Why Don't You Eat Honey?

From VegNews:

New research examines insect brain size and concludes insects could be as smart as larger animals.

By Liz Miller

A honeybee may have a pinhead-sized brain, but it can count, categorize similar objects such as human faces, understand simple logic, and differentiate between shapes, according to a report released this week in Current Biology...

Read the full article.

Today! SFCHRP at SF Vegan Bake Sale!!!

Of course, this is way last minute, but if you find yourself in the Castro District of San Francisco between the hours of 11 AM - 4 PM today, please come by and support the "first" SF Vegan Bake Sale at 16th and Sanchez Streets. There will be over 40 vegan bakers with a wide array of treats to choose from that are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth and pastry hankerings. Proceeds will go to Gimme Shelter Cat Rescue.

Besides stuffing my face silly,  I'll be there representing my organization, San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, to collect donations of cash, checks, medicine, non-perishable foods, and vitamins for victims of the recent typhoons that devastated the Philippines. Hundreds have died from floodwaters, landslides, and illness. Hundreds of thousands have lost their livelihoods and homes and are crowded in makeshift evacuation centers. Government response has been criminally inadequate. (For information on donating online, visit sfchrp.weebly.com.)

Read about SF Vegan Bake Sale in the news - here and here!

SFCHRP mentioned in conjunction with the sale here, here and here!

Thank you to the AWESOME Laura Beck of Vegansaurus!

UPDATE (4:46 PM) - We raised $193.50, a bag of clothing, and toiletries that will be used to aid grassroots relief efforts directed at helping typhoon victims rebuild their lives. Maraming salamat kay na Josh, Emily, at Rupert para sa kanilang tulong. Salamat ulit sa Vegansaurus at kay Laura para sa kanilang suporta!

Bad Ass Munggo (Mung Beans)

If you want to be bad ass, eat this. No really, this Filipino dish is heavily infused with protein from the beans, spinach, mushrooms, broccoli and all the other good stuff that makes it a scrumptious, hearty dish. It's also high in Vitamin A, C and anti-oxidants.

Ingredients:

cooking oil

crushed garlic

1 diced onion

2 diced tomatoes

pack of Mung Beans

2 bunches of Spinach

1 bunch of broccoli

1 small pack of dried shiitake mushrooms

1-2 sliced eggplant

1 pack extra firm tofu

1/4 cup of soy sauce

6-8 cups of water

*Note: You need a pot and a pan to cook this dish. In other words, you'll cook two things at once, it's real easy!

Deep fry the tofu in a pan

In a pot, boil the mung beans with water (until beans are soft and mushy)

In a bowl, soak the dried shiitake mushroooms in hot water until they're soft, save the broth.

When the tofu is golden brown, remove from pan, lessen the oil

Fry the garlic to the pan until light brown

Add the tomatoes and onions

Add the eggplant

When tender, pour the ingredients from the pan to the pot of mung beans

Let it boil

Add the spinach and broccoli

Let it simmer

Add the soy sauce. Adjust the soy sauce per taste preference.

Add the softened mushrooms

Add the mushroom broth. (Per taste preference).

Let it boil.

You're done!

"Sinampalukang (Veggie) Manok" aka Veggie Chicken Tamarind Soup

Sinampalukang Manok, or Chicken in Tamarind Soup, is a popular Filipino dish, similar to another popular dish, Sinigang, because of their tamarind taste, though ingredients quite differ. For example, Sinampalukan requires tamarind leaves (available at most Asian and Filipino grocery stores). To veganize the dish, I used veggie chicken drumstick, or you can use veggie ham, tofu or gluten. I rarely use meat substitute, but this dish calls for it.

INGREDIENTS:

cooking oil

chopped garlic

diced onion

diced tomatoes

julienned ginger

sliced eggplant

cut string beans

cut okra

Veggie chicken drumstick or Veggie Ham

Chopped tamarind leaves (Available at most Asian and Filipino grocery stores)

Mama Sita's Tamarind Soup Mix (This brand is vegan and is available at most Asian & Filipino grocery stores)

Salt to taste
1-2 cups of water

1. Once the pot is warm, put the garlic and sautee until lightly brown.

2. Add the onions, tomatoes and ginger until slightly soft and tender

3. Put in the eggplant and sautee until the eggplants are tender

4. Add the string beans and okra

5. Add the chopped tamarind leaves (make sure to finely chop the leaves before putting it in the pot).

6. Pour half of the broth of the tamarind leaves to the pot. Add a cup of water. Simmer until boiling.

7. Add the Tamarind Soup Mix (I usually put half of the packet)
8. Add another cup of water (pour more soup mix depending on taste preference)

8. Let it boil

9. Salt to taste

10. Add the meat substitute

Feel free to adjust by adding more soup mix or salt, depending on your taste preference. I usually prefer mine sour-salty. Enjoy!

