I Heart Vegan Food!

On my "bucket list" of life: do a road trip around America. I have fantasized of a sabbatical to explore the country. When I said I should take a year off like that Eat, Pray, Love author, my sister said I'd make it as far as Woodstock, New York. Um, that's two hours away!

Right now, I'm living vicariously through the Just Eats Tour with Gene Baur, president and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, and his crew, who are on road trip exploring vegan food and exposing our factory farming system most Americans choose not to think about. Why would we not want to think about what's going in our bodies or how farm animals are suffering in horrible conditions, yet we love our cats and dogs!

Gene's book, Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food, was one of the sources that got me very interested in vegan living, and I've visited their shelter in Watkins Glen, New York, where I stayed at one of their bed and breakfast cabins.

My advice to people intimidated by "vegan": don't get caught up in signing up to be a "fill in the blank" label (vegan, vegetarian, anything). It's not all or nothing. I don't worry about being perfect and making ideal choices always. The goal is to be conscious of what you are eating, who it is impacting (animals, workers, people who live in the communities), and the planet.

While Gene and co. are exploring vegan eats crossing the country, I enjoy eating vegan food often in New York City's Hell's Kitchen (where I work), at home (doing easy swap outs like almond or rice "milk" instead of dairy), and in New Jersey where I live. Not featured here but are worth mentioning are two of my favorites in Rutherford, New Jersey, Sweet Avenue Bake Shop, an all vegan bakery, and Rutherford Pancake House with a great vegan section of the menu from tofu scrambles to vegan sliders.

To answer the question, "But what do you eat?" when eating vegan, and to debunk the myth vegan food is about deprivation, here is some vegan food I've enjoyed over the past few months that is proof that it's anything but.

Before heading into work, I picked up a vegan cranberry orange muffin, $2 (vegan blueberry also available), from the Thursday farmers market at Port Authority Bus Terminal. Check out vegan baking tips from Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale. With Earl Grey tea with soy milk, on thrifted plates in my cubicle. An Edward Hopper image overlooks to the scene.

Go lightly tip: stock your office kitchen with secondhand plates, glasses and silverware to allow colleagues to reduce their impact.


In Hell's Kitchen...

Grilled tofu tacos at Blockheads, with rice and black beans, $9.50. They even have tofu sour cream here! Sit outside on their cheerful patio, which I did at a happy hour with some friends.

I was treated to lunch by a colleague at Vinyl (there's also a Chelsea location). The lemongrass tofu wrap filled with jasmine rice and Chinese broccoli, which comes with their homemade chips, $9.95. Washed down with pineapple juice, $3.

At Chili Thai, the Massaman Curry: a thai-muslim influenced curry with potatoes, onions, and peanuts in coconut milk with tofu, served with a spring roll, $8.50. This came with a cup of vegetable soup as well.

Mocha soy soft serve with vegan chocolate brownie topping, $4, at Kyotofu. Two flavors monthly.

Sit by the window and watch New York City life go by. I reflect how much Hell's Kitchen has changed. Look at the New York City taxi in the window. Did you know the New York City's Taxi of Tomorrow is a Nissan minivan made in Mexico? I know!


Vegan burger at Mother Burger, $7.95, a blend of toasted bulghur wheat, carrot, chick peas, onion, sautéed red and green pepper, tahini and spices.

The New York Times said this of veggie burgers,

"Veggie burgers haven't merely become good. They have exploded into countless variations of good, and in doing so they’ve begun to look like a bellwether for the American appetite."

In supermarkets, I favor the BOCA Burger brand. I've found many chains like Friendly's, Applebee's and even Charlie Brown's Steakhouse offer a veggie burger (sometimes in fine print, other times you just have to ask). Knowing whether or not they are vegan can be tricky, but I like Kathy Freston's advice about not worrying about minimal amounts of animal products when trying to eliminate or reduce them in your diet. Unless you make all of your own food from scratch, it's hard to know all the time what's in your food.


Office eats...

We get treated to pizza and salad Wednesday, and one of my favorite slices is the pizza marinara with olives and capers (ordered from Uncle Mario's). This always brings me back to Italy where pizza marinara is everywhere on the menu. I had a similar pizza just outside of Venice.


At a weekly tea time, I brought in vegan apple strudel from Trader Joe's, $2.99 for a box of two. No wonder Maria in The Sound of Music declared crisp apple strudel one of her favorite things!

