Veganism: Not As Intimidating As You Thought

By Kirsten Hawkins


To some people, the phrase       One of the most uniquely      
Vegan Cuisine sounds like an     vegan foods on the market, and
oxymoron. To others, it          the one that tends to scare   
sounds like the road of a        the layperson the most, is    
hardcore food nutritionist.      tofu. Tofu is basically a     
Scary, was the word used by      soybean curd with a sponge-   
my roommate when I announced I   like consistency and a bland  
was going to try to become a     taste that absorbs whatever   
vegan. What most people don't    flavors are around it. Am I   
realize is that it's very        tempting you yet?             
possible, indeed even                                          
probable, for a creative chef    Wait. Let's try this. Imagine 
to make vegan food just as       a dish of Italian stuffed     
exciting and full of variety     shells, loaded with tomato    
as any other type of cuisine.    sauce and basil, garlic, and  
                                 oregano. Now imagine that     
What is veganism, first of       instead of cheese, the shells
all? Strictly put, veganism is   were stuffed with a mixture of
a diet which contains no         soft tofu, blended with fresh 
animal byproducts. Not only do   spinach. The tofu absorbs the 
vegans not eat meat, like        Italian spices and has a      
vegetarians, but they also do    delicate, creamy flavor all   
not consume any food created     its own. Would you notice the
by animals. No milk, no eggs,    absence of the cheese? Sure.  
no dairy of any kind. No pasta   Would you miss it? Not        
derived from eggs. No            likely.                       
gelatin. When you stop to                                      
think, it is surprising how      There are many recipes unique 
much of the typical American     to vegan cuisine that are     
diet is animal-derived.          truly surprising in their     
                                 variety and tastiness. Curry  
All of this, I admit, can        is one of the darlings of     
sound rather scary to the        vegan cuisine, and is         
typical meat and milk lover,     available in all forms and    
and certainly to the typical     flavors. Other wonderful vegan
American who is surrounded by    dishes include several types  
fast-food hamburgers and         of stir-fry, swimming in soy  
bologna sandwiches from a        sauces and fresh vegetables;  
young age. But veganism is not   salads overflowing with fresh
as intimidating as it sounds.    beans and sweet oil dressings,
In fact, when the right          and many spicy and exciting   
choices in recipe and menu are   side dishes and appetizers.   
made, it can be                  Many people, for example, love
extraordinarily flavorful and    the wonderful garlicky zing   
rewarding.                       of hummus and do not realize  
                                 that it's a distinctly vegan  
Think of it this way: Vegan      food.                         
cuisine can't rely on heavy,                                   
flavorful ingredients like       Give vegan cuisine a try.     
meat and dairy to get its        Once you stop relying on meat
flavor and substance. So what    and milk for your flavor and  
do they do instead? They         fullness, you might just      
replace those ingredients in a   discover a whole new world out
way that makes you never even    there, where spices are       
miss them- with fresh            abundant and soybean curd can
vegetables, heady spices,        be delicious.                 
wonderful texture combinations                                 
and delicate wheat-based                                       
starches.                                                      
                                 

About the author:
Kirsten Hawkins is a food and nutrition expert specializing the Mexican, Chinese, and Italian food. Visit http://www.food-and-nutrition.com/for more information on cooking delicious and healthy meals.


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