Fridays with Friends: Real Food Daily’s Ann Gentry
Ann Gentry is a vegan restaurateur pioneer. She opened her first Real Food Daily, an LA institution, in 1993, long before the masses were catching on that a vegan lifestyle is healthy, compassionate, sustainable and delicious. Ann’s work directly contributed to the exposure vegan food has received in recent years. Serving Hollywood’s celebrities scrumptiously wholesome meals got the word spreading like wildfire. I had the honor and pleasure of sitting down with Ann to learn more about her journey and what she’s up to these days…
Allison’s Gourmet: When I first considered going to cooking school in 1996, I heard about a woman who had a daily home-delivery food service, catering to folks (especially stars) who followed a hardcore macrobiotic diet. I even had one of your flyers from before you started the restaurant! A few years later, I enjoyed my first meal at Real Food Daily. Will you correct any erroneous memories I may have and tell us how Real Food Daily came about?
Ann Gentry: That’s about right. In the late 1980’s, I started a home delivery cooking business serving organic vegan meals because at that time there were not many, if any, gourmet whole/real food restaurants in LA. I know, hard to believe, right? This was pre-Whole Foods Market and there were a few places to eat plant-based cuisine but they were kind of hippie-ish and the food may have been healthy for you but didn’t always taste or look satisfying.I opened the first Real Food Daily in 1993 as a direct result of having no place to go out to eat the kind of food I was cooking at home.
Allison’s Gourmet: Wow, you are a true pioneer in the realm of delicious vegan restaurants! Were you always a fan of cooking or did that come when you turned to a macrobiotic/vegan diet?
Ann Gentry: I grew up in a household of some mighty fine Southern cooks. Good thing I didn’t keep eating that way, as I’d be as big as a house by now and probably facing some serious health problems, too. Once I was introduced to vegetarian cuisine, then macrobiotic cooking, I put down my Dr. Pepper and took a real interest in learning how to cook for myself.
Allison’s Gourmet: Amazing how those lights just turn on, huh? When I finally had the honor of meeting you when Anna and Frances Moore-Lappé did a book signing at your fun and funky West Hollywood location, I was struck by your unexpected and charming Southern accent. How do you weave your Southern roots into your macrobiotic/vegan menu?
Ann Gentry: It is just a natural connection to use my Southern heritage in both cooking and hospitality when it comes to my restaurants. I never try to mimic the exact creation of a certain dish, I just let the essence of the recipe guide me. For example, creating the Salisbury Seitan came out of my love for eating Salisbury steak at independent Southern diners and cafeterias.
Allison’s Gourmet: Lucky you. I only had them in TV dinners. No wonder yours are so much better. Did you set out to create a gustatory haven for stars or did that just happen?
Ann Gentry: When you have a great business in Los Angeles, everyone flocks to it. Hollywood keeps coming because these folks, just like everyone else who is a beloved RFD guest, wants to eat food which is deliciously clean and pure. All kinds of people following a variety of strict dietary guidelines—whether for ethical, health, or religious reasons—find themselves with a lot to choose at RFD. We have earned the trust of people who are seeking out a plant-based diet whether full or part time. When folks leave RFD, they feel a satisfaction from eating fresh organically grown plant based foods. People respond well to this, sometimes without even knowing why. I know why – because RFD is committed to serving balanced, nutritional whole foods cuisine using high quality produce and ingredients most of which are grown organically and this affects people on many levels.
Allison’s Gourmet: Your latest book, Vegan Family Meals: Real Food for Everyone is geared towards cooking vegan at home; what’s your favorite piece of advice for healthy home cooking for people on the go? And do you have any advice for people making the transition into veganism?
