Topic: vegan food

(Don’t) Bring Your Own Vegan Food! Vegan Couple in Restaurant Kerfluffle Over Special Request

(Don't) Bring Your Own Vegan Food! Vegan Couple in Restaurant Kerfluffle Over Special Request

Jack and Toby Litsky are hardcore new vegans: The married couple started a plant-based diet last year. Because of their new emphasis on health, they like to bring their own 100% whole wheat pasta to restaurants when they eat out in their home state of New Jersey. Usually that’s not a problem, and most places even charge them less for their meals. But that wasn’t the case at Monticello at Red Bank on February 23rd. What ensued is a really weird dispute that’s ignited a discussion about the etiquette of eating out. More »

Kind Coma Earth Week Edition: 4 Raw Food Chefs With Voices to Calm the Mind and Spirit

Kind Coma Earth Week Edition: 4 Raw Food Chefs With Voices to Calm the Mind and Spirit

We’ve listened to the soothing audio of yoga instructors; we’ve heard the dulcet tones of chilled-out painters in our earbuds, and we’ve even included Alec Baldwin on our list of special people whose voices have the power to lull us into a pleasantly calm catatonic state – if only for a few brief minutes. This week’s installment of Kind Coma pays homage to Earth Week 2011 by featuring four eco-friendly raw food chefs with relaxing voices that will have you blissing out and praising Mother Earth in no time. Be sure to put away all sharp kitchen implements well before you dim the lights and hit “play.” Happy Earth Week, hippies! Just don’t get so chillaxed that you actually sleep through Earth Day. More »

Meatless Monday Mardi Gras Guide: 10 Creole and Cajun Vegetarian Recipes

Meatless Monday Mardi Gras Guide: 10 Creole and Cajun Vegetarian Recipes

Traditionally, cajun and creole fare are far from vegetarian-friendly: Aside from king cake, brandy milk punch, and biscuits, most vegetarians will find themselves relegated to a side of rice and okra at any traditional Mardi Gras Meal. (Sorry, even the beans are flavored with ham hock, and double-check on those biscuits; they might be made with lard, too.) While some might say that Cajun-vegetarian food is an oxymoron, we say that Louisiana-style cooking can be even bigger (and certainly much easier) without the meat. More »

Morning Links: Oprah’s Vegan Guru, Kathy Freston, Champions Fake Meat

Morning Links: Oprah's Vegan Guru, Kathy Freston, Champions Fake Meat

Kathy Freston on Meat Alternatives – Oprah’s vegan advisor makes a case for fake meat, urging omnivores to make the switch. (Huffington Post)

Costco Pulls Unsustainable Fish – The bulk foods giant pulled 12 kinds of unsustainable seafood from their stores after eight months of Greenpeace campaigns. (Change.org)

Work Smarter, Not Longer – Use these 10 simple fitness tips to make sure you get the most of your workouts without ramping up time spent at the gym. (FitSugar) More »

Gallery: A Guide to Cheese Lover’s Day for Vegans

Gallery: A Guide to Cheese Lover's Day for Vegans

Today is National Cheese Lover’s Day, which seems to us like nothing but a random excuse to indulge in a fabulous cheese plate and feel festive while we eat a gooey grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. But we hate to see anyone left out of a celebration, so to save our vegan friends from exclusion, we found ten of the most-loved (and healthiest) non-dairy “cheeses,” recipes, and cheesy foods for our milk-abstaining friends to enjoy. More »

Sunflower Seed Paté: Original Vegan Recipe From Raw Chef Douglas McNish

Sunflower Seed Paté: Original Vegan Recipe From Raw Chef Douglas McNish

Look who it is: Douglas McNish, head chef of Toronto’s Raw Aura organic and raw food restaurant, with a new original recipe for Blisstree readers. Doug says:

I use this paté to roll in nori with red pepper, avocado, cucumber, and romaine lettuce to make raw sushi for my restaurant, but it’s equally good on a bagel instead of cream cheese, or as a healthy protein addition to any salad. It’s really delicious. More »

I’m a hybrid. I try to eat as local and organic as possible wherever I am, but I don’t know that anything is an all-or-nothing game. I drive a car and fly on planes, so who am I to criticize? We live in a complex, demanding world, and I try to harness what’s happening instead of railing against what’s not.

Iâm a hybrid. I try to eat as local and organic as possible wherever I am, but I donât know that anything is an all-or-nothing game. I drive a car and fly on planes, so who am I to criticize? We live in a complex, demanding world, and I try to harness whatâs happening instead of railing against whatâs not.

– Chef, author, TV host, and green living expert Renée Loux on how to live and eat in as environmentally conscious a way as possible

We Call Bulls#*!: The Toxic Skinny on 8 So-Called “Healthy” Ingredients

We Call Bulls#*!: The Toxic Skinny on 8 So-Called "Healthy" Ingredients

Douglas McNish is head chef at Toronto’s Raw Aura organic and raw food restaurant, and he also teaches food workshops and gives cooking demos. Doug regularly gives Blisstree kick-ass original raw and/or vegan recipes, but this time we asked him to call bullshit on eight ingredients we often spot on the packaging of so-called “healthy” foods like energy bars – but really, we have no idea what these ingredients are or how they affect us. And here, Chef Doug pulls no punches:

1. Palm Kernel Oil: A fat that sounds great, but has been mass produced and is now in almost everything. Our bodies convert it into trans fats. Read your labels. If palm kernel oil is in your favorite “health food,” you may as well drink a gallon of deep-fryer grease.

2. Soy Lecithin: A cheap emulsifier grown in large GMO crops that slowly peels away blood vessel walls. You may as well take a tongue scraper and use it on your veins. More »

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