Just take a look at the comments on any of my previous posts about the book Skinny Bitch (particularly here, here, and here), and you’ll see how strongly people react to this vegan treatise with an attitude.
Now the Skinny Bitch authors are back with a follow-up cookbook called Skinny Bitch in the Kitch: Kick-Ass Recipes for Hungry Girls Who Want to Stop Cooking Crap (and Start Looking Hot!).  The new book was written up in The New York Times last week. Here’s an excerpt of that review which gives you a feel for what you’ll find in the book:
The cookbook …read more

I’m learning that vegan baking is the way to go. Not only are the results consistently delicious, but since there are no eggs in the batter, I can eat all I want raw and not worry about salmonella.
I made these vegan chocolate chocolate chip cookies the other day, and was again impressed. Being from the school of thought that chocolate chip cookies made with anything but real butter are a waste of time, I admit that I was skeptical going in. But these cookies were really yummy – chewy and chocolaty enough that I didn’t even miss the …read more

I love a lazy Sunday morning spent cooking up something delicious. This morning I flipped through Vegan with a Vengeance (which has a great section on brunch) and decided to make a vegan frittata. I improvised a bit, adding mushrooms, zucchini, and fresh basil. I served it with a colorful salad (lettuce, grated beets, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, and cucumbers) for a delicious and healthy brunch.
If you don’t have VwaV in your cookbook library, you can check out the PPK website for a few of Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s fabulous vegan brunch recipes.

Today I met someone for lunch at a Japanese restaurant I’d never been to before in the business district in downtown Zurich. When the waitress brought over the extensive lunch menu, I started my usual scan for vegetarian options only to find… there wasn’t a single one. My dining companion said we could go somewhere else, but I assured her I’d find something to eat – even if I had to slap together a meal of salad, miso soup, and and a ball of sushi ginger.
When the waitress came to take our order, I explained that I was a vegetarian …read more

I loved this article by Vegan with a Vengeance author Isa Chandra Moskowitz, which lists 10 ways you can become a vegan culinary activist. The ideas rang from coaxing your local bakery to whip up a batch of vegan muffins to starting a food blog to bringing vegan cookies into the office to share.
What’s so appealing about her approach is that it’s about friendly coaxing rather than angry militantism. You don’t get people to go veg*n by yelling at them about what bad people they are. Let the vegan cupcakes do the talking for you.
A couple weekends ago I brought …read more

I don’t make enough blender drinks these days. Back when we lived in the US, we kept a stash of frozen berries in the freezer, and popped them into the blender with other ingredients to make up delicious frozen drinks of all kinds. In our current apartment, however, our freezer is too tiny for berries to hang out there, and with that our habit of regular blender drinks has faded into memory.
This morning I was staring at some need-to-be-used-right-now strawberries in the fridge, and decided it was time to break out the blender again. I put in a handful of …read more

For all the whining I’m doing about the food in New Orleans, I did actually have a couple fabulous meals while I was there. One of those was brunch at the immensely popular Slim Goodies Diner. The menu has some extensive vegetarian offerings, and even vegans will be happy to see items such as the Vegan Slammer (hash browns, tofu scramble, smoked tempe, and vegetarian chili).
Slim Goodies is immensely popular, especially for brunch, and they usually don’t take reservations. This might be one of those rare restaurants that’s actually worth the wait, though.
 
Tags: brunch, dining, New Orleans, restaurants, Slim Goodies, …read more

I made another exciting find in the produce section today: fresh okra. OK, maybe it wasn’t that fresh, given that it came all the way from Thailand, but still I was excited to cook with a vegetable I hadn’t seen in a very long time.
Although largely absent from European cuisine, okra is a vegetable that gets around. It originally comes from Africa, and features prominently in dishes from India, Thailand, and the southern United States, among other areas. Like most veggies, it’s chock full of vitamins and fiber and other good-for-you stuff.
I was in the mood for curry, so that’s …read more

Vegan Lunch Box is serving up some Peanut Butter & Jelly “Pop Hearts”

The Vegan Feast Kitchen has a dazzling array of vegan truffle recipes.

And finally, check out FatFree Vegan Kitchen’s Vegetable Love Round-Up. Nothing says ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’ like heart-shaped croûtons!

Luckily for the lacto-ovo-vegetarians out there, chocolate is one of those foods that hardly ever contains pork. But it does often contain dairy products, making many mainstream chocolate products off limits for vegans.
That doesn’t mean you can’t give chocolates to your favorite vegan this Valentine’s Day, though. Fortunately there are chocolatiers who pay attention to these things. You can find a list of dairy-free chocolates at Vegan Family’s Chocolate Room or check out a gourmet supplier such as Chocolate Decadence in the US or A Lot of Chocolate in the UK.
And if you can’t find vegan chocolates to buy on …read more