Here comes another fabulous event to benefit one of our favorite animal rescues, Woodstock Farm Sanctuary! This time, a comedy showcase: Laughing for Animals. Organized by Only Connect: Aligning for Animals, a new endeavor by Vegansaurus friend Nell Alk, you can bet they will pull out all the vegan stops. Tickets are pricey but 100{ae720e0b436026f867bfa0c31185c2252a138f27e85f5f152ec5acc1c10a8cc9} of funds raised through ticket sales and raffle tickets will go directly to Woodstock Farm Sanctuary. PLUS food by Jay Astafa (swoon) and Dun-Well Doughnuts (swoon swoon). Myq Kaplan is headlining, with Kate Wolff opening and Alex Carabano MC’ing. Also: SWAG BAGS! *heart eyes emoji*
Details:
when: Wednesday, 9/23, 7pm where: Exhibit C (88 Eldridge street in Manhattan)
You can buy your tickets here! AND Vegansaurus readers get $10 off with code VEGANSAURUS10 on Eventbrite. That code expires tomorrow night (Friday) at 7pm, so hurry up!
Now if you can’t make it but want to donate, please do! Just go here. As I’ve mentioned before, now that Woodstock has moved into a bigger space so they can save more animals, they have a new mortgage and still have to pay off moving costs. So donate! AND go to the event! So you can save lil guys like these sexy ladies I met at the sanctuary, rescued from a poultry farm:
From the makers of all those vegan t-shirts we know and love comes “Eat Like You Give a Damn.” That’s right, Michelle Schwegmann and Josh Hooten of Herbivore Clothing Company have published a cookbook! Intended for new vegans, the recipes are simple and easy but never boring.
Over the past few years, I’ve realized I set a pretty high bar for cookbook cover designs. There are few chefs, smiling and posing and staring me down, that I really need to look at every time I want to whip up something for myself in the kitchen. And come on, let’s choose a typeface that can stand the test of time. At least a year, okay? Back to Eat Like You Give a Damn–I have no complaints! This cover is gorgeous! The typeface is perfect, the overall layout is balanced and vibrant, and the food itself looks great. Well done, Herbivore royalty!
This is really a lovely book, let me tell you. It starts off with several sections that ensure that its newly vegan readers have all their questions answered. (Why is anyone vegan? Who are Michelle and Josh, anyway? Don’t plants have feelings, too?) From there, it moves into your typical cookbook sections, including a basics and staples sections filled to the brim with a whole lotta sauces, dressings, cheeses (vegan!), and more.
As for the functionality of this book, it’s really nice. Most (maybe all?) of the recipes are on a single page, so you don’t need to flip back and forth as you’re browning onions and blending a sauce, etc. And nearly all of the recipes are coupled with a photo that makes your mouth WATER. Seriously, Michelle and Josh really know what they’re doing when it comes to food styling and photog.
On to what we’re all here for: the food. I’ve made only a few recipes so far, but I can’t wait to keep going and make: the Black Bean, Plantain, and Mushroom Enchiladas; the Apple and Peanut Butter Smoothie; Northwest Granola; and the Beirut Bowls (za’atar-spiced chickpeas with greens and veggies, in a bowl!).
As for what I did make:
Cheesy Polenta with Mushrooms, Swiss Chard, and Pinto Beans
This is a really great one. It’s familiar but different. Meaty mushrooms, toasted pepitas–which I couldn’t get enough of–and spicy peppers make sautéed chard a lot more interesting. Plop this over some cheesy spicy polenta, and we have a winner. And this made a butt-ton of food. All the better to eat as leftovers, my dear. I really love leftovers. And my microwave (microondas, in Spanish!).
Savory Chickpea Pancakes
Again, very easy, and mostly made of shelf-stable food you can keep on hand for when you’re not feeling up to wowing yourself. Despite being so simple, they really are tasty. Comforting, too. Yogurt, sour cream, and chutney are the recommended dipping sauces for these cakes, but I went with Sriracha mayo (Just Mayo brand), and it was great.
Oh-so-easy and terribly delicious. You know a recipe is a keeper when you want to make it again the very next day. These beet burgers are popping with color and flavor and are reminiscent of fall, probably because I eat a lot of roasted beets in the fall. Full disclosure: they do squish out of the bun as you eat them, but what delicious veggie burger doesn’t do that? Besides, sloppy tastes better. Believe me! Or better yet, here, enjoy this recipe! NOW!
Ingredients: Makes six burgers
2 cups quartered crimini mushrooms 11⁄2 cups coarsely chopped beet (see tip) 1⁄3 cup coarsely chopped onion 4 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped 1 pound super-firm or extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari 2 teaspoons dried thyme 1 cup cooked quinoa, farro, or brown rice 1⁄4 cup nutritional yeast flakes 1⁄2 teaspoon salt 1⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put the mushrooms, beet, onion, and garlic in a large bowl. Using your hands, crumble the tofu into the bowl, making sure to break up the pieces well, and stir to combine. Add the oil, tamari, and thyme and mix well. Spread the mixture on the lined baking sheet so it covers the whole sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Stir and spread out the mixture again. Bake for 25 minutes longer, until the beet is tender and easily pierced with a fork. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Transfer to a food processor. Add the quinoa, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper. Pulse eight to ten times, stopping occasionally to scrape down the work bowl, until all the ingredients are well chopped and stick together. Return the mixture to the large bowl. Form into 6 patties, putting each patty on waxed paper as it’s shaped. Mist a large skillet (cast iron if you have one) with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. When hot, cook the patties until crispy (in batches, if necessary), about 5 minutes per side.
