Dacia Thorson recently obtained a registered trademark for legal rights to the word Beaf.

Thats not beef, but rather Beaf, a plant-based meat alternative.

Thorson and her husband Curtis are vegan and own Honest Pastures in Virginia Beach, Va., where the products they manufacture and ship throughout the U.S. include Grillable Beaf Steaks, Corned Beaf, Gyro Beaf, Jackfruit Beaf Ribz, Montreal Chickun, Veggeroni, Teriyaki Beaf, Beaf Broth and Smoked Beaf.

Their Beaf products are made from natural ingredients such as vital wheat gluten, vegetable broth, organic brown sugar, chickpea flour, herbs and seasonings and are adaptable to many recipes.

Each meat involves one or two cooking processes, sometimes three, to get different textures and flavors, Dacia Thorson says.

Moving to Monroeville

They will be offering consumers samples and sales of their products at the Pittsburgh Vegan Expo and Convention Nov. 9 at the Monroeville Convention Center.

The expo is being presented by Amy Cottrill of Pittsburgh, who is bringing the food show to Monroeville for the first time after offering similar vegan food events in Mount Oliver, the North Side and North Hills.

I have watched veganism slowly grow in our city very slowly at first, says Cottrill, who has been a vegetarian, then vegan, since she was a child.

In the past 10 years, she says, the pace of the growth of the vegan lifestyle in Pittsburgh has increased dramatically.

It used to be very hard to find good vegan options in most mainstream restaurants and grocery stores around here. Now, it is rarer to find a restaurant without vegan options, she says.

Making the transition

Among the speakers at the expo will be Dean Caliguire, who played football for the University of Pittsburgh before being drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. He also played for a year and a half with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Caliguire will talk about his transition to a plant-based diet and how he feels it played a major role in him overcoming several health problems and illnesses. After battling obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, chronic inflammation and sleep apnea, he took steps to improve his condition and was able to lose 80 pounds and reverse or improve his medical issues.

He spent time at a health center in Santa Rosa, Calif., where he participated in an eight-day water fast and learned how to make diet and lifestyle changes.

Caliguire also credits his family, including his wife; his brother Joe, owner and chef of Sarafinos Restaurant in Crafton; and his godfather, Dr. Dominic Brandy, also a speaker at the expo, for helping him on his journey back to good health.

I still have a ways to go, but I have kept off the weight for a year and I feel like a new person, he says.

Speakers and exhibitors

Other speakers will include Sally Lipsky, talking about her book Beyond Cancer: The Powerful Effect of Plant-Based Eating, and Joel Holc, an energy awareness coach and author of The Eggshell Effect. Professional fighter Khama Worthy will discuss his studio, The Academy: Pittsburgh MMA and Fitness, and his training and career in mixed martial arts.

Local exhibitors will include Taylor Kalasky, owner of Yumzio Bistro in Greensburg, who says she recently expanded her vegan- friendly menu to include items such as vegan omelets and breakfast sandwiches.

One of our most popular vegan dishes is our Vegan French Toast, made with Cellones thick sliced Italian bread which is then dipped in homemade vegan tofu custard, she says.

Yumzio Bistro will feature vegan- friendly mini-doughnuts, fudge, brownies and cupcakes in its booth at the expo.

Josies Sweets and Treats in Dormont recently expanded its menu to include vegan smores cupcakes, cookies and brownies, and savory vegan cornbread muffins with bell peppers and mushrooms.

Owner Christine Krutules vegan options at the expo will include vegan and gluten-free apple crisp, smores cookie bars, pumpkin coffee cake, cinnamon rolls and brownies.

Cottrill says Pittsburgh Vegan Expo is open to and designed for everyone, not only vegans.

All are welcome to try new foods and gourmet desserts, watch cultural dance performances and an eco-friendly fashion gala and do holiday shopping to support local businesses, including artists, jewelers, body care product makers, makeup reps, clothiers, book authors and more, she says.

There will be a performance by four-time North American Beatbox Champion, Villain, accompanied by child break-dancers from The Get Down Kids, under the instruction of Kid Cuba of The Get Down Gang.

Candy Williams is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.

Pittsburgh Vegan Expo and ConventionWhen: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 9Admission: $5, free for ages 16 and younger Where: Monroeville Convention Center, MonroevilleDetails: 412-225-3302 or pittsburghvegan.com

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Pittsburgh Vegan Expo and Convention offers tasty sample of the lifestyle - TribLIVE

Spoke & Weal cofounders Jon Reyman and Christine Thompson

Congrats on the new LA expansion of Spoke & Weal! What can you share about it?

JR: The L.A. expansion was dramatic. We doubled in size (from 2000 square feet to 4000 square feet) and renovated the entire space from the floors to the ceiling in about two weeks! The result is the best lighting weve ever experienced in a salon anywhere, an incredibly open and airy luxury experience, and acoustics that keep the salon relaxed and warm. Gone are any echos and much of the buzzing sounds of hair dryers.

What are your favorite spots to grab lunch when you're on your feet all day seeing clients at the LA location?

CT: You will find us in or ordering from these L.A. favorites: Kreation Organic, Erewhon, Gracias Madre, Sweet Greens, Cafe Gratitude.

How do you survive fashion week/s with standard American style catering?

