What do I need to give up and how do I do it? A guide to vegan substitutes

When people are contemplating veganism, I don't think it's any secret that a lot of people get stuck dwelling on what they have to "give up."  The popular public perception of vegans is one of asceticism; apparently we all sit around joylessly chewing on dry spinach leaves, waiting for Anna Wintour to walk by in her fur coat, so that we can throw red paint on her (c'mon, who wouldn't throw red paint at Anna Wintour?)

I assume that you, dear reader, are informed enough on the subject to know that there is an amazingly broad world of delicious vegan food out there.  But I know that plenty of people still get confused, and even a little scared, at the prospect of giving up food that they have eaten since childhood, and a lot of people aren't really sure what exactly vegans do or do not eat.

OK, so, here is the basic lesson.  Vegans do not eat meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and some do not eat honey.  In this post I will explain and recommend some substitutions for these products; as well as, put your minds at ease regarding some items of confusion.  Some of the products I'll recommend to you will be things that I haven't tried myself, but that are so highly regarded in the vegan community that I feel pretty confident in including them.  The recommendations are as multi-regional as I can make them.

Let's start with the easy stuff.  Milk: Substitutes for milk are Plentiful with a capital P.  There are many different kinds: soy milk, rice milk, oat milk, almond milk, hemp milk, hazelnut milk, quinoa milk...I'm sure I've left some out.  If you don't like one, keep trying others.  Soy milk is most common, and is still my favourite, especially for putting in my tea and coffee. Note that while many people find the initial taste of soy a little off-putting, after drinking soy milk regularly, they either don't notice the same taste anymore, or they start to enjoy it.
Brand:  Quality varies hugely from brand to brand, even for the same variety of milk.  In the UK, I would recommend Alpro Soy Milk (I'm particularly fond of the long-life original), Rice Dream, So Good, and Oatly.  In Canada and the States, I would recommend Silk and Rice Dream.
Uses: Pretty much the same as dairy milk.
Where to buy:  Soy milk is available EVERYWHERE, even corner shops and gas stations.  I really doubt that you live somewhere with no access to soy milk.  Rice milk is probably the second most common, and can often still be found in your regular grocery store.  For other varieties, try a health food store.

Butter:  Butter is easily substituted by margarine, or canola oil in baking.  Be careful when you are buying margarine, most brands use some amount of milk as a cheap filler or texture regulator. 
Brands:  In the UK, I buy Pure, which comes in either a soy version or a sunflower version.  In Canada and the States, I haven't ever tried it, but I've heard many, MANY recommendations for Earth Balance. 
Uses:  Same as dairy butter.  Canola oil works very well in many baked good recipes.
Where to buy: Your regular grocery store.  In the UK canola oil is usually labelled as rapeseed oil or just vegetable oil.

Eggs: Replacing eggs in cooking in baking is probably a large enough subject that I'll do a separate post on it one day, so I won't really go into detail here.  In cooking, tofu is often used to substitute eggs successfully in a variety of different dishes.  In baking, a multitude of techniques exist, including a mixture of baking powder/soda and vinegar, a commercial egg replacer, flax gel, or fruit puree such as applesauce or mashed banana.

Meat: This topic also begs it's own post, so this is a very brief overview.  Meat is sometimes very successfully replicated, sometimes not.  I would recommend veggie burgers, vegan sausages, and ground/minced not-beef pretty confidently.  However, if you are looking to replicate having a hunk of meat at the centre of your plate, meat substitutes might be a little hit and miss.  Besides commercial meat subs, try tofu, tempeh, and seitan as the hunk of meaty protein in your meal (again I will do a separate post on these items).
Brands:  In the UK, try Redwood, Fry's, and Goodlife.  Quorn and Cauldron, the major meat substitutes available in UK grocery stores are NOT vegan, and have outright rejected proposals develop a vegan line (should this make us suspicious of their ethical motives?  I think so).  In Canada and the States, Yves veggie burgers and veggie ground round are pretty dead on replicates of fast food burgers and ground cow, but without the blood and gristle.  You should also try Gardein and Boca products. 
Where to Buy:  Try your local healthfood store for Redwood and Fry's.  Goodlife can be found in Waitrose.  Yves, Gardein, and Boca can be found at regular grocery stores.


Cheese: Oh, the quest to find a true cheese replicate.  I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but again, cheese deserves it's own post.  Cheese subs also vary hugely in quality from brand to brand, and work best as a component of a meal, rather than as the focus.  Cheese subs are often made from soy, rice, and nuts.  You can also make your own substitutes at home (try Joanne Stepaniak's The Uncheese Cookbook, UK, CAN).
Brands: In the UK, I quite like Cheezly, although I think differing opinions exist.  Scheese is also controversial, while I haven't tried it, I've really good things about their cheddar subs, and really bad things about their blue cheese subs.  Tofutti makes a cream cheese substitute that'll do.  In Canada and the States, I've heard good things about Daiya, Follow your Heart, and the pricier Dr. Cow.
Where to Buy:  Tofutti, Cheezly, and Scheese are both available in health food stores, Cheezly more widely that Scheese.  Daiya is available in health food stores in Canada, and I think more widely available in the US.


Yogurt: Soy yogurt is a good substitute for dairy yogurt, and I think you won't notice much of a difference.  I've heard rave reviews of coconut milk yogurt, which I haven't found yet in the UK.
Brands:  In the UK, Alpro yogurt is the standard, and comes both in large tubs of plain, and individual servings of flavoured. In the States, I've heard recommendations for So Delicious Coconut Yogurt.  In both Canada and the States, Silk has a soygurt product.
Where to buy: Alpro and Silk are ubiquituously available. 

Mayonaise:  Commerical non-dairy mayos are good replicas.  You can also try making your own, just search online for a recipe.
Brands:  In the UK, Plamil makes a variety of different vegan mayos.  In Canada and the States, Vegenaise is the gold standard.
Where to buy:  Plamil is sold in health food stores.  Your local chain grocery store will probably carry vegan mayo in their Free From aisle.  Veganaise is widely available.

Sour Cream:  Sour cream is also something that can be made at home using tofu or ground up cashews and lemon juice.  Like I said before, yogurt can be substituted for several different uses, such as a dollop in your borscht.
Brands: Tofutti makes a non-dairy sour cream I haven't tried but that seems to be well-liked.
Where to buy: Health food store.

Now that we're done with the obvious stuff, here's the confusing stuff:

Bread: Vegans eat bread.  99% of the bread available is probably vegan, but occasionally milk products are used as cheap filler, so check the ingredients list just in case.  Note: egg bread contains eggs.

Chocolate: Fear not, you will not have to put down the chocolate, but you might have to switch brands.  Good quality dark chocolate will almost never contain any milk products, but crappy dark chocolate brands sometimes use it again as...cheap filler.  I don't want to blow anybody's mind, but milk chocolate contains milk.  In terms of baking with chocolate, or making hot chocolate at home, you won't notice a difference, as cocoa powder is vegan.  Cocoa butter, in case the inclusion of the word butter incites confusion, is also vegan.  Smile.

Peanut butter:  This misconception is a pet peeve of mine.  Peanut butter DOESN'T CONTAIN ANY BUTTER!  On the same note, neither does apple butter, pumpkin butter, or other similar foods wherein butter is used to refer to the texture, not the ingredients.

Pizza bases, pre-prepared pastry, and other surprises:  Traditional Italian pizza bases never, ever contain dairy or eggs, but we here in the modern world are in the business of bastardising other cultures' cuisine, so check with your local pizza place to make sure.  Phyllo pastry is also traditionally and typically vegan.  Surprisingly enough, in the UK, Jus-Rol makes vegan puff pastry and shortcrust pastry, and in Canada and the US, Pepperidge farm frozen puff pastry is vegan as well. 

