We recently dined at Madras Café in Orlando, Florida (they also have another location in Ocala, FL) and greatly enjoyed their South Indian Thali, which they are able to make vegan. Simply tell the waiter that you are vegan. In fact, all of their menu is vegetarian and very vegan-friendly. For example, dishes that include paneer (cheese) can be prepared with tofu instead. They will also accommodate Jain dietary needs.

Information on Madras Café can be found here: https://www.themadrascafefl.com

You can also check out VRG’s online guide to veggie restaurants in the USA and Canada: https://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php

It’s the spookiest night of the year… and you want to give out vegan candy to all the little ghouls and goblins that knock on your door. But what to do? Are there vegan Halloween candy options? YES! We’ve got you covered.

Go to this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0GjGR852pc

Mac and Cheez Stuffed Peppers photo by Rissa Miller

Chef John Beck offers recipes for stuffed veggies and fruit in a previous issue of Vegan Journal. Enjoy Deviled Potatoes; White Bean-Stuffed Tomato Cups; Mac and Cheez-Stuffed Peppers; Stuffed Eggplant Rolls; and Apples with Cinnamon-Roasted Nuts.

Find the article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2021issue4/2021_issue4_get_stuffed.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only by visiting https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

Whether it’s for baking or for toast or baked potatoes, you may be wondering which brand of vegan butter to choose. Certainly, you can live quite happily without ever using vegan butter, but if you are a consumer, you can decide to support a company whose product checks your boxes for nutritional quality. As an occasional user of vegan butter, I want a product that is low in saturated fat.

I looked at some widely available vegan butters. Information is from manufacturers’ websites and product packages.

The saturated fat content of the products I surveyed ranged from 2 grams to 8 grams of saturated fat in a 1 Tablespoon serving of vegan butters. The products with the lowest saturated fat are:

• I Can’t Believe It’s Not Vegan – 2 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon
• Earth Balance Whipped Buttery Spread and Olive Oil Buttery Spread – 2.5 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon
• Earth Balance Original Buttery Spread and Soy Free Buttery Spread – 3 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon

All of these products are tub butters. For baking, stick butters with the lowest saturated fat are:

• Earth Balance sticks (Vegan Buttery, Unsalted Buttery, and European Style) – 3.5 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon
• Country Crock Plant Butter Sticks – 5 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon

Earth Balance’s Organic Whipped Buttery Spread is the only product that was both lower in saturated fat and had organic ingredients. Other products that were certified organic include:

• Miyoko’s Creamery Cultured Oat Milk Vegan Butter – 4.5 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon
• Wayfare Foods Dairy Free Butter – 5 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon
• Miyoko’s Creamery Cultured Vegan Butter (salted and unsalted) – 8 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon

The Vegetarian Resource Group has compiled a list of Senior Independent Living, Assisted Living, Nursing Home, and Other Senior Facilities in the USA that will accommodate vegetarians and in some cases vegans. This is a work in progress and if you know of any establishments that should be added to this list, please let us know. Our goal in this project is to persuade senior establishments to offer more vegan options on a regular basis. Sometimes by just asking you put the thought on their radar. We were successful in doing the same thing 20 years ago when we urged college campuses to add vegan options.

You can find the entire list here: https://www.vrg.org/seniors/senior_vegan.php

To support this type of project, please donate here: www.vrg.org/donate

Photo from Mush DC

The Vegetarian Resource Group maintains an online Guide to Vegan/Vegetarian Restaurants in the USA and Canada. Here are some recent vegan restaurant additions. The entire guide can be found here: http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php

To support the updating of this online restaurant guide, please donate at: www.vrg.org/donate

Here are some new additions to VRG’s guide (Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic many are doing take-out and/or delivery now):

De la Tierra, 326 Commercial St., San Jose, CA 95112

Try their street tacos, quesadilla, and Italian sodas. Food truck does pop up locations; see website for latest information.

Hart House, 8901 S Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045

Kevin Hart, a comedian and actor, opened Hart House in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Westchester. Burgers come with American cheese, familiar fixings, and the Hart House Signature Sauce. You can even customize your Crispy Chick’n Sandwich a bit. Some like it hot—if that’s you, maybe kick it up a notch with Hart House Hot Sauce. If you’d like to add some texture, you might consider adding hunny mustard and pickles, topped with Kale Crunch slaw. When you order Crispy Chick’n Nuggets, you can choose from 6 dipping sauces. For Salad days, there’s Caesar and colorful Kale Crunch, dressed in blood orange vinaigrette. Carrots and Brussel sprouts contribute to the crunch factor. Sides include Fries and Tots. They also offer shakes!

