by Candice DeForest

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! With the chilly weather and Christmas just around the corner, it is the perfect time to try hearty new recipes for family and friends.

As the holidays have begun and party planning, celebrating, and trekking over the river and through the woods is a frequent weekend event, you will likely have to face the age-old question of what to bring. Assuming your family is not crazy about the idea of Tofurky or other alternative “meats” at the dinner table or soy-figgy-pudding for dessert, it’s time to get creative and clever to find something for everyone to enjoy. An even more important question might be just how will you ever avoid Aunt Pam’s mystery dish this year? Fear not, as the suggestions from The Vegetarian Resource Group will help you build a menu of tantalizing vegetables, hearty grains, and enjoyable desserts to delight your guests no matter their gastronomic preference.

While it may be challenging to find extra time to research recipes and taste test between gift wrapping and decorating, these guidelines will help get you started. Another perk of serving up new dishes this season – your guests will likely appreciate the healthy options as opposed to just another heavy casserole!

• Surprise your loved ones with Fabulous Wheat-Free Vegan pancakes for a wonderful breakfast.
  
• If you enjoy carbs as I do, good luck choosing between the delicious Sage Breadsticks, Totally Delicious Vegan Cornbread, and Whole Wheat Biscuits for a delectable bread recipe.
  
• Consider including Cranberry Applesauce, Poached Pears, Chock Full of Corn Stuffing or Baked Lima Beans as a succulent side dish.
  
• Vegan Biscotti pairs great with a cup of coffee or as a simple gift idea.
  
• Greek Mushroom Salad, Oven Roasted Squash, Potato/Kale Casserole, and traditional Polish Dumplings add a hearty element to any meal.
  
• Try Baked Apples in Maple Syrup or Fruit Pizza for a lighter dessert option. Hungry for something richer? Unbaked Oatmeal-Peanut Butter Fudgies or vegan Black Forest Parfaits will surely satisfy your sweet tooth.
  

My childhood holiday memories mainly revolve around food. Casseroles, salads, seven-layered-this-or-that, and seemingly endless tables of appetizers and desserts filled my grandmother’s kitchen in traditional Midwest home-cooking style. As I begin to form my own traditions to share with family and friends, I’ve expanded my cooking beyond the traditional green bean casserole and cheesy potatoes dishes. I consult my vegetarian and vegan friends, research online, and even use social media to generate ideas and seek advice on tweaking old favorites to substitute dairy products. When I am craving the traditional comfort foods to share with friends and family, a few favorites are Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom Gravy and “Chicken” Noodle Soup.”

In addition to cooking ventures, consider starting new holiday traditions this year. Gather together a group of friends or family to build a vegan Gingerbread house, bake cookies together, or volunteer for a local toy drive. While the treats and eats are a significant aspect to enjoying the season, giving back is an important part too. What are your favorite culinary holiday traditions?

Have a specific question, want to share a favorite recipe or need inspiration for a party? Tweet me @candicedeforest with your thoughts.

Chanukah is a time that extended families gather together. Here are some vegan recipes from The Lowfat Jewish Vegetarian Cookbook you can share with your friends and family during the 8-day celebration.

Potato Latkes
Serves 4

1-½ pounds potatoes, peeled and grated
1 medium onion, peeled and grated
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
Dash of pepper
2 Tablespoons tamari or soy sauce

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Form 3-inch patties and fry in lightly oiled pan over medium heat for 10 minutes. Flip latkes and fry for another 10 minutes until crisp on both sides. Serve warm with applesauce or other cooked fruit.

Broccoli Latkes
Serves 5

1 pound broccoli, chopped into small pieces
2 pounds potatoes, scrubbed and cubed into small pieces
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 cups water
½ teaspoon celery seed
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon oil

Cook all the ingredients (except the oil) in a large covered pot over medium heat for 20 minutes. Drain mixture and mash ingredients together.

Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Form 10 pancakes. Fry 8 minutes on one side. Flip pancakes and fry for another 5 minutes on the other side. Serve warm.

Romanian Sweet Pasta
Serves 8

1 pound eggless pasta
12 cups water
1 cup maple syrup
½ cup walnuts, ground or 1/3 cup poppy seeds, ground
½ teaspoon lemon rind, minced
1-½ cups raisins
½ teaspoon powdered cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cook pasta in boiling water until done. Drain.