In short, check the label, and you might be surprised what is vegan.  Of course, sometimes you might be surprised at what isn't.  But no matter what the product is, chances are, someone has come along to make a vegan version.

If anyone reading this has any brand recommendations, feel free to add them in the comments.  Next time we revisit this subject, I'll talk about vegan clothing and other inedible products.  Excited?

Recessionpe

Asparagus and Thyme Quiche-ish

This recipe is timely for this post for two ways: one, the very short asparagus season is in swing right now; grab 'em while you can.  Two, this recipe is a good example of a way to create an equally pleasing vegan version of a traditional, non-vegan dish.


For the pastry:
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (whole wheat pastry flour if you have it)
1/2 cup white flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup vegan margarine
1/4 cup ice cold water

For the filling:
1 tbsp olive oil, or water
1 leek, sliced into half-moons
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch asparagus, chopped into inch-ish long pieces*
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 of a 420g package of extra-firm tofu (not silken)
3/4 cup non-dairy milk
2.5 tbsp flour
1 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes (optional)


For the pastry, combine the two flours and salt in a mixing bowl.  Divide the margarine into small chunks, and toss into the flour mixture, and work quickly with your fingers or a pastry cutter to combine until small crumbs form.  Sprinkle in the water a few spoonfuls at a time, and combine until the dough holds together in a firm ball.  Refrigerate until you are ready to use it.

Preheat the oven to 375/190 degrees.  Heat the oil in a medium sized pan, and add the leeks and garlic.  Saute for 5 minutes or so, until soft.  Add the asparagus, thyme and 1/4 tsp salt, and saute for another five minutes or so, or until the asparagus is tender-crisp.

Blend together the tofu, non-dairy milk, flour, 1/4 tsp salt, and nutritional yeast, until smooth.  You can do this with either a food processor or a hand-held immersion blender.  Combine the tofu mixture with the leek and asparagus mixture.

Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and place it into a pie plate.  Prick some holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork, make the edges of the crust look as fancy as you like, and then add the filling, and bake for 45 minutes, or until the filling is set and the pie pleasingly golden.

*to stem the woody ends of asparagus easily, bend the lower half of each stalk with your hands.  The stalk will naturally and crisply snap right where the woody part ends.

Why won't those wacky vegans eat cheese?

"Ok," people say to vegans, "I get the idea behind not eating meat.  But dairy?  How on earth can you give up cheese?"

This post details the ethical problems with dairy, and the powerful industry that's painting milk across the upper lips of teen idols and pouring it into our cereal bowls.  While I think that there is a plethora of scientifically sound reasons to give up dairy for health reasons, I'll talk about those in a different post.

I can hear you rolling your eyes.  And I can hear you thinking, "milk is a natural food.  Cows give it to us naturally.  They need to be milked; farmers are doing them a favour.  And cheese is awesome." I can hear you, because these thoughts are all things I thought myself before I discovered the truth behind the cheese.

Natural, eh?  We are the only species on earth that drinks the breast milk of another species, and the only species that continues to drink this breast milk past infancy.  Doesn't that sound kind of...icky?  And certainly not natural.  Lactose intolerance is often referred to as some kind of disease or condition, but in fact, we stop producing the enzyme that our body needs to properly digest milk around the age of 18, because we aren't supposed to be drinking it anymore. If you are lactose intolerant, you don't have a special medical condition, your body is just behaving the way it should.


When I was a LO vegetarian, I thought that cows needed to be milked, or else they would be in physical pain.  Someone told me this once, (probably one of my parents, I don't really remember), and I just believed them.  And I think most people are told this pleasant fiction at some point or another, and most people just accept it as fact.  Why does the cow need to be milked?  That part we don't really think too hard about.  Cows are just milk machines, right?

We don't think too hard about why cows need to be milked, because the idea that cows produce milk for no reason is a load of bull.  Cows don't constantly produce a never ending stream of milk just waiting to be turned into your next pint of Ben and Jerry's.  They are artificially impregnated 90 days after they give birth, every time that they give birth, so that they can be constantly milked with the use of an artificial insemination instrument called a rape rack. Think of the stress that a human female body undergoes from just one pregnancy, and now imagine that she is forced to undergo this every year, with no time to recover, and no choice.

This photo comes from Blaikiewell Animal Sanctuary

Dairy cows are fed Bovine Grown Hormone (BGH), a synthetic hormone developed to produce more milk, and through a combination of messing around with their genetics and intensive production technology they produce 100lb of milk a day, which is ten times more than they would normally produce with a natural pregnancy.  A dairy cow is often forced to produce so much milk that her swollen udder will drag on the floor.

After about 3-6 years of this unnatural cycle, the cows are spent.  Normally a cow would live to about 25 years of age, but in the dairy industry when a cow stops producing milk, she is sold for meat and sent for slaughter.  The dairy industry props up the meat industry in a very real way.

A dairy cow is hooked up to a milking machine several times a day.  The constant stress of this unnatural cycle will put her at risk for numerous health problems, including Bovine Leukemia Virus, Bovine Immunodeficiency Virus, and Johne's disease (which is like the human Crohn's disease).  This milking machine will suck her udders dry and often transmit bacterial infections to her, such as the very painful infection of the udders called mastitis.

Do you like drinking pus?  Good.  Because thanks to mastitis, a condition from which 30% of all British dairy cows suffer, pus is in your milk.  Under governmental regulations 400 million pus cells are allowed into every litre of milk.  If this disgusts you for your sake, think of the cow that has to put up with having her swollen, infected udder sucked dry several times a day, every day of her life, until she is sent to slaughter. 

The dairy industry, like any profitable industry, is a business.  Businesses are after money, and the welfare of cows will never be more important in a dairy farm than the financial bottom line.  Therefore, cows will always be treated as machines, not living, sentient beings.  In one type of milking system, cows are confined to windowless sheds and chained by the neck for the duration of their lives.  In another, they are crowded into outdoor enclosures where they must continuously stand or lie on feces and urine caked soil.  Their painful medical problems often go unnoticed and untended; the cows simply suffer through infections, illnesses, and injuries.  Investigators have documented that animals who are so sick or injured that they are unable to walk or even stand are routinely beaten, dragged, or pushed with bulldozers in attempts to move them to slaughter.
 
I am by no means a maternal person, but the part of the dairy industry that affects me the most is the manipulated of the relationship between mother cows and their calves.  The bond between a mother and child is undoubtedly one of the most sacred, primitive, and natural in our society, and as egocentric as our species can be, we all recognise that we as humans do not have a monopoly on this bond.  We know that this bond exists between all mothers and their offspring, regardless of species.

So if cows are continuously impregnated, what happens to their calves?  The calves produced by these pregnancies are taken away from their mothers immediately after birth.  The females will be used as dairy cows.  The males will be kept in unthinkable conditions for a few weeks, and then sold for veal meat or other beef.  Mother cows, normally docile, will fight against their calves being taken away from them, and will search and call out for their children for days after they are taken away.  The painful image of mother cows frantically calling out for their children affects me and stays with me the most, possibly because in the end, it would be better for her really to not know what happened to her child.

So, I don't think that milk is a natural food.  I don't think that cows give it to us freely.  And I don't think that farmers are doing them a favour.

Ethical Eats

Vegan Blueberry Pancakes

Tomorrow is Pancake Tuesday, and don't think that vegans have to opt out of it!  Here is a dairy free, egg free recipe for delicious blueberry pancakes.  Please note these are in the style of the fluffier Canadian pancakes, rather than the more crepe-like British pancakes.  Blueberries aren't in season right now, so look in the freezer section of your local store for frozen berries.  Of course you can substitute any kind of berries you like, or take them out completely if you have something against fiber and phytonutrients.  Double the recipe for a family.

