NYC = Great Vegan Food

This post is all about food-specifically, the fabulous vegan food I had on my most recent trip to the Big Apple.

This trip was all about walking and food. It was great--two of my favorite things in one little vaction.

On our first night, we met some friends at Gobo, located at 401 6th Ave (note, the F or V line stop at 4th St is the best stop to get to the place). We had some New England rolls for an appetizer that were just super yummy. We also got some fried mushrooms that I didn't like, but my boyfriend, M, loved them; our friends, who are not veg*n, compared them to fried calimari. For the main course, we shared some crispy seitan and a pan seared soy filet in spicy black bean sauce. Desert consisted of one of the best chocolate cakes I've ever had, hands down.

Our next day was quite the culinary adventure. First, quite a few bagel/deli places in Manhattan (particularly in the lower east side) have tofu cream cheese. We wandered into one, and split a nicely toasted bagel with vegetable tofu cream cheese. M was super happy about the bagels.

For lunch we went to Teany, Moby's tea and lunch spot. They have something like 98 kinds of tea, so if you are a tea lover, it's a great place to enjoy a cup. The sandwhiches are really good (and most of them are vegan, but all are vegetarian).

Right around the corner (kind of) at 248 Broome St is Babycakes, a vegan, and gluten and wheat free cupcake venture. We tried the gluten free chocolate cupcakes--they were ok, but not as good as I had hoped. The wheat-free carrot, as well as the wheat free lemon and vanilla versions were tasty. I was kind of disappointed that they didn't have bolder and more colorful decorations.

For dinner that night, we went to a place called Counter, which is at 105 1st Ave between 5th and 6th streets. It's a mostly vegan, organic wine and martini bar. The appetizer was yummy, some sort of mushroom ravioli. The dinner was good too--I had a vegan version of Steak au Poivre (a soy filet with fat french fries and a pepper sauce). The dessert was a too rich choclate tart--I got a bit goofy after a glass of rather strong sangria, so I had the giggles, making it a fun dinner :)

The last all-veg*n place we went to was Candle 79, located at E. 79th street by Lexington. This is a fancy vegan gourmet restaurant. The food was really good--I had some very succulent tempeh with garlic mashed potatoes. M had some really nice seitan. The chocolate cake was good, but nowhere near as yummy as Gobo's. The music also was not very peppy--it was very quiet classical heavy on the violins--it created kind of a somber mood. There was also a couple sitting next to us who were planning their wedding, and, we think, their rehearsal dinner to be held at Candle 79. They were continually curious about our dishes; probably ok though since I couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation about their wedding!

So, to my buddies out there planning on coming to NYC, do try one or all of these places. Also, Friends of Animals has a great restaurant guide for even more veg*n places.

Becoming Vegan

One of the first questions a vegan will ask another vegan is, "So, how long have you been vegan?" How long was it since you became a vegan. What's really interesting is that you just don't turn around one day and say hey, I'm a vegan!--you really actually become one.

I say this because in order to be a successful vegan, it has to be consistent with your ethics and outlook on life. You have to have some good reason to make you avoid a food you previously thought was great. The thing is, sometimes it takes a while to figure out exactly what your ethics and outlook on life actually are with regards to food.

Let me tell you the story of how I became vegan.

First, it's important to establish that I am an animal person. My entire family is particularly fond of animals. I grew up with three dogs, two cats, and a rabbit. I identified intensely with my pets, loved them as much as I loved my family. I never really did think about the meat that I ate though--my favorite sandwich was ham and cheese; Happy Meals were my nirvana.

I remember my grandfather. He would often speculate about how cruel slaughterhouses are, how sad it was that cows were getting shot between the eyes. I would listen with fascination, but still never really made the connection between the vivid images of death and dinner. But I was listening.

My parents often received mailings from the Humane Society of the United States, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. I remember when I first read those words, I wondered what that meant, the ethical treatment of animals. What was that? The more I thought on it, the more I liked the idea. Ethical...interesting.

Then one day I was reading a magazine, and read that some celebrity was vegan; that was the first time I saw what a vegan was--no meat of any kind, no cheese, no eggs, no milk. I remember thinking that I couldn't go vegan because then I wouldn't be able to eat any of my favorite foods. A thought later and I reasoned, well, I could go vegetarian--I'd still be able to eat lasagna. Then I forgot about it all in the rush of growing up.

When I was 15, I opened up a PETA mailing and there they were, the slaughterhouse pictures. I started reading. And reading. And something just clicked inside my head. When I ate Kentucky Fried Chicken, I saw the bones piled up on my plate and I thought how strange and weird it seemed, how caveman like. Then I had dinner at my grandmother's house, and she served a very rare roast. I couldn't stop staring at the blood on my plate. Meat stopped looking like food, and more like something dead.