Ann Gentry: A plant-based diet with a seasonally rotating palette of fresh, colorful produce ripe for use encourages creativity in the kitchen. If you prepare the best local and seasonal ingredients with a variety of cooking methods, you’ll have more interesting and diverse tastes, textures, and colors on your plate. Any quality home cooking takes a little time. As a busy working mother, I too am juggling the day-to-day challenges. In Vegan Family Meals I talk about how it’s nice to have the American-style four or five dishes at every meal, but it’s not necessary. Balance your nutrition intake across the week, and don’t get hung up on making every meal a feast. Instead, focus on preparing a few recipes that will keep your cooking simple and your time in the kitchen enjoyable. If you are making the transition to a plant-based cuisine, know it takes time to change and embrace a new way of eating. Take it easy and be kind to yourself.
Allison’s Gourmet: Those are great suggestions, Ann. What’s your favorite vegetable and how do you like to prepare it? How about your favorite super simple vegan meal/recipe that keep you supercharged through your day?
Ann Gentry: I’m blessed; I love all vegetables. Right now, I love to roast cauliflower as it has such a simple satisfying texture and mild flavor. I start my day making the first recipe from Vegan Family Meals, Acai Berry Granola Bowl. I even have my 8 1/2 old son loving this breakfast. It is filled with super foods, nuts and seeds and is filling and satisfying.
Allison’s Gourmet: And that’s no minor feat! Congratulations. Finally, what’s your favorite Allison’s Gourmet product?
Ann Gentry: Someone sent me your gourmet brownies that are laced with a hint of orange. I loved that they were not overly sweet, as I didn’t taste the hit of sugary sweetness most brownies have. Yours were just the right amount of chocolate and sweet and they were divine.
Thank you, Ann, that’s high praise indeed coming from you!
Vegan Book Giveaway from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
I promised a Cookbook Giveaway from my friend, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, and here it is! Colleen is kindly offering two of her books: Vegan’s Daily Companion and The 30-Day Vegan Challenge, going to one winner. 
Two inspiring vegan books at once is a generous prize and, in the spirit of sharing the vegan wealth, we’re hoping that whomever wins these two fantastic books will keep one for him/herself and give the other to a loved one in a “pay it forward” gesture of delicious compassion.
So, we want to know, if you won these two books, which one would you keep for yourself, which would you give away, to whom and why? Tell us on our blog and for bonus points we’d love to know what you might say when gifting the book and what sweet treat you might pair with it. Post your answer on our blog and we’ll announce our favorite answer one week from today, on Wednesday, February 1st. We can’t wait to read all your interesting answers!
This contest is now closed, and we have a winner!
Fridays with Friends: Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, the Compassionate Cook
While I have known Colleen Patrick-Goudreau for several years, I had never had the pleasure of hearing her speak until this summer when I was lucky enough see her in action both at Vida Vegan Con in Portland and at an Animal Place event here in Grass Valley, CA. I was electrified by her grace, presence and message of joyful veganism.
Allison’s Gourmet: Tell me about your journey to becoming a “Joyful Vegan.”
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau: I grew up eating every kind of animal – anything that walked, swam, or flew. My father owned ice cream stores and would bring home tubs of ice cream to fill our separate ice cream freezer. At the same time, I – like most children – had a deep sense of compassion for animals, suffered when they suffered, and intervened when I was able. My parents and other adults supported this compassion, but they also taught me to compartmentalize. I was taught that some animals were worthy of my compassion (the stray dogs and cats or wildlife I helped) and some animals were “here for us” and thus deserving of our compassion only to a point. And these were the same animals all over my wallpaper, my pajamas, my childhood books and games, and my favorite TV shows and movies: lambs, calves, pigs, ducks, geese, turkeys, and chickens.
I could have gone about my whole life staying desensitized, but luckily I read John Robbins’ Diet for a New America when I was 19, which started me on a path to learn everything I could about the exploitation of animals for human consumption. I stopped eating land animals immediately, and several years and several books later, I stopped eating (or wearing) anything that came from an animal. I just did not want to contribute to violence towards animals – violence I would never participate in directly.
So, when I became vegan (12 years ago now), it was a very natural and joyful decision that has had many unexpected gifts.
Even though there is great pain in being aware of the suffering of non-human animals, there is also great joy at being fully awake and not being part of that violence.
