“Vegans can no longer be silent in this most important social justice change…anymore than we could have [remained silent]…by just not owning slaves during Antebellum slavery and saying slavery was a choice. Some things are so wrong they can not be tolerated. Time is short and creating a vegan world has become crucial to saving […]
Extreme Vegan Makeover: "Fish" N’Chips Edition
Every year at the end of the Spring semester, my colleagues and I would attend the commencement ceremony for our College. Graduation is always held at Madison Square Garden with the marquee congratulating our students, the College’s name up there alongside those of celebrities and athletes. We find, press and then dress up in our […]
Extreme Vegan Makeover: Jalapeno Poppers Edition
Lately, I’ve been making a lot of comfort foods. Comfort foods for me do not involve sweets or chocolate or bread or pasta. No, for me, comfort food means fried and crunchy. The timing couldn’t be worse for my sudden need for comfort foods. Spring is here. The weather is s-l-o-w-l-y getting warmer and soon […]
Extreme Vegan Makeover: French Dip Sandwich with Jus and Onion Spread Edition
“Oh my G-d! Oh My G-d! OH MY G-D!!!!!” Tom repeatedly cried out last night. I don’t think I have ever seen a look of such pleasure, such passion, such hunger, such rapture on Tom’s face. His eyes were wide with fascination, his mouth wet with desire. “OH MY G-D!” he exclaimed. And then he […]
Breaking Up With Richard Gere
The other night I had a dream in which I broke up with Richard Gere. Apparently, we were in a serious relationship – I even got to touch his hair (swoon) – but I had no choice. I had to end things between us. Before I get into the dream analysis, perhaps I need to […]
Extreme Vegan Makeover: Sweet and Savory Hamentashen Edition
It’s Purim and even though I am baking-challenged, I decided to try and make Hamentashen. And not just any Hamentashen: Vegan and gluten-free Hamentashen. Purim has always been my favorite Jewish holiday. It’s one of the few happy holidays and as I recall, the only one where you get to sit in the synagogue and […]
Extreme Vegan Makeover: Colcannon Deconstructed: Cheezy Potato-Okra Corn Cakes with Cabbage and Collards Edition
Today is St. Patrick’s Day and I supposed that meant I should cook something green. But I eat green food every single day so I decided to celebrate by trying a green food I’ve never eaten before. Okra. I had never tried okra although I’ve wanted to. But it looks strange and I had no idea what […]
Extreme Vegan Makeover: Aduki Bean Salad Edition
You say azuki beans, I say adzuki beans. Or Aduki beans, or asuki beans or Tiensen red beans or red Oriental beans or feijao beans or red chori. Call them whatever you want but add them to your shopping list. These small, reddish-brown, rounded beans are delicious and so good for you. They have a […]
Paint Creek Animal Rescue
Being a native New Yorker, when I hear Brooklyn, I think of the Bridge, Prospect Park and the many Vegan eateries in the borough across the river from Manhattan. However, lately I’ve been learning about a very special place in a different Brooklyn: Paint Creek Animal Rescue located in Brooklyn, Michigan. Paint Creek Animal Rescue […]
Extreme Vegan Makeover: Vegetable Lo Mein Edition
Lately I’ve had a lot of cravings for Chinese food. I miss going to my favorite places and getting takeout. I miss the cartons (and what’s happened to those lately? Too many plastic tupperware containers. That SO takes away from the Chinese food experience), the chopsticks, the fotune cookies. I even miss the dozen packets […]
Extreme Vegan Makeover: Buffalo Lentil Burger Edition
One of my favorite recipes is my “Chicken-Fried Steak/Buffalo Wings” edition which is a double-dipped hot sauce battered seitan cutlet served over a carrot and celery salad and topped with Vegan Bleu Cheese http://thevword.net/2009/11/extreme-vegan-makeover-chicken-fried/ But I’ve been gluten-free for two months (today) and so I’ve had to renounce seitan. It’s not that I’m gluten-intolerant. Not […]
Restaurant Review: Karma Road
Here is my checklist for the perfect café: Vegan, organic, no refined or irradiated ingredients, gluten-free, eat-in and take-out, green juice, delicious food, friendly people and lots of love. Sounds like a huge order to fill but there is a place that can satisfy all my wants and needs: Karma Road Organic Café. Karma Road […]
Extreme Vegan Makeover: Kung Pao Tofu Edition
When you think of Chinese food, I would bet one of the last ingredients you would ever think of would be mayonnaise. I know that’s true for me. But that’s exactly the ingredient that is in this recipe for Kung Pao Tofu. I wish I could take the credit for this successful culinary matchmaking but […]
Extreme Vegan Makeover: Minestrone Soup with Turnip Greens Edition
Snow, snow, snow. It feels like it’s been snowing forever. Everywhere I look, all I see is white. Don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty but personally, I’m hoping Phil the Groundhog was right and that spring will be soon upon us. This weather just demands foods that are warm, filling and comforting. It is definitely […]
Book Review: Appetite for Reduction
I have a ton of vegan cookbooks and all of Isa’s but this one will most likely never sit on the shelf. Honestly, I look at most of the cookbooks I have as resources for ideas or starting-off points and then I go my own way and do my own thing and the finished dish […]
Extreme Vegan Makeover: Tom’s Grilled Cheese with Spinach and Tomato on Rye Edition
If there are any perks to being sick, one might be getting breakfast in bed. I have trouble sleeping and then it takes me awhile to get going in the morning, but Tom is always up early – reading, working on his classes, etc. When I finally wake up, Tom comes into the bedroom to greet […]
Extreme Vegan Makeover: Moroccan Split Pea Soup Edition
“Oh, the weather outside is frightful…” but this soup is so delightful! The ground is covered in snow and it’s so cold outside. Of course, that doesn’t stop Benny from going out and playing in the snow. All decked out in his new (and expensive) snowsuit and his Pawz booties, Benny loves jumping in the […]
Extreme Vegan Makeover: Baked Nachos with Picadillo Edition
Maybe it’s the holidays. Maybe it’s the weather – there is over 2 feet of snow outside. Maybe it’s all the diet commercials on TV (I can be oppositional that way). I don’t know what it is but lately, I’ve been HUNGRY and craving foods that are definitely NOT diet-friendly. Now that doesn’t mean I’ve […]
Extreme Vegan Makeover: Easy Cranberry Sauce Edition
This past Thanksgiving was my first time making my own cranberry sauce. Growing up, we always had the kind that came out of the can and jiggled on the plate. This is a very simple recipe and it takes hardly any time at all to prepare. It is very tart so if you like your […]
Extreme Vegan Makeover: Spinach Artichoke Dip Edition
It happened right before I became Vegan. Literally, just a few months before I committed to a cruelty-free lifestyle. I discovered that I loved spinach artichoke dip. Tom and I traveled back to Wilmington, North Carolina – the place we eloped to – for our one-year wedding anniversary in 2008. We had become vegetarians the previous […]