Vegans/Vegetarians

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 4:57pm

Does anyone have any suggestions for vegan recipies? I'm vegetarian so I know those but I'm looking for more vegan recipies.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 4:59pm

Sarah McLachlan is a vegetarian, and her tour chef put out an amazing cookbook a few years ago, called "Plenty". I've flipped through it, and the dishes look heavenly. But I also hear that some the ingredients are pretty specialized and hard to find.

UPDATE: here's the link for the book, if you're interested.
Sarah McLachlan's

Updated On: 9/5/04 at 04:59 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 5:01pm

cool, ill have to check it out. im part of the vegan vegetarian organization and im trying to get more food for vegans at my school. i just need suggestions because since im not vegan, i don't really know what's good.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 5:02pm

Yeah, that's a problem at the cafetaria on my campus, too. Do you guys have a salad bar? That definitely helps. Also, a lot of Indian food is vegetarian; it's cheap, easy to make in bulk, and very tasty.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 5:03pm

yeah we have a salad bar but not everyone loves salad as much as i do lol. where do you go to school? i go to SUNY fredonia.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 5:05pm

University of Toronto. But dining halls vary from college to college here (we're working with the old British university system, a la Cambridge, so U of T is divided into colleges.)

Toronto is extremely multicultural and also very grassroots/hippyish, so we have a lot of vegetarians.

Updated On: 9/5/04 at 05:05 PM

[EyEs In The SpotLight]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 5:13pm

When I start to get busy with a show again I don't have time to eat.. so I usually Buy a Head of lettice and chope it up put it in several little baggies and chope some carrots and cucumbers throw those in and buy the little packages of ranch dressing and eat that... usually that will last me a good week.. 2 meals a day.. But then again thats if you can eat salad everyday!

[Nina Myers]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 6:03pm

I'm a vegetarian but I don't think I could be a vegan. I've tried, and it's just not for me. But I've heard Orlando Bloom is a vegan. You two should start a Vegan Support Group. That would be oh so totally awesome.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 6:06pm

being vegan is really hard when you're starting out because you really have to make sure you're staying healthy. i don't think i could really handle it right now. maybe if one of my vegan friends help me but then there's always the fact that my parents don't like the whole vegetarian idea. my dad because it's 'different' and my mom because she wants to be sure that her baby is healthy. that's all fine and dandy but college is great for me because now i can live how i want to :)

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 6:06pm

I am a vegetarian married to a vegan, so this is a big issue in my home. It's surprising how many people don't understand the parameters of veganism, and a lot of dishes are rendered inedible (for the vegan), unnecessesarily. A lot of vegetarian recipes can made be vegan-friendly, just by using olive oil or margarine instead of butter, or leaving cheese on the side with a lot of salad and pasta dishes...and then offering soy cheese as an option.

I use a lot of tofu. I never cared for it that much until I discovered how its texture can be altered by freezing it, allowing it to thaw, and then squeezing as much moisture out as possible. The consistency becomes much more dense and chewy, and it can be sliced, or breaded,or stir-fried with much more interesting results.

I work in a hospital, and the cafeteria offers a vegetarian Indian dish daily. Unfortunately for vegans, twice a week cheese is an ingredient....sag paneer and matar paneer. If one doesn't pay attention, there can also be a lot of hidden cream or butter in Indian recipes.

The recipe I most cherish is for Ceasar salad dressing...completely vegan... made with tofu. And no one would ever know it wasn't the "real thing". It was one of the house dressings at a wonderful vegetarian restaurant in New York City, called Whole Wheat 'n Wild Berries. It closed about a decade ago, and I still miss it.

[Nina Myers]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 6:08pm

Tofu is one of the greatest discoveries of this millenium.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 6:16pm

it really is, it's quite amazing.

[Nina Myers]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 6:22pm

Has anyone tried Morningstar Farms products? They're all vegetarian and made from soy. I got broadwaymonkey and delphine to try some of Morningstar's food and they agree that they are fantabulous.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 6:29pm

Be careful with Morningstar Farms and other faux meat products. A lot of them contain a considerable amount of hidden MSG. There is a loophole by which the MSG, as an ingredient of an ingredient, doesn't have to be listed independently. Check the sodium content on the box...if it is high, that usually a good indication. I found out that attention must be paid the hard way.

[Nina Myers]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 6:30pm

OK. Thanks for the tip.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 7:13pm

wow i didn't know that about morningstar. i love their products.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 7:33pm

I happen to be very sensitive to MSG. I had made myself a faux BLT using Morningstar Farms faux bacon (which is just a bad idea to begin with....) and I had a classic MSG reaction ...serious cottonmouth, tachycardia, swollen fingers, and numbness and tingling around my nose and mouth. Very unpleasant.

I have eaten their "burgers" and "sausage" links....and I notice it a little...but nothing like the"bacon strips". Those were deadly.

BTW...I just happened to have that experience with Morningstar farms...but my husband had read an article explaining about the "hidden MSG" concept....and it's true of many brands, not just that one.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 7:39pm

yeah, if i eat enough of something with MSG, i get anxiety attacks (it's stupid but i can't help it, i have a disorder). so far ive been okay with morning star products but ill be more careful now.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 8:09pm

A long time ago, I ate a bowl of Hot and Sour Soup at a Chinese restaurant. It was LOADED with MSG. I swear, by the time the meal was over my feet were so puffy I could hardly put my shoes on....on top of all the other symptoms. I felt like I was going to die for at least 12 hours.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 8:14pm

awwww

[Nina Myers]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 8:32pm

You poor dear... I hate that feeling.

[SammyGal]

Posted: 9/5/04 at 8:35pm

I'm a veggie and I live for veggie burgers!! They're so easy to find and make.
Morning Star makes a lot of diff. varieties and their Tomato and Basil one is SOOO Good.

But I do have Boy George's cookbook actually and it's really good! It's a macrobiotic diet so it's very vegan friendly.
Let me know if you want the link.

you could always talk to a nutritionist though :)

[Nina Myers]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 12:19am

Sammy, we so have to start a Ewan/ Veggie burger Support Group. We'd draw so many followers!

[Ebonic_Singer]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 2:49am

I don't like veggie burgers although I do like Morningstar's ribs! I'm not a vegeterian yet, but I plan on it soon.

[Chevstriss]

Posted: 9/6/04 at 3:01am

I make a mean Vegan hoppin' john every year for New Year's Day. Just substitute cayenne pepper for the pork flavoring, add sauteed lots of chopped union and garlic in a bit of apple sauce, and you've got complete protein. And none of the meat eaters can tell the difference!!