AG: You are an impassioned voice calling us to awaken for the animals and our human souls. Would you share with us your evolution from a background in English to teaching vegan cooking classes to publishing your touching “Food for Thought” podcast and now arriving as a prolific author and inspiring speaker?
CP-G: You’re sweet. Thank you for saying that. When I left graduate school back in New Jersey I was not vegan, but I had already read Diet for a New America, and seeds had been planted. So, even though I didn’t know what it was going to look like, I knew I was going to follow a path working to help animals and empower people to not eat animals. I knew that my contribution would be through what my skills and interests were – namely writing and speaking (I taught Freshman English when I was a graduate student and was finding my voice as a lecturer). So, I just started by doing and by trying to find my voice. I began educating people by tabling, by doing Street TV (showing slaughter videos and handing out Why Vegan brochures), and then by teaching cooking classes (because everyone said “what do I eat?”). When I realized I was on to something with the classes, I wanted them to reach more people, so I produced a cooking DVD. Tapping into the power of media, I started producing my podcast, Vegetarian Food for Thought (it’s all vegan!). 
From there, my first publisher found me and offered me a contract to write The Joy of Vegan Baking, and it’s all gone on from there with The Vegan Table, Color Me Vegan, Vegan’s Daily Companion, and The 30-Day Vegan Challenge. The journey has been exhilarating and incredibly gratifying, and I’m so grateful to wake up each morning dedicating my life to exactly what I feel is the most important work in the world: teaching people how to manifest their compassion in their every day lives. It’s pretty amazing.
Come back next week for a Giveaway of two of Colleen’s books!
AG: What is your greatest reward in teaching people about compassionate living?
CP-G: I believe we’re all here to be teachers to one another; we’re all here to lift each other up to become the fully evolved people we can be. I believe that people want to be the most compassionate they can be, and I believe it’s already inside of them. I’m not teaching/telling them anything they don’t know; I’m just pointing them to what’s already in their hearts. I help them recognize it, and when they do, they wake up, and I get to see that moment. It’s heart-warming, gratifying, and powerful for me with each person I see experience this. The details may be different, but their stories are pretty much all the same: “I cared about animals when I was a child; I was taught to squelch that compassion in order to eat the animals my parents fed me; then X happened, and I’ve become re-awakened to my compassion.”Each story of awakening I hear just gives me strength and resolve to continue doing this work, because it’s not just a matter of teaching someone how to sauté onions or bake vegan brownies;
it’s a matter of shifting the paradigms to become the compassionate people we really are. (I’m adding new “love letters” to the website all the time, if you want to read some).
AG: Congratulations on your recently launched gorgeous new website! Can you tell us about your Compassionate Cooks Club, Daily Dose of Compassion and/or anything else you’d like to share about your new site?
CP-G: Thank you! The website redesign for The Compassionate Cook has been a LONG time coming! Now that it’s updated, it enables me to more easily change and add more content, blog more (even though I don’t consider myself a blogger), and enable people to comment and participate directly on the website. The Compassionate Cooks Club is not new, but the new account-based membership is. I’m so blessed that people value the work I do and want to support it, but I want to be able to give them something back while creating a community. Club members get to see videos, recipes, and content created just for them; depending on the level, they also get signed books, and some can contact me directly in a consulting kind of relationship to get personal advice and guidance. Of course there is and always will be a ton of free resources on my website, but members just get a little more. I’m really excited about the Daily Dose of Compassion. It’s my new (free) email service whereby subscribers receive an inspiring quote from me everyday in their inbox. I’d been wanting to do this for awhile, especially when I heard from so many people who disciplined themselves to read only 1 page a day out of my book, Vegan’s Daily Companion, so it’s just another way to empower people to live compassionately without apology.
AG: What are some of the whole-food staple ingredients you keep on hand in your kitchen? Do you have a favorite recipe you make often?