JR: New York Fashion Week is fairly vegan-friendly because the city is filled with veg options at every level of dining. Juice Press is a go-to all fashion week. The grab-and-go is filled with fresh and raw juices and vegan snack options that pack easily and fuel the team very well. We do not depend on cateringwe are too busy back stage to find provisions!

Eating during the day is minimal but we do plan great dinners. I'm at ABCV every week and in-between take out from JaJaJa, Double Zero 00, or the fake tuna salad from Le Botanisteand the vegan Caesar from Scarrs Pizza is insanely good.

How often are you on the road each month and where? Where are your favorite vegan restaurants in those cities?

JR: As we see guests and train our teams together in most cities, much of our meals are together on the road. In San Francisco, we love Burma Loveveggie soups and Laphet-Tea Leaf Salad are delish. Also, bon, nene, Gracias Madre, NoJo ramen (the vegan ramen should not be missed), Beloved and Als Place. In Chicago, you can often find us at Althea or Veggie Grill. Whole Foods recently opened one block away from our Lakeview salon, the smoothie bar and salad bar always work.

Further south, our Nashville Spoke & Weal is located right above True Foods Kitchen which delivers the goods every time! We are newer to Nashville so looking forward to exploring more. In Boston, Juice Press is around the corner and always hits the spot. Falafel Salad with Green Goddess dressing will fill you up for many hours.

In London, we like Yautacha for veggie dim sum and Detox Kitchen.

Any favorite airport restaurants or handy tips for plant-based road warriors?

CT: Traveling through many airports has become easier on the snacks end of thingsmeals are not on our agenda. If the flight justifies more than snacks we will do grab and go from Juice Press or many of the places above. Most often snacks suffice and below is our short list and most options are available at Cibo Express, Hudson News, or other airport snack and gift shops.

The GFB gluten free bites in the PBJ favor

Banana Bites - PB flavor

Chrunchsters - Sea Salt

Smart Sweets - someone figured out how to make vegan gummies sweetened with stevia and monkfruit and they actually taste perfect!

Louisville Vegan Jerky

Dried Mango (unsweetened)

Any other vegan and/or healthy travel trips you can share?

Travel tip: we each have a pair ofbamboo utensilsand water bottles. The utensils come in a narrow nylon pouch and include a spoon, straw, chopsticks, a fork and knife. We do our best to avoid using disposable goods. Traveling already takes a large amount of resources. The straws - metal or bamboo are great. Yes, a couple extra steps in rinsing and washing but this easily becomes routine. Single use plastic is insaneand very difficult to avoid. Bamboo utensils and reusable straws is a no brainer.

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The Jetsetting Founders of Spoke & Weal Salons Share Their Favorite Vegan Eats From Coast to Coast - Forbes

Published November 5, 2019 by PETA.

Ever wonder what vegan food from around the world looks like? Weve compiled a list of some of the most epic animal-free venues from Rome to Tokyo. From Ducks Eatery with watermelon ham in New York City to Speedos Cafe with the most delicious vegan pancakes in Australia, this list of wonderful food venues from around the globe will ignite your wanderlustand hunger. Nowadays, most cities have their own culturally unique animal-free fare for you to munch on, but no matter where you are in the world, all vegan food has one major thing in common: It prevents millions of animals from experiencing nothing but pain and suffering on farms.

Here are PETAs picks for the most epic vegan food spots from around the world:

This truck cooks up some of the most epic vegan fried chicken in the world. Lettuce Feast has so many mouthwatering options, including its tenders and the Nashville Sando, which boasts a crispy chickn patty, slaw, and ranch on a butter bun.

This local favorite has some of the most extravagant vegan breakfast options weve ever seen. If you ever find yourself in Bondi, head over to Speedos Cafe and order the Caramelized Banana + Chia VEGAN Pancakesyou wont be sorry!

Oowee Vegan serves what it calls deliciously dirty vegan food. This restaurant is a junk-food lovers paradise with options such as vegan milkshakes, burgers stacked with onion rings, and fries loaded with cheesy sauce and Buffalo shrimp.

Looking for some adorably delicious vegan desserts in Tokyo? Then do we have the place for you. Wired Bonbon is a bakery and caf with an entirely vegan menu featuring some Insta-worthy parfaits, crme brle, crpes, souffls, and more. One of its most popular sweets is an almond milk soft-serve sundae surrounded by a fluffy cloud of cotton candy.

Dessert for breakfast? Yes, please. Valeo Whole Foods is known for its epic refined sugarfree vegan cheesecakes and pancakes. This entirely plant-based restaurant also serves a delicious charcoal-bun burger, complete with a meaty soy-and-lentil patty, topped with vegan mayo.

As if we needed another reason to go to Italy, this Italian chain is the home of the original rainbow vegan burger. Flower Burger uses natural dyes, such as charcoal, beet, and turmeric, to give its burger buns a pop of color. You can build your own rainbow burger and choose from a variety of homemade patties, including seitan and kidney beans or lentil and basmati rice.

This small restaurant in Buenos Aires is dishing out some vegan food that looks a little intimidating. Dont be fooled, though: La Reverdes dishes are completely vegan, and its the first restaurant in Argentina to serve authentic, local vegan cuisine. It offers staples such as choripn, which is a sausage sandwich, and lomito, which is a type of meat sandwich, both made of marinated seitan. It also offers vegan empanadas and more.

