It’s Easy Being Veg

I want people to see that vegetarian & vegan cooking is not that different from the way you already cook now… it’s just a matter of swapping IN a few ingredients for the non-vegan ones, such as…

• Cows Milk – use soy, almond, or rice milk
• Buttermilk – 1 cup non-dairy milk + 1 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar. Whisk. Sit 10 min. Whisk again. Voila… Buttermilk!
• Eggs – use a flax egg, applesauce, tofu, banana, Ener-G Egg Replacer mix… Many things can sub in for eggs depending on what you are making! (see page ‘Replacing Eggs’ under  “This & That”)
• Butter – I use Earth Balance but there are also other soy margarines
• Cheese – use nutritional yeast or various processed soy/rice cheeses.  You can even use tofu or cashews to replace cheese such as ricotta (If cooking for a vegan watch for casein & whey, both are milk by-products.)
• Honey – technically honey is not vegan, though some vegans will eat honey.  I like to replace honey with amber-agave nectar (see page ‘The Buzz on Honey’ for more info on honey under “This & That”)
• Heavy Cream – cashew cream is an excellent replacement for heavy cream (see page on ‘Cashew Cream’ under “This & That”)
• Sour Cream/Cream Cheese – there are many vegan brands (Tofutti is my favorite brand for both but there are also other brands available.)
• Mayonnaise – Vegenaise (my fave) & Nayonaise are both good.
• Lunch Meats – brands Tofurkey, Yves, Lightlife… just check out the refrigerated section at the store for an overwhelming selection! (Personally, I always try to buy non-genetically modified soy products!)
• Sausage/Ground Beef/Hot Dogs – brands GimmeLean, Tofu Pups, Yves, LightLife, Field Roast, Fantastic Foods (I love their boxed taco meat mix).  You can even make your own faux-sausage, though I havent ventured that far yet!  (Again, look for non-GMO!)
• Veggie Burgers – there are many frozen varieties & some are found with the other faux meat products listed above in the refrigerated section… or you can make your own! (And yet again, look for non-GMO!)
• Meat – replace with tofu, seitan, tempeh, tvp or other processed soy-meat* (*Do I have to say it again?!… NON-GMO!) Marinate it, bake it, fry it, grill it… don’t let anyone let you think that cooking this stuff is boring!

NOTEWORTHY PRODUCTS:

GARDEIN products – these fairly new faux-meat products are found in the freezer and refrigerated section of the grocery store.  My kids LOVE the chicken nuggets, but I have found ALL their products tasty! (look for “chicken tenders”, “beef tips” and “chicken scallopini” & more!  These make for a quick dinner on those busy nights!

FIELD ROAST products – We have just recently discovered the wonderful Field Roast products, such as their ‘Apple & Sage Sausage’ that even has a faux casing; the basic ‘Field Roast’ which is wonderful to cook with veggies in a pot roast; I am looking forward to trying their other products!

DAIYA “CHEESE”  – This is the newest vegan cheese to hit the market.  It melts great and also happens to be gluten & soy free!!  Many restaurants are starting to carry daiya, such as Mellow Mushroom!