Happy Cow

Even though the number of vegetarians and vegans is increasing every day, it's hard to find a vegetarian or a vegan friendly restaurant, if you are visiting a new city.

Before visiting a new city, I always make it a point to visit the wonderful website Happy Cow.

Happy cow lists all the vegetarian and vegan restaurants when you enter the zip code of the place you are visiting. Happy Cow also lists all the health food stores, vegan-friendly and vegetarian-friendly restaurants.

So even if you're not a vegan or a vegetarian, visit Happy Cow - amazing website to find good food.

Teapot Vegetarian House

I was in Seattle for a couple of weeks, and I frequently enjoyed eating in one of the best vegan restaurants in Seattle - Teapot Vegetarian House . Seattle has many great vegan restaurants, but the food at Teapot Vegetarian House was so good, that my husband and I did not feel like eating at other vegan restaurants.

My favourite dish was Thai green curry and my husband's favourite dish was Curried vegetables. The taste of these curries with brown rice was superb! I also liked spring rolls, Kung pao vegetables, Tempura , and Vegetable Chow Mein . Once I also ate Vegan Tofu Cheesecake, and I somehow did not like it.

If you crave good food, I highly recommend that you eat at Teapot Vegetarian House when you are in Seattle.

Simple Indian Lentil Soup

Yesterday I cooked tuvar dal with fenugreek leaves(methi), chopped onions and tomato. Well, I followed Indira's recipe for Menthi Kura Pappu.

The dish was pretty simple to make, but tasted great. Until now, I rarely used fenugreek leaves for cooking. My toddler son also enjoyed this dish with rice.

If you're looking for simple Indian recipes, you should visit Indira's blog Mahanandi

Vegan Diet

Decades ago it was considered that meat is absolutely required for a healthy body. Vegetarians were considered to be pale and sick. Everyone from doctors to dieticians discouraged people not to be a vegetarian.

These days everyone seems to endorse vegetarian and even vegan diet. Vegan diet is not only good for you but it also helps our beautiful planet - Earth. Vegan diet is considered to be "Green"

The American Dietetic Association states that appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life-cycle including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence and for athletes.

Eating Vegan Food Every Day

After celebrating Earth Day, everyone from kids to adults want to go green. Eating vegan food everyday is a great way to go green.

Thriving on a vegan diet every day is not only great for our beautiful Earth, but also great for our health.

How can vegan diet help the Earth?

A UN report, Livestock's long shadow reports that animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of total greenhouse gas emissions, more than all transportation in the world combined. Visit here to read more about this report.

Thousands of people in many countries die every day because of hunger. A pound of wheat can be grown with 60 gallons of water, whereas a pound of meat requires 2,500 to 6,000 gallons . So if the number of vegans increase, the production of plant-based foods will be sufficient for the growing population.

How can a vegan diet help one's health?

According to the American Dietetic Association , vegetarians have lower blood cholesterol levels, lower rates of hypertension , diabetes, and prostrate and colon cancers.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in its webpage states that,
"Fruits and vegetables contain essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber that may help protect you from chronic diseases." American Heart Association states that, "Vegetarian diets can be healthful and nutritionally sound if they’re carefully planned to include essential nutrients."

What do vegans eat?

Vegans just don't eat salads and fruits. Most vegans love cupcakes, cookies and cakes. Once you become a vegan, each day you will explore variety of grains, beans, fruits , and vegetables.

Any blogs and websites for vegan recipes?

Internet is brimming with wonderful vegan blogs filled with delicious vegan recipes.
Fatfree vegan kitchen , vegan dad , Holy cow , Have cake will travel

Is it very hard to be a vegan in United States?

It's really very hard to be on a vegan diet in India or Pakistan, because delicious food items such as vegan icecream and vegan butter is not available. On the other hand, it's very easy to thrive on a vegan diet in United States because you can easily get variety of non-dairy milk, non-dairy ice creams and great vegan chocolates in almost all the supermarkets across the country.

Any inspiring vegan blogs ?

Urban vegan , Veganlunch box , Dinner with Dilip , Vegan doctor

Any magazines and E-zines about vegan lifestyle?

Vegnews
and Vegfamily

Vegan Sweets

Thanks to the internet, you can find numerous vegan recipes in many food blogs.

Vaishali, recently hosted a blog event - sweet vegan. Many bloggers have posted delicious vegan recipes. Visit the blog holy cow to see some great vegan sweets.

Thanks Vaishali for hosting, Sweet Vegan

India's Independence Day and Mahatma Gandhi

To my mind the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body. I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man.