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Seitn Parrillero ahumado con guarnicin a eleccin (Seitn de corte grueso y textura aireada) En @lareverdebsas con @dann.gauna , @claricasara , @victxria____ Creo que en la resea anterior habl de la experiencia en general y el plato en particular. Pero me falt informacin. Por ejemplo, los aderezos y las guarniciones. Se fijaron que en ambas fotos son distintos? En uno es una ensalada mixta y en este son papas fritas. El aderezo anterior era chimichurri y aqu es mayonesa vegana con perejil. Y ambos estaban muy bien. Y a pesar de esto salimos, livianos y ligeros. Ahora, vayamos al plato. El seitn es de sabor ligero y al haber sido ahumado, agarra rpidamente el sabor a humo. Y se logra el sabor parrillero sin caer pesado. Adems, tens una textura ligeramente esponjosa, suave y de sabor ahumado. O sea, lo ms interesante es recuperar lo tostado y lo ahumado sobre algo que se acerca a la carne sin serlo y sin que caiga pesado. #foodie #instafood #buenosaires #bacapitalgastronomica #vivabaires #food #foodstagram #foodlover #foodphotography #foodpassion #buenosaires #nicomidanicomedia #lareverde #seitan #govegan #veggie

A post shared by Nicols M. Belluscio (@nicomidanicomedia) on Apr 25, 2019 at 7:25am PDT

The watermelon ham from Ducks Eatery is brined for four days and smoked for hours. The result? A delicious, smoky mix of rosemary and garlic. This innovative vegan entre will have you doing a double take. Chef Will Horowitz, the mastermind behind it, describes it as being both sweet and savory.

If youre lucky enough to be in Berlin at the right time, you might be able to snag a vegan bacon burger from Brammibals Donuts. Why would a doughnut shop serve a burger? Well, because the buns are glazed doughnuts, of course! This special menu item is available only once in a while, so be on the lookout.

Mythology is whipping up some epic veganized versions of common brunch and dinner options. This innovative restaurant has some unexpected vegan offerings on the menu, such as animal-free eggs Benedict, which are made with a dairy-free hollandaise sauce and vegan egg yolk.

This pastry shop in the 11th arrondissement serves delicious treats that are completely free of any animal-derived ingredients, including classic Parisian pastries like croissants, tarts, cakes, and more. But the pice de rsistance is its vegan macaron tower.

No, thats not what you think it is. Vegab is proving that you can make anything vegan with its plant-based shawarma. This tower of tofu and pea protein is marinated to perfection, sliced, and served as a vegan kebab, which you can customize with veggies and hot sauce.

Did this list make you extra hungry for some vegan eats? Why not sign up for PETAs free vegan starter kit, which comes with a ton of delicious recipes for you to kick-start your compassionate new life.

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Epic Vegan Food Spots Around the World - PETA

Las Vegas-based vegan taco eatery Tacotarian recently debuted the largest vegan taco in the universe as its monthly special in honor of World Vegan Month. Measuring seven inches long by seven inches wide, the taco features a hard taco shell stuffed with French fries, beans, vegan protein of choice, pico de gallo, guacamole, vegan cheddar cheese, and crema. Tacotarian will donate 20 percent of the proceeds from sales of the giant taco to Food Not Bombs Las Vegasan organization that provides free vegan food to low-income and homeless families. We were inspired to do something big for World Vegan Month, and whats bigger than the largest vegan taco in the universe? Tacotarian co-owner Kristen Corral told VegNews. In our minds, creating vegan food thats fun and can spark a conversation is a great way to get people to try new things. If your friend says, Hey, want to go try the largest vegan taco in the universe? Even if youre not vegan youre probably going to say, Heck ya, I want to see that! Tacotarianthe mission of which is to turn Vegas vegan one taco at a timeopened its first location in Las Vegas last year and its second location is slated to open in the coming weeks.

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Las Vegas Eatery Debuts Largest Vegan Taco In the Universe For World Vegan Month - VegNews

More than 11,000 climate change scientists have come together to issue an urgent request: Quit having so many babies.

The dire warning was published Tuesday in the journal BioScience, declaring clearly and unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency based on their accumulation of 40 years of data.

The climate crisis has arrived and is accelerating faster than most scientists expected, they write. It is more severe than anticipated, threatening natural ecosystems and the fate of humanity.

But for such a complicated issue, the solutions for everyday people are pretty plain and simple:The greatest influence individuals can have in combating climate change is to have one fewer child, ecologist and lead author William Ripple told Business Insider.

He and his colleagues write that the world is growing by more than 80 million people per year more than 200,000 per day so gradually reducing the growth within a framework that ensures social integrity would lessen greenhouse-gas emissions and biodiversity loss.

Some millennials and Gen Zers are already heeding their advice: Theyre refusing to procreate for environmental reasons. A growing movement of BirthStrikers is vowing not to have kids due to the severity of the ecological crisis, the movements leader told the Guardian.

Ripple adds that another way to address the crisis is by eating a plant-based diet. He says doing so would improve health, lower greenhouse-gas emissions, reduce food waste and free up croplands for growing much-needed human plant food instead of livestock feed, while releasing some grazing land to support natural climate solutions.