"What Does A Vegan Eat?" A Photo Essay

What did you do this past Labor Day weekend? I cooked up a storm of herbivoracious, yum-yum meals. Here's what I fixed:

Rasta Pups

Grilled Carrots with Jamaican-inspired Slaw on Crusty Bread

Delicious TV Vodcast

Vegetable Tempura with Tentsuyu Dipping Sauce (Not pictured)

Broccoli and Cauliflower Florets Deep Fried in Batter with Sweet-Salty Dipping Sauce

Vegan Yum Yum and Everyday Dish TV

No Queso Quesadillas (with Pineapple Salsa)

White bean hummus and homemade pineapple salsa in flour tortilla

The Vegan Table and my own devices

Marinated Tofu Steaks Smothered with Onions

Herbed Potato Salad

Delicious TV Vodcast

Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies

Rich, moist, buttery cookies without butter

Dreena Burton

Chicken-Style Seitan Arroz Caldo

Congee with strips of homemade chicken-style seitan topped with green onions and fried garlic

Key Lime Cheesecake (Not pictured)

Also...

Cashew Basil Pesto Pasta

Tortang Talong

Eggplant in eggless omelet batter

Adobo Diablo

String beans and squash cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, chilies, and coconut milk

Mike "artivista" Luat

Dessert Quesadilla

Chocolate chips, mashed banana, generous gobs of peanut butter, pineapple chunks in flour tortilla

And scenes from the first Pinoy Veg Cookout last mid-August:

Vegan Filipino Recipes

I don't know how I stumbled upon this apparently secret link, but here it is: a wealth of vegan Filipino recipes (except for the occasional use of honey, in which cases you can substitute sugar or agave nectar) in an obscure corner of the World Wide Web. Scroll down for the main entrees. Enjoy.

Can Children Be Vegan?

Can Children Be Vegan and Vegetarian?

"While some parents and pediatricians believe a vegan or vegetarian diet is unhealthy for children, studies and real-life experiences suggest quite the opposite..." Read the full story.

I know, I know. I haven't been posting recipes. That's what Richgail is for! Kidding aside, I'm on it. Before this month's end, I will have posted a new veganized Filipino recipe. In the meantime, have you checked out the recipe section of No Worries Catering website? It's run by my friend Jay-Ar Pugao, who reports (*fingers crossed*) that he's about to embark on a vegan Filipino restaurant in Oakland's Jack London Square. This is a big deal! I can't wait!

Revolutionary Spanish Omelet with Saffron and Roasted Red Pepper-Almond Sauce

This recipe is from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Vegan with a Vengeance.  I'm so glad I discovered this dish because I absolutely love omelette, but cruelty free. 

I did not have an oven that time, so I just used my pan and it worked just fine. 

• 3 T. plain soy milk (I used vanilla soy milk, which I think is better)
• 1/4 c. plus 1 T. olive oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
• 4 medium Yukon gold potatoes, unpeeled, halved and sliced into 1/4-inch slices (be sure to slice evenly to ensure even cooking)
• 1-1/2 lb. soft tofu, drained
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 t. salt
• Dash cayenne pepper

Place saffron threads in a small cup and gently press with back of a spoon a few times; don’t crush completely.  Warm the soy milk in a small saucepan or in the microwave ’til just about boiling.  Remove from heat and pour over saffron; stir briefly and set aside for a minimum of 25 minutes (the longer it soaks, the more flavor and color will be released).

Pour 1/4 c. of the olive oil into a 10-inch cast iron skillet.  Add the sliced potatoes and onions; there should be about 1/4 in of space left on the top of the pan. Remove some potatoes if it’s too full.  Gently toss potatoes and onions in oil to coat. 

Meanwhile, in a food processor, blend until smooth the drained tofu, garlic, and remaining 1 T. of olive oil.  Strain the saffron/soy milk mixture and add to the toful mixture along with the salt and cayenne pepper.  Blend until creamy.

Pour the tofu mixture into the pan and gently fold the potatoes and onions into the tofu mixture.  

Serve either warm or room temperature, and with ketchup or with Roasted Red Pepper-Almond Sauce:

• 3 red bell peppers, roasted, skins removed, seeds removed, and torn into chunks (or 1-2 jars of roasted peppers)
• 1/4 c. almond meal or finely ground almonds
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 3 T. olive oil
• 1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 t. dried thyme
• 1-1/2 t. sugar
• Salt to taste

Blend all ingredients in food processor until thick and creamy. Makes about 1-1/4 cups.