1 cup plain flour (or 1/2 cup plain flour and 1/2 cup whole-wheat)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup soy milk
2.5 Tablespoons canola oil (also known as rapeseed oil)
1/2 cup thawed blueberries

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl.  Stir in soy milk and oil, and mix until just combined (lumps are ok). Gently fold in the blueberries.

Heat a frying pan on medium-high heat, and add a small amount of oil.  I use a 1/4 cup measure to spoon out the batter into the frying pan.  Cook about 2-3 minutes on each side, bubbles will form on the top side.  Flip, and cook 2 minutes on the other side.  Don't worry if the fist pancake looks a little funky, the first pancake in any batch of pancakes you will ever make is usually a "throwaway" pancake.  Except I throw it away by eating it while the others are cooking.

Top with more fresh fruit, maple syrup, non-dairy margarine, brown rice syrup, jam (preferably sugar free), or applesauce.

References
Butler, Justine, White Lies, Bristol: Vegetarian and Vegan Foundation, 2006.  Available at    http://www.vegetarian.org.uk/campaigns/whitelies/wlreport01.shtml.
Farm Animal Welfare Council, "Report on the Welfare of Dairy Cattle," LFAC, 1997.  Available at http://www.fawc.org.uk/reports/dairycow/dcowrtoc.htm.
Farm Sanctuary, The Welfare of Cattle in Dairy Production, NY: Farm Sanctuary, 2006.  Available at http://www.farmsanctuary.org/mediacenter/dairy_report.html.
Vernelli, Toni, The Dark Side of Dairy: A report on the UK Dairy Industry, Bristol: Viva!, 2005.  Available at http://milkmyths.org.uk/report/index.php.

Spinach goes to Spain: Travelling as a Vegan

If off-season flight prices hadn't been involved, I probably wouldn't have chosed Spain as my first trip abroad after transitioning to veganism.  Spanish food is often cited as the worst for vegetarians, let alone vegans, with Spanish vegetable dishes often containing hunks of pigs.  But when my boyfriend proposed a trip at the end of January, flights to Madrid were so cheap that I kind of forgot I was vegan.


I'm not going to tell you that Spanish menus aren't mostly made up of pigs and squid, because they certainly are.  But at every meal, I wondered if my task of finding vegan food in Spain was about to become arduous.  It never did.  I was never told that a restaurant couldn't accommodate me, and most restaurants had several things on their menus that were already vegan. 

This happy experience occurred in part because of the wondrous miracle that is http://happycow.net/, a very useful site that lists the vegan, vegetarian, and veg-friendly restaurants in pretty much every city in the world.  I just printed off the listings for our two destinations, Madrid and Granada, and shoved them into our travel guide.

Because I was travelling with my meat-loving boyfriend, I didn't solely visit vegetarian restaurants, but I did go to a few, and I'm very excited to tell you about the three delicious, veggie restaurants we found.


1.  For lunch our second day in Madrid, we went to an awesome vegetarian cafe called Viva la Vida (they have two locations, we went to the one in La Latina), that was my favourite place for the whole trip, so much so, that we ended up going twice.  Viva la Vida is a buffet place (you pay by weight), and there are plenty of clearly marked vegan options.  Over the course of two visits, I stuffed my face with polenta, paella topped with a really delicious smoky tomato sauce, roasted potatoes, vegan croquettes (swoon), sushi with a creamy, dreamy carrot mousse filling, Thai rice paper rolls, spanish rice, and a seitan dish. 

2.  For dinner that same night, we went to another vegetarian place, called El Estragon.  Because vegetarians like to move in packs, El Estragon is in the same square in the La Latina region as Viva la Vida. I had a really good dish of soy and lentil meatballs with a paprika-seasoned tomato and bell pepper sauce, and perfectly crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside, sliced potatoes.

3.  Our first day in Granada, we got lunch from a take-out salad bar called El Piano.  This place was all vegan, all gluten free, all organic, and you get your selection of salad in a little biodegradable wooden boat!  You heard me right, a vegan, gluten-free, organic, environmentally conscious salad bar IN SPAIN.  It was also all delicious: I had a seitan estofida and rice with eggplant, and a brownie.

If you are heading off to Espana, I would remember a few things.  Firstly, there are several traditional Spanish delights that are already vegan: freshly squeezed orange juice; green olives; fresh oranges, figs, and other fruit; gazpatcho; and other cold soups (not always prepared vegan, but traditionally should be).  Secondly, you will want to learn the names of things you don't eat and just ask for the dish without them, rather than assuming waiters will know exactly what vegano or vegetariano means.  No one made a fuss when we asked for a dish without something.  Lastly, your life will be so much easier if you just research ahead.

If you remember from Mon Histoire, travelling and still being able to enjoy different food from different cultures was one of the things I was most concerned about when becoming vegan.  The pleasant irony of the trip was that food was the thing I was concerned about when we set sail, but thinking back on the trip now, our culinary experience was one of the best parts.  Buen provecho!

Receta

Vegan Churros with Chilli-Orange Chocolate Sauce

The only thing I really regretted in Spain was not being able to have churros!  Churros, if you are sadly unacquainted with them, are little Spanish doughnuts that are fried, and then rolled in cinnamon sugar, and served with a thick chocolate sauce.  Interested?  Since I couldn't eat these in Spain, I couldn't wait to get home and make a vegan version of them.

1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup boiling water

3 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup dark chocolate pieces
1 cup soy (or other non-dairy) milk
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp orange zest
1 dash cayenne pepper

Canola oil for frying

Mix together the flour, salt, and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.  Pour in the cup of boiling water and mix together quickly.  Stir constantly until a firm dough forms, about five minutes.

In a small plate or bowl, combine the 3 tbsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon with a fork.


Heat the oil over medium heat in a small saucepan.  If you drop a small piece of bread in the oil, it should be brown in about 30 seconds.

You have two alternatives: piping the churros onto a plate first and chilling it before frying, or piping them in shapes directly into the oil.  Not trusting my ability to pipe into boiling hot water without losing a hand, I chose the former option, if less pretty, option.  If you have a pastry bag, now is the time to break it out, and use a large star tip.  If not, just cut the tip off a plastic sandwich bag.  Whichever method you choose, churros are usually made into long oval shapes.  If you pipe them onto a plate, carefully lift thim off the plate with a knife (you might want to brush the plate with a bit of oil first), and carefully drop them into the oil.  Fry them for a few minutes, until golden brown on each side.

Lift the shapes out of the oil, and place them on a plate covered in paper towels.  Once cooled for a minute or two, roll them in the cinnamon sugar, then put them aside.


To make the chocolate sauce, carefully melt the chocolate pieces either in a double boiler, or over low heat in a saucepan.  Watch the chocolate carefully or it will burn.  Add the soy milk (or any dairy alternative you like), and whisk together.  Add the cornstarch and whisk together.  Add the orange zest and dash of cayenne, and continue to whisk constantly until the mixture thickens up a bit, about 5 minutes or so.  If you want it thicker, whisk for longer, or add a bit more starch, but I find that I don't like it too thick.

Serve the sauce in a small bowl or cup (if you have cappuchino cups, this is a perfect use for them) for dipping, and the churros on the side.

Big Fat Post

Fat.  The word doesn't sound like a hallmark of good health.  The only thing most of us know for sure about fat is that we love it, but we don't want to BE it.  The low-fat craze in the 90's died down once we realized that all of those low-fat products just contained a load of sugar, and we then decided to stop thinking about it so much.  Fat tastes awesome, and besides, saturated fat turned out not to be that bad, right?  Doctors don't really know if fat is good or bad, anyway, so I can just eat whatever I want. 