Better stock up on veggie patties and birth control quick: the UNs International Panel on Climate Change recently announced that the planet has only 11 years to prevent a climate change catastrophe.

Link:

Save the planet by having fewer kids, going vegan: study - New York Post

These days, news moves fasteven good news! As more people ditch the suffering caused by the meat and dairy industries and go vegan, companies are moving quickly to make hungry plant-based diners happy. Its easy to see the progress being achieved for animals when you look at the exciting vegan fast-food options that debuted this year, even if its hard to keep up with the latest news. Thats why weve made this handy list of 2019s new animal-free options at popular chain restaurants across the country.

Nearly 20 years of PETA protests paid off in 2019 when fast-food giant KFC announced that it was bowing to customer demand by testing tempting vegan fried chicken from Beyond Meat. During the test, customers and cars wrapped around the building and the option sold out in hoursa sure sign that KFC should make vegan fried chicken available nationwide ASAP.

This popular West Coast burger chain made going vegan an easy New Years resolution in 2019. On the final day of 2018, Carls Jr. began serving up savory Beyond Burgers at all its locations.

Not to be left behind Carls Jr., Hardeeswith locations on the East Coast and in the Midwestbegan serving Beyond Burgers and Beyond Sausage breakfast patties in October. The exclusive-to-Hardees patties can be ordered in a lettuce wrap or flour tortilla to keep them vegan.

Right now, you can find the veganized version of Subways most in-demand submade with Beyond Meatmeatballsat more than 600 participating locations, including in Fresno, California; South Bend, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; Jackson, Mississippi; and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In order to make the new sandwich completely vegan, simplyorder it without cheese and get it on vegan bread, such as Classic Italian.

In 2019, hungry diners can start their day with Beyond Sausage breakfast sandwiches that will be available at over 9,000 Dunkin locations. All youve got to do is ask for it without cheese and egg.

The demand for plant-based options is apparent at Del Tacoit reportedly sold2 million Beyond Tacosin the two months after they debuted at 500 locations nationwide.

Starting in August, Baskin-Robbins debuted its two first creamy vegan ice cream flavors: Chocolate Extreme and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Its since launched a third: Coffee Caramel Chunk.

Taco Bell, one of the largest chains in the U.S., has long been a go-to for vegans looking to find a meal while on the road. This year, as part of its Tacos With a Side of Purpose initiative, its added a dedicated vegan-friendly menu.According toForbes, Taco Bells goal to cater more to animal-friendly eaters stems from its commitment to high-quality, healthy, and tasty ingredients.

Our neighbors to the north got lucky in 2019. In Canada, McDonalds is testing the P.L.T. (plant, lettuce, tomato), which features a Beyond Meat patty. This huge news has us wishing that next year, the Golden Arches will get a little greener here in the U.S.

Before we know it, 2020 will be here, so stay tuned for even more exciting vegan options debuting in restaurants and grocery stores. If youre ready to make the switch to compassionate living but dont know how to get started, youve come to the perfect place. Weve got all the free tips and tools youll need to goand stayvegan all year long.

If youre excited about the vegan fast food mentioned on this page, theres more you can do! Join the hundreds of thousands of people whove taken action to get more animal-free meals in chain restaurants across the country. It only takes a minuteand clearly, it works.

Urge More Chains to Add Vegan Options

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The Best New Vegan Fast Food Options of 2019 - PETA

With interchanging layers of noodles, melty cheese, bechamel, and tomato sauce, lasagne is one of the worlds most perfect foods. You can customize it with vegetables or meaty crumbles and its a reliable meal for potlucks and make-ahead weeknight dinners. No worries this traditionally non-vegan tray of pure comfort is easy to make vegan.

Lasagne is one of Italys oldest dishes. According to Italy Magazine, making pasta boiling a simple mixture of flour and water dates back to the Middle Ages. These flat, wide noodles, called lagana, were one of the most popular ways to eat pasta. Lasagne was an indulgent dish, even centuries ago. Italian friar Salimbene di Adam described one of his colleagues eating lasagne in 1284: Ive never seen anyone stuffing himself on lasagna with cheese so pleasurably and so fully as him.

It wasnt until the 1880s in Naples that tomato became integral to lasagne recipes. And it didnt become the multi-layered feast that it is today until Francesco Zambrini from Bologna introduced it in the 19th century.

As ancient as lasagne is, the modern version was popularized by Italian-American immigrants. Every family had its own special way of serving lasagne, customizing it with sausage, family recipes for tomato sauce, ground beef, and vegetables. Todays lasagne features layers of flat pasta made with eggs, rag sauce, and bchamel baked until the top is crispy. But, again every family has their own way of doing things. Its part of the beauty of lasagne.

Ricotta is a light, spongey, tangy cheese that gets between layers of savory sauce and lasagne noodles. According to Bon Apptit, ricotta is a whey cheese. In traditional cheesemaking, milk is separated into curds the solid part and whey, the liquid left behind. Leftover whey is repurposed to make ricotta by heating it up with a splash of whole milk and vinegar or citrus juice. The small number of curds left behind to coagulate and once big enough, are strained through a cheesecloth. The soft, crumbly cheese left is ricotta.

