MD Vegan Restaurant week runs 10 days this year starting today through March 15th. Some of the participating restaurants in Baltimore City include Land of Kush, Golden West, Harmony Bakery, Oleum, Slutty Vegan, and Little Havana. Find a complete list of restaurants offering vegan specials here: https://www.mdveganeats.com/
In VRG’s Work with Purpose series, Vegan Journal editor Hannah Kaminsky talks to TheBeHive owner about starting an ethical business. See the video at https://youtu.be/_dMglrK4GrM
Work with Purpose is Vegan Journal’s series on ethical entrepreneurs. This episode features The Behive from Austin, TX and Nashville, TN. Tips for starting a business with values. Vote with your dollar. Treat people well and take care of people in your business. Try stuff. Have humility to change the plan. Ways to make a difference. Order Vegan pepperoni, turkey, taco meat, and more. Vegan is just food. Peanut butter is vegan.
For info on other careers with values, see https://www.vrg.org/links/JobSearch.htm
To join The Vegetarian Resource Group and receive Vegan Journal, go to https://www.vrg.org/member/
In each issue of Vegan Journal, Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, reviews the latest scientific papers related to veggie diets. Recent topics covered include Components of the Portfolio Diet Associated with the Reduced Risk of Death from Heart Disease; What Can Be Done to Add More Vegan Dishes to Hospital Menus?; and Nutrition/Environmental Impact/Cost: Vegan Versus Meat Dishes.
Read the Scientific Updates here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2026issue1/2026_issue1_scientific_update.php
To subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only, visit: www.vrg.org/member
Seven Sundays Oat Granola Bright Side Triple Berry
Seven Sundays oat granola is crafted with upcycled oat protein, rolled oats, and sorghum flakes, it’s sweetened with dates and maple syrup and only has 2-3 grams of added sugars per serving.
Read the review here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2026issue1/2026_issue1_veggie_bits.php
To subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only, visit: www.vrg.org/member
by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD
The books on my cookbook shelf are not pristine. Far from it. Bindings are worn, pages are loose or have fallen out and been tucked back into the book. There are hand-written notes and some food stains on many pages. These are not books for show – they’ve been well-used, and well-loved.
Two of these cookbooks are worthy of special mention because I use them almost every week. They both feature creative vegan recipes that are relatively quick to prepare, don’t use multiple pots or bowls, and include ingredients that are likely to be in the supermarket. They both focus on entrées that are based on beans or soy products or seitan and lots of vegetables. I can count on the recipes to turn out well.
The first is Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson. One feature of this book that makes me smile is the price per serving for the recipes. The book was published in 2010. Sixteen years later, it’s downright quaint to see a recipe for an entrée that costs less than a dollar per serving. While food prices have gone up considerably, these recipes are still inexpensive because of their emphasis on beans, tofu, grains, and pasta, and (relatively) low-cost vegetables. My fondness for this cookbook is actually not its budget nature but the way that it features hearty main dishes that even my non-vegan friends like. I appreciate that it includes a chapter of slow-cooker recipes as well as chapters on soups, salads, pasta, skillet meals, casseroles, sandwiches, foundational recipes, and desserts. Some of my favorite recipes are Korean Cabbage Salad with Tofu, Linguine with Variations on a Pesto, Farfalle with White Beans and Cabbage, Barbecued Black Beans and Tofu Burritos, Smoky Southwestern Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie, Curried Tofu Wraps, Black Bean Soup with Kale and Rice, Three Sisters Spicy Stew, and Moroccan-Inspired Lentil Soup.
My other most-used cookbook is Isa Does It by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Published in 2013, this is the cookbook I’m most likely to go to for inspiration. With chapters including soups, salads, handhelds, pasta, stews and curries, stir-fries, bowls, breakfast, desserts, and Sunday night suppers (fancier dishes that take longer to cook), I can always find something to make. I’ve successfully made double and even triple batches of many recipes when I’ve cooked for a lot of people. My favorite recipes include Harira with Eggplant & Chickpeas, Roasted Potato & Fennel Soup, Kale Salad with Butternut Squash & Lentils, Chicky Tuna Salad Sandwiches, Gardeny Shiitake & Chard Fusilli, Smoky Incan Stew, Curry Peanut Sauce Bowl with Tofu & Kale, Lemon-Blueberry Loaf, Marbled Banana Bread, and Chai-Spiced Snickerdoodles.
These are the cookbooks that I would take with me if I was going away (to a place with a kitchen) for an extended time period. They’re the books I flip through when I am uninspired but still need to make a meal or when I have friends coming for dinner.
Both books appear to be available new and used and can be found at public libraries.
Vegan on the Cheap (ISBN 978-0-470-47224-8) is a 258-page softcover book. It is published by Wiley and retails for $17.99.
Isa Does It (ISBN 978-0-316-22190-0) is a 312-page softcover book. It is published by Little, Brown and Company and retails for $32.
Come meet dietitians from the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group
and Vegetarian Resource Group members. The public is invited. You must preregister.