Heat maple syrup and walnuts or poppy seeds in a large pot over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add lemon rind, raisins, clove powder, and cinnamon. Continue cooking for 3 more minutes. Add cooked pasta. Mix well and serve warm. You can also pour this same mixture into a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes before serving.

Moroccan Couscous
Serves 4

1 cup orange juice or other juice
½ cup water
1 cup couscous
½ cup water
¼ cup pitted dates, finely chopped
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup slivered almonds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup water

Bring juice and ½ cup water to a boil in a small pot. Remove from heat. Stir in couscous and allow to sit covered for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, sauté dates, raisins, almonds, and cinnamon in ½ cup water for 2 minutes. Add cooked couscous. Mix well and serve warm.

Due to the generosity of an anonymous donor, The Vegetarian Resource Group will award $10,000 in college scholarship money to graduating U.S. high school students who have promoted vegetarianism in their schools and/or communities. Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, or fowl. Two awards of $5,000 each will be given. Entries may only be sent by students graduating from high school in spring 2012. Deadline is February 20, 2012. We will accept applications postmarked on or before February 20, 2012. Early submission is encouraged. Applicants will be judged on having shown compassion, courage, and a strong commitment to promoting a peaceful world through a vegetarian diet/lifestyle.

For more information, visit our scholarship page.

by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS

VRG Research Director

The VRG recently reported that Nestlé Malaysia® introduced in 2009 a Nescafé® Body Partner® coffee that contained collagen (a protein usually commercially derived from fish, cow, or pig). At the time, no further information on Nestlé Malaysia’s® collagen source was available.

We received an email reply from Consumer Services Executive Zalbiah Yaakub of Nestlé Malaysia®. She wrote that “We are sorry to inform you that our Nescafé® Body Partner® products have been discontinued due to sales and marketing reasons. The collagen in Nescafé® Body Partner® products is from a fish source.”

The contents of this article, our website, and our other publications, including The 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 employees or company statements. Information does change and mistakes are always possible. Please use your own best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. Further research or confirmation may be warranted.

For more information on food processing methods and food ingredients and to purchase our Guide to Food Ingredients, please visit our website at http://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php

For updates on ingredients and other information of interest to vegetarians and vegans, please subscribe to our free enewsletter at
http://www.vrg.org/vrgnews/

There are many ways to stay connected to The Vegetarian Resource Group!
Get our blog delivered right to your inbox:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheVRGBlog Visit us on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/VegResourceGrp and friend us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/thevegetarianresourcegroup

The National Restaurant Association conducted an online survey of 1,791 members of the American Culinary Federation in October-November, 2011. The chefs were given a list of 223 food and beverage items, cuisines, culinary themes, and preparation methods, and were asked to rate each item.

Under appetizers, vegetable/vegetarian appetizers was number one! On a general list, meatless and vegetarian items were ranked number 75 as far as what’s hot. Twenty two per cent said meatless/vegetarian items were yesterday’s news and 25% said they were a perennial favorite. Vegan entrees were ranked number 107, with 47% saying it was a hot trend and 21% a perennial favorite.

As far as main dishes, meatless/vegetarian items were ranked as number 13 with vegan items ranked as number 16. Locally sourced meats and seafood were number one.

Dairy-free milk was listed number five under nonalcoholic beverages. Milk was number 14.

Under ethnic, Cuban cuisine was number four. (See recipes on VRG’s website at http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2006issue3/2006_issue3_cuban.php)

North African was number 6. (See recipes on VRG’s website at http://www.vrg.org/blog/2011/03/11/eggplant-dishes-from-the-middle-east-and-north-africa/)

Korean was number 7. (See recipes on VRG’s website at http://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2004issue2/2004_issue2_kimchi.php)

Middle Eastern cuisine was at number 11. (See VRG recipes at
http://www.vrg.org/recipes/vjmesoup.htm
http://www.vrg.org/recipes/egypt.htm)

Vegetarian restaurants can also be found at
http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php

A recent article on AOL’s Daily Finance Site explains how you can use life insurance to help charities like The Vegetarian Resource Group.

How to Use Life Insurance to Donate to Charity

by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS

VRG Research Director

In August 2011, we received an email from someone asking if calcium carbonate derived from oyster shells could be in food products. She relayed to us a correspondence she had received by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which stated that “It is possible to have food products contain calcium carbonate that was derived from shells.”