Ricotta is used in manicotti, lasagne, baked ziti, stuffed shells, as a spread, and on pizza. The cream filling in cannoli is usually made from ricotta. Although ricotta is made with dairy, its easy to make a vegan version using nuts or tofu.

So, whats the best dairy-free cheese for lasagne? Most lasagne recipes include ricotta, mozzarella, and a sprinkling of parmesan. There are store-bought versions available for all three. Try Tofutti or Kite Hill for vegan ricotta. You can also make your own from tofu or cashews. This recipe from Veggies Dont Bite uses cauliflower, cashews, and almonds.

For mozzarella, try Daiya, Miyokos Creamery, or Follow Your Heart. Cashews blended up with dairy-free milk, nutritional yeast, and tapioca starch make for a stretchy dairy-free mozzarella. Greek brand Violife makes a vegan parmesan block that grates like the real thing. Go Veggie makes vegan parm that comes in a shaker. You can also use nutritional yeast or make your own, like this cashew-based recipe. Hemp seeds are good for a nut-free version, like in this hemp parmesan recipe.

Want to kick it up a notch further? Try adding vegan meat crumbles. Brands that make them include Gardein, Beyond Meat, Boca, and MorningStar Farms. You could also use textured vegetable protein (TVP), an old school plant-based protein thats cheap and has a meaty texture. When gathering ingredients to make your own vegan lasagne, look for egg-free noodles. You can get them from brands like Whole Foods 365, Banza, Explore Cuisine, San Giorgio, and Tinkyada.

Looking to make your own vegan lasagne? Look no further. Here are seven recipes to try.

This vegan lasagne features noodles layered with homemade spinach cashew ricotta, savory cashew cream, and a protein-packed marinara sauce. The made-from-scratch sauce gets a boost from red lentils and sweet potato. Dairy-free cashew cream that browns in the oven replaces bchamel.

Get the recipe here.

Packed with sweet potato, broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, and spinach, you wont have trouble eating your veggies thanks to this recipe. It features layers of mashed sweet potato and homemade tofu ricotta. This recipe uses whole grain lasagne noodles and is also oil-free.

Get the recipe here.

This gluten-free and vegan lasagna features a crispy top covered in marinara, plus cashew ricotta, plenty of vegetables, and vegan ricotta. As the dish bakes, the noodles soak up the savory sauce resulting in a hearty dish thats as flavorful as it is delicious.

Get the recipe here.

Looking for a modern take on the Italian classic? This creamy mushroom lasagne features dairy-free garlic sauce and layers of marinated portobello mushrooms, plus plenty of spinach. According to the recipe developer, you can make this nut-free by using her cauliflower alfredo or pumpkin seed alfredo.

Get the recipe here.

With a protein-packed red lentil marinara sauce and dairy-free tofu-cashew ricotta, this vegan lasagne will be a hit with everyone. Be generous with the sauce and tofu-cashew ricotta.

Get the recipe here.

Make this vegan lasagne a few days ahead of time for an easy heat-and-serve dinner. This hearty dish has layers of noodles, vegan ricotta, spinach, and a simple 10-minute marinara sauce. It doesnt get better than that.

Get the recipe here.

These vegan lasagne roll-ups stuffed with tofu ricotta and baby spinach are perfect for make-ahead meals, potlucks (no mess or slicing), and date night dinners.

Get the recipe here.

Summary

Article Name

How to Make the Best Vegan Lasagne

Description

How do you make the best vegan lasagne? Everything you need to know, from making dairy-free ricotta cheese and recipes to try.

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Kat Smith

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LIVEKINDLY

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How to Make the Best Vegan Lasagne - LIVEKINDLY

Ready, set, recipes! Here are our just published, fresh-out-the-mill recipes in one convenient place! These are the top vegan recipes of the day, and are now a part of the thousands of recipes on ourFood Monster App! We have sweet potato casserole, cinnamon loaf, and almond date shortbread, so if youre looking for something new and delicious, you are sure to find a new favorite!

Source: Sweet Potato Casserole with Maple Pecan Topping

This vegan Sweet Potato Casserole with Maple Pecan Topping by Kennedy Kitchings is perfect for the holidays! It has delicious autumnal flavors and just the right amount of sweetness. With just sweet potatoes, syrup, sugar, coconut milk, cinnamon, pecans, and almond flour, is also quite easy to make! Everyone will love this vegan Sweet Potato Casserole

Source: Pumpkin Lentil Soup

This homemade Pumpkin Lentil Soup by Michele Elizabeth is easy and super hearty packed with carrots, potatoes and full of fresh flavors! Vegan and gluten free.

Source: Cinnamon Loaf

This Cinnamon Loaf by Bake Vegan Stuff, Easy Recipes For Kids (And Adults, Too!), Sara Kidd is makes a great, sweet breakfast or snack, and will have your house smelling like a cinnamon roll! Feel free to get the little ones involved; they can mix and help you pour the mixture into the loaf pan!

Source: Coconut Tomato Curry

This Coconut Tomato Curry by Sarah and Peter Hagstrom is to die for. It is so filling, full of nutrients and oh so delicious! And it is a great meal to prep and eat throughout the week!