-- Mahatma Gandhi

Today is India's independence day. Mahatma Gandhi played a key role in India's freedom struggle. The principles of ahimsa - nonviolence, initiated by Gandhi was the foundation for India's freedom struggle against the British.

Mahatma Gandhi led a very simple life. Gandhi ate simple vegetarian food. Gandhi not only worked for the welfare of human beings, but he also wanted all the living creatures across the world to be happy. To know more about Gandhi visit website1 and website2 .

October 2, Mahatma Gandhi's birthday, is also World Farm Animals Day . To know more about Gandhi's views on animals, visit website1 and website2
and website3

I sometimes feel that Mahatma Gandhi would have thrived on a vegan diet if he was alive, as you can find diary-free milk in India these days. I'm sure
there will be many vegans in India, if many diary alternatives such as rice milk, almond milk, soy butter, nut butters, vegan chocolates and vegan ice cream is widely available.

Vegan Diet and Global Warming

Everyone these days is concerned about global warming. Some studies have shown that if people thrive on a vegan diet for at least a couple of days in a week, they can drastically reduce their carbon footprint. In short, vegan diet is not only good for your health, it's also great for our planet.
Read website1 and website2 to know more about the impact of vegan diet on the environment.

In western countries, you can find numerous diary alternatives and meat alternatives like soy milk, soy butter, tofu and tempeh. You can also find diary-free ice cream and chocolates in some supermarkets. In United States, Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe and Health Food Superstores carry variety of diary and meat alternatives.

Vegan Blogs: Thanks to the numerous vegan food blogs, it's really so easy to find delicious vegan recipes, tips, and reviews of vegan food items. Visit blogs such as Fatfree vegan, Urban Vegan, Vegan Dad, Dinner with Dilip, and Holy Cow to get a glimpse of vegan dishes.

Vegan Magazines : Veg News is a very popular magazine geared toward vegan lifestyle. Veg Family is an online vegan magazine, filled with numerous health articles, recipes and tips to lead a cruel-free lifestyle. There is also a discussion forum where you can discuss everything from vegan recipes to vegan friendly
restaurants.

Veganomicon

Numerous vegan dishes made by following the recipes from the most popular vegan cookbook - Veganomicon, can be seen in many of the vegan food blogs.

Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook is brimming with so many recipes for soups, salads, and dishes made with tofu, tempeh, seitan, beans and lentils. Here are some recipes which you can try from this amazing cookbook, by visiting the website, postpunkkitchen.

Recently I made seitan, by following the recipe in Veganomicon. The taste and texture of seitan was wonderful. I also made Caramel-apple-spice cupcakes with caramel-penuche frosting. This cupcake made with tart Granny smith apples was delicious.

Vegan Muffin

Muffins are not only easy to make, but they also taste great. I'm always looking for vegan muffin recipes, and I recently made Cinnamon Swirl Muffins from Susan's wonderful Fatfree Vegan Kitchen blog.

If you want your muffins to be on the bland side, then this recipe is really good. I like my muffins to be sweeter, so I think I will add more sugar to this muffin recipe, when I make it next time.

Local Harvest

For vegans and vegetarians, vegetables and fruits play a major role in their diet. If you shop at supermarkets from greens to vegetables, chances are that your produce may have traveled thousands of miles.

Jennifer McCann, who blogs at Vegan Lunch Box, has come up with great tips to save money and the environment. Visit here to read that article.

Vegan Badusha

Badushas are deep-fried flaky sweets very popular in India. Growing up, I always enjoyed eating store bought Badushas, as my mom did not make these wonderful sweet at home.

Recently I came across Badushas in numerous Indian food blogs, and I decided to make it. I followed the recipe from this blog, because it was easy to veganize. I used Crisco pure vegetable oil, instead of butter and ghee. The number of ingredients required to make this sweet is less, but it takes a long time to make this sweet, since the sweets have to be deep-fried in low heat.

Fruit Salad

Fruit salad sold in busy streets across India is
spicy, and tangy. Spices such as chili powder, cumin
seeds, mango powder impart zesty flavor for the fruits
in Indian fruit salad. This fruit salad is also known
as "Fruit Chaat".

Fruit Salad

2 cups 1/2 inch papaya pieces
1 cup 1 inch mango pieces
1 cup 1 inch apple pieces
1 Tbsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/8 tsp cumin seeds or ground cumin
1/8 tsp salt

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Serve
immediately, as the salad tends to become soggy after
a couple of hours.

Use ripe tropical fruits such as guava, pineapple,
banana, and grapes to make fruit salad. Avoid over
ripe fruits to make this salad, as you don't want the
salad to be soggy.