When: Sunday, October 25, 2026, 6 PM;
Where: Casa Rio on the River Walk
Menu:
Linda’s Ensalada de Colores Appetizer: Mixed Greens with Grapefruit, Orange, Bell Pepper, Avocado, and Red Onion with Lime Vinaigrette.
Plus Buffet:
Guacamole
Refried beans
Mixed Grilled Veggies
Grilled Peppers and Onions
Corn Salsa
Pico de Gallo
Chalupa shells
Wheat Tortillas
Corn Tortillas
Mexican Rice
Lettuce, Tomato
Fruit
Water
Iced Tea
Please prepay $30 ($35 after September 1, 2026) in advance per person at vrg.org/donate. In the Comments, write in names of attendees and that this is for the Vegan Networking dinner. Or call (410) 366-8343 with a credit card. Or mail payment to The Vegetarian Resource Group, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203. We look forward to seeing you there. (Restaurant is seven-minute walk from the Convention Center.)
In the latest issue of Vegan Journal, Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, examines a recent study conducted in the Republic of the Marshall Islands that examined the use of a whole-foods, plant-based diet in people with type 2 diabetes. Did you know that more than 11% of the population of the United States has type 2 diabetes, previously known as adult-onset diabetes? People with diabetes in the United States had average medical expenditures that were 2.6 times higher than those without. Worldwide, about 12.5% of adults are estimated to have diabetes.
Read Dr. Mangels review of this study in Vegan Journal here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2026issue1/2026_issue1_plant-based_type2_diabetes.php
To subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only, visit: www.vrg.org/member
Each issue of Vegan Journal, we review vegan products that we especially like. In the latest issue, we review Wilderness Poets Miso Nooch. Miso Nooch, despite the name, isn’t made from deactivated yeast at all, but 100% chickpea miso flakes.
Read the review here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2026issue1/2026_issue1_veggie_bits.php
To subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only, visit: www.vrg.org/member
photo from Freepik
Chef Nancy Berkoff shares tips on how to incorporate nuts into vegan dishes. See: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2021issue1/2021_issue1_cooking_tips.php
photo from CDC
by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD
In the United States, from 2010 to 2022, 110,000 cases of alpha-gal syndrome were reported (1). It’s likely that many more cases went undiagnosed or unreported. Alpha-gal syndrome is a serious, potentially life-threatening allergy to a substance called alpha-gal. This allergy can develop after a tick bite. In the United States, the Lone Star tick is most often the kind of tick whose bite leads to alpha-gal syndrome. In parts of the South, people talk about getting “chigger” bites. “Chiggers,” as they are called are often the larva of Lone Star ticks and can introduce alpha-gal in the same way that mature ticks do (2}. At this time, alpha-gal syndrome is most frequently diagnosed in the southern, central, and eastern parts of the United States (in the area bounded by New York, Iowa, Texas, and Florida), but cases have been reported from other parts of the United States and in other countries (1,3).
Alpha-gal, formally known as galactose-α-1,3-galactose, is a sugar molecule. It is found in most mammals but not in humans. It is also found in in the saliva of some ticks. When those ticks bite a person, their saliva can introduce the alpha-gal into the person’s blood. The person’s body then produces antibodies to the alpha-gal. Then, in some people, when they eat mammals (like cows, pigs, deer, goats) or foods or other substances derived from those mammals (like milk, cheese, or ice cream or certain food additives or medications) those people’s bodies react with the alpha-gal which is naturally found on mammalian cells. This can lead to an allergic reaction, commonly within 2 to 6 hours after eating the meat or dairy product.
Vegans can have alpha-gal syndrome due to a tick bite. Although vegans would not eat meat or dairy products, they could have an allergic reaction to foods that contain meat or dairy or to additives derived from mammals that they are not aware are not vegan. Potentially, a vegan burger cooked on the same grill as a meat burger without the grill being well-cleaned could cause a reaction. Some patients have reported reactions from inhaling alpha-gal from bacon being fried or beef products being grilled (3,4).
The only treatment for alpha-gal syndrome is to avoid meat and other products from mammals that trigger reactions. These reactions could include trouble breathing, dizziness, hives, swelling of the lips/tongue/throat/eyelids, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, or decreased blood pressure (1). A serious allergic reaction needs to treated as a medical emergency (5). One death has been reported due to alpha-gal syndrome (2).
Some people with alpha-gal syndrome choose to eat a vegan diet, even though chicken, eggs, and fish do not cause an allergic reaction. They explain that it’s simpler to eat a vegan diet due to concerns about cross-contamination (6). Careful label reading is important for everyone with alpha-gal syndrome because food additives like animal-derived gelatin, meat broth, beef tallow, and lard have the potential to cause reactions. Carrageenan (a substance extracted from sea weeds and used as a food thickener and stabilizer; also found in products like toothpaste), although not a mammalian product, can cause reactions in a small number (estimated 1-2%) of people with alpha-gal syndrome (7,8). You can read more about determining ingredients in medication in the VRG blog post on magnesium stearate.
References
To read more about alpha-gal syndrome see:
Journal of the American Medical Association Patient Page: What is Alpha-Gal Syndrome?
The contents of this website and our other publications, including The Vegan 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.
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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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