I announced to my Mom one day that I was going vegan. She was a bit skeptical. I believe the actual words were something like, how can you go vegan when you don't even like vegetables? Good point. We hit on a compromise; I could begin by going vegetarian, and she would support my decision to go vegan only if I did more research on what it was exactly, and what to eat. So, I became vegetarian for about a month, and then I switched to being vegan (after reading Diet for a New America). That was just shy of 15 years ago, and I'm quite happy in my vegan world.

This is what's kind of cool about vegans--a hard-core meat eater today could very well be the militant vegan of tomorrow.

The Mighty Chickpea

Chickpeas are a great food. Much like the mighty soy bean, you can do a ton of things to them: mash them and combine with tahini to make hummus, falafel is made from chickpeas; you can eat them whole and baked, or in yummy stews. My dog especially likes chickpeas.

My favorite chickpea dish to date is a version of Chana Masala, an Indian chickpea dish. Real Chana Masala should have something called garam masala; I don't have an Indian specialty grocer in my area, so I sort of throw the spices all together, and I go heavy on the cinnamon.

Here's the recipe:

1 large onion (vidalia or yellow) chopped
8-12 fresh roma tomatoes (chopped) (if you can't find fresh, canned plum tomatoes that aren't packed with basil work fine--just drain and chop them up)
some garlic (I like to use a lot, ~8 cloves) chopped
tumeric (as much as you'd like. A few shakes to start would be fine)
cayenne pepper (as much as you'd like)
cumin seeds (few sprinkles)
ginger (I used dried, ground ginger, but you can use fresh ginger...A few tsps should do)
coriander (few shakes, but not as much as the tumeric)
cinnamon (use the most of this, it is SOOOOO yummy)
black pepper to taste
20 oz can of chickpeas
Olive oil (OO)
You'll need a pretty deep cast iron pan. The one I use is about 4" deep, has a handle and a glass cover.

Pour enough OO in the pan to cover the bottom; put heat to medium, add the onion and garlic. When the onion starts to get a bit translucent, add the cumin seeds. Stir. Then add the tumeric, cayenne pepper, ginger, coriander, black pepper, and cinnamon. Stir, and make sure you smell the the gorgeous spices!

Add the chopped roma tomatoes, and stir. Wait a bit for the tomatoes to break down and get saucy. Add the chickpeas with the water they are packed in. Stir, bring to a boil, then decrease heat to low and simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until most of the water has boiled off. Occasionally taste test to see if the spices are right--sometimes I add a bit more tumeric or cinnamon, maybe some pepper.

When the stew is done, it's best served in a cute little bowl with some basmati rice. This particular recipe will provide roughly 5 bowls, so it's great to make on a weekend and then eat during the week.

Bon Appetit!

Cow: It's what's for dinner.

Take a gander at this delightful diagram of a cow to the left. Who actually looks at a cow and says, ooooooooh, cut #1 up by the shoulder would be LOVELY for dinner this evening. Think they would say that if they were looking at a REAL cow? What about if they were sitting at the slaughter house watching their dinner bleed out? What if they were told that there was a chance their dinner was harboring the dreaded mad cow disease? Hmmm...not quite as appetizing now, is it? Indeed, just thinking a little too much about where meat comes from causes many people to just turn off their thinking caps and settle back into the comforting messages delivered to us through advertising.

The beef council, the dairy lobby, the chicken industry, and the pork industry have done an amazing job maintaining the public diassociation between the meat on their plate, and the animal it came from. Recall the popular slogans:

Beef, it's what's for dinner. (with the snazzy tunes of Aaron Copland's Rodeo: Hoedown playing)
Pork, the other white meat.
Got Milk?

Then we have the equally disturbing ads for the California Milk Advisory Board (the Happy Cows campaign), and Perdue. In these advertisements, the animals are shown, in the case of the Happy Cow ads, happy and content, with a sassy sense of humor to boot. (http://www.realcaliforniacheese.com/)

And then of course we've got the Perdue empire talking about how they feed their chickens marigold petals to make them that nice yellow color, and then showing rather strange footage of a chicken lifting weights . . .enough to make you think--those animals WANT me to eat them! Look how hard they're working!

What's ironic about many of these ads is that in today's world, the low-volume family farm is a rare find. In fact, the meat production industry has really followed the trends of mass prodcution introduced by Ford in the early part of the last century. The term applied to this type of "farming" is called factory-farming. It's prevalent in cattle, pork, poultry. The basic idea behind factory farming is to produce an animal that is as large as can be, at the lowest cost, and to "grow" them in as great a quantity as possible in the smallest space possible.

