The Vegetarian Resource Group received the message below and thought we’d share it:

Greetings! Can you help spread the news on our St. Patrick’s themed Vegan Cooking class on March 10th? We will enjoy a 3 course demo and tasting, including Irish Boxty w/Kale, a Rockin’ Rueben and Chocolate Cheese Cake. The cost is $15 per person. In addition to the demo and tasting, each person receives recipes and a $5 gift card. Space is limited and pre registration is required. They can simply email [email protected] to reserve a spot. I have attached a graphic, hoping you can spread the word.

Many thanks,

Darline Thomas
Marketing Manager
Dawson’s Market
225 N. Washington St.
Rockville, MD 20850
240-428-1386

Chicken Bites sold at 13 Whole Foods Market stores in New York and New Jersey (voluntarily recalled) because the products contained tree nut (pecan) allergens that were not listed on the product label. The issue was discovered at the distribution center.

No allergic reactions have been reported to date. All affected products have been removed from store shelves.

The products were sold in 9 oz. containers labeled as “Whole Foods Market Vegan Buffalo Chicken Bites.” They can be identified by UPC codes 636910500059 and expiration dates of 2/27/2018.

True Food Kitchen has locations in eleven states. Their website states it was partially established by Dr. Andrew Weill to encourage simple changes in eating habits for optical health.

It has a seasonal menu, but some vegan winter options are charred cauliflower, winter squash toast, kale guacamole, and teriyaki quinoa.

See https://www.truefoodkitchen.com/menu
Vegan options are marked.

Locations are at https://www.truefoodkitchen.com/locations

For information about other chain restaurants, see http://www.vrg.org/fastfoodinfo.php

For information about vegan and vegetarian restaurants in the USA and Canada, see http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php

The contents of this 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 judgement about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.

If you live in the greater Baltimore, Maryland area and observe Lent, this event may be of interest to you:

Our second annual Lenten Vegan Food Take Out at Saint Mary’s Antiochian Orthodox Church on Sunday March 4 from 11.45am-3pm.

There will be a wide selection of homemade vegan food to choose from made by the church ladies with Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and eastern European flavors.

Some of the foods that will be available for takeaway are:
hummus, mutabbal eggplant dip, freshly baked to order pita bread, manakeesh zaatar pies, stuffed grape leaves, Lentil pilaf, Hominy, vegan chili, large variety of salads, Atayef joz walnut stuffed pancakes, nut bars, vegan chocolate/banana/vanilla cakes, anise cookies, and many more….

You can pre-order online today at our website (go to “shop” to view menu and prices): www.nativityofthetheotokos.org

To help you choose vegan foods at their restaurants, Chipotle now has a section indicating what is vegan and what to avoid. See:
https://www.chipotle.com/dietary-options

They say: For the vegans in the bunch, avoiding animal products at Chipotle is easier than you may think. Even without the meats, dairy products, and vinaigrette (which is made with honey), there are still plenty of tasty vegan-friendly options, including our popular Sofritas. The suggested meals (below) contain no animal products.

*Individual foods may come into contact with one another during preparation, which is not reflected in these recommendations. Although we make efforts to separate ingredients in our cooking processes and on our serving line, Chipotle cannot guarantee the complete absence of cross contact with any particular ingredient in any of our food.

See: https://www.chipotle.com/dietary-options

The contents of this posting, 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.

For information about other restaurant chains, see: http://www.vrg.org/fastfoodinfo.php

For information about vegetarian and vegan restaurants in the USA and Canada, see: VRG Online Veggie Restaurant Guide

You can support The Vegetarian Resource Group while shopping through Amazon Smile. Please book mark and use this link. Eligible shopping will support our vegan education and activism.
http://smile.amazon.com/ch/52-1279034

About Amazon Smile: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_se_rspo_laas_aas

Below is a vegan recipe for Hamentashen from The Lowfat Jewish Vegetarian Cookbook, by Debra Wasserman. Hamentashen is the popular baked treat served during Purim, which starts the evening of February 28th in 2018. If you are unable to purchase prune or poppy seed filling in your local supermarket, simply purée a few pitted prunes with a little fruit juice. You can also use puréed apricots as a filling.

