strawberries photo from Freepik

Each issue of Vegan Journal features a column called Vegan Cooking Tips by Chef Nancy Berkoff. A previous column focused on strawberries. Here are some ideas for enjoying strawberries at every meal:

• Add sliced strawberries to mixed green or pasta salads.
• Layer sliced strawberries, whole blueberries, and vegan yogurt or silken tofu in a glass bowl to make an attractive dessert or breakfast parfait. Sprinkle with chopped nuts, sesame seeds, or pumpkin seeds if desired.
• Mash fresh or frozen chopped strawberries with a dash of maple syrup and serve as a topping for waffles and pancakes.
• Blend strawberries with a little bit of orange juice concentrate and use as a fresh fruit sauce for fruit salad, pancakes, pound cake, cookies, or vegan ice cream.
• Add strawberries to breakfast smoothies to give them a more vibrant taste and color.
• Create strawberry vinaigrette by blending with oil, vinegar, and dried oregano, garlic, and nutritional yeast.
• To make baked oatmeal with strawberries, simply mix oatmeal with boiling water, pat into a baking dish, top with sliced strawberries, and bake at 350 degrees until firm.
• Create a soaked strawberry cake with leftover cake or wheat bread cut into cubes, and mixed with blended strawberries.
• Blend a strawberry lassi using strawberries, vegan yogurt, coconut milk, and lemon zest.

Read the entire column here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2021issue2/2021_issue2_cooking_tips.php

To subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA, see: https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

Magnesium Chloride photo from Freepik

Magnesium Chloride has been added to The Vegetarian Resource Group’s Food Ingredient Guide. Here’s this new entry:

Magnesium Chloride
Alternate Names: nigari, bittern, MgCl2, E511, bischofite
Commercial Source: Mineral
Used in: tofu, infant formula, sports drinks, beer, dietary supplements, winter road deicing, animal feed, fertilizer
Used as: coagulant, flavoring agent, electrolyte, deicing agent
Definition: Typically evaporated from seawater, magnesium chloride is a common coagulant in tofu production. Magnesium chloride possesses GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Manufacturers:
Adnan Heikal of Alliance Chemical: “This product does not contain any declared animal-origin materials [or processing aids] in its composition.”
Owen Donald of Celtic Chemicals: “None of our products are derived from animal ingredients [or have] animal-derived processing aids involved in their manufacture.”
Additional Information:
Code of Federal Regulations
Classification: Vegan
Entry Added: May 2025

For more ingredient entries, see https://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php

To support The Vegetarian Resource Group Research, donate at vrg.org/donate

The contents of this posting, our website and our other publications, including 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.

photo from Mission Burger Co.

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: www.vrg.org/restaurant

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:

Black Radish, 2923 N. 12th St., Tampa, FL 33605

Breakfast and lunch are served all day in this deli in a grocer. Some breakfast options are The Tina, a Croissant with vegan American cheese, Impossible Sausage, Just Egg, Bacon, Sriracha Mayo, and strawberry jam; Berry Good Breakfast Sandwich—Blueberry Bagel, Vegan Bacon, Cream Cheese, vegan American cheese, Strawberry jelly, and Just Egg; or Breakrito with Chorizo, Just Egg, Hash brown, vegan Cheese, House Salsa, Sour Cream, Sriracha Mayo, and tomato in a tortilla. Are you passionate about coffee? Black Radish has Passion Fruit Sparkling Espresso—Sparkling water, Double Espresso, and Passion Fruit purée and lots more innovative coffee and tea options. Some lunch and deli choices are Holy Stromboli with Tofurky Ham, Worthington pepperoni, vegan Provolone, lettuce, tomato, and Italian Mayo on toasted Cuban bread; Tampa Cuban—pressed Cuban Bread with Mayo, Mustard, vegan Provolone, Tofurky ham, Worthington Salami, Mojo Jackfruit, and pickles; or Club Pub—toasted Cuban bread with Ranch, vegan Provolone, Tofurky Turkey, All Vegetarian Bacon, lettuce, and tomato. Baked Goods by Curious Cat include Chocolate or Everything Croissant and Cinny Twist or Brownies.

