Best Selling Vegan Products
If you live in the Los Angeles area, you can now order vegan chicken at Chipotle.
This option is not available at all LA area Chipotle restaurants. In fact, it's only available at two of their stores:
- 244 South Beverly Dr. - Beverly Hills, CA 90212
- 121 N. La Cienega Blvd., #114 - Los Angeles, CA 90048 (right by the Beverly Center)
For some vegans, the idea of eating in an omnivore-oriented restaurant is not palatable (pardon the pun) because, by eating at this type of establishment you could be said to be supporting the unnecessary slaughtering of animals for food. But PeTA is urging you to try the vegan chicken at Chipotle, and we are too. The more people who ask for vegan fare, the fewer animals who are ultimately slaughtered. And, if we can get the fast food chains to start carrying vegan fare as part of their standard menu, then omnivores who don't have the slightest idea what "vegan" means might find themselves eating vegan. Of course, it's "fast food" so there's the whole issue of whether or not it's healthy food, but that's fodder for another post.
If you live in the Beverly Hills area, or if you'll be visiting, I urge you to go to either of these two Chipotles and order the vegan chicken burrito. This mock-meat burrito features Garden Blend: mock chicken strips marinated in chipotle adobo sauce and then grilled. The burrito also comes with black beans, rice, and toppings. Bring your friends. Bring your carnivore friends and offer them a taste. Let them see that they can eat well without having to eat meat. The only way that vegan food will become accepted into the mainstream food establishments is if the restaurants feel that enough people are willing to order the product.
So if you live in Los Angeles, or happen to be visiting, make sure to go to either of these two Chipolte restaurants and order the vegan chicken burrito.
Best Selling Vegan Products
Mmmm, Vegan Lasagna
I'm a fan of the vegan brownies and vegan banana nut chip muffin recipes in The Joy of Vegan Baking
, by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. So when we found out that she had a new cookbook out, The Vegan Table
, I rushed right out to get a copy. (Okay, I ran to the computer and ordered it... but isn't that the same thing?)
The first recipe we tried was the less than successful Matzoh Ball Soup recipe I wrote about in my last post. But I know this author has some excellent recipes in her repertoire... so I begged Jane to make the Vegan Lasagna. She's got a few other things earmarked to try. But since she likes to "surprise" me, I couldn't tell you what she's got planned.
Back to the lasagna. YUM!!!! We've already had it twice, and we haven't had the cookbook for a month! We get three dinners out of this. We wound up using a slightly smaller pyrex dish, so Jane used a tad less pasta, but didn't cut down on the sauce and filling. We've found the first serving is a little wet. The second meal has the perfect level of moisture, and we tend to need a bit more sauce for our third dinner.
Having grown up in New York, on Sicilian-style Italian cooking... lasagna, ravioli, baked ziti, we tend to shy away from the veganized versions of these foods. Cheese is just something that doesn't usually work. But I can heartily recommend this recipe for even a cheese-loving omnivore.
Best Selling Vegan Products
In the past I've written about certain foods we haven't been able to successfully "veganize" -- no matter what other people might say. One of the things we'd pretty much given up on was a Vegan Matzoh Ball Soup, but then two things happened... 1) We picked up a copy of The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau; and 2) a reader sent us a recipe she'd developed that worked well for her. So we tried both.
Unfortunately, Goudreau's recipe completely fell apart. The matzoh balls looked more like gelatinous lumps, and I didn't care for the taste of the gelatinous lumps at all, so we won't be trying it again. But I have faith that there will be other recipes worth making. The cookbook looks divine!
The good news is Ellen A. from Connecticut''s recipe worked out well for us. We actually had matzoh balls that resembled matzoh balls. Jane thought the taste was a little off... but neither of us has had authentic Matzoh Ball soup in years, so who are we to judge. Also the matzoh balls were a little dense, so Jane will be using a bit of seltzer in her next batch. Anyway, below is Ellen's recipe verbatim. If you're still on the lookout for a vegan matzoh ball soup, I recommend giving this a try.
Start with a box of Streits' or Manischewitz matzo ball mix. For eggs - use egg replacer powder. The matzo ball box comes with two envelopes. For each envelope they ask for 2 eggs however this needs to be tripled....the equivalent egg replacer for 6 eggs per individual package. Whisk the mixture. Add the oil as directed. (do not increase amt. ) Whisk again.Then add the contents of one envelope of matzo ball mix. If the batter seems to be a bit loose, add 1-2 tablespoons of matzo meal. Combine well. Leave the bowl in the fridge for about 15 minutes. Remove - roll into 12-15 balls. Reduce your large pot of boiling water to a simmer. Gently place balls in water and cover tightly. (there must be no rolling boil). Remove with a slotted spoon and let cool. Refrigerate. Reheat in the soup. (Jane used a vegan "chicken" soup powder she found at Whole Foods. It tasted surprizingly like Chicken Soup.)
By the way - my daughter Maribeth Abrams is the author of Tofu 1-2-3
, the book and the DVD. Her next book is out in a month - the 4 ingredient Vegan. both available at major book stores. We are always experimenting with new recipes.