Hamentashen
Serves 15

1-1/2 cups unbleached white flour
1-1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup canola oil
2/3 cup water
½ cup applesauce
3 Tablespoons orange juice
5 Tablespoons prune or poppy seed filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all the ingredients, except the filling, together in a large bowl. Knead dough for a few minutes. Separate into 3 balls. Cover balls of dough with a slightly damp towel and refrigerate for about 3 hours. Remove from refrigerator and roll balls of dough out to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out approximately 15 four-inch rounds. Place 1 teaspoon prune or poppy seed filling in center. Form a triangle out of the rounds of dough by folding in edges, but still leaving some space in the middle of the dough for the filling to remain mostly uncovered.

Lightly spray a baking pan and place the hamentashen on the pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until dough is brown. Serve.

The Lowfat Jewish Vegetarian Cookbook is a vegan cookbook published by The Vegetarian Resource Group and can be purchased here: VRG Book Catalog

Bodega Patrocinios in La Rioja, Spain informed us that they are now producing a vegan wine.

See: http://bodegaspatrocinio.com/en/news/el-cuarto-bodega-patrocinios-vegan-wine/

By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS
With over 15 locations in Virginia, Washington, DC, and Maryland, Perfect Pita is a family-owned business founded in 1994. Today Perfect Pita also operates Perfect Daughter®, a catering service run by the founder’s daughter. Viewers may learn more about the family business through the video on the site’s About Us page: http://theperfectpita.com/about/

Perfect Pita restaurants and catering company offer a Mediterranean-American cuisine. For locations, visit: http://theperfectpita.com/locations/

Perfect Pita’s menu http://theperfectpita.com/menu/ has a special vegan section including:
•white bean salad
•shepherd salad
•tabouli
•stuffed grape leaves
•falafel
•navy bean soup
•hummus

Between August and November 2017 The VRG spoke and communicated by email with Rosario Castro and Fatih Altun at Perfect Pita about their menu. Here are excerpts from the exchange.

VRG: Does your pita bread contain milk or dairy ingredients such as whey?
Perfect Pita: Our pitas don’t contain any milk nor whey.

VRG: Is the Hummus Sandwich all-vegetable?
Perfect Pita: Our Hummus Sandwich is vegan.

VRG: Is the tzatziki sauce made with yogurt?
Perfect Pita: Our tzatziki sauce is made with sour cream, not yogurt.

VRG: Is the Falafel Pita all-vegetable without the tzatziki sauce?
Perfect Pita: Yes, it is vegan without the tzatziki.

VRG: Do you make the hummus in your restaurants starting with dry beans?
Perfect Pita: We do make our hummus starting with dry beans.

VRG: Are all hummus varieties all-vegetable? Do any varieties contain cheese?
Perfect Pita: All our hummus (all flavors) is vegan (no meat, no dairy).

VRG: Is the falafel all-vegetable?
Perfect Pita: Our falafel is vegetarian and it can also be vegan since our tzatziki sauce comes on the side and you don’t have to necessarily get it. Tzatziki can also be substituted by our vegan hummus.

VRG: Has the falafel been fried in fresh oil? Which kind?
Perfect Pita: We use canola oil.

VRG: Is anything else prepared in the oil used to cook the falafel? If so, what?
Perfect Pita: No, just falafel.

VRG: Is the tabouli all-vegetable?
Perfect Pita: Tabouli is vegan.

VRG: Is the white bean salad all-vegetable?
Perfect Pita: The white bean salad is vegan.

VRG: Is the navy bean soup all-vegetable?
Perfect Pita: The navy bean soup is vegan.

VRG: What are the grape leaves stuffed with?
Perfect Pita: Our grape leaves are stuffed with rice.

VRG: Has the rice in the grape leaves been seasoned with animal flavors or cooked in animal broth?
Perfect Pita: No. The rice in the grape leaves are not flavored with any kind of animal flavor nor animal broth.

VRG: Do you have any salad dressing which is all-vegetable and made without honey?
Perfect Pita: Our homemade red wine vinaigrette doesn’t contain any honey or animal product.

VRG: Has the red wine in the red wine vinaigrette been clarified with an animal ingredient such as albumen or gelatin?
Perfect Pita: We don’t clarify it with gelatin.

