I’ve updated the classifications of vegetarians and made it a feature. Please let me know any glaring errors.

I’ve complained before about “faux vegetarians” who muck up things for the rest of us by claiming vegetarian status when they still eat chicken. After all, how’s a vegan supposed to get soup in a restaurant if the staff has been trained to think of chicken broth as vegetarian? But, truthfully, there is some value in labels as a means to communicate what one does or doesn’t consume to someone else. Below contains what I consider to be a complete and correct list of the terms currently in use. Please feel free to let me know if you find any of this incorrect or misleading.

The two (well, four) most common types of vegetarians are:

• Lacto-ovo vegetarians don’t eat beef, poultry, or fish, but do eat eggs and dairy products. (Similarly, lacto vegetarians consume dairy but not eggs while ovo vegetarians eat eggs but don’t consume dairy.)
• Vegans consume no animal products or animal by-products. This means no beef, poultry, fish, eggs, or dairy (many vegans also avoid honey). Veganism also extends beyond the diet. Vegans avoid leather, wool, silk, down, etc. Some people use the term strict vegetarian for people who follow a vegan diet but still use animal products in other parts of their lives.

There are also some restrictive subcategories of veganism:

• Fruitarians eat raw fruit and seeds only.
• Raw/living foodists eat at least 75% uncooked (items may be heated up to 110 degrees), unprocessed, organic fruits and vegetables, with the intention of preserving more vitamins and minerals. There are very few “pure” raw foodists though many people “eat raw” at least occasionally.

Then there are the classifications of vegetarians that aren’t really vegetarians. Their inclusion here does not imply an acceptance of these often confusing, misleading terms, but rather to serve as a reference.

• Pesco-vegetarians eat no beef or poultry but do eat fish.
• Pollo-vegetarians eat no beef, but do eat poultry.
• Semi-vegetarians or Flexitarians eat “less” meat (than who? Most people? Themselves, before? Ted Nugent?)

And, finally, there is the one classification that I made up but at least one person thought I was serious about:

• Cannibal-vegetarians eat no animal flesh, with the exception of human flesh. These folks might do good to consider starting a company.

This page also has some very good information about classifications and definitions of the varying types of vegetarian.

Greetings!

As you may have seen throughout yesterday evening, I’ve been working on transitioning the Veg Blog to a new design that’s been in the works for months. Everything is pretty much taken care of, though there are a few small changes I’ll be continuing to work on in the coming weeks.

Here’s a quick overview of what’s changed:

• Upgraded to Movable Type 3.x. This went surprisingly well, though I’m sure there will be a few little bugs here and there related to commenting. I’ll work them out with time. In addition, some commenting policies may change (in particular, related to older entries). Spammers and trolls will hopefully become a thing of the past.
• Added a sideblog for capturing of small news items throughout the day with little or no commentary. These links are stored remotely thanks to the wonderful del.icio.us service and are rolled into the main RSS feed. And that brings me to…
• Offloaded the RSS/Atom feed to FeedBurner. Not only does it roll the sideblog links into the main blog, but it also automatically serves up the right feed for your reader. Good stuff! (And, oh yeah, the feed now serves up full posts.)
• Moved recipes out of MT. The recipe section used to be a separate blog, but now it’s running in a separate database with a proprietary script I wrote and adapted for this site. You can still comment on recipes (though old comments are gone… there weren’t very many) and you can also rate recipes. There’s one new one in there, too.
• Trimmed things down. The Cookbook Capsule Reviews are gone. I wasn’t keeping them updated and, really, that stuff should be going into the “Books” category of the main blog. The “classifications” section is now gone as well, though I’ll likely be moving that to the “features” section or as an entry in the main blog.
• Updated the “About” page. I’m vegan now and have updated the about page to reflect this change and also give a new angle to my own vegetarianism and the site’s focus and direction. I may tweak this a little more this week.
• Updated the “Resources” section. It’s much more complete and useful now. This section will be continually revisited and updated to serve as a good launching point for anyone getting started with meat-free living.

I’m excited about these changes and what they mean for the site. The Veg Blog is the one site I run that I really want to pick up the pace on more than any other. So look around and please let me know what you think! I look forward to your feedback.

This is an unbelievably easy way to whip up some vegan french toast. It’s not messy and is quite tasty. It’s made healthier than traditional french toast by using nutritional yeast and whole wheat bread while skipping the eggs.

Makes 6-8 slices.

Ingredients

• 1 cup soy milk
• 2 Tbsps unbleached flour
• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• Pinch nutmeg
• Pinch cinnamon
• 6-8 slices whole wheat or sprouted bread

Directions

1. Place soy milk, flour, nutritional yeast flakes, sugar, vanilla extract, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon in mixing bowl and beat with whisk.
2. Mist a large skillet with non-stick cooking spray, or coat with a thin layer of canola oil. Place skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Dip bread slices, one at a time, into the batter, making sure that both sides are covered. When skillet is hot, add the dipped bread.
4. When the bottoms of the bread slices are well browned, carefully turn each slice over using a spatula. Cook the other side until it is a deep golden brown.
5. Serve hot with melted non-hydrogenated margarine (like Earth Balance), maple syrup, powdered sugar, and/or a little sprinkling of additional cinnamon.