Vitamin B12 In a Vegan Diet

Most of the health related vegan articles always discuss about Vitamin B12, which is present only in animal based foods, such as meat and dairy products.

I have recently started to take Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D supplement, as I don't consume fortified foods every day.

If you eat vegan food, do you take fortified foods or take Vitamin B12 supplement?

Here are some Vitamin B12 articles which every vegan should read : Vegan Health , Problems associated with deficiency of Vitamin B12 , Vitamin B12 and vegan diet

A Vegan in India - Vegetarian Paradise

For the last couple of months I was in India. While it
is very easy to thrive on a vegetarian fare, it was
really very challenging for me, to be a vegan in
India.

In India , vegetarian diet is synonymous with
lacto vegetarian diet. For thousands of years, Indians
have consumed milk and milk products such as
buttermilk, yogurt and ghee(clarified butter)
regularly. These days supermarkets across India are
not only flooded with traditional milk
products such as ghee, and buttermilk but also cheeses
and flavored milks.

My parents tried to convince me that "cow's milk" is
nutritious. They were shocked when I told them I don't
eat anything that has milk and milk products. They
were curious to know why I avoid milk and milk
products. I tried explaining about how cows are
treated as "milking machines". They just could not
understand the cruelty involved in producing diary milk. Everyone from my parents to siblings and friends to relatives considered me weird for not
including milk or milk based products in my diet.

My parents were worried and concerned about my health.
People in India believe that to lead a
healthy lifestyle, everyone should include some milk
or milk products such as buttermilk, yogurt or ghee in
their diet. I really wish if everyone could read, The
China Study to know about the negative impact of milk and milk
products on our health.

Once my mom made crispy dosa(rice and lentil
pancakes), which was laced with copious amounts of
ghee(clarified butter). She was so mad at me when I
refused to touch the dosas. My father once bought my
favorite sweet, mysore pak, from a popular sweet
store, in Bangalore. Of course, I could not eat that
sweet because the package said, "made with pure ghee".
In India, people shower you with milk based items if
they like you.

I gave my mom some tips to veganize some recipes. My
mom made Badam burfi and Mysore pak
Well, my parents were thrilled that I got to indulge
some delicious vegan sweets. They were also so
surprised by the fact that it is pretty easy to
veganize some Indian sweets.

Many people in India thrive on lacto-vegetarian fare,
because they associate only meat with cruelty.
An article about the modern production of milk in India.

I used to see old cows and bulls roaming about the
crowded streets in search of food in Bangalore. The
result of numerous bulls, is the result of the
thriving diary industry in India. I wonder why people
still don't associate "cow's milk" with cruelty.

Decades ago male cows or bulls were used to plough the
fields. But, these days tractors have replaced bulls
to plough the fields. Most of the bulls have no use in
Indian society these days.

People in India assume that milk producing cows
are well taken care by the farmers. As the demand for milk
is growing every day, farmers inject cows with oxytocin harmone,
so that they produce more milk.

Along with Peta, there are only a handful of animal
welfare organizations in India. So, people are not aware of the
cruelty involved in production of milk. The
consumption of milk and milk products by everyone from
children to adults has increased by many fold in the
past decade. In short, cow's milk is considered to be
gift to mankind.

For days I explained to my father about the cruelty involved in diary industry and the negative impact of livestock on our environment. I also discusses about
the positive health benefits of the vegan diet.

While I tried to convince my father that vegan diet is best for our health
,my father tried to convince me that diary milk is indeed good for our health.
He felt that if baby cows are allowed to drink all the milk the cow produces,
the baby cow will die by drinking huge amount of milk.
My father, who comes from an agricultural background,
felt that human beings were indeed saving the lives of
baby cows, by consuming some of the milk. The milkman
who gives milk to my parent's home, also told that
baby cows will fall sick if they drink more milk. I was
shocked to hear this new "theory".

I asked the milkman about the oxytocin harmone injected
to cows. He told that he injects his cows with
oxytocin harmone rarely. An article about usage of oxytocin harmone in cows.

My father somehow wanted me to get rid of my vegan
diet. He read some passages from hindu
scriptures, where cows are considered as mother.
Infact Hindu religious rituals often call for milk and
milk products such as ghee and yogurt. Even the
ancient art of Indian medicine -Ayurveda, considers
milk, ghee, butter and yogurt to be of great
nutritional value. In a nutshell, Indian culture
deeply revolves around milk and milk products.