VRG: Does the red wine vinaigrette contain sugar?
Perfect Pita: No sugar is added.

VRG: Do the vegetable components of your menu come into contact with dairy products or meat/fish?
Perfect Pita: We do allergen separation and our veggies don’t come into contact with any meat/fish or dairy.
Perfect Pizzas:
VRG: Are the crusts all-vegetable?
Perfect Pita: Pizza crust is vegetarian.

VRG: Is there L-cysteine in the crust?
Perfect Pita: There is no L-cysteine in our crust.

VRG: Is there sugar in the crust?
Perfect Pita: Yes. We do add sugar to our pizza dough.

VRG: Are there any animal-derived ingredients in the red sauce?
Perfect Pita: No.

VRG: What is in the “spinach mix” pizza topping?
Perfect Pita: The spinach mix is cooked spinach mixed with feta cheese and onions.

VRG: Does your feta cheese contain animal rennet?
Perfect Pita: Our feta cheese contains vegetable-based microbial rennet.

VRG: Does the feta cheese contain animal lipase?
Perfect Pita: It contains animal-based lipase from goat.

VRG: Are your mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses made with animal-derived enzymes?
Perfect Pita: Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses [are made with] cow’s whole milk and animal-derived enzyme.

Perfect Pita® Bagel and Pita Bread Are Vegan
Perfect Pita’s Bagel
L-cysteine
Rosario Castro of Perfect Pita told us in August 2017 that L-cysteine served as a dough conditioner in their bagel. We wanted to know its source and contacted her supplier, Soft Stuff Distributors® http://www.gosoftstuff.com/ who in turn asked us to contact the bagel manufacturer, Always Bagels®.

Anthony Pariti of Always Bagels wrote to us in September 2017 that “the cysteine is sourced from vegetable fermentation.” When we asked for more explanation, he in turn directed us to speak with the R&D department of his supplier, Puratos®, who sells the dough conditioner that he uses to make the bagels. After speaking with Puratos we confirmed that Perfect Pita’s bagels are made with microbially-derived L-cysteine manufactured by Wacker®.] https://www.wacker.com/cms/en/products/product_groups/cystein.jsp

SUGAR
Always Bagels: There is no bone char in the filtration. It comes to us white and again the process they described to me is the white color happens during the filtration of the sugar at their facility.

The sugar supplier emailed us a letter from Mark Rudolph, the Quality Assurance and Quality Control Manager at Sweeteners Plus® dated February 2017 regarding “Bone char use in the production of refined sugar /vegan statement”: “Although natural charcoal, or bone char, is sometimes employed as a filter media in the production of refined cane sugar, Sweeteners Plus is not currently sourcing bulk Granulated Sugar manufactured using bone char.

Currently all sugar products, organic and conventional, sold under the Sweeteners Plus label including bulk Liquid Sugars and bulk and packaged Granulated Sugar are manufactured without the use of bone char from sugar beets or sugar cane, neither of which is derived from an animal source.

Our Lakeville, NY facility is certified Kosher, Halal suitable, and uses no additives that contain animal sources.”

Perfect Pita Pita Bread
The VRG learned from Rosario at Perfect Pita that there is no L-cysteine in their pita bread which they make in their restaurants starting from dry flour. She also furnished to us a no-cow bone char vegan declaration from their sugar supplier. There are no dairy ingredients in the pita bread at Perfect Pita.

For more information on Perfect Pita catering: http://theperfectpita.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/New-Catering-Menu-May.pdf

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.

For more chain restaurant information, see http://www.vrg.org/fastfoodinfo.php

For information on vegetarian and vegan restaurants, see VRG Online Veggie Restaurant Guide

Purim starts the evening of February 28th in 2018. Traditionally during Purim (a Jewish holiday) gift baskets are given out to family and friends. Vegans and individuals that are lactose-intolerant will be happy to receive specialty chocolates from Dear Coco for Purim. They are certified Kosher under Star K and include options such as Happy Purim Gift Bag, Purim Truffle “Hamantaschen,” and Purim Truffle Collection.

You can order these vegan chocolates online here: http://www.dearcoco.com/Purim_Gifts_s/1855.htm