Loving Hut, 722 S Grand Ave, Glendora, CA 91740

Start with steamed dumplings or summer rolls, then move on to wonton soup. Also enjoy seared tofu with lemongrass, pad Thai, classic burger, dessert, and more.

Mush DC, 3809 Rhode Island Ave., Brentwood, MD 20722

Mush DC offers an assortment of plant-based sandwiches and salad bowls that reflect Caribbean and South American touches. All of their entrees feature fried mushrooms (or offer mushrooms as an add-in option). All items on the menu are organic and soy-free. Mush DC is located in the miXt Food Hall in the Gateway Arts District along the Prince George’s County Route 1 corridor.

Rad Radish, 301 Hayes St., San Francisco, CA 94102

Rad Radish is a vegan fast-casual restaurant offering a range of salads, sandwiches, burgers, flatbreads, and grain bowls. Salad mains include a mezze salad with quinoa and smoky bean hummus, a Greek salad with coconut feta, and a probiotic bowl with kimchi and hemp seeds. Popular flatbread and sandwiches include carbonara flatbread with truffled béchamel sauce topped with tempeh bacon as well as the B.L.A.T. with tempeh bacon and mashed avocado. Chia seed pudding and cookies are available for dessert.

Sinless Sweets, 5009 S. Western Ave., Ste. 100, Sioux Falls, SD 57108

Sinless Sweets is a vegan bistro specializing in sweets as well as a few savory items. Cakes such as peanut butter cheesecake, lemon cake, and pumpkin layered cake are available by the slice or entire cakes can be purchased. Cookies on the menu include chocolate chip, monster, and chocolate sandwich cookies. Pop tarts, cinnamon rolls, and edible cookie dough are also available. Savory items on the menu include spaghetti with lentil meatballs and Thai peanut bowls. Savory items are also available as grab-and-go.

Tellus Joe Am, 3108 Windsor Rd., Austin, TX 78703

The early-bird counterpart of Tellus PM, serving coffee, tea, and breakfast items. Enjoy breakfast sandwiches, pastries, and tacos.

Tellus PM, 3108 Windsor Rd., Austin, TX 78703

Occasional live music with an evening Oaxacan-inspired dishes with agave spirits and natural wine. Try guacamole, coffee rubbed cauliflower steak, carrot mole, with cilantro oil fingerlings. Bar is open for walk-ins.

If you are in the San Francisco, California area, please come by The Vegetarian Resource Group booth.

For details about the VegFest, see: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/23rd-annual-world-veg-fest-tickets-432234714667?aff=SFVS

Each issue of Vegan Journal features a wide variety of vegan recipes, vegan product reviews, book reviews, a review of recent scientific literature on veggie diets, vegan cooking tips, and other vegan life-style articles.

In the USA only, subscribe here and you’ll receive the most recent issue: https://www.vrg.org/member/2013sv.php

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

Take a walk down the supermarket aisle. Notice which foods say, “Healthy” on their labels. Did you know that products must meet specific standards set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in order to indicate on the label that a product is “healthy”?

While companies are not required to use the word “healthy,” they are not allowed to use it if a product does not meet FDA’s standards. The standards that are currently in use limit total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium but do not prevent a product with a lot of added sugars from being labeled “healthy.” In addition to having less than specified amounts of fat, sodium, saturated fat, and cholesterol, foods labeled “healthy” must also provide at least 10% of the Daily Value (DV) for one or more of the following nutrients: vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, protein, and fiber.

The standards for use of “healthy” on a food label were developed in 1994 and are being reviewed. There are issues with the current standards. For example, currently, something like a highly sweetened breakfast cereal that has vitamin C added to it could be labeled “healthy.” Avocados, nuts, and seeds cannot be labeled “healthy” because of their total fat content.

What would you like to see as the basis for a “healthy” food? Must it be vegan? Should oils be labeled “healthy” if they are low in saturated fat? Should a food with any amount of added sugar be labeled “healthy”?

You can read a summary of FDA’s proposed criteria for allowing “healthy” on a food label  here.

The entire text of the proposed changes can be found here along with a link allowing you to submit your comments on the use of “healthy” on a food label.

Nasya from North Carolina said: I, as a 16-year-old girl who utilized vegetarianism to meet some of her established goals in life, consider teaching and educating others on the true identity of vegetarianism one of my passions. The vegetarian lifestyle has helped me significantly in so many ways, and I consider it my duty to help others in the way that this lifestyle has helped me. See her My Vegetarian Journey video at https://www.vrg.org/veg_videos.php#nasynbellard

See other videos here: https://www.vrg.org/veg_videos.php

The deadline for The Vegetarian Resource Group’s next video contest is July 15, 2023. See: https://www.vrg.org/videoscholarship.php