The VRG surveyed several major soy and rice beverage manufacturers and vitamin companies to determine how common oyster shell is in their products today. We were informed in September 2011 by Heather, a customer service representative at SoyDream®, a Hain Celestial® product, that “all SoyDream® non-dairy beverages in the US and Canada are vegan,” and “the calcium carbonate is sourced from rock.”

Christie, a customer service representative with Eden Foods®, maker of EdenSoy®, told the VRG in October 2011 that their calcium carbonate is “from a non-animal, mineral source.”

Dee, a representative of Natures Promise® products, told us in September 2011 that the calcium carbonate in their soy and rice beverages is “from limestone.”

The VRG also contacted Caltrate® and CitraCal®, two major calcium supplement companies. Representatives told us that “There are no animal ingredients” in Caltrate®; and that their calcium carbonate is “from the earth.” We were also informed that the calcium carbonate in CitraCal® is derived “from limestone.”

The FDA correspondence received by our reader also contained this statement: “If there is someone that has an allergy to shellfish, we would suggest staying away from products or supplements that contain calcium carbonate.”

The writer was puzzled by this FDA recommendation that appears overly cautious in light of FDA’s own regulations (see below). The VRG contacted two separate offices at the FDA several times by phone and email over a three-month period to ask about the labeling of calcium carbonate. We did not receive a response.

The writer was curious to know if, perhaps mandated by the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004, (FALCPA), a product containing shellfish-derived shell components had to be labeled as containing a “major food allergen.” In fact, the vitamin company, Country Life®, labels its Calcium Magnesium Zinc with L-Glutamic Acid® dietary supplement containing calcium carbonate as “contains shellfish (oyster shell).” This “contains” statement appears as those required by FALCPA. http://www.country-life.com/moreinfo.cfm?Category=7&Product_ID=93

Without confirmation from the FDA, it appears to the writer that it is not mandatory under FALCPA for a food, beverage, or dietary supplement company to label products containing calcium carbonate derived from oyster shell as containing shellfish (“a major food allergen”). Looking more closely at the regulation itself, the wording explicitly states that it is the “protein” in the major food allergen that causes the allergy and, if present, must be labeled. If the mineral portion of shells is separated from the portion containing some carbohydrate and protein components naturally present in shells, the exclusively mineral calcium carbonate shell components are excluded from this labeling requirement. (Using analogous reasoning, FALCPA excludes highly refined soy oil from labeling requirements since it would not contain soy protein, another “major food allergen.”)

Furthermore, FALCPA clearly states that “crustacean shellfish” is the potential shellfish allergen. Oysters are not crustaceans. (Shrimp and lobster are.) Oysters (and clams) belong to the class of “shellfish” known as mollusks. For this reason alone, neither oyster protein nor oyster shell would need to be labeled under FALCPA, even though companies may, (and often do), disclose any oyster component in their products voluntarily.

It would be helpful to vegans if FALCPA required shell labeling but it does not. When there is a question about the source of calcium carbonate in a food, beverage, or dietary supplement, vegans must contact the products manufacturer. To learn more about FALCPA, readers may visit this page on the FDA website:
http://www.fda.gov/Food/LabelingNutrition/FoodAllergensLabeling/default.htm

The contents of this article, our website, and our other publications, including The 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 employees or company statements. Information does change and mistakes are always possible. Please use your own best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. Further research or confirmation may be warranted.

For more information on food processing methods and food ingredients and to purchase our Guide to Food Ingredients, please visit our website at http://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php

For updates on ingredients and other information of interest to vegetarians and vegans, please subscribe to our free enewsletter at
http://www.vrg.org/vrgnews/

There are many ways to stay connected to The Vegetarian Resource Group!
Get our blog delivered right to your inbox:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheVRGBlog
Visit us on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/VegResourceGrp
and friend us on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/thevegetarianresourcegroup

Support for VRG research and outreach can be made at
https://www.givedirect.org/give/givefrm.asp?CID=1565

You may be familiar with Subway’s “Veggie Max” veggie patty, which has been available in many locations for several years. The new “Totally-Vegged” veggie patty is 100% vegan and it even looks different with a more rounded shape and “meatier” texture.

