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

If you or someone you know is looking for vegan nutrition information to use during pregnancy and once your child is born, here’s a terrific handout: https://www.vrg.org/nutrition/vegan_pregnancy_brochure.pdf

You’ll find a sample vegan menu to follow during pregnancy, as well as a feeding schedule for vegan infants, toddlers, and young children.

Vegan Pad Thai photo by Rissa Miller

Chef Joseph Solar shares a wide variety of noodle dishes in his previous recipe piece in Vegan Journal. Start cooking Stuffed Shells with Basil, Golden Beet Japchae, Mushroom Marsala, Classic Vegan Pad Thai, or Vegan Carbonara!

Find the complete article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2022issue4/2022_issue4_noodling_around.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only at https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

My love and passion for animals and a just food system for all beings, started with my curious and animal loving 7-year-old self. As I ate chicken nuggets and burger patties, I began to question where exactly meat came from. I understood it came from an animal, but the process of the animal becoming food was still unclear to me. I began bombarding my parents with questions on where exactly meat came from, and after the realization of knowing I was eating an animal that I loved and didn’t want to die was all I needed to hear to vow to never eat another animal in my life. So, at the age of 7, I became a vegetarian completely on my own. Being further educated on the abuses that animals like hens and mother cows still faced in the egg and dairy industries, I became vegan at 13.

My successes within my animal and plant-based advocacy have come in significant ways compared to when I was a 9-year-old who collected funds to donate to animal sanctuaries. I lobbied on Capitol Hill to staffers of California senators and representatives on supporting bills expanding plant-based meals in K-12 schools. I was the head facilitator in groups meetings with U.S. Department of Agriculture providing them with student testimonies and limitations faced by the lack of plant-based options. In 2022 I published an op-ed in L.A. Weekly, speaking upon the importance of plant-based meals in schools. I believe one of my greatest successes in collaboration with other youth advocates was a youth started and led panel at the Animal and Vegan Advocacy (AVA) Summit. Myself along with three other youth leaders, orchestrated a panel titled, “How to Empower Youth in the Vegan Movement.”

After graduating from undergrad in political science, I envision myself going to law school to become a lawyer. There will never be a day where I question my veganism. I simply cannot ever envision myself feeling comfortable in taking the life of a sentient being for the justification of food. If my food choices can prevent me from being a direct supporter of abuses, then I will forever choose my plant-based life.

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 student promoting 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

Tex-Mex Pasta Salad photo by Hannah Kaminsky

Hannah Kaminsky shares several delicious black bean-based vegan recipes in a previous issue of Vegan Journal. Enjoy Colombian Black Bean Soup, Mole Enchiladas, Black Bean Chipotle Chile, Loaded Spanish Sweet Potatoes, and Tex-Mex Pasta Salad.

Read the entire article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2023issue3/2023_issue3_modern_classics.php

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

Be sure to follow The Vegetarian Resource Group on Instagram: @vegetarianresourcegroup

Vegan Meatballs

Olga Kouloufakos serves up a variety of Mediterranean vegan recipes in a previous issue of Vegan Journal. You can prepare Stuffed Tomatoes; Vegan Meatballs (based on mushrooms and oats); Moussaka; Pasta with Chickpea & Mushroom Pesto; and Lasagna.

Read her entire article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2024issue3/2024_issue3_mediterranean_mainstays.php

To subscribe to Vegan Journal, visit www.vrg.org/member

During my first week in high school, I started an animal rights club. As a fourteen-year-old, I stood alone at the club fair, recruiting people older than me to join. The first project we took on was bringing more plant-based foods to the school cafeteria. By the end of my freshman year, we had started Meatless Mondays at the high school and designed lesson plans about the importance of plant-based eating that every high schooler in the district participated in. By the end of my sophomore year, we had expanded Meatless Mondays to every school in the district. We worked with a group of health teachers to revise the middle school wellness curriculum to include education about plant-based eating. By junior year, we had worked to guarantee access to full plant-based options at every school district-wide, and by senior year I had worked with the district to guarantee that a minimum of 50% of food served district-wide would be fully plant-based by 2027. I faced a vocal minority of students who opposed the expansion of plant-based options. However, I ended up collaborating with them to serve plant-based versions of the foods they already love.

During my sophomore year, I recruited students from up and down Eastern Massachusetts and as far west as Sturbridge to advocate for state-level legislation to expand access to plant-based food. We successfully established a commission to make recommendations pertaining to the availability of plant-based food in school cafeterias across the state. By junior year, I was working with a group of students who have successfully brought plant-based food to their school cafeterias, helping other students do the same. I’ve one-on-one mentored students as close as neighboring Arlington, MA, and as far away Houston, sharing the knowledge and skills I’ve acquired through my five years of plant-based advocacy.

You can see a video on Meatless Mondays produced by Ezra here: https://brooklineinteractive.org/meatless-mondays-promo

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 send a donation to VRG, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203. You can also donate via your stock donation, your IRA, or a bequest.

Do you know an amazing high school student promoting 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

Green Mitzvathon Environmental Fair
​Sunday, May 4, 2025
Fair hours 11 am – 3 pm
Chevrei Tzedek Congregation @ Myerberg Center
3101 Fallstaff Road, Baltimore, MD 21209

For details, see: https://www.chevreitzedek.org/greensunday.html

VRG will be tabling at this event. Vegan food will be available.

Vegan Journal is published by The Vegetarian Resource Group. Enjoy in-depth original research, product and book reviews, scientific updates on veggie nutrition, delicious vegan recipes with gorgeous photos, plus so much more. Both long-term vegans and those new to a vegan life-style will enjoy this magazine.

To subscribe in the USA only, see: https://www.vrg.org/member/