CP-G: Favorite recipe – definitely my kale salad. A staple in my home, particularly because of my kale gardens! Rub olive oil on leaves to coat them, sprinkle on some salt and nutritional yeast, and toss with anything and everything, depending on the season. Sometimes it’s toasted pecans and diced apple. Sometimes it’s pumpkin seeds, red onion slices, and avocado. It just depends. I’m a very simple eater and keep a lot of veggies in my fridge and grains/beans in my pantry as staples. I love whipping up new recipes just based on whatever I have in my kitchen. Some recipes are available for free on my website.
AG: If you and I were collaborating in the kitchen, what would be your fantasy creation?
CP-G: Anything with coconut oil, chocolate, and bread. Does that inspire anything in your incredibly creative mind?? 
AG: Hmmm… how about soft, doughy bread made with coconut oil and a dash of cinnamon, dipped in chocolate, fondue-style?
You have accomplished so much already. Knowing you as I do, I imagine there’s more to come. What’s the next frontier for Colleen Patrick-Goudreau?
CP-G: Right now, I’m caught between Scylla and Charybdis because I have so much I want to do, but I also have a burning desire to find some balance in my life. So, aside from trying to slow down a little, the most immediate next project to come to fruition will be the interactive 30-Day Vegan Challenge online program. I’m focusing on letting my books breathe a bit (no books for awhile), returning again to a regular podcast schedule (it slowed down a bit in 2011 because I had three books come out one after the other), and on launching the 30-Day online program. So much to do, and I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to do it.
Thanks Colleen, it’s always a pleasure to catch up with you. Now I need to go get my chocolate melting for that fantasy creation! For more about Colleen, her books, speaking engagements and podcasts, find her on Facebook and Twitter.
P.S. Remember to come back next week for a Giveaway of two of Colleen’s books!
Fridays with Friends: Dynise Balcavage, the Urban Vegan
Dynise Balcavage, aka the Urban Vegan, believes that vegan cooking should be held to the highest standards and should always be superbly decadent and healthy. I couldn’t agree more!
Allison’s Gourmet: When/how did you become vegan?
Dynise Balcavage: I went vegan “cold tofurkey” in 2006.
AG: Nice. Did you enjoy cooking before you transitioned into a more compassionate lifestyle?
DB: I’ve been cooking since age 7 and have always loved puttering around the kitchen; I associate cooking with fond memories of the women in my family. I actually grew up in a house with an old-fashioned coal stove, so there was always a pot of soup simmering or a plate of something yummy warming on its shelf. We used to stand around the stove to keep warm. My older sister, Debbie, taught me to bake– and to lick the beaters and spatula (which is safer now that I’m vegan).
I’ve always enjoyed experimenting in the kitchen, as a result of my innate curiosity, travels and restlessness. Although I now own close to 200 cookbooks, most of which are omni books, I read them more for inspiration and ideas. I rarely follow recipes. Even with my own cookbooks, I think recipes should be a conduit to creativity, and not a set of rules to be followed blindly. I like recipes that have flexibility, so I try to structure my recipes so they are improv-friendly.
AG: “Improv-friendly.” I like that. You are known as The Urban Vegan, which is also the title of your first cookbook. Is there a difference between an Urban Vegan and one who is suburban or rural?
DB: I’m sure there is, but being an urban vegan, I’m spoiled. I live in Philadelphia, a large herbivore-friendly city, and am just a short ride from NYC, perhaps the world’s most vegan-friendly city, so it’s easy to find vegan-friendly restaurants, plant-based foods and like-minded people in my own backyard. I’m sure being a suburban or rural vegan is more challenging.
AG: Ah, I see what you mean. Being a rural vegan, I can attest that herbivore-friendly restaurants are too few and their ability to impress is even less frequent. Luckily our home kitchen is a good stand-in. I do admit there are times I’d love to get good take-out though! What’s the biggest challenge in creating exciting vegan meals for urbanites?
DB: Now, it’s continually upping the “wow” factor. Vegan used to be a fringe term; now it’s a bona-fide cuisine. I try to continually keep my recipes fresh and exciting, a little healthy and a little hedonistic.
AG: People may be surprised to know that there are indeed opportunities for edible hedonistic pleasures within a vegan menu. Your second cookbook, Celebrate Vegan: 200 Life-Affirming Recipes for Occasions Big and Small is out now, can you expand more on how you create celebrations to remember?
DB: Every day should be a celebration of some sort. And of course, every celebration begins with memorable foods. Dining can become so dull if you’re eating the same thing day after day, though–and so can noshing on the same old holiday foods year after year. My book is a bit unlike other holiday cookbooks in that I include recipes for some quirky holidays, like Festivus, Guy Fawkes Day and “Girls’ Night In,” instead of just the traditional biggies.
But at the same time, it’s fun to mix, match and cross-polinate your holiday menus. Old traditions are important, but it’s also essential to keep on creating new traditions. Why not make Tsimmes, a traditional Jewish side, for Christmas, for example? Or a King Cake for a child’s birthday party instead of just waiting for Mardi Gras? It’s certainly got the wow factor. Don’t be afraid to venture beyond, whatever “beyond” represents to you.
AG: You have a theme of encouraging people to reach beyond, both in your approach to food and in your literary escapades. Do you have any advice for people making the transition into veganism?
DB: Go at your own pace and be easy on yourself. Just like every recipe is customizable, so is every transition to veganism. What’s right for someone else might not work for you–so do it unapologetically your way.
AG: Well-said. What are some of your favorite simple vegan meals/recipes that keep you supercharged through your day?
DB: I’m a smoothie nut, even in the winter, and I’ve just gotten into the habit of tossing baby spinach into my shakes. 
I am also an unabashed pasta freak. I coat my pasta with sauce made with seasonal veggies, olive oil and an obscene amount of garlic–it always works and it’s always easy. When I am too tired or busy to cook, I have been known to order vegan take-out or pick up a slice of vegan pizza.
AG: Do you have a favorite Allison’s Gourmet product?
DB: I adore the caramels, especially the salted chocolate ones, and also I’m a huge fan of the peppermint creme patties. But I would eat anything from Allison’s Gourmet.
Thanks Dynise, this rural vegan loves keeping up on your urban vegan adventures. For more of the Urban Vegan, follow Dynise on Twitter.
Making the Most of Winter
The Winter Solstice happened last week, which means that it’s officially cold, dark and winter. I generally dislike winter. Instead of snuggling by the fireplace all day where I’d like to be, I’m usually up and about, interacting with the cold, dark world. But, I’m trying to make the best of the situation and find ways to enjoy these winter month.
Photo by Julia Moran Martz of Snarky Vegan
The “bright” side of being past the Solstice is that at least the days aren’t getting any shorter, and cold weather is a great excuse to eat and drink warm and hearty yummy things both savory and sweet. I make a lot of soup this time of year, and one of the things that we’ve been doing every day at Allison’s through the busy holiday rush has been drinking lots of warm beverages.
Mostly we do fair-trade tea, with vegan cookies to go with it, of course. Lately, to mix things up, we’ve also made some awesome mugs of hot cocoa drinking chocolate and even some organic coffee (although we’re all so “up” already that we opted for the amazingly delicious Decaf Vanilla Nut variety). In my off hours I’m making a point to get some exercise, and spend some time outdoors which is hard at first, but once I’m out and warm, it really lifts my spirits.
How do you stay warm and happy during the winter chill?
Fridays with Friends: Eco-Vegan Gal Whitney Lauritsen
I love the connection that can be made between veganism and eco-conscious living. In fact, the way I see it, it’s hard to have one without the other. Whitney Lauritsen blogs about the many intersections of Eco-Vegan living on her blog Eco-Vegan Gal. I checked in with Whitney during these busy holidays for her views on holiday gift-giving and eco-vegan tips.
Allison’s Gourmet: What inspired you to adopt a vegan diet/lifestyle?
Whitney Lauritsen: I went vegetarian in 2003 because I was inspired by a friend, then tried veganism about 6 months later out of curiosity. Over the years I fell in love with the lifestyle due to how good I felt, emotionally, physically and spiritually. It’s fun discovering new ways to be eco-friendly, healthy and compassionate.
AG: What’s the biggest challenge in running your blog Eco-Vegan Gal?
WL: Finding time! It’s tough balancing my day jobs and personal life with the website, but I make it happen no matter what. When I do have time, creating content and managing the site is a no-brainer because it comes so naturally to me. I would never call my site work – it’s love.
AG: What do you love most about it?
WL: I love all the amazing people I meet online and at events. I learn so much from each individual, even those that come to me for advice teach me something through their questions. I feel connected to the whole world through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – what a great way to learn about how different people live healthfully and sustainably!
AG: Are there any whole-food staple grocery items you can’t live without? (Favorite fruits, veggies, beans or grains?)
WL: Do kale chips count? If not, I’d have to say almonds, quinoa, kale, and broccoli. I love almonds as snacks, quinoa is my favorite “grain”, and kale and broccoli are such nutritious, tasty veggies. I’m really keen on Brussels sprouts – I could go on…
AG: Do you have a favorite seasonal meal idea or recipe you’d like to share?
WL: I’m really into butternut squash right now. I love roasting it, steaming it, stuffing it with other veggies and grains, or mixing it into things like quinoa or brown rice pasta. You really can’t go wrong with it! I love this recipe from The Blissful Chef: Lemon-Kissed Brussels and Butternut Squash.
AG: What’s your favorite eco-friendly tip for the holidays?
WL: Go minimal, buy second hand, and recycle. Choose presents that inspire recipients to eat healthier and live greener. Try not to go overboard just because it’s the holidays – you can be festive without buying a lot of things. One of my favorite eco tips is to rent a live Christmas tree, or buy a potted plant and decorate that instead. Think outside the box, it’s more fun that way! I’ve contributed to some gift guides, like this one from Vegan Cuts.
AG: Which Allison’s Gourmet goodie is your favorite or would you most like to try?
WL: Anything gluten-free and lower in sugar. I’m always looking for a good hot cocoa too, so your peppermint drinking chocolate looks pretty darn tasty!
Although many of our products are gluten-free, for low in sugar items I’d suggest our organic coffee and fair-trade tea selections. Happy Holidays, Whitney!
Giveaway Winner for: Hannah Kaminsky’s Book, “Vegan Desserts!”
We had a lively discussion and tantalizing meringue dessert ideas entered in the contest to win Hannah Kaminsky’s new book, “Vegan Desserts.” Thank you to everyone who entered!
Congratulations to Esther of the blog, A, B, C, Vegan, who was randomly selected as the lucky winner of this Giveaway! We hope she’ll enjoy making those meringue cookies she mentioned and maybe some of Hannah’s other recipes too. When you do, Esther, please share some photos with us on our Facebook and Twitter pages!
Visit us tomorrow for another Fridays with Friends interview. Happy holiday baking!
Hearty Thanksgiving Main Courses for Vegans
Despite the growing awareness and popularity of the vegan diet, we still face a disconnect in this country about how to cook without meat. And as most vegans will have to endure an emotionally stressful Thanksgiving by either feeling persecuted for skipping on the turkey or from the sheer sadness of seeing its carcass perched at the center of the table, we at least do not have to add starving to the list of reasons this holiday has traditionally sucked. Whether cooking for yourself or for guests, as today’s post shows, there is no shortage of delicious vegan recipes to make this holiday inclusive for all.
Hearty Thanksgiving Main Courses for Vegans
By Tara Parker-Pope, Herald-Tribune
While vegetarian diners are happy to fill their plates with Thanksgiving side dishes, many chefs still want to serve their non-turkey-eating guests a substitute for the meaty main course. For Well’s Vegetarian Thanksgiving series, Chloe Coscarelli, a vegan chef, offers two hearty vegetarian dishes packed with protein. The recipes, a lentil stew with squash and apples and a country “meatloaf” with gravy, come from Ms. Coscarelli’s new cookbook, “Chloe’s Kitchen: 125 Easy, Delicious Recipes for Making the Food You Love the Vegan Way,” to be published by the Free Press in March.
For dessert, Ms. Coscarelli, a winner on the Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars” for her vegan cupcakes, offers a dairy- and egg-free pumpkin tiramisù. For more main course and dessert ideas, see Ms. Coscarelli’s recipes from last year.
To read the recipes, click here.
And for more yummy vegan recipes, visit Allison’s Veganize It! recipes and check out other bloggers’ versions of her recipes, too! Happy Thanksgiving!
Fridays With Friends: Snarky Vegan’s Julia Moran Martz
We were so excited to have two featured guest bloggers last month making Allison’s “Veganize It!“ recipes for Vegan MoFo month! Julia Moran Martz, aka, Snarky Vegan was one of our amazing contributors and answers some questions this week in our Fridays with Friends episode.
Allison’s Gourmet: Were you always inspired to cook/bake or did that happen after you adopted a vegan diet?
Julia Moran Martz: I’ve been baking since I was a kid back in the mid-70s ”helping” grandma make grape jelly and complaining about having to help my aunts string beans from the garden. Back then I was also making Christmas goodie boxes for friends and family. They always contained soft pink peppermints, cookies, glazed lemon nut bread, turtles, Mexican wedding cakes, and one year I even made peanut brittle. 
I do remember becoming a much less picky eater after going to college and realizing how handy it was to make a huge vat of something cheap to eat throughout the week. That’s when I expanded to things other than candy and baked goods.
AG: What’s the biggest challenge in running a food blog?
JMM: Finding the time and energy after running my business all day, every day. When you own a company, as Allison knows, it doesn’t shut down for you at 5pm. This also poses an issue with photography because I do most of my cooking in the evenings after work. Natural lighting is non-existent at this time and my house is too small for professional lights.
Also, I should note that my blog is really about both vegan food AND vegan gardening because as vegans, we often grow our own food. Ethical vegans are also concerned about the animal farming by-products used in regular organic farming (all the meals: blood, bone, feather and then manure). My goal is to bring awareness to the entire vegan food chain: soil to plate. There are veganic options for an ethical and healthy edible garden; it’s just an unpopular topic with media so it rarely gets any mention.
AG: What do you love most about it?
JMM: Getting feedback from people who try my stuff and then post photos of what they did. That’s sooo cool! So far my most visited posts have been the quick and easy White Trash Tater Tot Casserole and the higher-end, more time-consuming, fermented cashew cheese.
AG: What was your favorite ”VeganizeIt!” recipe you made for Vegan MoFo and why?
Photo by Snarky Vegan Julia Moran Martz
JMM: The Shepherd’s Pie hands down because DH liked it. He’s so picky and hardly ever eats anything but salad or peanut butter sandwiches but he really liked the shepherd’s pie. Obviously, I have to work on my mashed potato ghost technique.
AG: What was it like to participate in Vegan MoFo? Do you think you’ll do it again?
JMM: I try to do it every year but it always seems to coincide with some big trade show we have to do for work. So it’s a struggle to find the time.
AG: Are there any whole-food staple grocery items you can’t live without? (Favorite fruits, veggies, beans or grains?)
JMM: OMG there’s so much that I consider critical to have on hand. Stuff that we keep in large quantities in the kitchen are: vegan mayo! always at least 2 big jars in the fridge; jumbo Tupperware containers of flour, rice and pasta; huge tubs of raw oats, nutritional yeast, dried black-eyed peas and black beans, pecans, sunflower seeds, and dried cranberries; unsweetened soy milk; lots of cans of garbanzo beans; a really good balsamic vinegar; and romaine, onions, potatoes, lots of bags of frozen peas and broccoli. I also keep a stash of homemade apple butter in the basement. Oh–I do keep some plant-meats in the fridge but it’s limited to just vegan sausages and also lunch meats for quick sandwiches and roll ups.
I did kinda go overboard this summer and grew enough garlic to feed 2 families for a year. Of course, I’m planting more this year. I plant a mix of early, mid and late-season varieties then keep them braided and hanging next to the bag of home grown shallots in the cool basement so they last longer throughout the winter. Storing home grown alliums at 55ºF max is the best way to make them last into winter. Store bought garlic has been treated so once brought above 32ºF won’t store as long. If you want to keep home grown garlic longer, peel, mince and freeze it double bagged and in small amounts that you can break off for soups or whatever.
There are a few things that can be harder to find and I snag several whenever I get the chance even though I don’t use them every week: vegan worcestershire sauce is a must have, organic chili sauce is handy, vegan cheeses (I like the ones that really melt), Ceylon cinnamon (from Penzeys), and vegan marshmallows of course. Whole Foods carries most things but are not always located in everyone’s neck of the woods.
AG: Do you have a favorite seasonal meal idea or recipe you’d like to share?
JMM: My hands-down favorite seasonal item is not one of my own unfortunately but it’s my most favorite recipe ever: Vegan Vanguard’s pecan pie. I grew up on traditional pecan pie and since becoming vegan, I’ve tried a lot of very bad vegan versions. VV’s version is the best I’ve ever had, including the ones I used to make in the 70′s with 6 eggs.
If you want one of my own recipes, it’s gotta be my version of black-eyed peas and collards for New Years good luck. By using chorizo seitan crumbles and a good veggie broth, it’s pretty amazing. Took it to an omni party one year and no one asked if it was vegan.
AG: Where do you find inspiration for new meal ideas?
JMM: I like looking at the food sections of news sites to see what trends would be fun to veganize and I try to stay up-to-date on other vegan blogs. I also have this really cool ancient 3-inch-thick cookbook that was my great grandmothers and it’s really fun to see what trouble I can cause with that. It’s falling apart of course but everything in it is the stuff our grandmothers and great grandmothers made. All traditional ideas just waiting to be veganized.
AG: Which Allison’s Gourmet goodie is your favorite or would you most like to try?
JMM: This year for our client presents, I’m ordering a testing box of vegan toffee, peanut brittle and caramels for myself. Of course she doesn’t have a testing box per se so I’ll likely be ordering “extras,” it’ll be my own little Christmas bonus. ;-P
Are you a vegan foodie or know one we should catch up with for the Fridays with Friends series? Drop us a line on Facebook and Twitter!
Holiday Meals: Dinner and Dessert
In search of the perfect centerpiece for a holiday meal? In years past we’ve done both Vegetable Pot Pie and Lentil Shepherd’s Pie for Thanksgiving at our house, each with great success. Other staples of our holiday tables each year include David’s outrageous cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, garlic brussel sprouts, greens, mashed potatoes with rich brown gravy and stuffing. 
For a complete gourmet holiday menu all in one place and with plenty of options, look no further than the VegNews Holiday eCookbook with everything from pumpkin soup to crispy latkes and my own special Roasted Vegetable Pastries. You’ll find delicious and festive recipes here to feed the whole family in scrumptious style. Planning holiday meals for the people you love can be stressful, but with so many decadent and delicious compassionate choices, it doesn’t have to be.
Finish off a big family meal with your favorite decadent dessert whether it’s a tray of organic brownies, a platter of gourmet cookies, or something more involved like a coconut ice cream and double chocolate chunk brownie Sundae topped with caramel sauce and vegan toffee. 
Complement your dessert with a perfect cup of organic fair-trade tea or fair-trade organic coffee. For holiday-inspired sipping, we like Peppermint Drinking Chocolate or Coconut Nog.
Now, for the other nights of the holiday week, or if you have kids who won’t eat anything green, these “VeganizeIt!” versions of classic pasta favorites (like amazing Mac ‘n’ Cheese) 
are cholesterol-free and even include some hidden veggies, but still have the rich and creamy flavors that everybody loves. For Italian-style family meals try Baked Ziti or Lasagna (available in the current issue of VegNews). Or, for an easy meal for kids or kids at heart, whip up some Alfredo sauce, pour over your favorite pasta and serve with a side of steamed veggies.
For those loved one too far distant to share a holiday meal, consider our many elegant and delectable holiday gifts for the season. Happy Compassionate Thanksgiving!