Wrong.  Here's the thing I think most people don't understand.  Many different things can be bad for you all at the same time.  Because one kind of fat starts making headlines about causing diabetes and heart disease, doesn't mean that another kind of fat has stopped causing diabetes and heart disease.  It means that both kinds of fat are causing diabetes and heart disease.  That's why there's so much, um, diabetes and heart disease in our society.  Medical researchers know exactly what kind of fat you should be eating or avoiding.  But there are big, powerful, scary industries that really don't want you to be well-informed on the situation, and the media, which revels in public confusion, plays along.

So do we need fat at all?  Fat is absolutely a necessary nutrient.  When we talk about fat as a nutrient, we use the term essential fatty acids, or EFA's.  You know from the protein blog, that in health terms the word essential means a nutrient that we need, and that we have to get from food. EFA's help in blood clotting, vitamin absorption, brain function, cell and hormone production, and they provide energy.   Fat is in almost all foods, in varying amounts, so having a fat-free diet is actually impossible, and good thing too, because you need EFA's to live.  However, our confusion mostly centers around which kinds and how much we need.   Kinds of fat can be divided into three main categories: saturated fat, trans fat, and unsaturated fat.

Does saturating your arteries in a mostly solid, greasy substance sound like a good thing?  Okay, that might not be a technically accurate description of what happens when you consume saturated fat, but the fact remains that you should be eating as little saturated fat as possible.  Saturated fat increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, high cholesterol, and atherosclerosis.  SatFat causes high blood pressure, depresses the immune system, and increases the risk of cancer.  Wait a second...something that we're doing could be causing cancer?  It's not some inevitable punishment from the gods that has randomly increased every year for the last 80 years for no reason?  Weird.

So where does saturated fat come from?  Herein lies the clue why we're being fed misinformation: the main sources of saturated fat are meat, dairy, and eggs.  Surprise!  Coconut and palm oils are mostly made up of saturated fat as well, although in the western world, most of us don't eat very much tropical oil, so these are not as much of a concern.  The American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than 7% of your calories from saturated fat, but those of us who consume meat, dairy, and eggs usually consume almost double that amount.  Saturated fat is not kinda, sorta bad.  Saturated fat has killed so many people it makes Charles Manson look like Father Christmas.

Trans fat is much better understood by the public, and we receive a clearer message about it, I think.  Trans fats were the Big Bad for the last few years.  They are naturally found in small amounts in meat and dairy, but they are also found in hydrogenated oils and partially hydrogenated oils, which are an entirely human innovation.  Hydrogenated oils are formed during, well, hydrogenation, a process with forces hydrogen gas into oil at a high pressure.  This process came into being in order to prolong the shelf life of packaged foods, as hydrogenated oils don't go rancid as quickly.  Trading our health for longer lasting cookies was such a great idea.   Trans fats lower your good HDL cholesterol, and raise your bad LDL cholesterol.  They increase your risk of heart disease and stroke, clog up those arteries, and increase your risk of diabetes.

So how to you avoid this junk?  Under European law, trans fat doesn't have to be listed in the nutritional info of a product, but hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oil do have to be listed in the ingredients, so if you have a product that does not list dead flesh or animal juices in the ingredients, and also does not contain hydrogenated oils, you have a trans fat free product.  You will want to carefully check the labels of pre-packaged cookies, biscuits, crackers, and other baked goods, and of course, fried fast food (including chips!) are usually fried in partially hydrogenated oil.

Health experts recommend consuming no more than 2% of your daily calories from trans fatty acids, but honestly, you don't need any trans fats in your diet.  Aim to consume none.  If you live in UK (A.K.A Chiptoria), and you ever socialise, you won't succeed, but try.


Over the past several decades we've been swept up in a muddle debate over which is superior from a health standpoint:  margarine or butter?  One year, we hear margarine is the only way to go, the next year butter is not that bad, and margarine is the new taboo.  The bottom line is, in reference to most commercial margarines, neither butter nor margarine are healthful, and both carry some concerning health risks.  Butter contains small amounts of trans fats and concerning amounts of saturated fat, most margarines

LDL cholesterol (the bad one) and raise your HDL cholesterol (the good one).  They contain circulation promoting arginine, antioxidants, fiber, protein, calcium, magnesium, and other minerals.  They lower your risk of heart disease, and extend your lifespan and protect against common disease of aging.  In fact, studies have found that those who consume one little ounce of nuts a day lower their risk of getting fatal coronary heart disease by 59%.  A fifty nine percent decrease in risk of the biggest killer in any developed country today wrapped up in a delicious little package?  Yes please.

In Dan Buettner's book, The Blue Zones, he studies four different areas of the world that have an unusually large percentage of inhabitants who live past 100 years of age.  One of the areas he visits is the Seventh Day Adventist's region, Loma Linda, California.  The mostly vegetarian residents had a love affair with nuts (stop giggling), and this love affair was pin-pointed as one of the main factors contributing to their long lifespans.

I know some people have a fear of nuts and avocados, due to their high-fat content.  Some of you may fear that eating these items will give you a high-fat content yourself.  Relax.  Studies have shown that people who consume nuts actually have lower BMI's than those who don't.  Nuts satiate hunger better than animal fats or plant oils, and actually aid in weight control.  Now, it's true that a gram of fat contains 9 calories, as opposed to the 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate or protein.  So obviously, you don't want to go, well, nuts on any source of fat, especially if you are watching your weight.  A few handfuls a day of nuts or seeds, or a few slices of avocado should suffice. 

Opinions do vary quite a bit in regards to what percentage of your calorie intake should come from fat.  The standard, government approved figure is around 30%, other health experts working with people who have a specific reason to worry about heart problems would tell you try to keep it closer to 10%.  However, assuming you are already in reasonably good health, I would spend more time focusing on the quality of your nuts, rather than quantity, and simply don't buy nuts in large quantities (they go rancid fairly quickly anyway).

The next time we chew the fat about fat, we'll talk about the health benefits of plant foods and oils made from plant foods.  But right now, I'm pretty proud that I made it through the whole post with only two nut puns, so I'm going to leave on a high note.  Only two puns?  That's peanuts!

Vital Vittles

African Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew

While I was writing this blog, I was racking my brain trying to think of the perfect recipe for this post: one that would be focused on healthy fats without using oils.  And completely by co-incidence, I made this stew that evening, having found it in The Vegan Table, UK, Can.  Delicious and nutritious, the recipe features peanut butter, and uses water for sauteing, rather than oil.  Serve it with either whole-wheat couscous or brown rice.

Serves 6-10

3 tbsp water, for sauteing
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 red peppers, chopped
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/3 to 1/2 cup natural peanut butter (either crunchy or smooth will work, but look for a brand without sugar or added oils)
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 can kidney beans (or 1.5 cups cooked beans from scratch)
1 can diced tomatoes
4 cups veggie stock
1 tsp salt (or too taste)

Head water in a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add onions and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add bell pepper, cover, and cook for another  minutes.  Stir in brown sugar, finger, cumin, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper, and stir constantly for 30 seconds.  Stir in peanut butter, distributing evenly throughout.  Ad sweet potatoes, kidney beans, and tomatoes, and stir to coat.  Add veggie stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until sweet potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.  Salt to taste, and serve.

Notice that this recipe makes a large amount, and the stew is fairly filling, so unless you're throwing a dinner party, or you're a Huxtable, you will have copious leftovers.  Which can't possibly be a bad thing.

New Year, More Money!

I know some people don't like New Year's resolutions, but I don't think there's anything wrong with a little self-improvement.  I also know that today is 5 days after New Year's, but I think you get the whole of January to make them.  Especially if you only keep them a week, deciding on them later in the month will make people think that you actually kept them longer.  Frankly, there are enough resolutions running around about losing weight and eating better, so instead I thought I would propose a few penny-saving resolutions instead.  January, being cold and dark, is a crappy time to try to lose a bunch of weight, but most of you probably spent to much money over the holidays, making January an excellent, and possibly compulsory time to save some money.  So here are some ideas for running a cost-efficient home kitchen.