Source: Tofu Fried Rice

This Tofu Fried Rice by Agnes Potier-Murphy is probably as easy as you could ever hope for a recipe to get! If you can cook rice, you can pretty much cook this vegan fried rice. Rice, peas, and tamari tofua simple, yet perfect combination. The tamari lends a pronounced umami taste to the tofu and makes it taste quite meaty, especially when paired with the rice. This vegan fried rice stores really well and makes for a very filling lunch! It travels well even if kept un-refrigerated for a couple of hours and tastes delicious warm or cold! Make this for dinner one night and then bring leftovers to work the next day for lunchyour stomach will thank you!

Source: Paleo Brownies

These grain free vegan Paleo Brownies by Nele Liivlaid are moist, gooey, and kid-approved. They are ready in under an hour and absolutely delicious! The binder is psyllium husk powder, which does an amazing job! In fact, you can lift up the whole brownie without breaking it apart! You have to try these vegan paleo browniesthey are such a game changer!

Source: Almond & Date Shortbread

This Almond & Date Shortbread by Judy Moosmueller is so simple and so delicious! It only calls for four ingredients and does not require a lot of work to make.

Source: Spicy Loaded Nachos

These Spicy Loaded Nachos by Alejandra Graf are a protein-packed and flavorful snack. In this recipe, tofu, black beans, avocado, spicy peppers, and salsa are piled high on a bed of crispy nachos. Quick and easy to make, this dish is a perfect game-day party appetizer or even a savory and fulfilling breakfast dish.

Source: Breakfast Nachos With Tofu Scramble and Tempeh Bacon

Just when you thought breakfast couldnt get any better, we present to you: Breakfast Nachos With Tofu Scramble and Tempeh Bacon by Jasmine Briones! These babies are oil-free, loaded with some amazing plant ingredients and guess what? You can eat as much as youd like as these are good for ya, and wont have you feeling like garbage after. Have these for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Source: Air Fryer Apple Chips and Coconut Cranberry Nachos

These Air Fryer Apple Chips and Coconut Cranberry Nachos by Alison Corey are made with almond butter, and topped with cranberries, raisins, chopped almonds, and chia seeds. Theyre the perfect after school snack or healthy dessert.

We also highly recommend downloading ourFood Monster App, which is available foriPhone, and can also be found onInstagramandFacebook. The app has more than 15,000 plant-based, allergy-friendly recipes, and subscribers gain access to new recipes every day. Check it out!

For more Vegan Food, Health, Recipe, Animal, and Life content published daily, dont forget to subscribe to theOne Green Planet Newsletter!

Being publicly-funded gives us a greater chance to continue providing you with high quality content. Pleasesupport us!

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From Tofu Fried Rice to Paleo Brownies: Our Top 10 Vegan Recipes of the Day! - One Green Planet

On a recent day in Baltimores Cherry Hill suburb, within the enclosure of a tall chain-link fence that guards a grassy meadow surrounded by churches, schools, and apartment complexes, Eric Jackson reaches into a garden plot the size of a tennis court, lush with collard greens and dinosaur kale, to pick a green leaf of medicinal mugwort.

Its good for your joints, he says of the leaf. A Cherry Hill native, Jackson (pictured above) is a social worker, community organizer, and, officially, servant-director of the Black Yield Institute, where he co-produced the documentary Baltimores Strange Fruit, the story of post-Reconstruction lynching, redlining, and land consolidation by white farmers conspiring to estrange Black sharecroppers and their descendants from the soil.

The Cherry Hill Urban Garden where Jackson is working, sits on one of several undeveloped acres near the neighborhood center. Its the former home of Cherry Hill Homes, one of the nations biggest public housing projects; at its peak, it tallied 1,700 apartments. The neighborhood was founded as the nations first Negro Suburb, developed in the 1940s to house Southern Blacks who were migrating for World War II factory jobs. Its now home to some 8,000 Black residents, who still make up 90 percent of its population.

Ringed by metalworks shops, paper mills, plastic plants, shipping, trucking, and bus yardsand even one of the citys eight trash transfer stationsCherry Hill still faces industrial pollution and flooding and lacks basic amenities like a supermarket with a produce section.

Over the past century, the Jim Crow era approach to land appropriation, the Great Migration to cities, and deep-seated shame about their peoples plantation past have all contributed to the radical decline of Black farmers. The overall number has dropped from 14 percent at the turn of the last century to just 2 percent today. At the same time, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that Black Americans are more likely than others to eat fast food on any given day and to suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and a host of other diet-related illnesses.

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Its just a culture of economics that got not only African Americans but other people into eating on the run, says 70-year-old Warren Blue, Baltimores longest-tenured urban farmer, as he peels the dried outer layers of stalk from freshly harvested garlic bulbs. We have gotten away from so much that nature has afforded us.

Black Americans however, are finding their way back to the land, even in a dense urban neighborhood like Cherry Hill. From the freight-shipping communities of South Baltimore to the leafy northern suburbs to Freddie Grays Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood on the west side, Jackson and Blue are just two of many cultivators working across the citys 92 square miles to re-root their fellow Black Baltimoreans in the land. They are also increasingly collaborating with chefs, nutritionists, and food-access activists to encourage plant-based eating.

