Following the Council’s presentation, Compassion Over Killing dished out over 100 free meatless meals for D.C. City Council Members, staff, interns, and others in attendance of the event. The all-vegan meal included vegan fettuccini alfredo with “chicken” and Caesar salad.

via COK.net

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• 734 17th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. (near The White House)
• 82 Massachusetts Ave. N.E., Washington, D.C. (near Union Station)
• 304 12th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. (near the EPA)

Info curiosity of PETA!

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Start your day the healthy way. Past classes have included some of the following: Eggless Benedict, Eggless Omelettes, Whole Grain Waffles & Pancakes, Quiche, Crepes, Hash Brown Casserole, Polenta Fries (photo as above), Overnight Oatmeal, Homemade Granola, Sticky Buns, Muffins, Scones, Smoothies, plus a variety of organic cereals and dairy-free milk.

No meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, or honey. $50/person; $90/two people; $45/VSDC, VRG, COK members. Demonstration classes include recipes, organic food samples, manufacturers’ samples and coupons. Gift certificates available.

Make checks payable to Mimi Clark, 9302 Hallston Ct., Fairfax Station, VA 22039. Sorry, no phone or email reservations. Seventy-two hour cancellation policy for refund or credit. Class subject to cancellation if minimum enrollment is not met.
Email veggourmet@aol.com,
or call 703.643.2713 for space availability.

Coming Up: Healthy Snacks & Desserts, Beans & Grains, Meatless Holidays. Monthly class updates at veggourmet.wordpress.com.

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Saturday, the Mandarin Oriental will play host to a fabulous green event featuring vegan Chef Lauren Von Der Pool.

The coming weeks offer two fantastic opportunities to don your vegan best and celebrate for charity. First, this Saturday, May 15th, join Cafe Green‘s Chef Lauren Von Der Pool as she co-hosts Wine Down: An Eco Mixer Evening with celebrity trainer Mark Jenkins, CEO of Universal Wellness and personal trainer to the stars. This “Going Green from the Inside Out” event is intended to raise awareness about childhood obesity with proceeds going to benefit the cause.

Drink from the Crop Organic Vodkas open bar, enjoy vegan cooking demonstrations by Chef Lauren, munch on a sustainable menu by Events by Andre Wells, and make and take home jewelry with jewelry designer Carmen Eliam from the Ivory Coast. Aveda is setting up a custom blended aroma bar and will send you home with a swag bag. All for a good cause!

Saturday, May 15, 2010 RESCHEDULED TO OCTOBER TO MAKE AN EVEN BIGGER AND BETTER EVENT! Watch for details on DCVegan.com!
Mandarin Oriental Hotel
8pm to Midnight
Tickets available at www.thegreenaissance.com

Next up, party with — and for — the dogs at the Washington Humane Society’s 23rd Annual Bark Ball. The evening will begin with cocktails, a silent auction, and a doggy bar courtesy of Barkley Square. Then, enjoy a fantastic vegan dinner, live auction and program. You don’t want to miss “Washington, DC’s Only Black-tie Gala for the Four-on-the-Floor Crowd!”

Saturday, June 5, 2010
Hilton Washington Hotel
7pm to 10pm
Tickets available at http://bit.ly/a93bjm

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It has been some time since I posted, and I can admit that I was in a bit of a diet rut: too many starches, not enough interesting proteins. But one food is helping to turn that around: quinoa.

Contrary to popular (non-vegan) belief, quinoa is not a grain, even though it seems to act like one. Instead, it is a relative of leafy vegetables, such as Swiss chard.

Most importantly to me, and I suspect to many new vegans trying to be healthy: It is a terrific protein. From a practical perspective, this means that I can put it with anything to make a meal at any time of day. Salads, soups, pasta, muffins, porridge…you name it, and quinoa works.

A few of the many health benefits: it contains a balanced set of amino acids; it is gluten-free and a terrific source of dietary fiber, phosphorus, magnesium and iron; and research tells me that it can provide relief for those who suffer from migraines.

A few of the many practical benefits: it is very easy to prepare (like rice and couscous); hot or cold, it is always tasty; and as it can be stored (pre-cooked) for three to six months in the refrigerator, it is easy to buy in bulk.

Quinoa is also the perfect food to take to a non-vegan dinner when the host says, “Bring something tasty that you can eat, but also to share with others,” which leaves me looking for a non-obvious protein. I recently put together a simple quinoa salad with fresh chopped spinach, lemon vinaigrette, a few lemon slices, pepper and poppy seeds (thank you, Mark Bittman). Even my I-don’t-like-any-vegetables friends had more than one serving!

As someone who loves grains and starches, quinoa is a near-perfect food as it gives the benefits of a protein with the feeling of a grain, thereby also helping to manage my blood sugar. Googling quinoa leads to millions of hits, and I have yet to try a bad recipe.