Bougie Bites, 2360 Hampton Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110

Bougie Bites offers burgers, tacos and more. Some Burgers include The Banger–an Impossible patty with vegan cheese, chipotle pineapple sauce, crispy shallots, and pickled jalapenos and OUUWEE, an Impossible patty, vegan mozzarella, caramelized onions, and their Bougie Sauce. You may substitute a gluten-free or soy-free patty for any of the burgers instead. All burgers come with signature bougie fries. Crisp, deep fried, No Cap Eggrolls are filled with Impossible burger, cheddar cheese, onions, and peppers. They offer a couple varieties of Tacos including Birria Cartel Tacos filled with seasoned Harvest Shreds, vegan mozzarella, and birria sauce, as well as Impossible Chick’N Nuggets and Impossible Chick’N Tenders. Commendably, ingredient lists are available upon request.

Café Caye Mangé, 291 Main St., Yarmouth, NS B5A 1E3 Canada

Café Caye Mangé passionately invites you to try their plant-based cuisine with Caribbean vibes. They serve Dinner Specials like hearty Pepper Pot stew with vegan meat and root vegetables in a savory, spiced broth of fresh herbs and scotch bonnet peppers. For some St. Lucian soul food, vegan Ox Tail an’ Rice showcases slow-cooked plant-based oxtail drenched in a tomato, soy sauce, Caribbean spiced gravy. On their Daily Menu, there’s thyme and garlic seasoned Bouillon-Lucian Soup featuring fresh veggies like spinach, carrots, and potatoes as well as dumplings made from cassava flour and scallions and marinated, grilled Jerk Chick’n offering a fiery taste of Jamaica. Their pastries are made fresh daily. Crusted with crushed nuts and coconut, Passion Cheesecake offers a creamy passionfruit tang of tropical flavors. Mango Cheesecake features filled and frosted, layered Red Velvet sponge cake. Spiced Pone is crafted with sweet potatoes, coconut, nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger. They also have Chocolate Sponge Cake and Coconut Caramel Slice. Their fresh brewed teas are crafted with fair-trade, organic herbs.

JMT Vegan Eats & Sweets, 5660 Indian River Rd. #110, Virginia Beach, VA 23464

JMT Vegan East & Sweets serves a variety of savories and sweets. The Philly Steak sandwich is made with either vegan chicken, spicy jerk steak, or seasoned steak and served with peppers, onions, and JMT cheese sauce. Other savory menu options include the Po’Boy sandwich made with dusted shrimp or crabcake with several veggies and JMT seafood sauce on a brioche bun; and pizza with a variety of protein options and veggies. Sweet items on the menu include cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, cheesecake, and pies (banana pudding, Dutch apple, pumpkin, and sweet potato).

La Vie Vegan, 524 South Main St., Ste. 01, St. Charles, MO 63301

Parisian décor complements the bistro’s French fare. You might begin with Pretzel Bouchée – Pretzel Bites with Cheddar Cheese Fondue. There are also Savory and Fruit Salads and Soupe De France – French Onion Soup with caramelized onions in vegetable stock, and Crouton Au Gratin. Two of their Croissant choices are Caprese Croissant with Mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, capers, Balsamic glaze, and Basil Pesto as well as Veggie Croissant which offers avocado, cucumber, roasted bell peppers, pickled Red Onion, and Sundried Tomato to which you may add your choice of Mozzarella, Smoked Gouda, Pepper Jack, or Cheddar Cheese and Chipotle Aioli, Basil Pesto, Mayo, and/or Cholula Hot Sauce. Some Savory Crêpes are BBQ Crêpe with Erbe Farms Mushroom Brisket, Barbecue Sauce and your choice of Mozzarella, Smoked Gouda, Pepper Jack, or Cheddar or Taco Crêpe with Chorizo, Sour Cream, Taco Sauce and Guacamole Salsa with similar cheese options. If it’s sweet Crêpes you crave, there’s Hazelnut Crêpe with Hazelnut Spread only or with strawberries, bananas, whipped cream, powdered sugar and chocolate drizzle. But wait, there’s S’more Crêpe with marshmallows, chocolate chips, graham cracker crumbs, whipped cream and powdered sugar. Did you think that was the end of your sweet choices? Not a chance! Enter Pâtisserie. Some Macaron flavors are Birthday, Hazelnut Pistachio, Pineapple, Passion Fruit, Almond Latte, and Red Velvet to name a few. Besides Plain, Chocolate or Almond Croissants, there’s Cheesecake, Maple Pecan Danish, and Lemon Drop Cake Donut. Raw Cakes include Coconut and Chocolate, Mango and Lime, Tiramisu, Passion Fruit and Raspberry, and so many more Pâtisserie choices. There’s also a wide selection of Teas and Specialty Coffee Drinks. All items are listed as vegan and there are many GF options.