If you want to try to also bake it, here's another blog that has that recipe: www.kindlypogmothoin.com

Tofu Pineapple Curry

Tofu Pineapple Curry

1 tub Firm or Extra Firm tofu, frozen and pressed
1 lb fresh or frozen sugar peas
14-oz package frozen pearl onions
1 lb baby carrots, sliced thin
1 cup garlic cloves, sliced thin
1 cup vegetable broth OR 1 cup water with 1 Tbls Miso paste
1 can coconut milk
2 tsp (or to taste) Red Curry paste (I use Thai Kitchen brand)
1 can Pineapple chunks, drained

Saute the fresh and frozen vegetables in the broth/miso until heated through. Add the tofu and garlic, and then stir in the coconut milk and curry paste (whip the curry paste into the coconut milk, using a fork to blend). Turn the heat down to a simmer, and top with the pineapple. Let simmer for about 10 minutes, and then serve over rice.

St. Francis and the Sow

St. Francis and the Sow

A Poem by Galway Kinnell

The bud
stands for all things,
even those things that don't flower,
for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;
though sometimes it is necessary
to reteach a thing its loveliness,
to put a hand on its brow
of the flower
and retell it in words and in touch
it is lovely
until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing;
as St. Francis
put his hand on the creased forehead
of the sow, and told her in words and in touch
blessings of earth on the sow, and the sow
began remembering all down her thick length,
from the earthen snout all the way
through the fodder and slops to the spiritual curl of
the tail,
from the hard spininess spiked out from the spine
down through the great broken heart
to the blue milken dreaminess spurting and shuddering
from the fourteen teats into the fourteen mouths sucking
and blowing beneath them:
the long, perfect loveliness of sow.

---

I just finished re-listening to the 'Peace for Pigs' episode of Vegetarian Food for Thought podcast. It's been sixteen months now that I've been vegan, and I've fallen into kind of a 'normal routine' with my dietary habits. At times, it's difficult for me to remember- really remember- the reasons that made me go vegan in the first place. The reason was and is compassion, malasakit for my fellow beings who experience life as richly as I do (although perhaps differently in some ways) and have every right as I to exist, and yet endure hell on earth before dying a premature death.

Listening to the podcast also reminded me of the plight of slaughterhouse workers who work in filthy, physically-dangerous, psychologically-damaging conditions, and yet are paid low wages and often maltreated themselves by their employers. These workers have high rates of alcoholism, paranoia, domestic abuse, violence, and arrest. Again, "all exploitation is inextricably intertwined."

It saddens me to know how our society scorns an animal as beautiful and intelligent as a pig, even as we use its body as we will for our most petty of desires. At the same time, I humbly remember that, not long ago, I would have happily consumed lechon with hardly a second thought.

APRITADA

cooking oil

Garlic
onion
tomato
potatoes
bell pepper
garbanzo beans
peas
bay leaves
tofu or veggie ham

mushroom
spinach
olives
cayenne pepper and salt to taste
carrots
sweet relish
tomato paste

1. Sautee the garlic until brown

2. add the onions and tomatoes

3. add potatoes, bell pepper and bay leaves

4. once the potatoes are soft, add the carrots and mushroom

5. add the spinach, olives, garbanzo beans and peas

6. Mix and simmer for 3-5 min

7. pour the tomato sauce and paste (ratio: 1 can of tomato sauce, 1 tablespoon of paste)

8. Add the relish

9. Add the tofu and or veggie ham and simmer for 5-8 minutes

10. add salt and cayenne pepper to taste

11. simmer until boiling

12. you're done!

Nilaga Soup

Nilaga is a traditional Filipino soup, very nourishing and hearty. In fact, most Filipinos eat this not as a side but as main entree with rice.

Ingredients:

Chinese Cabbage

Cabbage

Squash

Green Beans

Potatoes

Carrots

Celery

Onions (diced)

Broccoli

Mushroom 

Tofu

Vegetable broth

Corn oil

Corn on the cob is optional

1. Boil a pot of water 

2. Add the celery, onions, vegetable broth,  potatoes and squash

3. Wait till the potatoes and squash are soft

4. Add the Mushroom, Broccoli, Carrots and Tofu

5. Add a tbsp. of corn oil and let it simmer for 3-5 minutes

6. Add the rest of the ingredients: Chinese Cabbage, Green Beans, Cabbage and corn on the cob

7. Let it boil and you're done!

Turon, a great summer snack!

Turon can be a great snack or dessert. Each bite satisfies with sweet crunchiness.

Ingredients:

Lumpia wrapper (can be bought at any Asian grocery stores, make sure it's eggless)

Plantains (Cut in halves)

Sweet Jackfruit

1. Wrap the plantain and jackfruit

2. Deep Fry

3. Done!

*You can seal the wrap with a little bit of water

Maawa Na Sana Tayo. Sila'y Katulad Rin Natin.

The Moral Lives of Animals

This is so sweet and uplifting... an unlikely friendship between a cat and a bird. I couldn't help but share.