Resolve to:

1.  Replace more expensive protein-rich foods with beans and legumes.  Beans and lentils are not only nutritional powerhouses, they are the cheapest sources of protein you will find.  If you don't eat them very often, resolve to keep some cans in your cupboard and eat them at least couple of times a week.  Eat the beans, I mean, not the cans.  Cans of beans are very cheap, but if you really want to spend next to nothing, buy dried beans and soak and cook them yourself.  I like to cook beans myself, not only for the financial benefits, but also because something about the practise makes me feel pleasantly medieval.

2.  Start throwing dinner parties instead of going out to eat.  You might think that you will spend more hosting dinner for other people than going out, but I find that as long as you keep costs in mind (and your guests bring the drinks), you can entertain very cheaply in your own home, without sacrificing deliciousness or fun.  Consider starting a dinner party ritual with your friends, alternating the host.  If you decide on potluck dinners your bank account won't even notice that you're having fun.  And while playing tipsy charades (an essential part of any dinner party) is frowned upon in restaurants, no one but your loved ones will judge you in the privacy of your own home.  And even if you live in squalor, you will be amazed at what a thorough cleaning and some tealights can do. 

3.  Replace sugary cereals with porridge.  Porridge is the cheapest breakfast imaginable, while most processed cereals are simply charging you stupid amounts of money to give you diabetes.  Sure, you might not want a bowl of steaming hot porridge in the middle of July, but for most of the year, porridge is the healthiest, and most economical breakfast around.  Endless ways to prepare porridge abound, from dried fruits and nuts, to fresh berries, apples and cinnamon, jam, and natural syrups.

4. Start packing your lunch 4 days a week.  Granted, this piece of advice might not be terribly original.  But no one's doing it.  Having been in plenty of different offices in the last couple of years, I can confirm that the only time most people bring their lunch is when buying their lunch would involve walking long distances.  If you struggle to remember to prepare lunches, you have two alternatives.  Either make extra dinner and bring the leftovers the next day for lunch, or make large batches of substantial dishes on Sundays, and store them in individual portions.  Brain surgery, right?  But no one's doing it.

5.  Learn a few soup bases.  Learning the basics of how to make soup is oh-so-important.  You will save money and eat less by adding lots of soup to your diet.  And the possibilities are capital E Endless.  Anything!  You can put anything in soup!  Dig through some cookbooks or the internet for recipes for blended vegetable soups, chunky vegetable soups, minestrone, miso soups (my recipe is for one is at the bottom of this post), lentil soups, bean soups, and whatever-else-you-can-imagine soups.  Once you understand the basic formats of a few different soups you can play around with them and add whatever you have on hand that will compliment the recipe.   Such flexibility and improvisation allows you to avoid that huge drain on your wallet known as wasted produce.

6.  Save and use everything.  Preposterous amounts of food get wasted by the foolish everyday.  Join the ranks of the elite group of people who know how to recognise when a vegetable is about to go off (without the use of meaningless supermarket best before dates), and can put the middle-aged veggie to use.  If you have some produce that is going off and you can't find an immediate use for it, throw the produce in a resealable bag and chuck the bag in the freezer.  Prioritise your weekly produce: use up things that expire quickly, like leafy greens, at the beginning of the week, and save more robust things, like squash, for the end of your shopping week.  Always save leftovers for later; even small bits of dishes can be put away for an easy snack later on.  Even the skins and ends of your veggies can be saved for compost if you have your own garden, or for soup stock.  Read Stone Soup (UK), (CAN), for inspiration!  Hey, that book works for Resolution 5, too.

7.  Keep some homemade frozen dinners in your freezer.  Note the word homemade.  I do not condone or encourage you to buy or eat factory-produced frozen dinners!  Keeping some delicious, healthy dinners in your freezer at all times will help you out on those evenings when you are too tired to cook, and the take-out menu drawer looms dangerously near.  I'm not suggesting that you never get take-out or go out for dinner, but any such indulgences should be planned into your week and budget.  Make sure that the dinners are something you will actually want to eat as well, and your hunger will stop ruling your debit card on lazy, tired evenings. 

May you enjoy pain-free frugality this year.  And quit smoking.  Blech.

Recessionpe!

Rainbow Red Lentil Soup

This wholesome, homey soup is based on another recipe in Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, (UK), (CAN), that I've modified only a little, to make it rainbow-y. And better. Having unintentionally made the soup multi-coloured once, I fell in love with the pretty pastels of the purple "red" onion, yellow bell pepper, and orange carrots and lentils.  You also get red from the tomatoes, and green from the spinach.  Feel free to play around with the recipe, and add different vegetables or spices.  This soup is works for this post on different levels, because lentils are traditionally served at New Years, as their coin-like shape is seen as representative of good luck, abundance, and wealth.  See, that's what you get when you take recipe suggestions from an English grad.  Double-metaphor soup.

1.5 cups red lentils
6 cups vegetable stock (or 6 cups water and 1-2 stock cubes)
3 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 slices fresh ginger root, each about the size of a quarter

2 medium carrots, chopped
1 cup canned tomatoes
1 yellow bell pepper

1 large red onion
1 tbs olive oil
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1.5 tsp ground coriander
pinch of cayenne
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
1-2 cups baby spinach
salt and pepper to taste

Chuck the lentils, stock, bay leaves, garlic, and ginger in a pot, cover and heat on high.  Add the carrots, tomatoes, and bell peppers.  Bring to a boil, stir, and reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for 15-20 minutes, covered, until the lentils are tender.  Add the spinach a few minutes before the lentils are done cooking.

In the meantime, saute the onions in the olive oil until soft, for 5 to 10 minutes.  Add the cumin, coriander, and cayenne, and cook for another minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from the heat.

Remove the ginger and bay leaves from the lentils.  Supposedly, people have choked on bay leaves before, so make sure you get all three.  Stir in the onions and lemon juice, and season to taste.

Some crusty whole grain bread and a fresh salad will make this soup a complete, wholesome lunch.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I love the autumn.  Something really amazing happens to the earth at this time of year: trees burst into brilliant colour (yes, even in London this year), we bring out coats and gloves and become immediately more stylish, and the farmer's markets suddenly become laden with plump and cheerful squashes and pumpkins.  All of these seasonal evolutions remind me that change is more exciting than it is scary.  So I thought this would be an appropriate time of the year to talk about transitioning from meat eating to vegetarianism.

If you are looking to make the leap from omnivore to herbivore, there are a myriad of approaches.  You could start by having three vegetarian days a week, and then add more.  You could turn around one day, and immediately eliminate all animal products from your diet.  You could set a day in the future to be your last meat eating day.  If your diet has been riddled with tons of animal products up to now, throwing them out the door immediately might be a shock for your body.  On the other hand, if you already eat a lot of fresh, wholesome food, an immediate meat-out might feel fantastically freeing. 

Regardless of how you decide to make the change, you are going to encounter some splendiferous benefits, and some causes for concern.  Here are some tips to guide you through the first couple of months:

DO:

• Learn to cook.  I've said it before, and I meant it.  Don't be scared.  If you can read and follow directions, make slicing motions with a knife, and turn on a burner, you can cook.  Everyone should  cook, obviously, but preparing your own food is particularly important for anyone not eating a standard western diet, because most processed, pre-packaged food is aimed at people who do eat a standard western diet.  So unless you really, really, really like toast, you need to start cooking.