One note for shoppers: Quinoa is not found in one standard location, so it can be worth asking for it if you do not find it right away. Although not all general markets carry it yet, spots like Whole Foods and organic markets will, but it might be any number of places (eg, with rice, beans, bulk foods, grains, pasta, baking items, even cereals), and you can always order it online. Enjoy!

(Note: Many thanks for all of the great ideas and resources for new vegans. Feel free to keep them coming, and I will share them in the coming weeks!)

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Want to help save lives while satisfying your sweet tooth? Participate in the the 2nd Annual Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale! Winner of VegNews Magazines “Veg Event of the Year” award for 2009 and featured on Girlie Girl Army.

All you have to do is hold a bake sale within April 24th- May 2nd, 2010 (Or close to) and you choose where you want the proceeds to go. Bake sales will be held on six continents, and there are a ton of local DC groups participating in this great event. If you want to hold your own vegan bale sale, then all you have to do is fill out this simple form (Seriously, it will take less than 2 minutes). If you can’t plan an event but want to attend a bake sale in the DC area, check out the WVBS site for all the details.

Herbivore Clothing has released an official Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale shirt, where a portion of the sales will go to various animal sanctuaries and vegan causes.

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My husband and I have long been fans of Mark Bittman, The Minimalist of The New York Times, and I received his How to Cook Everything Vegetarian as a gift. Following Bittman’s usual style, it offers direct yet comprehensive recipe ideas full of ingredient twists, and an overview of tools and other kitchen essentials. The gem of this book is the chart outlining which recipes are vegan, which are quick to prepare, and which are make-ahead meals. I have found that quite a few dishes are vegan save for one ingredient as well, a change I can often make easily. I have also picked up The Vegan Table, The Kind Diet, Breaking the Food Seduction, and I am thinking about The Complete Vegan Kitchen.

I have always enjoyed baking, and I was not quite sure how anything would taste, especially my early attempts, WITHOUT EGGS. Eggs and cream and even cheese are staples in a standard baking pantry. So you can imagine my surprise when I had any success in this area, and I can credit it all to online research. I googled topics as generic as ‘vegan baking’ and ‘egg replacement’ to learn some of the basics. Then I made my searches very specific, first looking for banana muffins and then for chocolate cake. These muffins keep wonderfully and have become a go-to breakfast, and this chocolate cake with frosting were a big hit at my house. (Note to self: I must get to Sticky Fingers ASAP!)

Making my vegan diet work as part of my non-vegan social life is very important to me, so I am now always on the lookout for restaurants that might not seem ‘vegan’ but still have tasty vegan dishes. I have had luck at sushi spots (love Sushi Sushi on Macomb), for example, and several casual spots in town, even chains, should not be ignored, either. My friend kindly thought of Le Pain Quotidien when we were planning a lunch; she loves their fresh ingredients, and she had noticed that they have several vegan dishes on the menu. The key to social success is keeping our eyes open even in non-vegan environments. I am also really looking forward to the next DC Meat-Free Week. The snow kept me home last week, but I am excited to be involved in the future, especially because I already love several of the spots featured in February.

I would love to read about some of your favorite resources. I am also working on a post specifically about great websites for vegans, including folks to follow on twitter. Ideas? Please pass them along. And many thanks for all of the great comments so far!

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Or if you don’t cook and have anything else you want to share let us know!!!!

Stay warm!

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Tim
tim@dcvegan.com

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I have spent much of my time over the past week reading. And watching. And listening. People have been incredibly supportive and have shared so many terrific ideas and resources. At times I have felt uplifted, excited about the changes I am making — and many times, frankly, I have just wanted to cry. I had thought about animal rights before this past week, but, apparently, I had not REALLY thought about them.

I was expecting it to take quite some time for my perspective to change. I was expecting to look at chicken and shrimp and even hamburgers — and want to eat them. I was expecting to want to eat pizza and ice cream and goat cheese. I knew that I wanted to be a vegan, but I was expecting it to be difficult, mentally. Instead, my mind has already started to focus on what I will be eating as a vegan, rather than what I am not eating. Cravings might come later, and I am still a work in progress, but I was surprised that I am more ready than I expected to be.

From a practical standpoint, buying food is now a different experience. In the past, shopping was simple: I knew what I needed and where it was in my preferred markets. But now I am not as familiar with my ingredients and options, so instead of trying to cover everything for a week in one big trip, I am going to the market with much more frequency.

Recipes and articles about vegan cooking are inspiring to me, so I now shop with a couple of specific items in mind (eg, ingredients for vegan quesadillas), and then I wander through the aisles. I look at items that I may not have purchased in the past, just letting myself be open to new foods and flavors. By taking the potential stress or pressure out of the situation, I have been able to enjoy it.

The challenge of the week has been breakfast. I do not want my usual (in the past) breakfast of Special K with skim milk, but I do not want to eat oatmeal every day, either. I love breakfast, and brunch is my favorite meal. I need to come up with some great morning ideas — or those cravings really might happen.

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