Imagine what will happen once the bird flu hits the US, or if the mad-cow disease will hit the cattle population in mass numbers. As with other countries, the US government would most likely insititute mass slaughter to contain the disease. How strong will the poultry and beef lobbies be both in limiting the negative press, and creating advertising that generates demand for a tainted product? If anyone could do it, these powerful lobbies probably could.

Someday, the veg*n concept will go main-stream. Until then, I'll happily be munching on my broccoli, and thank my lucky stars that I don't eat meat.

VegLove: Dating and Romance

Dating: it conjures for many people feelings of excitement, and often dread. It is the inspiration for movies, tv-shows, books, comedy, drama. Dating is hard enough when one doesn't have a lot of well, requirements, of the potential dating pool. But throw in a requirement or two, such as religion, philosophy, or some other random personal quirk, it gets ever more daunting:

• I have a good friend who has decided relatively recently that she will be happiest if she dates only Jewish boys (she is Jewish herself).
• I have another good friend who has decided that he positively cannot stand to date any girl who eats meat, the very thought disgusts him (yes, he is a vegan).
• I have another friend who said once that she wouldn't be able to stand dating a guy who liked rock music.

In terms of vegan living, the question frequently comes up: Does it matter if your sig. other is veg*n? The answer is that it really depends.

Some points to consider:

• There are a limited number of vegans relative to everyone else, so one is narrowing the number of fish in the sea considerably by restricting themselves to just other vegans.
• I think there are probably more female vegans than male vegans...
• Vegetarians are probably a good next choice in terms of expanding the vegan's dating options.
• Veg*n/omnivore couples do exist, and some work out quite well.

That being said, there is something nice about being able to share core beliefs and philosophy with the person you are in a relationship with. It really means you have to work just a little bit less to connect in a meaningful way. All other benefits and headaches still apply.

The most recent VegNews magazine (March/April) devoted most of the issue to dating. One point brought in the issue were that dating non veg*ns actually educates the non-veg*n population about vegan ways. Although a valid point, it makes the romantic in me cringe. Dating to educate seems so, well, boring, and a bit insincere.

To the vegan thinking of dating a non-vegan: make sure you really aren't bothered by his/her meat-eating ways. If you think that you can transform someone into being a veg*n, good luck to you. You'll have a better chance of having a good relationship if the non-vegan is respectful of your veg*n ways, and YOU are at the very least tolerant, of his/her omniverous ways.

For the veg*n looking for other veggies. Sometimes the best place to find others are online; www.veggiedate.org is pretty good. www.match.com also has an option to search people based on diet criteria.

Grocery Nomad

Grocery shopping can be just a royal pain in the ass when you're a busy vegan. Up until very recently, in order to get all the groceries I needed for a week or two, I had to go to at least two places--the oh-so-boring grocery store, and the kind of weird, vitamin smelling natural foods store.

With the increased awareness of the health benefits of soy products though, the main grocery chains are starting to offer veg*n friendly items that make one-stop-shopping closer to a reality. Then there is Whole Foods, a veg*n actually could get everything for the week there, but for me, the nearest Whole Foods is a 45 minute drive away. What do to? I thought it would be an interesting exercise to compare the two.

Shaws

Overall, Shaws has a pretty well stocked natural foods, veg*n friendly section called Wild Harvest. A good selection of grains, frozen foods, pre-packaged foods (my favorite is macaroni and Chreeze), and soy milks and soy based products. It saves me a long trip to Whole Foods.

The problem with my local Shaws is that the produce sucks. I went in the other day to get some tomatoes for this yummy variation I have on Chana Masala, an Indian dish. There were no loose roma tomatoes that weren't shriveled up, so I looked at the packaged ones. I found a package that looked promising, and turned it over--low and behold, there was MOLD living happily in the crevices of the tomatoes. Yuck.

I read somewhere recently that people in general don't have the time to investigate the true quality of things like grocery stores, or doctors for that matter, so they use proxies to measure quality. For a grocery store, that proxy would be the quality of the produce--sucky produce, crappy grocery store. Such was the case with this Shaws, which, by the way, was a brand new location!! Needless to say, I find this grocery store is good only for the non-perishable goods. Good thing I live relatively near a specialty grocer that deals pretty much only in fresh produce.