Adapted from Fox 2 Detroit

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading …

This is my mom’s recipe and it remains one of my favorites. It’s a light dish that’s great for summer or those unexpectedly warm fall days. The ingredients are flexible: I leave out the olives and my mom substitues 1 cup of steamed broccoli for the zucchini, so mix and match with alternate veggies as you prefer. To make it a little healthier, use whole wheat spaghetti.

The original recipe had feta in it. I have replaced that with a link to a vegan feta recipe, which I have not tried. These days, I usually just add a bit of sea salt to help get the saltiness that the feta added to the dish.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

for the salad…

• 4 medium tomatoes, peeled, chopped
• 1 medium cucumber, chopped
• 1 small green pepper, seeded, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 cup black olives, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley (or 1 1/2 tbsp dried)
• 8 oz. spaghetti or fettuccine, cooked, drained
• 1 cup crumbled tofu feta (4 oz.) or sea salt, to taste
• 1 small zucchini, chopped

for the dressing…

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 3 tbsp. white wine
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. fresh basil (or 1 tsp. dried)
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• Dash Tobasco sauce

Directions

Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the dressing, drizzle over salad, and toss. Chill for an hour.

Mommy VegBlog

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading …

Some crazy things are going to be happening to the site today through about midnight. Please be patient if things look funny, act funny, or smell funny. Thank you for your patronage.

Hey, you, get yourself to HerbivoreClothing.com and order yourself a copy of the freshly-released issue number six. Whycome? I’ve got three pieces in this issue (well, two plus a fraction): an interview with Sage Francis, a review of Peaceable Kingdom, and a contribution to the cover story “Eating Meat is Indefensible.” Give it a looksee. It’s fun being in print again.

This is far from a healthy dish, but it is a nice rich pasta that’s worth treating yourself to periodically. The recipe as printed below serves 4.

This recipe was submitted to, and published at, AllRecipes.com. However, I have modified it here to make it vegan-friendly.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces ditalini pasta
• 2 tablespoons Earth Balance
• 1/2 cup chopped leek
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 oz. silken tofu blended until thick and creamy with 3/8 cup plain soy milk (this replaces a 1/2 cup of heavy cream… the heavy cream replacement came from this recipe)
• 1 cup soy parmesan cheese
• a pinch of black pepper (optional)

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Melt Earth Balance in a large skillet over low heat. Sautée leeks and garlic until tender and translucent.
3. Stir in cream, and simmer until thickened. Toss with pasta and parmesan until evenly coated and parmesan is melted. Season with pepper.

Source: VegBlog.org

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading …

This bright and colorful dish will please the palate of pepper lovers. Served over rice with faux meat strips, it can be a satisfying meal in its own right. It would also work well as a side dish.

Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 13-15 minutes
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 small-medium of each: orange, red, yellow, and green bell peppers, seeded and cut into thin slices
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 small tomato, chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped into large pieces
• 1/4 head cabbage, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy or tamari sauce
• Basil, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3 or 4 scrapes of lemon zest
• 1/4 lemon
• 1 package of faux-meat strips (Smart Strips) (optional)

* Have preferred rice prepared beforehand.

Directions

1. Heat the oil for a few moments, then add the onions and garlic. Allow them to sautee on medium heat until onions are translucent.
2. Add the cabbage, stir, and allow to cook for 1 minute.
3. Add the carrots, peppers, basil, salt, and ground pepper. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. If using faux meat strips, cook according to package (allow about six minutes preparation).
5. Add lemon zest and tomatoes. If desired, add another splash of soy/tamari sauce. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.
6. If using faux meat, squeeze lemon juice on strips, then add to the vegetable mixture.
7. Serve hot over rice. Spoon juices over rice for some extra flavor.

Source: VegBlog.org

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading …

Paella is a spanish rice dish with vegetables, chorizo, chicken, seafood, and saffron. Personally, I’ve never tried paella before, but this recipe sounded mighty good, so I decided to adapt the recipe and make it vegetarian. Since I’ve never had paella, I don’t know what it’s “supposed” to taste like, but I must say that this vegetarian version is incredibly good. The faux chorizo adds a nice kick to the dish. This tastes excellent heated up the next day, too. The recipe below serves six.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 4 oz. faux chorizo sausage^*, cut into pieces
• 2 faux chicken cutlets (7 oz.), cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 package (12 oz) uncooked Arborio rice
• 5 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 sprig fresh thyme (or a few sprinkles of dried thyme)
• 1 pinch saffron
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen green peas
• 1/4 cup chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
• 8 slices lemon, for garnish

^* I used Sunergia Soy Foods Chorizo (organic and vegan), though Soyrizo or a homemade version would also work.

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in paella pan (I just used a large saucepan) over medium heat. Add in onion, garlic and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for a few minutes to soften up the vegetables.
2. Add faux chorizo, diced faux chicken, and rice, cooking for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently to keep the rice from burning or sticking.
3. Stir in 3 1/2 cups stock, wine, thyme leaves or dried thyme, and crumbled saffron. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently, as is required for Arborio rice. Taste the rice occasionally to see if it’s ready, adding 1/2 cup more stock at a time until the rice is ready (up to 2 additional cups). The rice should be firm, but not crunchy.
4. Stir in tomatoes and peas, cooking for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and leave for 3 to 5 minutes.
5. Scatter parsley over the food. Serve in paella pan or in bowls, garnished with lemon wedges.

Adapted from AllRecipes.com

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading …