Sweet Potato Soul has creatively transformed a warm, holiday beverage into a cupcake! Give these Apple Cider Cupcakes a try—they’re sure to be a crowd pleaser.
Cranberry and Pumpkin Breakfast Loaf
A slice of sweet bread and a cup of coffee is a great way to round off a meal—try The Vegan Cookie Fairy‘s Cranberry and Pumpkin Breakfast Loaf! You won’t be disappointed.
From everyone at Vegan Outreach, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Navigating the holidays as a vegan can present some unique challenges, especially if you’re at a large gathering and the only vegan in attendance.
Whether this is your first holiday season as a vegan or you’ve been vegan for several years, Kim Sujovolsky, founder of Brownble, has put together a comprehensive list of tips to help ease any stresses or worries you may have!
If there are other tips you’ve found helpful at holiday gatherings, and which aren’t mentioned in this video, be sure to share them in the comment section below!
If you can believe it, Thanksgiving is less than a week away. This weekend is the calm before the storm, and what better way to savor the pre-holiday serene than enjoying a warm and comforting bowl of chili?
Sharon Palmer’s Three Sisters Chili is the perfect recipe to try this weekend as you’re prepping for travel, spending time with relatives, cooking a five-course meal, and/or hosting a holiday get together!
And if you have any doubts about navigating the upcoming holidays as a vegan, make sure you check out Kim Sujovolsky’s video, Tips for Enjoying the Holidays as a Vegan, for various tips and tricks.
Three Sisters Chili
Yields 10 servings
Ingredients
1 pound red beans—i.e., kidney, small red, cranberry, dried
4 cups water
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 small acorn squash, peeled, cubed—about 2 ¼ cups
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon juniper berries—available at spice shops or online
2 teaspoons ground, dried sage
½-1 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper—according to taste preference
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup tomato sauce
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
Sea salt—optional
Fresh tarragon and sage, if desired
Directions
Soak beans overnight in water.
Drain and place beans in a large pot. Add fresh water (4 cups), vegetable bouillon cube, squash, onion, garlic, celery, pepper, bay leaves, juniper berries, sage, chili pepper, tarragon, and corn. Stir well, cover, and bring to a boil. Lower to medium-low heat and simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally. You may need to replace water lost to evaporation.
Add tomato sauce and tomato paste. Cook for an additional 15-30 minutes, until thick and beans are tender. Add fresh mint and stir well. Remove bay leaves. Season with salt, if desired. May serve with fresh tarragon and sage if desired.
In the past few months, people from all over the US have been telling California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) that they’d love to support a vegan cheese pizza option. Our campaign was so successful, we were able to get one CPK location—in Tukwila, WA—to add Daiya cheese as a dairy-free alternative.
It’s created such a buzz online that our petition has now got over 30,000 signatures! Your signatures and comments on CPK’s social media pages are vital in making sure they know what their customers want—to roll out vegan cheese pizza to all of their locations!
Let’s keep the momentum going! Here are three easy things you can do to help:
SIGN THE PETITION
Sign the petition asking CPK to join countless other pizza chains who’ve added vegan cheese to their menus.
SHARE A SELFIE
Print out this sign, snap a quick photo, and post it on Facebook. Make sure to tag California Pizza Kitchen and Vegan Outreach, and include a link to the petition.
TELL CPK ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Politely comment on CPK’s social media pages telling them you’d love to be a customer if they add vegan cheese pizza.
At Vegan Outreach, we believe it’s important to provide a variety of veg resources for aspiring and new vegans and vegetarians. One of the resources we provide to help people transition to a veg lifestyle is the Vegan Mentor Program (VMP).
Our VMP connects new vegans, vegetarians, and veg-curious people via email with a volunteer mentor who can help with anything from navigating the grocery store aisles to figuring out how to respond to friends and family members’ questions or concerns.
We absolutely love hearing from the mentors and mentees who’ve benefited from the program. Two of our program participants, Elizabeth and Sunny, wrote to us a few weeks back, detailing their experience, and it was simply too good not to share! Read on to hear this heartwarming story of a relationship that went from a mentorship to a new friendship!
Elizabeth
Sunny and I were first connected through the Vegan Outreach Mentorship program in mid-April. It was a really awesome match! We are the same age with similar interests and we live nearby! After a few email exchanges, Sunny and I met for a delicious vegan dinner. Since then we’ve kept in touch and gotten together a few times.
When she signed up for a mentor, Sunny was a long-time vegetarian who was interested in transitioning to a vegan diet, but was struggling with a few things. As of early August, Sunny is fully vegan! She’s been exploring new foods and enjoying the health benefits. And she may be interested in joining the program as a new mentor herself!
This has been a really wonderful experience for me—not only growing my own sense of vegan community, but also gaining a beautiful new friend.
Elizabeth Green and Sunny Nowell
Sunny
After celebrating my 25 year anniversary of being vegetarian, I wanted to make the leap and go vegan. Joining the VMP and meeting Elizabeth was all I needed to reach that goal. I wish I had gone vegan sooner, I absolutely love it!! A whole new world has opened up for me. I am so grateful to her and Vegan Outreach.
As of May 2017, VO’s Vegan Mentor Program (Programa Mentor Vegano en Español) has over 1,900 mentors located in 1,000 cities in 60 countries. We’re proud of the rapid growth of this program!
We’d love to hear from you if you’ve benefited from the program like Sunny and Elizabeth!
If you’re interested in becoming a mentor or mentee, please visit the VMP webpage.
If you were a kid in the late 90s and early 2000s—or a parent to young children during this time period—you probably remember when Yoplait’s Go-Gurt made its way into grocery stores and quickly became all the craze and hype. As a kid who didn’t know what goes on in the dairy industry, I thought tubed yogurt was pretty darn cool. It required no utensils, and it gave kids a perfectly valid excuse to slurp their food.
I admittedly ate this kid-marketed snack all the way through high school. And even as a five-year vegan, I still feel a sense of nostalgia whenever I see tubed yogurt. Not nostalgic for the taste, but for the memories of childhood it brings to mind.
I didn’t anticipate eating a tubed yogurt again simply because there wasn’t a vegan version. But last week, as I was scanning the non-dairy yogurt section at a nearby natural food store, I laid eyes on one of Kite Hill’s newest products, Almond Milk Yogurt Tubes. Yes, you read that right. Vegan tubed yogurt.
After picking up the remaining items on my list, I gleefully drove myself home, marched my adult self up to my apartment, and enjoyed a delicious Wild Berry yogurt tube. The yogurt was deliciously creamy, but not-too-sweet. I finished with a smile and a slurp, of course.
If you want to join me in the happiness of eating vegan tubed yogurt, head on over to Kite Hill’s website to see where you can buy a box. And while you’re there, check out the other new products Kite Hill has recently released, including Greek-Style and drinkable yogurts.
What does a famous vegan guitarist eat? Click the video below to find out what I Killed the Prom Queen’s Jona Weinhofen and his wife Michelle enjoy cooking—and eating!—together.
After you meet this rockstar couple, be sure to share it on Facebook!
By Jenny Engel and Heather Bell, Guest Contributors
Photo: Kate Lewis
Dark beer + chocolate bring out the best in each other, sort of like coffee + the morning. Combining these two into a single baked goodie just feels right. The cake is moist and elegant, while the stout adds notes of toffee and caramel.
Individual Chocolate Stout Cakes
Yields 12 personal cakes.
Ingredients
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ cup whole-wheat pastry flour
¾ cup evaporated cane sugar
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground flaxseed
⅔ cup unsweetened almond milk
½ cup dark beer
⅓ cup neutral-tasting oil
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons vegan dark chocolate chips
1 tablespoon powdered sugar, for topping
Directions
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
In a medium bowl, whisk flours, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, sea salt, allspice, cinnamon, and flaxseed.
Slowly whisk almond milk, beer, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla into dry ingredients until mixture is uniform and smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.
Grease a 12-cake mini Bundt pan and pour batter into each section, filling each cup three-quarters full. Bake for 30 to 32 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cakes cool completely. Sift powdered sugar over the tops and serve.
Today we’re hearing from Kuntal Joisher, the first documented vegan to summit Mt. Everest. Aside from his athleticism, we greatly admire Kuntal for his genuine care and compassion for people, animals, and the earth.
It’s our pleasure to introduce him in this interview, but be sure to follow the links at the bottom of the page to read more about his truly unbelievable Everest journey.
Vegan Outreach: Why and when did you become vegan?
Kuntal Joisher: I was born into a vegetarian family. However, I was a vegetarian because of my religion, rather than an ethical vegetarian. It wasn’t until I moved to Los Angeles in 2001 to attend university that I was exposed to veganism. One of my roommates exposed me to the horrors of dairy and leather—that’s when I realized that these industries are just vicious cycles of animal-cruelty.
The next few months my life was an adjustment phase—it was the first time in my life I took a strong stance on a major issue. It opened floodgates of change in me. Those introspective years were some of the most fruitful years of my life and made me the person I am today. All of it started with taking a stand for animals!
Vegan Outreach: You attempted to climb Mt. Everest a few times before making it to the top—what did you learn from those experiences?
Kuntal: After my first two attempts—in 2014 and 2015—several people tried to dissuade me from climbing. They said, “The mountain doesn’t want you there.” And some even said that I didn’t have what it took. I didn’t listen to them. Instead, I kept the fire inside me burning, trained harder than ever, and finally made it to the top in May 2016.
I learned the importance of never giving up. People may try to tell you that your goals are impossible, or that you’re sure to fail. If you want to achieve your dream, nurture and protect it like your baby. Work and train hard, learn from your mistakes, and keep going until you reach the top!
When I escaped death during my attempt to climb Everest in 2015, I also learned this—if you have dreams or passions, the best time to work toward them is now. Not tomorrow, not the day after, and not in 60 years. Now.
Photo Credit: Mingma Tenzi Sherpa
Vegan Outreach: There have been other articles and blogs detailing climbs of vegans who’ve summited Mt. Everest prior to your climb. Why do other news sources refer to yourself as the first?
Kuntal: Honestly, I don’t really care if I’m the first, second, third, or 100th vegan to reach the top. I’m just glad that I climbed Everest and made it back in a single piece. And I’m super happy that I did it as a passionate vegan. I want to prove to the world that Everest, or any big mountain for that matter, can be climbed on a vegan diet.
At the same time, every time I’m referred to as the “first vegan” to climb Mt. Everest, it gives me an enormous amount of publicity and exposure. To me, this is very important because it gives me a platform to talk about animal rights, veganism, and related issues that are important to me.
Vegan Outreach: What did you eat when you climbed Everest?
Kuntal: At the base camp, I ate beaten rice, semolina and oat porridge, deep fried Indian bread and curry, Tibetan bread, pancakes, lentils and rice, pasta, french fries, veggie burgers, and other several Indian food items. Our awesome cooks, Ngima Tamang and Anup Rai, even baked us a vegan cake! Truly speaking, I don’t think I missed out on anything.
Beyond base camp two I survived on Unived RRUNN gels and sports nutrition drinks, Outdoor Herbivore freeze-dried meals, Oreo cookies, dried kiwi fruit pieces, cashews, and some deep fried snack items.
Vegan Outreach: What are some of your hobbies other than climbing?
Kuntal: Photography. I take photos to share the beauty of our world and inspire people to go experience it for themselves. My hope is that once people experience nature and understand how important it is to our survival—both physical and spiritual—they will become more conscious of their everyday choices and try to conserve our beautiful planet.
Vegan Outreach: Thank you for taking the time to talk with us, Kuntal! Best of luck in all of your future climbing adventures.
Additional Sources
Kuntal’s Huffington Post blog, where he extensively writes about his Everest journey
Review by Roopashree Rao, Indian American Community Engagement and Events Coordinator
Vegan Richa’s second cookbook, Vegan Richa’s Everyday Kitchen, is a great resource for all who want to eat and entertain, enjoying food in all its delicious glory!
What I love about the book is how it’s built around sauces! Who doesn’t love a good sauce? They’re versatile and can be used as dips, condiments, and marinades. They can be used for complexity in a dish, in soups, and—of course—in curries.
Knowing how to make sauces and the ease of freezing them means you’re always well-prepared to whip up a great dish. To borrow words from my favorite children’s book, “In half a minute less than no time!” Okay, maybe not that fast, but you’ll be pretty close.
Another aspect of the book that I like is how Richa helps the reader understand that making food and enjoying meals are always a shared opportunity for happiness. Moreover, the book is centered around making and enjoying vegan food, which means the happiness is shared with all of Earth’s beings.
To give you a taste of this happiness, Richa has shared her delicious Buffalo Chickpea Tacos recipe. And if you’re hungry for more, you can order a copy of her new book today! Enjoy!
Photo Credit: Richa Hingle
Buffalo Chickpea Tacos
Yields 4 servings.
Ingredients
⅓ cup hot sauce
3 tablespoons sriracha sauce
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or melted non-dairy butter
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar—optional
2 to 2 ½ cups room-temperature cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup Celery Ranch Sauce (see below)
1 ½ cups finely chopped celery or cucumber
1 teaspoon organic safflower or other neutral oil
1 medium green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced
½ teaspoon salt, divided
8 to 10 tortillas or taco shells
2 cups baby spinach
Directions
Combine the hot sauce, sriracha, olive oil, and vinegar (if using) in a medium bowl. Add the chickpeas, tossing to coat them in the sauce, and set aside. In another medium bowl, combine half the celery ranch sauce with the celery. In a third medium bowl, thin the other half of the celery ranch sauce with water if needed.
Heat the safflower oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the green bell pepper, red bell pepper, and ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Cook the bell peppers until they are golden on some sides, 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Warm the tortillas if desired.
Add some of the baby spinach, roasted bell peppers, and celery to every taco. Divide the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt between all the tacos. Add some buffalo chickpeas and a generous drizzle of the celery ranch sauce to each taco and serve.
Celery Ranch Sauce
Yields about 1 cup.
Ingredients
½ cup raw cashews, soaked for 15 minutes and drained, or ground raw cashews
⅔ cup plain unsweetened non-dairy milk or ½ cup water
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder or 4 cloves roasted garlic
¾ teaspoon onion powder
1 to 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar or distilled white vinegar
In a blender, combine the cashews, milk, salt, oil, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, nutritional yeast, vinegar, parsley, thyme, and dill. Blend until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Add the chives (if using) and stir gently to combine.