A couple of blocks from the site of DAngelo Barksdales pit in HBOs The Wire, for example, The Land of Kush serves up black-eyed-pea fritters and pork-free collards. Its headquarters for Baltimores multiple vegan restaurant weeks and for the Black Vegetarian Society of Maryland, which boasts an email and social-media reach of 4,000 people. Its also home to the annual Vegan SoulFest, which draws more than 10,000 people from across the nation, mostly African Americans, and has seen a seven-fold increase since it began in 2014.

Naijha Wright Brown and Gregory Brown, owners of The Land of Kush. (Photo courtesy of The Land of Kush)

You can be in line at The GruB Factory, another vegan caf certified by Baltimores Pan-African Liberation Movement, and meet Marvin Hayes, a 46-year-old Sandtown-Winchester resident who teaches composting to kids and who fought off a proposed trash incinerator in Curtis Bay, south of Cherry Hill, amid already-poor air quality. You can go on a tour of Hayes soil-making facility at Filbert Street Community Garden and meet curious farmers who have come here on learning trips from other parts of the city. And you might find a Black Millennial pruning tomato leaves at Whitelock Community Farm, wearing a t-shirt from SoulFest, a co-sponsor of the Afro-Vegan Society, a clearinghouse for finding Black-owned vegan restaurants all over the U.S.

Urban farmers aim to animate dormant land and feed people in food desertsor areas where Jackson, 33, says residents suffer from food apartheid. But they also recognize that providing fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables will nourish Baltimores burgeoning vegan and vegetarian movements, addressing racialized health disparities while showing the possibilities for a climate-friendly food system. As the livestock industry contributes an estimated 14.5 percent of global greenhouse emissions, Baltimores plant-based food-justice movement is also on the frontlines of grassroots climate intervention.

The only thing I got to say is, the young folks got to save us, says Warren Blues wife, Lavette, 64. Youre the next generation, the only one that can kind of understand and see whats happening.

Jacksons story begins with his grandmother, Edith Mae Louise Briscoe, who grew her own vegetables in a Cherry Hill Homes courtyard. Still, in a neighborhood of corner-store snack foods and fried-chicken carry-out, she lost a leg to diabetes and lived to meet Cherry Hills average life-expectancy: 69 years old, which is four years lower than Baltimores as a whole and a decade below the national average.

Jacksons family doesnt know whether the diabetes was genetic or brought on by a steady diet of sweet tea and biscuits. But, in Cherry Hill, as with the nation at large, Black Americans are twice as likely to die of the disease than their white counterparts. Likewise, cancer and heart disease are 50 percent more likely to be what kills you in Baltimore as anywhere else in the nation.

Its not just human health that suffers; the sickness of the planet manifests in Cherry Hill, too. Public-housing tenants complain of flooding and mold growth amidst an increasing number of hurricanes and tropical storms over the past two decades. Marylands coastal waters have risen a foot since the Industrial Revolution, and the Chesapeake Bay set a record during Hurricane Isabel in 2003, surging seven feet above the benchmark sea level at that time.

Without huge reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, the latest five-year report from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science predicts the states shoreline will recede another two feet, and possibly as much as seven feet, by 2100, flooding Baltimore not just during storms but daily.

Its a changing weather pattern, believe me, says Lavette Blue, who retired from her job with the state unemployment office to start farming full-time in 2011. She and her husband Warren have worked their little farm, The Greener Garden, in their own suburban yard and their neighbors yards, for more than 30 years. They sell greens, garlic, and more at the citys farmers markets, both on their own and through the Farm Alliance of Baltimore.

Warren and Lavette Blue at The Greener Garden. (Photo by Jesse James DeConto)

Many of their crops are in hoop houses, and while 2018s Hurricane Florence was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it reached Maryland, it still marked Baltimores wettest year on record. Nearly 72 inches of rain drowning everything the Blues had planted outside. If you talk to some of the farmers, theyll tell you, Lavette says. Are we just going to be Waterworld?

Harvesting from more than an acre of earth northeast of Morgan State University, she and Warren have eaten meat-free for two and a half decades. I feel like Im at least helping the earth kind of recover, helping the people to eat better, learn how to eat differently than what theyre used to, she says, and to show them that they dont have to eat fast food.

About six miles to the southwest, in the gentrifying Hampden neighborhood near Johns Hopkins University, Chef Crystal Forman, 42, cuts bunches of Cherry Hills dark, leathery dino kale into tiny strips. Shes in a concrete warehouse, with a ceiling of unfinished sheetrock, Sharpie anime on the walls, well-worn couches, and mismatched chairs.

This is the Baltimore Free Farm, not so much a farm as a self-described egalitarian collective, supporting the small Ash Street Community Garden and a kitchen used by the Food Not Bombs meal service and Food Rescue Baltimore, the program that brought Forman here.

About 30 people line up outside the concrete-block building across from the garden, then wind their way through dimly lit halls to wait for boxes of fruits and vegetables rescued from a local organic grocer and a supermarket distributor. Formans job is to teach people how to prepare healthy, vegan meals with what theyve gotin this case, free bread and fruits and vegetables that would have otherwise gone to a landfill. Food waste contributes 8 percent of global greenhouse gases; between diverting waste and boosting vegetarian diets, Food Rescue Baltimore exists to shrink the citys carbon footprint ever so slightly and improve peoples health at the same time.