Tip: Use a beet about the size of a baseball. Scrub it well so you can leave the skin on.
Per burger: 204 calories, 14 g protein, 10 g fat (2 g sat), 16 g carbohydrates, 491 mg sodium, 253 mg calcium, 4 g fiber
Full Disclosure: I was sent this cookbook free from the publishing company for review, however, all of the opinions stated above are my own.
This was a guest post by Reina Pohl! She lives in NYC, where she does the majority of her cooking, baking, and eating. An animal ag truther, she wants YOU to go vegan. For the animals. And the planet. And your health. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
Hiya! Me and Meave made vegan “pulled pork” sliders with Upton’s Naturals new jackfruit! They have two flavors: BBQ and Chili Lime Carnitas. Meave and I never really had meat sliders, so we deferred to the expertise of her boyfriend Kas. KAS IS A SLIDER GENIUS.
First thing Kas said we had to do was make coleslaw. We let him make if for us as we sat by and taste-tested, because we are so nice to him. Coleslaw is apparently v easy to make. You just sliver cabbage, onion, and carrots, and then mix that with veeg mayonnaise, vinegar, and maybe a little vegan milk if you like it runny. Then you just top with salt and pepper and you’re done! So simple. (I also found several vegan ‘slaw variations on Happy Healthy Life you can try too.)
Since we had most of a giant onion left over from the coleslaw, Kas said we should sauté it up to put on top of our sliders. And the final topping: spicy pickles.
Upton’s jackfruit is pretty much good to go, you just have to heat it up! We pan fried it a bit until hot. Here’s the BBQ flavor:
Meaty-looking! Not the prettiest shot but I wanted you to have a good look. And here’s the Chili Lime Carnitas:
As you can see, the BBQ flavor is in bigger chunks. The carnitas flavor is more shredded-looking, and lighter in color.
After we heated the jackfruit, we toasted the buns* and made our sliders! To cut to the chase: THESE ARE SO DELICIOUS! Like, so good. And Kas, as our only participant with pull-pork slider experience, said these had “everything you want in a slider!” He was v pleased, as were we.
Here’s a detail shot of the BBQ jackfruit slider:
I definitely prefer the BBQ flavor. The lime was pretty strong in the Chili Lime Carnitas and I’m also not super into chili flavoring. But we did like the texture of the carnitas one a bit more than the chunky BBQ. But, for me, the BBQ wins out. Perfect flavor! Not too tangy, not too sweet, just right. And there is no weirdness to these. Like, you know sometimes you get meat substitutes and there’s just something off about it? Not the case with this stuff. Just tasted yummy! Honestly, I’ve been craving another Upton’s slider ever since. And it’s super convenient and easy to make, even for a lazy b like me. We also like that you don’t need to store this stuff in the fridge, and my packs at least were good until December 2016–you know what that means! VEEG BOMB SHELTER SUPPLIES!
Our official word is: highly recommended. In fact, I’ve been telling everyone about them. If you want to find in your area, check Upton’s Where To Buy page.
*Note: We got slider buns by Vermont Bread Company…and I SWEAR TO GOODNESS when we read the package, the ingredients were vegan…but then when I went online to get a link for you guys, the ingredients said egg. We already threw the packaging out so I can’t check. I’m so confused. I wrote the company to find out what the deal is, I’ll update you. But until we find out: read the label! (duh, I know, we always do)
Remember when I went to Woodstock Farm Sanctuary and met all the amazing animals?! LIKE THIS GOOFY GOAT:
Well I wanted to remind you that the grand re-opening at their new space is September 5! That is v soon! And it’s FREE! And alllll the cool kids will be there. LIKE CINNAMON SNAIL. AND SWEET MARESA. AND BABY LEXI.
You can RSVP here. It’s gonna be so fun! Yay animals!
By the time you get there, all the lovey dovey animals will be there, but it was quite a process! Check out moving the goats to the new space:
Silly goats!
So RSVP and if you can’t make it, remember you can still donate!
Omg I’m usually sad I’m not in LA because Laura posts her cray vegan food pics from there, but now I’m ESPECIALLY sad because I’m going to miss this vegan Big Lebowski party at Vegan Scene! Vegan food, booze, and Big Lebowski are like my three fave things. Le sigh.
Event is August 29th, 9pm to 12am. More exciting details:
-Our lounge area will be transformed into a makeshift bowling alley with a kid’s bowling set and beer pong.
-Obviously, we will have Vegan White Russians (aka The Amy Special)
-Although it’s not required, dressing up as The Dude or any other character is encouraged. If you’ve ever wanted to go out to a party in your bathrobe, now is your chance!
-We will have a psychedelic backdrop for photos.
…AND we’ll have a rug that really ties the room together!
