It’s tomato season in America and you might be looking for some quick-and-easy vegan recipes featuring tomatoes. Try these:
Sautéed Collard Greens and Tomatoes (Serves 4)
1 teaspoon oil
1 pound collards, chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
Sauté all ingredients together over
medium-high heat for 7 minutes. Serve warm.
Broiled Herbed Tomatoes (from Simply
Vegan)
(Serves 3)
3 tomatoes, cut in half
1 Tablespoon vegan margarine
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
Dash of salt and pepper
Place margarine, basil, yeast, salt, and pepper on top of
tomatoes. Broil for 4 minutes, until tops are slightly brown.
Tomato Sauce (Sugo di pomodoro fresco from Vegans Know How to Party) (Serves 4)
This is an uncooked
tomato sauce, great for fresh tomatoes that are ripe or overly ripe. This sauce
is not meant to sit, as it is most flavorful freshly prepared and served. This
sauce will not freeze well, so make just enough to top al dente pastas, rice,
or steamed greens.
Nashville Hot Chick’n Sandwich from Pure Soul Plant Based Eats
The Vegetarian Resource Group maintains an online Guide to
Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurants in the USA
and Canada.
Here are some recent vegan restaurant additions. The entire guide can be found
here: http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php
To support the
updating of this online restaurant guide, please donate at: www.vrg.org/donate
Here are some new
additions to VRG’s guide (Note: Due to the coronavirus pandemic many are doing
take-out and/or delivery now):
Boss Of Vegan, 3108 Glenn Rd., Durham, NC 27704 and 2161 S. Wilmington St., Raleigh, NC 27603
Joining the Boss
Movement with a thorough selection of mouth-savoring, fulfilling, plant-based
burgers. You can choose from warm and delicious chili burgers made with a side
of seasoned chips topped with their creamy boss sauce. Other options include
classic and deluxe boss burgers that come with grilled onions and boss sauced
with additional cost of toppings. To add to your delicious cravings, their
fresh squeezed lemonade will surprise your taste buds. You won’t believe it’s all vegan!
Chi Vegan, 1935 West 4th Ave., Vancouver, BC V6J 1M7 Canada
Chef Chi Li combines
her MasterChef Vietnam skills and commitment to a plant-based diet to create
innovative and flavorful Vietnamese dishes at her restaurant. Li draws
inspiration from her global travels in dishes like Pho Ga, a soup with chick’n
king oyster mushrooms, tofu, basil, kaffir lime leaf, bean sprouts, and rice
noodles. Between the many bowl, noodle, and sandwich options, there is
something delicious for everyone. Don’t miss the Cha Ca La Vong, or Turmeric
Fish, a “fish” tofu with turmeric, rice noodles, and vegetables, one of CNN’s
“30 Dishes to try before you die vegan version.” Chi has fresh juices,
smoothies and coffee, as well as cocktails and mocktails. No matter the dish,
Chi prides itself on serving authentic plant-based Vietnamese cuisine to the
people of Vancouver.
Chicana Vegana, 113 East Commonwealth, Fullerton, CA 92832
Inspired by
California-based grub, Chicana Vegana provides you the ultimate comfort food
without sacrificing the rich flavors found in typical street food. You can
choose from several different options including street tacos, burritos, loaded
nachos, fries, and burgers! Some of the delicious options on the menu are
Mexgogi Street Taco, Cali Dreamin’ Burger n Fries, and crispyAnimaless fries.
They also have tres leches cake to fulfill your sweet tooth!
Kaya’s Café, 619 Lake Ave., Asbury Park, NJ 07712
This café offers a
variety of your favorite “comfort” foods made vegan. They also have organic
nitro coffee, baked goods, and kombucha, as well as other cold drinks on the
menu. Staff favorites include the Beyond Burger, the Cheese Steak, the
Breakfast Burrito, and the Gyro. They also provide delicious sides, including
coleslaw and pasta salad.
Like Mom’s Only Vegan, Findlay Market, 1801 Race St., Cincinnati, OH 45202
Like Mom’s Only
Vegan offers vegan cupcakes and cookies via delivery and in Findlay Market! The
customer can mix and match their favorite icings and cake types for cupcakes or
choose from the various types of cookies (which use applesauce instead of
eggs). Three generations of women work together to produce these baked sweets
that the company hopes will change the stereotype around vegan desserts.
What started as a
pizza-only shop with freshly made mozzarella in North Carolina has grown into a
Winston-Salem staple with an array of flavors and menu options. Every menu item
is 100% vegan, and half of the menu offerings can be made gluten-free, ensuring
that even the most limited of diners can enjoy a delicious meal. From their
creamy pasta to their creative NY-style pizzas and sweets, there’s something on
the menu for everyone, and you’re sure to leave satisfied.
