Taziki’s said they are now opening their 50th restaurant. Their menu lists as vegetarian: Grilled Veggie Plate, stuffed grape leaves, and hummus, among other items. For more information, see http://tazikiscafe.com/menu/vegetarian/

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.

The Vegetarian Resource Group maintains an online Guide to Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurants in the USA and Canada. Below are some recent additions. The entire guide can be found here: http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php

Cinnaholic
2704 E. Southlake Blvd. #102
Southlake, TX 76092
Cinnaholic offers over 30 flavors of gourmet cinnamon rolls — and they are all vegan! Some include Almond, Blackberry, Butterscotch, Caramel, Cream Soda, Key Lime, Root Beer, & Pomegranate. Toppings range from Cookie Dough Chunks to Shredded Coconut and everything in between. They offer other sweet treats including cookies, brownies, muffins, specialty pie rolls, and baby buns (mini cinnamon rolls). If your sweet tooth has still not been sated, have a Frosting Shot!

GreenSpace Café
215 W. 9 Mile Rd.
Ferndale, MI 48220
GreenSpace Café is an artisanal plant-based, farm-to-table restaurant and craft cocktail bar located in Downtown Ferndale. Opened by a cardiologist, this earthy restaurant combines fine dining and heart-healthy living, but doesn’t mind luxuriating in a specialty mixed beverage to compliment all those wonderful plants filling your plate. You may even find house-made vegan cheeses available on their ever-changing menu.

Herban Fix
565-A Peachtree St. NE
Atlanta, GA 30308
Herban Fix offers a variety of soups and salads, as well as appetizers including Vegetable Spring Rolls and Sesame Ginger Soy Chicken & Shiitake Kebabs Entrees include a variety of rice and noodle dishes, as well as Seared Pom Pom Mushroom Steak with Assorted Vegetables and Grilled Eggplant Topped with Basil & Minced Garlic. There’s a free parking garage on Linden Ave. near the restaurant.

Juice Works Hingham
35 Station St.
Hingham, MA 02043
Enjoy a variety of juices and smoothies including Crimson Sunset and What’s Up Doc.

Organix Deli
1731 Colorado Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90041
Organix is a specialty foods store that has a 100% vegan deli, providing fresh and delicious foods. Whether you are looking for a meal, a side, or just a freshly made juice, Organix is the place for you! They offer a variety of sandwiches, burritos, smoothies, and more! You can create your own smoothies and juices with up to 5 ingredients. They also feature veggie bowls with quinoa, beans, peppers, avocado, and many other veggies. Stop in for a fresh meal and be sure to pick up some foods from their marketplace as well.

Ramen Hood
Grand Central Market
317 S. Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Enjoy vegan ramen dishes, either spicy or non-spicy, made in a sunflower seed broth.

Red Curry Vegan Kitchen
10 N. San Francisco St.
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Nice, quiet, intimate restaurant with very reasonable pricing for a full meal. Appetizers include Fresh Roll, Kale Salad, Quinoa Arugula Salad, and more. Soups such as Seaweed Soup, Coconut Soup, and Spicy Lemongrass Noodle Soup are offered. Also enjoy a wide variety of curry dishes, Orange Soy Chicken, Pad Thai, etc.

Riverdel
820 Washington Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11238
Riverdel is a vegan cheese lover’s dream, carrying the brands you know and love, the ones you have longed to try but have not found in your grocery store, and their own house-made varieties. They also carry vegan yogurts, nut-milks, and other gourmet items such as olive oil, pasta, and fresh artisanal bread. And if all that shopping makes you hungry, you can grab a ready-made gourmet sandwich to go. The varieties change, but one thing is certain: there will be vegan cheese.

The Vegetarian Resource Group Book Catalog offers a wide range of vegan books including:

Simply Vegan
Vegan for the Holidays
Artisan Vegan Cheese
The Natural Vegan Kitchen
Asian Fusion
The Joy of Vegan Baking
The Indian Vegan Kitchen
Vegan Brunch
Teff Love
Vegan Soul Kitchen
The 4-Ingredient Vegan
The Lowfat Jewish Vegetarian Cookbook
Viva Vegan!
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
Tofu Cookery
The Almond Milk Cookbook
The Gluten-Free Vegan
Food Allergy Survival Guide
The Everything Vegan Pregnancy Book
And so many more….

FREE media mail shipping for orders over $30 in the United States only!

Visit http://www.vrg.org/catalog/ to order books online and support VRG’s outreach at the same time!

According to Dairy Herd Management and Food Navigator-USA.Com, A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit alleging “soymilk” labels mislead consumers.