The word "vegan" is not common in India. Pure
vegetarian, means a person who consumes milk and milk
products, but not meat and eggs. Visit these websites ;Hinduonnet
, IBNLIVE
, Hinduonet1 , and Hindustantimes
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=6a34a112-ac3c-4133-9295-0c52efbd980f

India is a goldmine for vegetarian food. And millions of
recipes can be easily veganized .It is possible to thrive on a vegan diet in India.
But, you can't find dairy-free icecream and
chocolates. Most of the Indian sweets in upscale
stores will be drenched with either milk or ghee.

To know more the horrible conditions of cows in India,
read article1 and article2.

Chana Dal Salad

Chana dal salad is a popular salad in southern parts
of India. While growing up in Bangalore, I vividly
remember this salad was the "Prasadam" in a nearby
temple.

Since I like to eat raw food sometimes, I recently
made chana dal salad. I loved the taste of this simple
salad. I'm sure I will be making this salad regularly
during summer.

Visit Indira's blog to get some delicious chana dal recipes

Chana Dal Salad

1/4 cup Chana dal
1 cucumber
1 carrot
1/4 tsp canola oil
1/8 tsp mustard seeds
1 red chili, broken into pieces
1 tsp lemon juice
salt

Soak chana dal for about 5 hours. Drain the water.
Finely chop the cucumber into small pieces. Grate the
carrot. Mix soaked chana dal, carrot and cucumber. Add
salt and lemon juice to the salad.

In a small pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds. Once the
mustard seeds pop, add broken red chili pieces. Add
this mixture to chana dal salad. Garnish with
cilantro or unsweetened coconut.

Tomato Rasam, Soup From India

I love to eat hot rice with rasam, a popular soup from
southern parts of India.

I sometimes like to drink rasam as a soup. I often
eat, rice and rasam - my comfort dish during winter.

When I suffer from cold, I crave for hot tangy rasam and rice.

Sometimes when I don't have fresh tomatoes, I usually make rasam
with store-bought tomato juice.

Tomato Rasam

340 ml Tomato Juice(I use Campbell's Tomato juice)
340 ml water
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp grated garlic
1 tsp Madras curry powder
Cilantro for garnishing

In a vessel, heat the vegetable oil, add mustard
seeds. Once the mustard seeds pop, add cumin seeds,
ginger , garlic, crushed red pepper and curry powder.
After one minute, add tomato juice, salt and water.

Turn off the heat once it starts to boil, that is
after 10 -12 minutes. Garnish with cilantro.

Tastes great with hot rice and poppadom.

Upma, Cream of Wheat Breakfast Dish From India

Upma is one of the most popular breakfast items of
South India. Cream-of-wheat is known as sooji, and
rava across India. Cream-of-wheat is also known as
semolina.

There are many varieties of Upma. When vegetables such
as beans, carrots, peas are added to make upma, it
becomes masala upma. In restaurants in India, Upma is
always served with sheera, semolina based sweet dish.
Then this two dishes are together known as chow-chow
baath.

Upma

1 1/2 cups Cream-of-wheat
3 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Urad dal(optional)
1/2 tsp chana dal(optional)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/8 tsp turmeric
2 red chillies or green chillies, broken into pieces
Salt
Cilantro or coconut for garnishing

Dry roast semolina on a low flame for about 10
minutes, or until the color of the semolina changes to
pale gold.

In a wide pan, heat oil. Add mustard seeds, and when
the mustard seeds pop, add urad dal and chana dal.

Once the color of the dals changes, add red chillies,
and chopped onion. Fry for a few minutes. You can also
add chopped tomatoes or any vegetables. Just make sure
to increase the quantity of water if you are adding
vegetables.

Now add water and once it starts boiling, reduce the
heat. Now add salt and the semolina. Keep stirring so
that there are no lumps in the mixture.

Cook until there is no water in the mixture. Garnish
with cilantro or freshly grated coconut. Instead of red chillies
or green chillies, you can also add jalapeno peppers if
you want the upma to be spicy.

I love to eat upma with a dollop of Earth Balance Soy Garden Natural Buttery Spread and spicy lime pickle.

Vegan Recipes for Vegan Month - November

I came to know that November to be a vegan month while visiting food blogs.

I guess many vegetarians and non-vegetarians will be
exploring vegan cuisine during this month. Don't fret
if you don't have a vegan cookbook. If you have access
to the internet, then within seconds you can find vast
array of vegan recipes.

Visit Meatout Mondays, Fatfree Vegan, International Vegetarian Union and Vegan Lunch Box to find vegan recipes.

Visit Vivevegie to read the benefits of becoming vegan.