If you live in Canada, please call or stop by your local Subway restaurant to find out if they offer it. If they do, be sure to thank them and also let us know the address — and if they don’t have it yet, politely ask them to start dishing out this delicious vegan patty! If you decide to order it we would love to hear your feedback. Please email [email protected], call (410) 366-8343, or write to PO Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203

Here is a list of know Subway restaurants in Canada offering the “Totally Vegged” vegan patty:

• AB: 2500 University Ave., NW in Calgary – 403-220-1571
• BC: 4744 Lakelse Ave. in Terrace – 250-635-1994
• BC: 2323 Boundary Rd. in Vancouver – 604-205-5060
• BC: 2640 Arbutus St. in Vancouver – 604-737-7421
• BC: 200 Burrard St. in Vancouver – 604-662-3962
• BC: 3790 Canada Way in Vancouver – 604-433-4742
• BC: 4108 Fraser St. in Vancouver – 604-874-9885
• BC: 5931 Hastings St, in Vancouver -604-299-0449
• BC: 1256 Lynn Valley Rd. in Vancouver – 604-986-7825
• BC: 7645 Royal Oak Ave. in Vancouver 604-430-4441
• BC: 333 Seymour Blvd in Vancouver – 604-904-9923
• BC: 6402 Victoria Dr. in Vancouver – 604-301-1895
• BC: 700 W. 6th Ave. in Vancouver – 604-879-7824
• BC: 433 W. Broadway in Vancouver – 604-569-3961 
• BC: 1895 Willingdon Ave. in Vancouver – 604-299-7838
• BC: 4000 Whistler Way #202 in Whistler 604-932-3244
• ON: 7706 Kennedy Rd. in Markham – 905-940-8987
• ON: 34 Church St. in Toronto – 416-368-1997
• ON: 232 Danforth Ave. in Toronto – 416-469-2000
• ON: 259 King St. E in Toronto – 416-368-7782
• ON: 727 Queen St. E in Toronto – 647-435-8673
• ON: 1506 Yonge St. in Toronto – 416-967-7770
• ON: 136 Yorkville Ave. in Toronto – 416-934-0007

Visit WeLoveSubway.com and call Subway at 203-877-4281 to add your voice to the thousands of others who are urging the company to add hearty vegan options to all of its menus. 

For more information about vegan and vegetarian options at fast food and quick service chains, see our Fast Food Information page.

The following survey request is from a graduate student at Governors State University in University Park, Illinois. She is obtaining her Master’s degree in Theoretical Psychology. She is researching eating habits and aspects of spirituality for her thesis and is looking for a diverse group of participants including vegetarians and vegans.

You can click on the following link to access the survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/gradspiritualitysurvey

Thank you!

These vegan restaurants were recently added to our online restaurant guide. To find restaurants in your area, visit: http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php.

The Cosmic Coconut

5101 Sanderlin Ave., Ste. 104B, Memphis, TN 38117

(901) 729-7134

Vegan/organic/juice bar/café. The Cosmic Coconut is best known for its smoothies and juices with such cheery names as ‘Peace, Love & Pears’ and ‘Good Vibrations.’ They also serve vegan snacks such as Acai Bowl, Steel-Cut Oats, and Coco-Nutties. Free Wi-Fi is available. The Cosmic Coconut is located in the Sanderlin Centre near Bikram Yoga and Muddy’s Bakeshop. Open Tuesday through Saturday for breakfast and lunch. Closed Sunday and Monday. Limited service, take-out, fresh juices, smoothies, espresso/cappuccino, soymilk, special beverages, VISA/MC, $.

Vedge Restaurant

1221 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19107

(215) 320-7500

Vegan/American. Vedge Restaurant offers an elegant dining experience of globally-inspired vegan cuisine. They use locally-sourced ingredients and their menu changes to reflect the seasons. Vedge is from the same husband and wife team of the popular Horizons. Reservations are accepted. Open Monday through Saturday for dinner. Closed Sunday. Full service, take-out, wine/beer/alcohol, VISA/MC/AMEX/DISC, $$$.

VSPOT Café

1908 N. Henderson Ave., Dallas, TX 75206

(214) 821-5555

Vegan/café/juice bar. The VSPOT Café offers a flavorful and fresh all-vegan menu. They utilize locally-sourced ingredients as often as possible. The café also features a juice bar. Open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner. Open Sunday for lunch. Full service, take-out, catering, VISA/MC/AMEX/DISC, $$.

Please help us keep our restaurant guide current and accurate. Restaurants continually change locations, new ones open, and others close. To let us know about any restaurants we should add, delete, or if our existing entry should be changed, please complete our restaurant update form.

If you would like to volunteer with maintaining and updating The Vegetarian Resource Group restaurant guide, email us at [email protected]. Thank you!