Mission Burger Co., 3600 S. Lamar Blvd., Austin, TX 78704

Props to Mission Burger Co. for their transparency; peruse their ingredients and helpful substitution suggestions at https://missionburgerco.com/ingredients/. Mission Burger Co. says Good Morning with choices like Pancakes, Breakfast Tacos, and various Breakfast Bagel and Sandwiches such as the Big Bad Breakfast Sando with JUST Egg scramble, House breakfast sausage, Thrilling Bacon, American cheese, hash browns, and chipotle aioli. As the restaurant’s name would imply, burger choices abound. Here are a few. For Mushroom Lovers, there’s the Bacon Mushroom Melt with American cheese. Smoked Brisket Burger boasts an Impossible patty with smoky provolone, house smoked brisket (made from mushrooms), BBQ sauce, and crisp fried onions. Fiesta Burger features Impossible patties topped with house made queso, Pico de Gallo, guacamole, and jalapeños. Two of the several Sandwich selections are The NYC style Reuben, made with in-house, corned and cured, BeHive seitan, melted Swiss, sauerkraut, and Mission sauce (version of a Thousand Island/Russian Sauce) on local marble rye, or a BeHive Seitan, Turkey Sandwich with smoked gouda, salad fixings, dressed with EVOO, red wine vinegar, and Italian herbs on toasted ciabatta. Made from mushroom root and more, Pesto Chicken Sandwich serves up a seed oil free patty, house-made basil-parsley pesto, tomatoes, basil, Peaceful Rebel Mozzarella, feta, and parmesan on toasted ciabatta. They also serve Philly Cheesesteak and more. If you have eyes for Fries, Mission Burger Co. has you covered with Brisket Cheese Fries featuring house smoked brisket (made from mushrooms), cheese sauce, BBQ sauce, chipotle aioli, crispy fried onions, and pickles, Cheesesteak Fries, Garlic Fries, Nacho Fries and let’s not forget Onion Rings. How about a Waffle Cone of Vanilla soft serve or Chocolate Chip Cookies to finish off your meal?

Vegan Journal previously ran two articles on vegan grilling that you might find helpful:

Gourmet Grilling by Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD includes grilling tips as well as recipes for Grilled Eggplant, Mediterranean Grilled Portobellos with Pine Nuts, Curried Barbecue Tempeh, Roasted Pepper and Eggplant Dip, Pineapple Peach Salsa, Japanese-Style Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Sweet Peaches, and Roasted Corn. See: https://www.vrg.org/journal/2002issue3/2002_issue3_gourmet.php

Nancy also wrote another article titled Outdoor Feast and it includes vegan recipes for the grill including Tofu and Potatoes Kebobs, Vietnamese “Beef” Salad, Lime and Chili “Steaks,” and Grilled Pineapple. See: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2015issue2/2015_issue2_outdoor_feasts.php

To subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA, visit: https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

Maybe I was tired or thinking of other things as I walked the aisles of a supermarket in New York. On the aisle with packages of shelf-stable soymilk and almond milk, I saw shrink-wrapped three-packs of small aseptic boxes, each with a plastic straw. The boxes were labeled “Oat Dairy Drink” and came in flavors including original, cinnamon, and strawberry. I thought they were a brand of oat milk that I hadn’t seen before. They weren’t. On closer inspection, I realized that the ingredients included whole grain oats, cow’s milk, and cane sugar. These were not vegan products. Lesson learned – just because a product sounds to me like it’s oat milk, it may not be.

To read more about non-dairy oat milks see:

Guide to Plant Milks 2024

Grain and Pea Milks 2024

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.

Interactions with children facing food insecurity forced me to think about nutrition beyond myself. As a result, I applied to the Dragon Kim Foundation, a social entrepreneurship incubator. I then founded My Tasty Table, and was awarded a grant to launch my charitable organization. My Tasty Table’s mission was two-fold; educate children on how to cook healthy plant-based meals and impart the benefits of making healthier dietary choices. I developed a curriculum, marketed the organization, fundraised, and expanded My Tasty Table to two additional youth centers. I secured eight community partners, created a Teen Leadership Board, and recruited a team of 22 volunteers. We held over 30 free cooking classes throughout Phoenix, Arizona, reaching over 450 young people. We focused on creating recipes that cost less than $4 per serving, with the goal of making these meals accessible even after they left the classroom. We created recipes such as vegan sushi, vegan chili, vegan gumbo, carrot ginger salad, vegan oat strawberry pancakes, chickpea chocolate truffles, black bean brownies, and energy bits made with sunflower butter and oats. Looking ahead I plan to pursue a medical career with an emphasis on food-based medicine.

Support Young Veg Activists

To send support for additional scholarships and internships, donate at www.vrg.org/donate or call (410) 366-8343. You can also send a donation to VRG, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203.

Do you know an amazing high school student who promoted veganism? If so, let them know about our annual scholarship contest. The deadline for high school seniors is February 20^th of each year. To see scholarship rules and past winners, visit www.vrg.org/student/scholar

Nigari Flakes from Mitoku Co.

By Jeanne Yacoubou, MS

In January 2025, a reader asked The Vegetarian Resource Group if magnesium chloride (MgCl2) “…is always vegan.” Based on previous knowledge of this ingredient and recent confirmations by several independent manufacturers, we affirm that magnesium chloride and a related substance, nigari, are both always vegan.

What Is Magnesium Chloride?

Magnesium chloride is a naturally occurring mineral salt that is commonly extracted from seawater. It may also be harvested from underground mineral deposits in seabeds. Inexpensive with a low freezing point, MgCl2 is commonly used for winter road deicing. This chemical is also antibacterial, odor-inhibiting, and hygroscopic (water-loving). These properties make it ideal for use in household cleaning and personal care products as well as in cosmetics. Magnesium chloride is also used in fertilizers and animal feed. It is sold as a powder, flakes, or liquid.

A common food use for MgCl2 is as a coagulant in tofu production. It serves this function by thickening soymilk into curds so they can be more easily pressed into a solid block. Gypsum (calcium sulfate) is the most common coagulant for tofu production and results in a soft and silky texture.

Magnesium chloride is used as the coagulant when firmer tofu is desired. Some eaters report that MgCl2 confers a bitter taste to tofu while gypsum lends sweet notes to it. Magnesium chloride acts more quickly in soymilk coagulation than gypsum, so is preferred when production time is limited.

What Is Nigari?
Nigari is a substance most commonly derived from seawater evaporation and used as a tofu coagulant. Nigari is sold as a liquid, coarse granules, or fine crystals.

Nigari is formed after the extraction of sodium chloride (NaCl) and calcium sulfate from seawater. The remaining liquid, called bittern, primarily contains magnesium chloride and other trace substances such as potassium chloride and magnesium sulfate. Nigari is the Japanese word for bittern. The bitter notes in tofu made using nigari are due to the presence of magnesium sulfate.

According to Japanese nigari producers, authentic nigari contains five parts magnesium chloride to one part sodium chloride with small quantities of other trace mineral salts. To obtain this, seawater is kettle-boiled, leaving sodium crystals on the bottom while nigari is the remaining liquid on top. Solutions consisting solely of seawater or made from magnesium chloride dissolved in water may be sold as nigari but are not authentic nigari.
Nigari produced through sun-drying seawater contains large amounts of magnesium sulfate, making the resulting product bitter. Reverse osmosis or ion exchange methods are modern techniques to produce nigari. The former yields both pure water and concentrated seawater with high amounts of sodium chloride. The latter is added back to the water, yielding very salty-tasting nigari water. Nigari made by ion exchange lacks both the bitter sulfate ions and toxic contaminants such as PCBs, dioxins, arsenic, mercury, and lead. It is the safest, most pleasant-tasting form of nigari available.

Manufacturer Confirmations on the Vegan Status of Magnesium Chloride and Nigari
The VRG asked eight manufacturers of magnesium chloride and nigari about these ingredients’ origin and processing. Here are the responses we received.

Q: Is your food grade magnesium chloride derived from or processed with animal ingredients?
From Adnan Heikal of Alliance Chemical:
A: “This product does not contain any declared animal-origin materials [or processing aids] in its composition.”
From Owen Donald of Celtic Chemicals:
A: “None of our products are derived from animal ingredients [or have] animal-derived processing aids involved in their manufacture.”
Q: Is your food grade nigari derived from or processed with animal ingredients?
From Sandra Gibson of Sea Salts of Hawaii:
A: “No, it is only deep ocean magnesium solar evaporated, not other ingredients.”
From Newfoundland Salt Company:
A: “No.”
From Ema Sogabe of Mitoku Co.:
A: “Our Nigari does not contain any animal/animal derived ingredients/processing aids. As matter of fact, we would like to confirm that there are no animal derived ingredients/processing aids at the processing site at all.”

The contents of this posting, our website and our other publications, including 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.

More ingredient listings are at https://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php

Support VRG research at www.vrg.org/donate

pizza photo from Freepik

Chef Nancy Berkoff offers creative suggestions on how to make pizza in your own home. The information below is from a previous Vegan Journal article.

Make Your Pizza

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (you can use a toaster oven for individual pizzas). The microwave won’t work for this — no one wants a “steamed” pizza.

Whatever type of “dough” you’ve selected, bake it, if necessary. If using bread, like English muffins or burger buns, slice thin and toast lightly.

Decide on your sauce and toppings — we’ve given some suggestions below. Smooth a thin layer of sauce on your “dough” and then go to town with the toppings — really pile them on.

Place your masterpiece on a nonstick baking dish and allow to bake until your “dough” is crunchy and your veggies or fruit are cooked to the texture you’d like. Times will vary depending on the thickness of the bread you used and the amount of toppings, but can take as little as 7 minutes or up to 20 minutes. Make enough so you can have cold pizza for breakfast, or pack some for lunch!

Super Pizza Combos

• English muffin topped with mushroom sauce and fresh and canned mushrooms, chopped canned tomatoes, and chopped green peppers
• Pita with mushroom sauce, topped with three different types of cooked beans, mushrooms, and onions
• Sliced French bread topped with tomato purée, rosemary, fresh and canned tomatoes, peppers, and onions
• Baked pizza dough topped with tomato sauce, shredded spinach, basil, oregano, and white beans
• Sliced burger bun topped with tomato sauce, chopped chilies and peppers, zucchini, and mushrooms
• Baked pizza dough with orange juice concentrate and peanut butter sauce (mix the two together for the consistency you want) topped with fresh and frozen strawberries, pineapple, chopped walnuts, and coconut, or topped with canned peaches and plums, shredded dried apricots, raisins, and dates

The entire article can be read here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2001nov/2001_nov_cooking_tips.php

To subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA, visit: www.vrg.org/member

Greens with New Potatoes and Kidney Beans

Debra Daniel-Zeller’s piece “Warm Weather Salads Fit to Be Meals” includes recipes for Shiitake Mushroom, Quinoa and Greens with Toasted Cashews; Greens with New Potatoes and Kidney Beans; Spinach and Bean Salad with Mustard Croutons; Lime-Infused Black Bean, Corn, and Tomato Salad; 3-Bean Salad with Sweet Onions and Arugula; Soba Noodles with Marinated Tofu and Baby Kale; and Grilled Vegetable Salad with Lemon-Cashew Dressing. Her article can be found here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2015issue3/2015_issue3_salads_meals.php

To subscribe to Vegan Journal, visit: http://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

photo from Gentle World

by Jeanne Yacoubou, MS

Vegetables are often grown using slaughterhouse byproducts. Fertilizers and soil amendments made primarily of blood, bone, feather, or fishmeal, not to mention manure, are common additives.

Unfortunately, even certified organic vegetables have likely been grown in fields literally brimming with excrement from livestock that was fed with pesticide-treated grains. The animals likely have been raised on synthetic hormones or prophylactic antibiotics to ward off disease from close confinement. As recent headlines about the H5N1 avian flu virus infecting cows and humans can attest, there are no ways to ward off all diseases in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

So, what’s a concerned consumer to do? Some individuals grow their own produce using vegan fertilizers. There are plenty of ways to concoct your own blend from only plant-based sources so you can rest assured that what you’re eating is vegan.

Limited space is not a barrier to entry. Vegan gardening works in containers on balconies and stoops, in raised beds on rooftops, in backyard gardens, or in open community plots. Anyone can grow their own with a bit of persistence.

But there is another solution: seek out farms practicing veganic agriculture. See: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2025issue1/2025_issue1_veganic_agriculture.php

To subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA, see: https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php