Check out the Trader Joe's vegan product list.


At Hummus Kitchen, vegetarian couscous with a choice of one side (had to choose their creamy hummus), $9.50. It also came with a vegetable soup. I paired this with a refreshing glass of pomegranate lemonade with fresh mint leaves. Can't make it back to Morocco, but this is close enough for now.

At a friend's birthday dinner at Zen Palate, the Mango Halo: mangos, cherry tomatoes, gingko nuts, snow peas and soy nuggets in a sweet kung pao sauce, with taro spring rolls and brown and red rice, $11.95.

Zen Palate's vegan key lime pie, $4.50. So airy and refreshing!


In New Jersey...

At Pancho's Burritos in New Milford, the sauteed spinach enchiladas with soy cheese and tofu sour cream with pinto beans and Spanish rice, $11. Beans are one of my favorite protein sources, and are great for at-home cooking since they are inexpensive and widely available.


At home...

A meatless meatball sandwich with Trader Joe's vegan meatballs. Topped with fresh basil from the garden.


A V-BLT: Lightlife vegan Smart Bacon, lettuce, tomato on multi-grain bread with Nayonaise (find it in the natural food section of supermarkets, Whole Foods or check your local health food store).


Lightlife Smart Dogs. At just 45 calories per dog, you can have two!


And of course, duh, all the fruits and vegetables you want! Strawberries from Old Hook Farm in Emerson.


Find vegan eateries near you through HappyCow.net.

Note that all of the photos (save for Zen Palate) were from non-vegan, non-vegetarian eateries. Vegan food is just showing up everywhere for good reason: it's humane for the animals, healthier for our hearts without all those saturated animal fats, and good for our Earth (would you want to live next to a factory farm? Me neither!)

I do think, personally, Americans seem to have too many animal products in their diet and do people really need meat at every meal? What are the costs of raising all these animals at the cheapest prices available?

Why are we so focused on protein, and not on fiber or vitamins? I often wonder when I hear people complaining about carbs why eating factory farmed meat is okay (one person I know told me they choose not to think about that). Spaghetti, no, drugged up, overbred chicken raised in filthy warehouse, yes?

A big part of my American Dream: a better world for farm animals than the one that exists now.

Vegan Eats: A Photo Essay

Did you know that 10 billion land animals are slaughtered every year in the United States, according to Farm Sanctuary? That's staggering. Americans eat far too much meat (and in way too large portions) if you ask me. Yes, we have freedom of choice, but choices impact healthcare costs, the animals' welfare, workers' conditions, and the environment. Want a hog farming operation in your backyard? Me neither.

Can't skip meat all the time? Skip it some of the time. Or a lot. As much as you can. I can't skip dairy and eggs in everything, but I do it as much as I can, and feel better for it.

Not feeling deprived at all savoring...

At Alice's Tea Cup, a pot of chocolate chai tea (so good!) with soy milk, $6, and a grilled vegetable sandwich (swapping cheese for hummus) and salad with sweet ginger dressing, $12.

Spaghetti with Trader Joe's meatless meatballs, which are also tasty as a sub sandwich. Check out their handy vegan list.

At Rutherford Pancake House, sharing vegan "Dayiasadillas" (with Daiya vegan cheese), portobello mushrooms, spinach, roasted peppers, and sweet potato fries, $9.95, and vegan sliders with a tamarind date sauce, $5.99

A chocolate raspberry cupcake, $3.50, at all-vegan Sweet Avenue Bake Shop in Rutherford, New Jersey. I haven't made anything out of it, but several people recommended Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World for at home baking.

Happy hour at Stecchino in Hell's Kitchen, New York City. Champagne with raspberry liquor, $6, and grilled bread with olives, $3.50.

My mock McMuffin with SoyBoy smoked tofu, vegan cheese (sorry, can't remember the brand!), and Yves meatless Canadian bacon. Do you ever stop to think about how a chicken, a cow and a pig labor in horrendous conditions to produce the traditional version of these breakfast sandwiches?

Yves lemon herb "chicken" skewer, grilled, over Spanish rice (I would do a less spicy pilaf with it instead next time since the skewer has a kick), with salad.


Some pre- and post-vegan week eats from this year:

Celebrating an early Mardi Gras dinner with Steve at The Delta Grill in Hell's Kitchen, New York City, the blackened tofu salad with Shiitake mushroom and couscous, $9. I love that tofu is popping up on more menus. Why shouldn't it be a protein choice? I know someone who is obsessed with counting carbs but when I ask about the chicken she eats almost every day, it's again, "I choose not to think about it." Why?