The decision, issued Dec. 1, 2015 in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, dismissed claims that specialty grocer Trader Joe’s misled consumers by misbranding products without cow’s milk as “soymilk.” The class-action lawsuit, filed in early 2013, alleged Trader Joe’s use of the term “soymilk” violated the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, as well as California law, because it “purports to be” a food standardized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

However, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria ruled those assertions were insufficient. In his five-page ruling, Judge Chhabria said consumers would not think soymilk contains dairy milk, or that it has the same nutritional value as milk. “It is simply implausible that a reasonable consumer would mistake a product like soymilk or almond milk with dairy milk from a cow,” Chhabria wrote.

The National Milk Producers Federation asked FDA to restrict soy beverage labeling in February, 2000, requesting the agency “take appropriate enforcement action to prevent misbranded products from entering the marketplace and to promote honesty and fair dealing in the interest of consumers.”

In May 2014, NMPF said FDA had blatantly disregarded adequate enforcement of regulations by allowing soy, rice, nut and hemp products to define themselves as milk, in violation of long-standing food standards.

In his ruling, Judge Chhabria said FDA’s standardization of milk “does not categorically preclude a company from giving any food product a name that includes the word ‘milk.’ Rather, the standardization of milk simply means that a company cannot ‘pass off’ a product as ‘milk’ if it does not meet the regulatory definition of milk. Trader Joe’s has not, by calling its products ‘soymilk,’ attempted to pass off those products as the food that the FDA has standardized (that is, milk).”

According to Food Navigator-USA-Com, the judge’s comments echo those of fellow judge Samuel Conti in a similar case, who noted, “that under the plaintiffs’ logic, “consumers might also ‘assume that ‘flourless chocolate cake’ contains flour or ‘e-books’ are made out of paper.”

Through December 31, 2015, you can give a gift membership to The Vegetarian Resource Group (includes a 1-year subscription to Vegetarian Journal) for $15 each. This is a terrific way to share the vegan message, as well as support VRG.

Gift subscriptions can be done online by simply typing in your message and the address(s) of the gift recipient(s) in the comments field. Go to: https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=1565

Are you looking for some quick and easy ideas for the holiday season? If so, Chef Nancy Berkoff offers several suggestions in the recent issue of Vegetarian Journal including sweet or savory pretzel or popcorn mixes, layered sandwiches, layered dips, hot salads, and compote.

For the complete article, see:
http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2015issue4/2015_issue4_veganCookingTips.php

To subscribe to Vegetarian Journal visit:
http://www.vrg.org/bookstore/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3

Compassion by Kimi Wenzel

Kimi Wenzel is a Vegetarian Resource Group video contest winner. Kimi wrote, “I became vegetarian when I was 11 out of my compassion for animals. I later become interested in nutrition, which led me to veganism. Like many other American children, I was taught the importance of love and respect–veganism is a way for me to express those values.”

Here are the video scholarship winners: http://www.vrg.org/veg_videos.php

If you would like to support VRG internships or our video scholarship contest, please donate at www.vrg.org/donate
Write the purpose under comments.

The Vegetarian Resource Group also sponsors an annual scholarship contest for high school seniors. See: http://www.vrg.org/student/scholar.htm

Are you an athlete and looking for some vegan snack ideas? If so, our recent issue of Vegetarian Journal features an article on this topic written by Myrial Holbrook. She offers suggestions for pre-workout snacks, as well as post-workout snack ideas.

The complete article can be found here: http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2015issue4/2015_issue4_vegan_snacks.php

To subscribe to Vegetarian Journal, visit:
http://www.vrg.org/bookstore/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3

Sherry Monahan writes:

Hello, I’m the marketing coordinator for Mindful Medley. We’re a new start-up company who prepares pre-portioned meatless meal ingredients to homes. We deliver to D.C., Virginia, and North and South Carolina. We can customize for vegan, gluten-free, and more. We were hoping you might share this.

Our website with all the details is: http://www.mindfulmedley.com

Whether it’s an office party, family gathering, or other festive event, finger foods are the perfect item to serve. Zel Allen’s recent Vegetarian Journal article offers recipes for Overstuffed Spuds, Almond and Olive-Stuffed Brussels Sprouts, Red Light Stuffed Mushrooms, Spanish Tapenade Stuffed Tomatoes, Teriyaki Tempeh Bites, Pickled Vegetables, Smoky Garlic-Stuffed Endive, Tahini Peanut Confections, and Choco Caramel Confections.

For the complete article, see: http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2015issue4/2015_issue4_finger_foods.php

To Subscribe to Vegetarian Journal, visit: http://www.vrg.org/catalog/

Also, Zel Allen is author of several vegan cookbooks including Vegan for the Holidays, which you can purchase from The Vegetarian Resource Group: http://www.vrg.org/bookstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=91