Pizzeria Halt, 3440 McHenry Ave., Modesto, CA 95350
Pizzeria Halt
specializes in delicious vegan pizza. They also serve vegan appetizers and
salads. The pizzas are served with combinations of vegan cheese and many are
also topped with plant-based meats. All of the pizzas are amazing but some of
our favorites include the chicken pesto pizza or chipotle chicken pizza. For an
appetizer try the garlic knots or cinnamon twists served with icing. Get ready
for some delicious vegan pizza!
Pure Soul Plant Based Eats, 715 56th St., Sacramento, CA 95819
Pure Soul Plant
Based Eats offers the classic comfort food staples with a vegan twist. Customer favorite Nashville Hottie Sandwich
is packed with flavor from their house made Nashville Hot Chick’n, pickle slaw,
ranch and cucumber. For the Mac n Cheese
lovers, Pure Soul has four different Mac n Cheese options to choose from,
including Fried, Original, Pesto, and Queso.
Dessert options range from cookies and cupcakes to ice cream sandwiches
and milkshakes, with gluten free options as well. Be sure to stop by for Brunch, and enjoy
dishes like Strawberry French Toast or Chick’n & Waffles!
The Vegetarian Resource Group received an email from a reader in April 2020 asking: “Is yellow prussiate of
soda vegan?”
Here is our answer:
Yellow prussiate of soda (YPS) is
a hydrated cyanide salt approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for
use in table salt as an anti-caking agent, giving it Generally Regarded as Safe
(GRAS) status. It may appear on an ingredient label as sodium ferrocyanide
decahydrate.Other ways
the name appears on a label are possible.
NOTE: Inhalation or ingestion of cyanide salts can be
fatal. The Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) states:
“Ingestion of hydrogen cyanide solutions or cyanide salts can be rapidly
fatal…Treatment of ingested cyanide salts is similar to treatment of oral
hydrogen cyanide poisoning because cyanide salts form hydrogen cyanide in
acidic conditions.” (Stomach pH is acidic.)
The estimate of the daily acceptable limit of YPS in humans at which no
toxicological effects are observed (extrapolated from rat studies) is 0.025
mg/kg of body weight.
Although The VRG hasn’t
seen YPS on most table salt brands or varieties recently, we found a
photo of the ingredients
label of Morton’s® Kosher Salt that does contain YPS.
The VRG contacted three
companies that manufacture or distribute YPS or products that contain it to
find out its vegan status.
We sent an email to
Morton Salt asking about its Star-Flake®
Dendritic Salt that contains YPS. We asked if it was completely
mineral-based with no processing by animal- or dairy-derived ingredients. The
consumer representative did not have information on this, and said it was an
industrial product. Upon closer inspection of their website, we found an email
address for inquiries into the company’s industrial products. We asked,
“… I’d like to know if the yellow prussiate of soda in your dendritic
salt is completely mineral-based? In other words, it contains no animal or
dairy ingredients and wasn’t manufactured with animal or dairy-derived processing
aids?” The next morning, we received an email response from the industrial
products division at Morton Salt. Technical Documentation Specialist Claudia
told us:
“YPS is synthetic but is
ultimately derived from minerals. I’ve included a copy of our vegetarian/vegan
statement.”
Here is the statement
from Morton Salt:
“The following products
manufactured by Morton Salt, Inc. are suitable for consumption by individuals
following a vegan, lacto-ovo-vegetarian, or lacto-vegetarian diet. There is no
exposure or contact to foods of animal origin in processing equipment, storage
or handling procedures.
Company employee Kim
sent us a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) on YPS that did not have ingredient source
information. The SDS stated recommended use:
“Salt may be intended
for food or animal feed (agricultural) as well as several industrial
applications including deicing and water conditioning.”
Upon our request, Davis
employee Kim contacted Cargill, the manufacturer of the salt, about its vegan
status. She specifically asked if animal or dairy ingredients were used in the
manufacture of Alberger Shur-Flo Fine Flake Salt. In response, Cargill sent Kim
this statement titled “Vegetarian/Vegan Statement: Cargill Salt.”
In its entirety:
“The US FDA has not
defined vegetarian or vegan. The Cargill ingredients covered by this letter
have not been produced from animal (including fish), dairy, or egg products and
these products have not been added by Cargill to the Cargill ingredients.”
American Elements®
The VRG also inquired
about YPS manufactured by American Elements. Product Engineer Kristi told us: “As far as I
know, none of our materials are animal- or dairy-based/derived.” Currently,
they are offering only research-grade materials, not food-grade YPS.
VRG Conclusion about YPS
According to three
companies that manufacture YPS or make products containing it, yellow prussiate
of soda is vegan. It is derived from minerals with no animal- or dairy-derived
processing aids.
The contents of this posting, our
website, and our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal, are not
intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained
from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient
information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a
statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be
made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for
you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.
Whether you’re new to the veggie life-style or have been vegan for 20+
years, you’ll enjoy The Vegetarian Resource Group Online Quiz Game. You simply
choose your level (Easy, Medium, or Hard) and your category of interest
(environment, ethics, famous vegetarians, food, health or nutrition, or potluck
– a mixture of all these topics). Then click play.
Christine Kasum Sexton, MPH wrote
an article for The Vegetarian Resource Group titled “Vegan Menus for Adults
51+” to meet the needs of older vegans. These easy-to-prepare menus are designed
specifically for older vegans (51+ years). Four different calorie levels –
1600, 1800, 2000, and 2200 – are presented in order to meet the needs of men
and women of varying activity levels and budgets.
VRG recently received this question: I’m an oncology dietitian and have a patient who is trying to follow a vegan diet, but also has short bowel syndrome due to several intestinal resections. Do you have any information about how someone could follow a vegan short bowel syndrome diet?
Here are some suggestions.
Where I used to work, we had a fair number of significant bowel resections and short bowel syndrome. We often recommended that they follow as close to a plant-based diet as possible. However, a whole-foods plant based diet can be tricky with bowel resections. Everyone was different, but often they were able to build up pretty good tolerance to whole plant foods.
Fiber
This can be one of the trickiest components of a vegan diet for patients with bowel resections. I have found that generally soluble fiber is more tolerated than insoluble fiber due to the function of the insoluble putting a lot of pressure on the digestive tract. I would recommend small amounts of fiber spread out through the day in small and frequent meals instead of just a few large meals per day. Soups can be a great place to start. Getting the vegetables well cooked and even blending the soups can help. For extreme cases of bowel resections, the blended soup can also be strained through a cheesecloth to remove most of the fiber.
The patient may need to focus on more of the processed grains/grain products (white rice, white bread, white rice pasta, etc.) for now until they can determine how they handle whole grains. I have found that many patients tolerate starchy vegetables, especially potatoes and sweet potatoes/yams better than grains.
In terms of legumes/pulses, often people tolerate the smaller legumes/pulses better than larger legumes. They can try split red lentils cooked and puréed into a soup or tomato sauce or well cooked black beans. They can try techniques to reduce the gas from the beans such as cooking the beans in kombu, rinsing the beans before and after soaking, and buying canned beans that contain kombu such as the Eden brand. Beans can be tricky for some, so usually recommend that people start with a very small amount at a time such as 1 Tbsp. Depending on symptoms they can gradually increase the volume over time.
Protein
See above for discussion on beans. Often patients have to rely on low fiber plant-based protein options such as protein powder used in smoothies, cooking with protein powders such as pea protein (which often has 0g of fiber per serving).
Tofu is often well tolerated
A low fiber moderate to low fat veggie burger or meat alternative can also be a great option.
Fat
Too much fat at one time can also exacerbate their symptoms, so they want to have small amounts of fat throughout the day instead of concentrated high fat meals..
Some patients do not tolerate plant fats very well so I would recommend they try 100% coconut based MCT oil. It can be added to smoothies, sauces, soups, starch side, etc. The MCT generally require very little digestion/lipase so it often is a great option to help get nourishment in.
The contents of this
posting, our website, and our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal,
are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be
obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and
ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100%
sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and
mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is
suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.
As an older person living in a state with ever-increasing
cases of COVID-19, I try to limit my errand to those that are essential. I’ve
chosen to continue to physically going to the grocery store but am doing my
best to minimize both the number of trips I make and the time I spend in the
store. I recognize that I am very fortunate to have enough space to store food
and the money to buy several weeks’ worth of food at a time. Also, I’m only
shopping for myself and my husband, not for a large family, which makes things
easier. That said, I hope that some of these ideas that allow me to limit grocery
shopping to once or twice a month will be helpful to others.
Spend more time
planning in order to spend less time in the store.
Gone are the days when I planned the menu for that night or
even for the next few days as I walked through the food store, zigging and
zagging from the produce department to the pasta aisle and back to produce.
Now, while I don’t extensively plan 2-3 weeks’ worth of meals, I have a sense
that I will need 6 packages of tofu, 10 cans of assorted beans, some quinoa and
rice, 5 cartons of soy milk, a couple of jars of peanut butter, and so forth. I
think about recipes I might want to make and if there are any specialty
ingredients I’ll need to get for them. I estimate how much fresh fruit and
vegetables and bread we’ll need. I look at staples – are we running low on soy
sauce or spices or flour? Are there some things I should buy a bit extra of in
case plans change – like canned tomato products or pasta?
Make a list.
When I make my grocery list, I do it with the store’s
lay-out in mind so that I don’t have to double back and pick up something I
forgot. Like many stores, the one where I shop has one-way aisles, adding to
the challenge of going back to pick an item I missed on the first pass. Because
I never know which shelves will be bare, I try to think of alternatives before
going to the store. If there’s no pasta, do we have enough rice or other grains
that we can use instead, or do I need to pick up more of these in place of
pasta?
Fruits and Vegetables
Unless you belong to a CSA or go to a farmer’s market, it
can be challenging to buy enough fresh produce to last 2 or more weeks. Here’s
the way that I approach it.
I think of
produce in 2 categories:
Products
that should be used within a week or 10 days – including lettuce, stone fruit,
most leafy greens, summer squash, herbs, peppers, bananas
Sturdier
produce that can last for 10 days to 3 weeks or longer – such as cabbage,
carrots, winter squash, onions, cauliflower, melon, citrus fruit, apples, beets
For the first week
post shopping trip we focus on food from the first category. We might have
lettuce-based salads most days; later in the cycle salads will be coleslaw or
carrot-raisin salad.
Produce lasts
longer if stored properly. The Ecology Center has a helpful handout
on produce storage. If I notice that vegetables are starting to look tired
before we can eat them, I often make a pot of soup or another dish that can be
frozen or refrigerated. If all the fruit ripens at once, some can be sliced and
frozen to use later in crisps, smoothies, or on oatmeal. Having some frozen
vegetables on hand, like frozen sliced peppers or frozen spinach, can add
interest to meals when fresh produce is running low.
When I think
about grocery shopping pre-COVID-19, I realize that many of our trips to the
store were to pick up cartons of soy or almond milk or a loaf of bread. Now,
I’m more likely to buy shelf-stable packages of plant milk for cooking and use
the refrigerator space for the refrigerated cartons my husband likes for
cereal. We freeze bread before the use-by date, so it doesn’t get moldy and
bake our own if we want fresh bread. These ideas aren’t unique to the current
situation. They’re ways I can minimize the time I spend on food shopping and
minimize food waste.
Chef Nancy Berkoff’s book Vegan Meals for One or Two is published by The Vegetarian Resource
Group. Each recipe is written to serve one or two people. Recipes are designed
so that you can realistically use ingredients the way they come packaged in the
store. Here are two recipes from this cookbook featuring summer produce.
Pasta in Paradise
(Makes 2 servings)
This dish is colorful,
with an unexpected secret ingredient (psst… it’s the mango).
4 ounces uncooked
vermicelli, rice noodles, or spaghetti
1/4 cup red or yellow
bell pepper strips (about 1 medium pepper)
1 cup ripe chopped
papaya (about 1 small papaya)
1 cup ripe chopped
tomatoes (about 1 medium tomato)
1/2 cup ripe, chopped
mango (about 1 half mango or look for frozen cubes)
2 Tablespoons chopped
fresh cilantro or flat leafed parsley
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon white
pepper
2 Tablespoons chopped
peanuts
Cook pasta according to package directions. Rinse, drain,
and set aside to cool. In a large bowl, combine pepper, papaya, tomatoes,
mango, cilantro, oil, cinnamon, and white pepper and toss to mix. Add pasta and
toss to mix. Top with peanuts.
Total Calories Per Serving Using Rice Noodles and Cilantro:
376
Peel back the husks from the corn and remove the silk (but keep the husks intact). In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Brush mixture on the corn and pull husks back over the corn, so kernels are covered. If husks won’t stay, use thin strips of foil as closures. Place the corn on the grill, turning frequently for approximately 15 minutes or until the husks have dried out and the kernels begin to brown.
Note: If there’s
no barbecue grill available, you can use the same technique in a 475-degree
oven.
Total Calories Per Serving: 90 Total Fat as % of Daily Value: 2%
The Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG) is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public on veganism and the interrelated issues of health, nutrition, ecology, ethics, and world hunger. We have been helping health professionals, food services, businesses, educators, students, vegans, and vegetarians since 1982. In addition to publishing the Vegan Journal, VRG produces and sells a number of books.
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