• Buy a good vegetarian cookbook.  So, you've decided you don't want to eat meat anymore.  You've decided you want to turn over a new leaf both for yourself and for the victims of the meat industry.  You're excited and raring to go, but like many people, you were raised eating a slab of meat with some boiled carrots for dinner   What the face are you supposed to eat?  Enter the glorious and inventive array of vegetarian cookbooks.  Buy a good, all-purpose vegetarian cookbook, and try to make every recipe in it (not all at once.  Well, maybe all at once). To start off with, one all-purpose everyday vegetarian cookbook, one special occasion-oriented cookbook, and one baking book will serve your purposes very well.  I could spend the entire blog recommending books, but for newbie vegetarians I would recommend the Moosewood Collective, (UK), (CAN), Colleen Patrick Goudreau, (UK), (CAN), or Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, (UK), (CAN).

• Scouts and new vegetarians need to be prepared.  I've never really figured out what Scouts need to be prepared for (some sort of Lord of the Flies situation, I guess?), but new vegetarians need to be prepared for the hostility they will encounter from some awesome geniuses who think it's ok to question other people's food choices.  To deal with people who are trying to convince you that carrots have feelings too, I would recommend my boyfriend's method of ending arguments he doesn't want to have: while the other person is arguing, shut your eyes and emit a high-pitched, child-like squeal until they stop talking.  After a few moments of stunned silence, change the subject to TV.

• Feed your friends and family.  Your parents might be frustrated, worried about you, or even feel rejected, as you suddenly refuse to eat the food they've been preparing you since you were small.  Your friends might not understand, and might feel that you are getting high and mighty.  Most of my friends and family were very supportive of me, but I know that not everyone is so lucky.  The solution?  Patience and deliciousness.  Cook and bake food for everyone.  They will get off your case once you've made them sweet potato burritos.  Happy tummies do more good than all of the animal rights literature in the world.

• If you are still living with your parents, help them with the cooking, especially if they haven't cooked a lot of vegetarian meals in the past. 

•  When people ask you about the change that you've made, be sure to explain it personally.  Saying, "I gave up meat because eating dead animals is wrong and disgusting, and anyone who participates in the meat industry horror show should be ashamed of being culpable in the slaughtering of sentient beings, and will die of obesity-driven heart disease at 45" is being kind of confrontational.  I am by no means recommending that you shy away from giving your real reasons for your change; I think you should be absolutely honest, but people are much more likely to be on your side if you explains things in the context of personal decisions, ie "I really love animals, and I found that for me, eating them didn't feel right anymore," or "I personally feel so healthy and clean now."

• Research nutrition.  We've talked about this before.  Everyone needs to research his or her health, but now you've got an opportunity to become more informed.  Learn what will need to plan for, in particular, vegans need to start supplementing with vitamin B12.  Researching your health will also set your family's mind at ease.  Once they see that plenty of reputable studies and doctors recommend vegetarianism and veganism, and once you've made them sweet potato burritos, they will really get off your case. 

• Draw your own line in the sand.  Do I eat/wear red meat, white meat, fish, dairy,eggs, free-range, honey, gelatin, stearic acid, or wool?  There are a million different stances that people take on their diet.  Many veg*ns (vegetarians and vegans) debate constantly about these issues with no real answer in sight.  You have to make up your own mind as to what you think is wrong or right, unhealthy or not a big deal, or a manageable change.  That doesn't mean that other people won't come up with arguments that make sense and help you refine your diet, but ultimately it's your decision.  

• Learn how to shop.  If you are converting to lacto-ovo vegetarianism and you live in the UK, you don't really have to worry about this one.  Every single truly vegetarian food item in the UK is labelled as such by law.  Amazing!  However, if you live elsewhere, or if you are also giving up dairy and eggs, you may want to learn the names of the different additives in food.  The most significant sneaky dead animal additive is gelatin, which is made from boiled pig fat and horse hooves, and is found in jelly candies and the like.  For vegans, the big ones are casein and whey.  Some people choose to worry about every little additive in their food, and some people take the attitude that these things are the byproducts of the meat industry, not the cause of it.  

• Get familiar with www.happycow.net. Happy Cow is a very comprehensive website and has many uses, my favourite of which is their database of vegetarian restaurants from around the world.  You'll be amazed at the vegetarian restaurants you can find in Paris, Texas, Dubai, or anywhere else in the world!

• Feel free to experiment with different meat substitutes.  I don't eat a lot of them now, but meat substitutes are perfect for your transitional phase.  Some are amazing, some are disgusting, and some will simply suffice.  If you ever feel yourself craving a meat dish, trust me, someone somewhere has vegetarianised it.  Example?  Vegan meat cake.  Veggie burgers are great for satisfying meat cravings.  They are familiar, they can be dressed up just like their meat versions, they are easy to find even in the middle of nowhere, and there are a million different versions for you to try.  I've also had good veggie mince, chicken pieces, chicken nuggets, and meatballs.  In fact, I like them much better than the meat versions.  Vegans be warned: some vegetarian meat substitutes contain eggs, so check the label.

• Focus on what you are gaining, not losing.  Most vegetarians find that they have more options than meat eaters, not less.  There are hundreds of different plant foods to explore.  There are only a handful of different kinds of meat.  When you start cooking vegetarian, you start to think outside of the box, and discover culinary creativity you didn't even know existed.

•  Have fun!  Seriously, I'm a little envious of new vegetarians.  The world is your artichoke!  When people go vegetarian, they will inevitably try new cuisines, new vegetables, new flavours, new recipes, and new products.  So many people say that they feel cleaner and lighter, and have more energy.  

DON'T:

• Stress.  If you're met with opposition from friends and family, don't worry about it.  They will come around.  Be patient, and feed them.  Trust me.

• Expect everyone to jump onboard.  You might have watched Food, Inc, (UK), (CAN), or Earthlings and had an irreversible epiphany, but others might not have the same reaction to new information.  You might have been moved by The China Study, (UK), (CAN), to make a change in your own health, others might be moved to go to Burger King.  Your choices are your choices, you can't force them on anyone else.  Don't bother trying.

• Assume everyone knows what you can or can't eat.  Right at this very moment, someone's grandmother is trying to convince them that vegetarians can eat chicken, because chicken is fowl, not meat.  Plenty of people still genuinely don't really know what vegetarians/vegans can or can't eat.  If someone else is preparing you a meal, you may have to be very specific about your diet, and don't forget to mention things like chicken stock and gelatin. 

• Get on your soapbox.  When you first find out what's going on behind closed slaughterhouse doors, you might think that if only you could share this information with the world, you could single-handedly bring peace to our furry and feathered friends.  Cut to you berating everyone you meet with animal rights slogans, UN statistics, and World Health Organisation reports.  Cut to you playing Jenga with your cat on Saturday night.  Educating people is all very well and good, but you might want to wait until they ask.  

• Try to be perfect.  Vegetarianism is not a perfect science.  Period.  You will never be a perfect vegetarian.  Ever.  Excluding every little tiny bit of animal products from your life isn't the point.  And when you take a bite of something you didn't realise contained meat, you can't beat yourself up about it.  That bite won't be the last bit of animal you accidentally ingest.  Shrug it off and move on. 

• Don't OD on processed substitutes or cheese.  I know I said earlier to have fun with substitutes, but at the same time, a lot of the pre-made meat/cheese substitutes aren't exactly health food, so don't go too nuts.  On cheese, don't make the mistake of 1970's LO vegetarianism, and substitute the meat you've taken out with a whole buncha cheese.  Eating silly amounts of cheese isn't going to help your health or the dairy cows.

• Worry about going out for dinner.  Almost everywhere has lacto-ovo vegetarian options, so if you are still eating eggs and dairy, you will nearly always have at least one option on the menu, even at steakhouses.  Vegans, eating out at restaurants that focus on British or French food isn't going to be the easiest, and both vegans and vegetarians will find more options at ethnic restaurants.  But don't that stop you from going to western-style place; restaurants do not exist merely as glorified butchers.  If you don't see options for you on the menu, ask for them!  Restaurants are there to serve their customers.  They aren't there so that we can beg a meal from them and eat whatever they are willing to serve us.

This post seems like a good time to give an update on my own transition from lacto-ovo veggie to vegan. 
I like gradual changes.  When I gave up meat, I cut out red meat for a year before I cut out white meat and fish as well.  Now that I'm giving up eggs, dairy, and honey, I'm taking a year to say goodbye to those things I love the most.  I like slow changes because I think it makes me less likely to feel wistful cravings for the things I've decided not to eat anymore.  I won't be turning around saying to a tub of cookie dough ice cream, "we never even got to say goodbye," because I have every intention of slowly and deliberately saying goodbye to Ben and Jerry's.  Thirteen years ago, on New Years, I gave up meat entirely.  I've set the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve as my cut-off point for eggs and dairy.

I thought at this point I would be dragging my heels, desperately clinging onto some brie, but actually, I'm really excited to make the change.  I think I'm going to feel amazing.  I think I'm going to relieved not to be eating any animal products at all, and I'm looking forward to exploring more vegan food.  I'm already noticing that I've stopped thinking of dairy as a staple food, and as for eggs, giving them up is a non-issue.

I'm also really, really looking forward to those vegan superpowers I heard so much about in Scott Pilgrim vs the World, (UK), (CAN).  Who knew?

Karing Kitchen


Dan Gerou's Meatless Spaghetti Bolognese

This yummy recipe is my boyfriend's culinary pride and joy, and with it's familiar, meaty texture, pretty perfect for your transitional phase.  He is reluctantly letting me borrow it.  I asked him if he wanted to contribute an introduction for the recipe, and his contribution is, "don't mess it up." 

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 carrot, grated
4 mushrooms, chopped
400g of veggie mince*
2 tins tomatoes
1/4 cup red wine
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
pepper to taste

100g spaghetti per person

Heat the oil a frying pan over medium heat.  Add the onions and garlic, saute until onions are golden brown.  Add mince, season with first tsp of salt, mix together.  Add carrot and mushrooms and saute together for a minute or two.  Add two tins of tomatoes and mix together.  Add herbs, remaining salt, pepper, sugar, and red wine.  Bring to a boil, then simmer.  Dan says to simmer for a minimum of an hour, but he's done it for 20 minutes or so before and it's been good.  In the meantime, bring a pot of water to a boil, and cook the pasta until al dente.  Plate the spaghetti and top with the sauce.

This recipe makes a large amount of sauce, and will keep well for a few days.

*Choose your favourite veggie mince, but be warned that Quorn contains eggs.  If you are in Canada, Yves Veggie Ground Round is a good option.

In Defense of Carbs

We have no idea what to think about carbs.  We're completely baffled by them, even terrified of them.  We know that we like things that are high in carbs, but we're pretty sure we're not supposed to like them.  They're bad for you, right?  They make you fat. We have some idea that there is a difference between starch and sugars, but we're pretty unclear about what the difference means, so just to be safe, we should probably avoid both.  Because they make you fat. 

Our confusion didn't come out of nowhere.  While the low-carb movement was not actually started by this infamous man, we can put the blame for the popularity of carbophobia squarely on his pudgy shoulders: Dr Robert C. Atkins.  Most of us know all about this diet, but just to recap, Dr Atkins looked around at the widening waistlines of contemporary America, and decided that the reason behind our plumpness, is that we weren't eating enough meat and cheese.  Genius!  He looked around at our inability to turn off the TV, the computer, and the playstation; our obsessive intake of chocolate; Mcdonald's 245 billionth sale of greasy burgers; our massively excessive intake of animal protein, grease, and fat; our continuously effed-up relationship with food and body image; and our overdependence on machines to do everything for us including walking, and decided the problem wasn't the Big Mac, the problem was the bun the Big Mac came on. Ok, I'm exaggerating a little (but only a little).  What he actually decided was that simple carbs, including white flour and sugar, were responsible for the obesity crisis.  Ok, sugar's culpability is something Bob and I can agree on; sugar is a big, fat problem in our society, which I will give a big, fat post all on it's own later on.  But I can't help feel that he was missing something, namely, the burger.  And greasy fries.  And the fatty milkshake.  And the minivan you stuck your arm out of in order to obtain the food.

Atkins proposed a diet in which the first phase restricts your carbohydrate intake to 20g a day.  To limit your carb intake to only 4% of your diet you must not only out cakes, cookies, and white bread,  you also have to do away with wholemead bread and pasta, potatoes, both white and brown rice, fruit, and most veggies.  Ah yes.  Raspberries and their infamous fattening powers. The final "life maintenance" phase of the Atkins Diet restricts you to 90g of carbs a day.  That's still only 18% of the average diet, and general medical recommendations are to consume no less than half of your calories from carbohydrates.  So what can you eat without restriction on Atkins?  Red meat, chicken, fish, cheese, eggs, mayo, cream and butter.

Let me repeat that, because you probably thought you misheard me.  To lose weight, you must replace the brown rice and apples in your diet with cream and steak.  Really?  Really?  Are we that stupid, really?

Yeah, we are.  Atkins died a millionaire.  Proof, if we ever needed it, that people will believe anything you tell them if they think there's a chance it will make them skinny. 

But carbs make you fat, so who cares, right?  The low-carb movement has a lot of followers, and there is a reason for this loyalty.  When people go on Atkins or the Zone, or any of the similar diets, they tend to lose a lot of weight very quickly, as much as 10lbs a week.  You can see how the diet made the evening news.  The problem is, this weight loss mostly comes from water loss and muscle loss.  Muscle is heavier than fat, but more compact...so if you trade in some muscle for fat, the number on your weigh scale will be lower, but you will look heavier.  And lumpier.  Do we think the lumpy look is coming back anytime soon?  What's more, muscle tissue burns calories even when you are at rest; therefore losing muscle mass means a decrease in your metabolism, which is not exactly condusive to continued and sustainable weight loss.  

Low carb diets are notorious for being unsustainable.  Know anyone who initially lost a lot of weight on one of these diets?  Maybe.  Know anyone who kept it off for more than a year or two?  Doubtful.  These diets are unsustainable because your body hates them.  Studies have found that these diets cause artery damage,  long-term damage to blood vessels, inflammation that is linked with heart and artery disease, reduce blood vessel dialation (this is a bad thing), and could more that double your risk of certain cancers.  In 2001 the American Heart Association stated that low-carb diets contribute to heart and kidney disease, and that high protein diets are missing certain essential vitamins, nutrients, minerals and fiber.

The problem isn't just what low-carb diets lack: fiber, fruits, veggies, whole grains, legumes, and the above mentioned essential vitamins.  Low-carb, high-protein diets also contain too much, well, protein, and we've already discussed the problems with that in the protein blog.  They also contain way too much saturated fat.  The American Heart Association recommends that fat intake in total comprise no more that 35% of your diet, but only 7% of your calories should come from saturated fat.  Eating less than 7% saturated fat is pretty much impossible on a low-carb high protein diet.

I ran a sample Atkins diet through an nutritional anaylisis tool, and eating this menu would involve consuming 103g of fat (64% of this hypothetical daily menu) and 24.4 grams of saturated fat (27% of the hypothetical daily menu).  I feel greasy and gross just looking at those numbers.  I'll do a seperate post about fat someday soon, but for right now I'll just say that the confusion over saturated fat is driven, not by the general medical reseach community, but by the media and a few rascally instigators.  Saturated fat is just as bad for you as we thought it was in the 90's.