Whole Foods

Generally, Whole Foods is just a fun place to shop, if only for the sheer variety of veg*n products offered. The produce is almost always super fresh, and just down right pretty. I don't think I've seen a rampant case of mold yet at the few Whole Foods that I've visited. Whole Foods also has a fun bakery, with some downright yummy vegan cookies.

There are a few downsides to WF though...Sometimes it's a bit hard to find the really basic products, say, like Rice Krispies. The ready-made food section has recently been slim pickings on the veg*n options..At least that's what I've found in one particular location. I wonder if market research showed that most pret-a-manger people were just not buying the vegan stuff...I'd be interested to find out.

My grocery shopping expeditions can be summarized by:

Shaws, or other main-stream grocery store (Hannaford, Stop n Shop):

Ok for basic staples, like tomato sauces, chickpeas, aluminum foil, peanutbutter--you get the picture. Shaws has a pretty good Wild Harvest section, which is good for basic non-perishable vegan foods.

Whole Foods:

Great when I can actually make a trip there. Good produce, good selection of odd ingredients that I generally need for my cooking experiments. The cookies are fun. It's a downright mediocre place to stop by for a quick lunch or dinner though for the ready made foods--there used to be a great selection of ready to eat vegan eats, but not so much anymore.

Other Vegetable Place:

When I can't get to Whole Foods, and there is mold on the produce at Shaws, and I have time, I'll stop by one of several little places relatively nearby that sell mostly produce--fresh produce that is.

One advantage, and disadvantage of being a vegan--by necessity, we become the nomads of the grocery world.

A comment on my last post asked for more information about veganism. Below is a short list of online and offline resources:

www.goveg.com

A site run by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), has some good recipes and facts about being veg*n.

www.peta.org

PETA's official site. Like it or not, they are a powerful force in the animal rights/veg*n movement.

www.veganfreaks.org

A cool blog/web site that has some interesting perspectives on being vegan.

www.pcrm.org

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine official website. Has some great information about the health benefits of a vegan diet.

Diet for a New America by John Robbins. I think every vegan I've ever met was heavily influenced by this book. A very logical and well written book about why being vegan is a good thing--all from the son of the Baskin' Robbins empire.

Vegan Planet my favorite vegan cook book.

VegNews magazine. A great magazine that is published quarterly. Go to www.vegnews.com for more info.

Food: who knew it meant so much?

I've been vegan for almost 15 years--and for the most part of that time period, I have often found myself the only vegan in a sea of omnivores. I find the unsolicited comments from omnis quite interesting (often kind of amusing), when my vegan status becomes known. Some examples:

"Wow, what do you eat?"
"I could NEVER be a vegan, I like cheese too much."
"I could NEVER be a vegan, 'cause when I get home at 2 am from the bar I wouldn't be able to eat my cheese pizza."
"I could never date a guy who was vegan, it's just too weird."
"Would you eat an animal if you were starving?"
"What if you were starving and the only thing you could eat was another person? Can you still be a vegan if you are a cannibal?"

The curiosity is understandable. After all, the great majority of the average person's life is saturated with animal products. In a sense, I think they are revolted by the perceived asceticism of the vegan lifestyle. Vegans avoid all animal products--no eating anything that walks, swims, breathes, feels; no wearing anything that comes from an animal. What kind of freak does that?

It's just another difference to add to the pile we all have to deal with in order to get along.

Vegans do give up much of what the main stream world considers essential, but it doesn't mean we deprive ourselves of anything. We can borrow from the foods of different cultures: Indian, Italian, Asian, Middle Eastern and mix and match with all the spices, grains, beans, and vegetables available. Also, ready-made foods are cropping up in the market place to cater to the busier vegan who can't cook food all the time. But, for some kick-ass chocolates, check out:

http://www.rosecitychocolates.com/

In terms of wardrobe, the vegan can actually be a snappy dresser. Faux-leathers and fabrics are being used to create some truly cool creations. Here are some of my favorites (mostly for accessories):

www.veganessentials.com
A great one-stop shop for a lot of vegan things--food, shoes, t-shirts, vitamins, etc. There site is well designed and really easy to navigate through.

www.mooshoes.com
A small vegan shoe store in NYC. They often have some cool shoes and bags.

www.viavegan.com
A very cool vegan company based in Montreal. Originally an accessories designer, they have expanded to shoes under the Matt & Nat brand name. Check out a sample of their creations.

www.lunaboston.com
A small bag shop in Boston that sells ViaVegan products.

www.casuari.com
This company has the cutest fabric lap-top bags.

To those vegans out there, be kind to your omni friends, answer their questions, be patient with them. If you chat with them, they will understand you better. To the omni's out there, vegans aren't a freakish as you think we are :)