Sharing the orange flavored tofu with veggies and (not pictured) brown rice at Empire Hunan in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, with my mom. We took half of this home in our reusable cotainers (which we bring to reduce packaging waste and food waste). We also had steamed vegetable dumplings and scallion pancakes with peanut sauce (vegetarian, yes, vegan, ?) End: lychee fruit.

A tofu scramble with veggies and Lightlife Gimme Lean veggie sausage, with toast with peach jam.

Escaping our cubicles, an outing to Lime Jungle in New York City with a friend. A vegetarian taco (hold the cheese), $3.25, filled with rice, beans, guacamole and veggies, a a cup of black bean soup, $3.50. Beans are my favorite protein source: they are inexpensive, easy to prepare and widely available (no special Whole Foods trip needed!)

Date night with Steve at Pancho's Burritos in New Milford, New Jersey, a raspberry margarita and mini spinach burrito with soy cheese, brown rice and black beans and tofu sour cream (look for the Tofutti Sour Supreme at Whole Foods and other retailers). The honey mutard dressing for the salad may have some dairy.

Before the Banff Film Festival in New York City, grabbing the Earth Mother slice (five from the garden), $3.75, at Two Boots, various locations in New York City.

Oprah's Vegan Challenge: Reasons and Results

"I choose not to think about that." The common answer I get if I ask someone what they think about the vast amounts of factory farmed animal food in their diet. Laughter often follows, on their part, not mine.

I think of a Mad Men scene (yes, I know it's not Monday yet!) where Don Draper mentions his wife to one of his mistresses and she asks him why he would bring her up and he's making her feel cruel. Isn't it odd how we rationalize if we put it out of our minds, it's morally alright? Isn't part of the advertising environment that so shapes our decisions - to make you feel good about your choices, no matter the consequences to others.

I respect everyone's right to eat what they want, but to me it's reprehensible the conditions animals are raised in, like filthy wire cages for egg-laying hens, or gestation crates for pregnant sows who cannot even turn around. Learn more about factory farming from Farm Sanctuary. Who wants to regularly consume eggs that came out of a hen crammed in a filthy wire cage with 5 other chickens who can't even spread their wings in a dark warehouse? I firmly believe in our Internet age with widespread availability of knowledge in so many cases the question is not a matter of not knowing, it's a matter of knowing, and not caring. Have we become so desensitized by corporations and marketers that people really don't care? A scarier answer to "I choose not to think about it" is "I don't care." An addition to my favorite four letter words list: care.

I gave up eating meat, chicken and fish when I was around 14, ate some fish in my late 20s, and went toward a vegan diet for a few years. I went back to vegetarianism because I tired of not being able to eat something with touch of honey, couldn't have a vegetarian pasta salad that had cheese at an office luncheon, or a piece of cheese at a picnic in the park. But I've been overindulging in cheese and sweets, so I did Oprah's one week vegan challenge back in February.

Since people always asked me what I ate as a vegan, and even as a vegetarian, here, readers, is what I ate all week. I usually take Trader Joe's soy creamer and sugar in my coffee or tea.

Monday
Breakfast: Amy's Kitchen breakfast burrito, Whole Foods Market organic orange/banana/pineapple juice, coffee
Snack: Silk vanilla soy yogurt with bananas, Twinings chai tea
Lunch: half a vegetable panini (River Edge Diner leftover), carrots, potato chips, seltzer with lemon
Snack: celery with organic Trader Joe's peanut butter
Dinner: Salad (romaine) with chickpeas, Amy's Kitchen non-dairy vegetable pot pie, a Woodchuck pear cider
Dessert: Almond breeze cappuccino swirl ice cream.
Passed on: homemade brownies at work in the morning, and a leftover cookie tray from a meeting in the afternoon

Tuesday
Breakfast: Nature's Path organic homestyle waffles with strawberries and kiwi, a slice of Yves meatless Canadian bacon, juice, coffee
Snack: soy yogurt with blueberries, handful of pecans, Teavana Earl Grey creme tea
Lunch: Salad (romaine with carrots), lentil vegetable soup (from a catered lunch), Whole Foods Market roasted red pepper hummus and 365 brand vegetable crackers
Snack: apple, chamomile tea
Dinner: at Alice's Tea Cup: grilled vegetable sandwich on pumpernickel (hold the cheese, sub hummus) with salad with ginger dressing, chocolate chai tea with soy creamer.
Passed on: cookies at a weekly Tuesday tea afternoon tea break, and trying my friend's banana nutella scone at Alice's Tea Cup. That was tough! They sometimes have vegan scones, but their baker wasn't in that day, blast.