I know that a lot of people are confused about the difference between good carbohydrates and bad carbohydates, so here's a quick explanation for you.  Carbs are a ideal source of energy for our bodies.  They are more readily converted into glucose than either protein or fat, and sources of complex carbs tend to be high in fiber.  They are divided into two main different kinds:  Complex (good) and Simple (usually bad).  Complex carbs are composed of starches, which are again divided into natural starches, such as some fruits and veggies, beans, legumes, wholemeal bread, potatoes, and whole grains, and refined starches, such as white bread, white pasta, and white rice.  Simple carbs are divided into natural sugars (still good), such as those found in fruits and vegetables, and refined sugars (bad), such as found in, well, sugar, as well as, cakes, cookies, and all kinds of other sugary crap.  Complex carbs are the carb heros, they provide slower, more sustained release of energy.  Refined sugars should comprise of no more than 10% of your diet; your focus should be on the fruits, veggies, beans, potoatoes, wholemeal breads and pastas, and whole grains.

It's probably no secret that the vegetarian community and the low-carb community are constantly at ends with each other.  Following a diet like Atkins and being vegetarian would be pretty darn difficult, and trying to do it vegan would be pretty darn impossible.  So, while it's true that when you attack carbs, to some extent you attack vegetarianism, I'm not promoting the consumption of carbs to trick anyone into vegetarianism.  Everyone should be eating complex carbs, whether vegan or steakatarian.  Reading stories about diabetics avoiding carbs hurts me deeply, especially when they are one group of people who so desperately need the fiber present in complex carbs.  As long as you are getting at least 10% protein and 10% healthy fat in your diet, you are very unlikely to eat too many complex carbs.  Really. You need to focus on the quality of your carbs rather than the quantity.

So what makes for high-quality carbohydrates?  Just like in drinking buddies, a lack of refinement is best.  The less stuff done to your carbs, the better.  Think about it: sugar cane is ground, juiced, clarified, evaporated, crystalized, and then refined to removed any remaining molasses and minerals, then evaporated again, and then dried.  Not health food.  The much maligned potato is...plucked from the ground.  And then washed, but even that part is optional.  Generally speaking, the closer the food that you are eating is to the state it's found in nature, the more you can pat yourself on the back for eating it.  What does this mean when it's at home?  Good, unrefined sources of carbs include fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, potatoes, and whole grains.

Now, those of you who know me well probably assume that I'm going to spend the rest of this post talking about potatoes.  Well, I'm a little tempted.  I love potatoes.  I love them a lot.  But no, I think there is another group about the deserves more attention right now.  The mysterious whole grain.  I say mysterious because I think that a lot of people don't really know what to with whole grains, and sometimes don't even know what they are.  I'm not saying this to make anyone feel stupid; whole grains simply aren't talked about enough in the media, which is unfortunely the main source of nutritional information for most of us.  I mentioned wholegrain pasta and bread above, and while I do think these foods are nutritious sources of complex carbs, I really think that wholegrains should have a higher place in our diets than any flour product, which are always more refined than the humble grain.

Here are some grains with super-amazing nutritive powers of complex carbozation.  Most of this info is borrowed from Alex Jamieson's The Great American Detox Diet, (UK), (Can).

Barley:  Not only fun to make Brits pronounce, this high-fiber grain has been traditionally used to support the gallbladder, digestive system, and nervous system.  Barley also prevents dietary cholesterol absorption, which is something those Atkins diet followers could sure use.

Buckwheat (gluten-free):  Known around Eastern European parts as kasha, buckwheat is a complete protein, neutralizes toxic acidic wastes in the blood (I'm not really sure what this means, but it definitely sounds like a good thing), improves circulation and kidney function, and is high in calcium and vitamins B and E.

Millet (gluten-free):  If you attended Brownies or Boy Scouts, this grain might sound familiar.  Possibly you earned your bird-feeding badge by filling a bird feeder with this stuff.  Good for the birds.  Millet is high in protein, iron, lecithin and choline, and is once again good for keeping cholesterol down.

Oats (not technically gluten-free but most people with gluten sensitivity can handle them):  Oats are not only comfortably familiar, they are high in fibre, used to stabilize blood sugar levels, high in protein, lower cholesterol, and according to Jamieson, improve stress resistance.  Whatever that means.

Quinoa (gluten-free):  Quinoa is so trendy right now, you can't look at a hippie menu without running into it.  But who's complaining?  This sacred grain of the Incas is a complete protein, a good source of iron, B3 and B6 vitamins, and phosphorus.  It's also kidney supportive, and just darn cute.

Brown rice (gluten-free):  Switch from white rice to brown rice and in a few months you will see the obvious superiority of nutty, chewy brown rice, not just nutritionally, but gastronomically.  Brown rice is simply more flavourful and has a more pleasing texture.  I hear you groaning that it has to be cooked more than double the time of white rice, which is true, but it's worth the wait.  Brown rice is packed full of protein, lysine, fibre, vitamin B6, vitamin E, calcium, copper, folate, and iron.

Wild rice (gluten-free):  Wild rice not only gave it's name to the Southern Ontario lake I grew up nearby, it is also rich in protein, vitamin B3, calcium and potassium.  It does tend to be very expensive, so you may want to mix it in with other, cheaper rices.

Other grains worth getting to know are cornmeal, kamut, rye, spelt, amaranth, sorghum, and teeny-tiny teff.  Preparing these grains and fitting them into your diet is easy-peasy.  A general method is to combine one part grain with one to two parts water or vegetable stock, a dash of salt, and bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover the pot and simmer until ready.  The cooking time varies from the quick cooking quinoa, to slow cooking brown rice, so check the package.  Grains can be used in salads, pilafs, as the base for curries and stir-fries, porridge, or mixed with nuts, herbs, and dried fruit for a side dish.  Remember that grain has been at the base of many cultures for years.  Asian countries are fanatical about their rice, South American countries love their corn and quinoa, Ethiopian runners blow Westerners away fueled by teff, and Italians fight off heart disease with pasta and polenta.  And we too used to reap the benefits of barley and oats until we decided to kick our own asses and replace grain with meat and fast food. 

Dr. Atkins liked to broadcast his own good health as a promotion for his diet.  However, at the age of 72, he died after injuring his head, apparently falling after slipping on a patch of ice.  Through some morally questionable actions of a fellow doctor, his medical examiner's notes were released to the public.  Ethics of this relase aside, we now know that Atkins suffered from coronary artery disease, had suffered a previous heart attack, and was overweight.  Quite a lot of debate has occured over the last revealation.  The medical report shows that at the time of his death Atkins weighed 258lbs, which at his height (6 feet) was obese.  Both his wife and brother have claimed that this weight was due to the coma he suffered as a result of the fall, and that upon being admitted to the hospital, he was only 195lbs.  Well, his wife and brother may well be correct, but I think it's worth a passing mention that 195lbs is still overweight for a 6 foot tall man.  I'm not bringing any of this up to make a personal attack on a dead man.  He is, after all, a dead man, and we will never know how much he really believed in his own diet, and how much he was motivated by money, so we may as well give him the benefit of the doubt.  But I don't think we can ignore his medical status, any more than we can ignore the fact that in 2000, 16 year old Rachel Huskey died of cardiac arrest, after following the Atkins diet for seven weeks.  She had no pre-existing health complications.

Vital Vittles

Rice Pilaf with Dates and Almonds

This recipe is borrowed from the vegetarian/pescatarian, Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, (UK), (CAN), a very useful cookbook that is one of my favourites.  This sweet dish seems and tastes very decadent, but is really very healthful.  The concept of this pilaf could be adapted for a variety of different grains, or even wheat products such as bulgar and cous-cous. Serve it as a main dish, or serve it as a grain side dish with some steamed greens and tahini dressing, and spiced chickpeas.


2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup dates, chopped.
3 cups cooked brown rice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup hot water
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, and add the onions and garlic.  Saute on medium high heat until soft.  Add the bell pepper and mix in.  Stir in the turmeric and cinnamon.  Add the chopped dates, rice and parsley.  Sprinkle on the water, and heat for a few minutes.  When the rice is hot, stir in the almonds, season with salt and pepper, and serve.

YUM!