, and dice the fuckers up, The smaller you dice 'em the faster they cook' do 'em about thumbnail size, You just do that, then put a good bit oil in a wok or BIG frying pan, Heat the oil, then put the potatoes in. Put in a healthy dose of all the spices and cook for 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are 2/3 cooked (guess at this). Stir constantly so the potatoes don't burn, Quick, you're losing your buzz, so grab a homebrew. Whew, okay. While this stuff is frying, chop up the onions, scallions, mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, corn and chiles (if you got 'em).

Grab another beer. Like I said, when the potatoes are 1/2 - 2/3 cooked (kinda soft but still crunchy on the inside) sloppily dice up a 1 pound block of tofu and dumpot it in the wok with the potaotes and spices. Be amazed at the loud popping noises as water meets burning oil. You may need to add more oil once while cooking, as potatoes soak up a lot. Okay, fry this up until the tofu is mostly done (ditto for the potatoes) and dump in your diced veggies and the can of kidney beans. Add a fuckload more spices at this point, too. Keep stirring constantly. Cook 'til it's edible to you, tossing in some tomato wedges at the very last second (this keeps them crunchy and adds a lot to the texture).

Turn the stove off and dallop yourself up a huge portion (I like to place a huge chunk of vegan margarine on top and sometimes a little soy sauce, when I'm feeling a little crazy) with another beer and some saltines and pig out. Now, you're tipsy, you're full, you're tired, the record's over, and you're stoked. Go to bed, and save the rest for lunch tomorrow."

Rather than bashing our meat-eating friends over the heads with dire warnings about global warming, I'm thinking buying them a copy of this cookbook might be a lot more effective. It is available (along with other fine vegan zines) from Vegan Action and you can order it here. It even includes instructions for making Hippycore Homebrew to go with your fried potatoes!

Here's a photo of my well-used copy, covered with various food stains and the grime from the fire that destroyed our veggie commune back in the early 90s. No, it wasn't a cooking fire!

By the way, Soi Not Oi is a vegan cookbook. Your meat-eating pals might not be quite ready to give up the eggs, the dairy products, and the honey, but nevertheless, this cook book is so entertaining with so many great recipes, it may inspire folks to at least try vegan, if only once a week.