Wednesday
Breakfast: Trader Joe's maple and brown sugar oatmeal, half a grapefruit, English breakfast tea
Snack: Soy yogurt with frozen strawberries; handful of pecans, tea
Lunch: a slice of cheeseless veggie pizza and salad (iceberg/olives/tomatoes/). We have pizza/salad luncheons every Wednesday at work.
Snack: peanut butter/celery; a pear
Dinner: Salad with avocado, red beans and rice, scoop of Ciao Bella banana mango sorbet
Passed on: white cheese pizza

Thursday
Breakfast: Veg "McMuffn": SoyBoy smoked tofu, vegan Cheddar cheese and a slice of Yves Canadian bacon on a Whole Foods wheat English muffin, orange/pineapple/banana juice, coffee
Snack: soy yogurt with blueberries, pecans, Twinings Irish breakfast tea
Lunch: 365 (Whole Foods private label) vegetarian chili with half an avocado, veggie chips and roasted red pepper hummus
Snack: a pear, dates
Dinner: spaghetti with 365 organic marinara sauce and Trader Joe's meatless
meatballs; red leaf lettuce salad, a Tofutti cutie.
Passed on: Betty Crocker German chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. I really wanted this! My sister kept saying, "Can't you pretend that it's a commercial on Oprah and you've gone to commercial break?"

Friday
Breakfast: soy yogurt with sliced bananas, half a grapefruit, coffee
Snack: half a pumpernickel bagel with tofu dill cream cheese and a blood orange. We get free bagels and they have tofu spreads every Friday. We're an office that likes to eat!
Lunch: Rising Moon Organics garlic and basil gnocchi, a romaine salad with shredded carrots and chickpeas
Snack: celery with peanut butter.
After work happy hour at Stecchino. Champagne with a shot of chambord (raspberry liquor), grilled bread and olives.
When I got home: a pear and hummus and chips (too tired to cook!)
Passed on: a cheese platter at the happy hour.

Saturday
Breakfast: Peanut butter and jelly waffles, slice of Yves Canadian bacon, juice and coffee
Snack: dates
Lunch: grilled soy cheese on whole wheat bread and my mom's homemade vegetable soup. There was some honey in the whole wheat bread.
Snack: I went to commercial break. I had a piece of the cake. :-(
Dinner: red leaf lettuce salad, Yves lemon chicken skewers over Spanish rice.
Passed on: picking up any sweets from my trip to local farms (muffins, pies, etc.)

Sunday
Breakfast: Trader Joe's organic corn flakes with almond milk, coffee, juice
Snack: yogurt with sliced bananas
Lunch: At Rutherford Pancake House, shared quesadillas with roasted red peppers, mushrooms, spinach and Daiya vegan cheese with sweet potato fries, vegan "sliders" (mini veg burgers), a root beer
Indulgence: splitting a chocolate raspberry cupcake at Sweet Avenue Bake Shop (best vegan bakery!)
Dinner: Leftover gnocchio with a red leaf lettuce salad.
Passed on: sweets at the church coffee hour. There was also a bake sale held by the kids raising money for a retreat. I did buy some cookies to share with coworkers.

My verdict: I generally feel much better (morally and health wise) eating vegan, but accept I, like most people, don't have the willpower to pass on every non-vegan item that comes their way, especially in our abundant food culture. The cake at my mom's house was huge and I remembered hating having to obsess over every single food choice when I was doing veganism strictly all the time.

I'm an advocate of eating as much as a plant-based diet as possible (the more, the better) but don't believe strict veganism is something achievable for the masses. Eating smaller portions and wasting less food is something we should all be doing. I'm not an advocate of perfectionism, but do think we should take ownership for our choices and how it impacts others (the animals, the workers, the environment of the people with factory farms in their communities). I hope that's a challenge you'll join me on. Let's leave the laughter out of feigning ignorance.

How do you feel about your diet, and about the conditions animals are raised in? Would you be able to gather the eggs from those chickens in battery cages? Or slaughter an animal? Do you feel okay about others doing it for you? Food for thought - literally.