Working behind a folding table, Forman tells the crowd the kale is full of vitamins A, C, and K, which means that it nourishes the brain, eyes, bones, blood, and immune system, and can even fight cancer, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Shell eventually top the salad with nutritional yeast for the nutty flavor and the extra B12 and potassium.

Chef Crystal Forman teaching a meal-prep class. (Photo courtesy of Crystal Forman)

What type of fruit would be complementary to kale? asks 28-year-old Brittany Dulin. Shes been looking for recipes to help her mom eat better after chest pains sent her to the hospital and doctors found a partially clogged artery.

Forman pulls out a bag of dried cranberries to add to the salad. She dices organic Fuji apples from the rescue and tells Dulin that avocados, blueberries, or oranges could all work, too. Her recipe includes sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and is topped with a vinaigrette made with balsamic vinegar, fresh garlic, agave syrup, basil, oregano, black pepper, and pink Himalayan salt.

Its always good to add an acid, she says, pouring her concoction over the leafy greens, to break down the cell walls of the kale.

Forman runs these food demonstrations several times a month, all over the city. The local Abell Foundation funds her work through the Farm Alliance of Baltimore, whose 17 members constitute about half the number of urban farms in the city, supported by about 20 farmers markets and supplemented by more than 100 community gardens. She teaches cooking at the markets, at community centers, and at two of nine Food Rescue distribution sites. Shes also on the board of directors for the Black Vegetarian Society.

On the previous weekend, Forman presented at the Societys Keep It Fresh vegan youth festival at West Baltimores Druid Hill Park, teaching kids how to make her tuna-less salad out of chickpeas. She leads monthly workshops at subsidized apartment towers including Monument East or City View at McCulloh.

Over the past two years, using Formans recipes, McCulloh resident and Navy veteran Yusuf Hadith, 72, says hes lost 30 pounds, stopped taking pain meds for arthritic knees and a degenerative disc, and ditched his wheelchair for a cane. Hadith says he often starts preparing Formans peanut or pumpkin soups at 6 p.m. and is eating dinner by 6:30.

The other day she taught us to mix kale and collard greens as a salad, he says. The history with African Americans is that you cook that vegetable. As simple as that idea is, it just never occurs to us that it can be a salad. My generation, we complicated things, and we forgot the simplicity of cooking, he says. We made a hell of a mess of things. We taught our children speed, convenience, and hopelessness.

According to a Johns Hopkins study, about a quarter of Baltimores residents live in Healthy Food Priority Areas, which are defined as being more than a five-minute walk from a supermarket. In these neighborhoodswhich cover much of the predominantly Black east and west sidesquick, convenient food comes in the form of the Baltimore chicken box of breaded wings and fries, sold at corner carry-outs. Cherry Hill has several of them within a one-mile radius, while the nearest supermarket that sells fresh produce is a Walmart Supercenter two miles away.

Jacksons Black Yield Institute, along with the Cherry Hill Development Corporation, is working to open a co-op market to provide healthy food from Black-owned farms, and to craft a cookbook with recipes from residents of the Cherry Hill Senior Manor, across the street from the garden. The cookbook will have two versions of each recipe: The classic dishes, full of salt, animal fat, and sugar, plus healthier alternativeshis wifes vegan take on his grandmothers biscuits, for instance.

Like other food-justice advocates across the city, Jackson and his collaborators recognize both the damage to health and to the earth that industrialized food has wrought and also the deep roots of healing embedded within African Americans own painful history. Enslaved Africans were the ones who crossed the Atlantic with what are now soul-food staples like okra and black-eyed peas; some say the New World didnt have watermelon before they came, and they even brought coffee to the Americas from Ethiopia through the European slave trade.

Not only do we not have a relationship with the land; we dont have a relationship with food, Jackson says, kneeling to pull weeds from land where sections of the Cherry Hill Homes project were demolished 20 years ago. But Jackson says he and his neighbors are rekindling those connections, on the shoulders of ancestors, literally.

This report was supported by an Environmental Justice Reporting Award from the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources.

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Baltimore is at the Vanguard of a National Black Vegan Movement - Civil Eats

Mexican entrepreneurs Adrin Lpez Velarde and Marte Czarez recently debuted Desserto, the first organic leather made entirely from the nopal (or prickly-pear) cactus. The entrepreneurs aim was to create a sustainable, cruelty-free alternative to animal leather. The material is partially biodegradable and has the technical specifications required by the fashion, leather goods, furniture, and automotive industries. Thanks to its flexibility, breathability, and durability of at least 10 years, the cactus leather has the ability to replace the use of animal leather and synthetic materials that are not environmentally friendly. Lpez Velarde and Czarez quit their jobs to focus on developing Desserto, also known as cactus or nopal vegan leather. After two years of research and development, we managed to produce a suitable material that complies with the features and technical/mechanical specifications required by those industries that use animal or synthetic leather, Lpez Velarde told media outlet Fashion United. Also, thanks to its organic composition, it is breathable, which makes cactus or nopal vegan leather similar to animal leather. The creators showcased Desserto last month at the International Leather Fair Lineapelle in Milan, Italy and are already working with major groups in different industries for potential applications.

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Two Guys in Mexico Just Created Vegan Leather From Cactus - VegNews