Creamed Corn photo by Hannah Kaminsky

Canned creamed corn refers to the smashing or creaming of corn, rather than the addition of dairy products. Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD offers suggestions on how to prepare dishes with creamed corn.

Read her column here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2025issue1/2025_issue1_cooking_tips.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only here: https://www.vrg.org/member/

The Rocket Soup

Baltimore’s Harborplace is scheduled to undergo reconstruction eventually; however, in the meantime you can enjoy delicious vegan food at Oleum located at 301 Light St., Baltimore, MD 21202. Recently we dropped in and enjoyed several items on their menu including two soups, pizza, and tiramisu for dessert.

The Rocket Soup above consists of puréed Yukon gold potatoes, arugula, spinach, cilantro, and warm spices. It’s artistically finished with a drizzle of lemon oil, a swirl of vegan cream, and peppery arugula. Below is their Moroccan Harira Soup consisting of vegetable stock, celery, carrot, onion, crushed tomatoes, chickpeas, brown lentils, rice, and Moroccan spices. It’s finished with house made harissa and fresh cilantro.

Moroccan Harira Soup

We enjoyed their tiramisu for dessert. This is definitely meant to be shared!

Oleum offers a wide variety of vegan pizzas and we sampled the Little Foot pizza which had house marinara, Violife Mozzarella, red and green bell peppers, roasted artichokes, black olives, Spanish onion, mushrooms, garlic, and fresh parsley. This pizza was gorgeous and delicious!

Little Foot pizza

For more information, visit their website: https://www.oleumkitchen.com/ and Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/oleumkitchen

In the latest issue of Vegan Journal, Amy Burgers wrote a Vegan Action column featuring Larry Rumbough. Larry co-founded the nonprofit organization Vegetarians of Central Florida, which hosts an Earth Day Celebration each spring and a VegFest each fall in Orlando, Florida. Read all about Larry here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2025issue1/2025_issue1_vegan_action.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only here: https://www.vrg.org/member/

photo from Freepik

Passover begins the evening of April 12, 2025 this year and The Vegetarian Resource Group is the publisher of several books that feature vegan Passover recipes. Below we share three recipes with you. In the USA, you can purchase these vegan cookbooks from the VRG Book Catalog here: http://www.vrg.org/catalog

Fresh Tomato Soup (from No Cholesterol Passover Recipes, by Debra Wasserman)

(Serves 4)

1 large onion, chopped

5 small ripe tomatoes, chopped

1-1/2 cups water

½ teaspoon fresh parsley, minced

Pepper and salt to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes and then cool. Place mixture in a blender cup and blend until creamy. Reheat and serve hot.

Minted Carrots with Chilies (from Vegan Passover Recipes, by Nancy Berkoff)

(Serves 4-5)

1-1/2 cups sliced onions

Vegetable oil spray

1 garlic clove, minced

2 Tablespoons peeled and minced fresh ginger

2 Tablespoons seeded and minced fresh chilies or green pepper

1-1/4 pounds carrots (about 3-1/2 cups), peeled and sliced lengthwise 1-inch thick

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Place onions in a large frying pan, spray liberally with vegetable oil, and sauté over medium heat until soft and golden, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, and chilies and stir. Allow to cook for 1 minute.

Add carrots and add enough water to just cover. Cook uncovered for 15 minutes, or until carrots are tender. Add mint, cook for 2 more minutes. Serve hot.

Russian Potato and Mushroom Croquettes (from The Lowfat Jewish Vegetarian Cookbook, by Debra Wasserman)

(Serves 5)

1-1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped

5 cups water

1 onion, peeled and chopped

¼ pound mushrooms

1 teaspoon oil

1 Tablespoon water

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup matzo meal

1 Tablespoon oil

Boil potatoes in 5 cups water until tender. Drain and mash potatoes.

In a separate pan, sauté onion and mushrooms in 1 teaspoon oil and 1 Tablespoon water over medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Mix the mashed potatoes, sautéed onion and mushrooms, seasonings, and matzo meal together in a large bowl. Form 10 burgers (croquettes).

Heat 1 Tablespoon oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry croquettes for 8 minutes, flip over and continue frying for another 8 minutes. Serve two croquettes per person.

Don’t forget, you can purchase these vegan cookbooks from the VRG Book Catalog here: http://www.vrg.org/catalog

photo from Good Foods

Good Foods is now offering two unique chip dips: Dill Pickle and Nacho Cheeze. Read our review of these dips here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2025issue1/2025_issue1_veggie_bits.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only here: https://www.vrg.org/member/

spinach photo from Freepik

Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD, says you can use spinach anywhere you normally use lettuce — on sandwiches, chopped in wraps or tacos, or in salads. Fresh spinach is a hearty base for entrée salads. Toss fresh spinach with finely diced pineapple, sliced strawberries, chopped pistachios, sunflower seeds or soy nuts, and nutritional yeast. Create a dressing with balsamic vinegar, pineapple juice, and touch of mustard.

To quickly (and we mean quickly) cook spinach, spray a frying pan with vegetable oil, sprinkle in some chopped fresh or dried garlic, and get the pan hot. Toss in the spinach and flash sauté, turning constantly. This should take one or two minutes, tops.

Use your stove-sautéed spinach as a hot or cold vegetable with your entrée, as part of a sandwich filling, to top pizza, or added to a tofu scramble. If you would like to make “creamed” spinach, whisk crumbled silken tofu or vegan sour cream into the sautéed greens, just as you are removing them from the stove. If you have leftover cooked spinach, you can purée it and add it to hummus, salad dressings, or soups.

To learn more interesting spinach facts, see: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2020issue2/2020_issue2_cooking_tips.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal: www.vrg.org/member

photo from No Whey Chocolate

Easter falls on April 20^th in 2025; however, you might want to shop for vegan Easter treats now!

Here’s some online shops offering vegan Easter Chocolate and Candy:

Amanda’s Own Confections: https://amandasown.com/products/holidays/easter/

No Whey Chocolate: https://nowheychocolate.com/easter-chocolate/

Natural Candy Store: https://www.naturalcandystore.com/category/vegan-candy

Lake Champlain Chocolates: https://www.lakechamplainchocolates.com/seasonal-chocolates/vegan-easter-chocolate/

Yum Earth: https://yumearth.com/collections/easter

If you are not familiar with veganic agriculture, you may want to read Jeanne Yacoubou’s article Veganic Agriculture as A Climate Crisis Solution in the most recent issue of Vegan Journal.

Find the entire article here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2025issue1/2025_issue1_veganic_agriculture.php Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only here: https://www.vrg.org/member/

photo from Webster’s Bookstore Café

If you happen to be near Penn State and are searching for vegan food, look no further. After being open for 25 years, Webster’s Bookstore Café has gone all vegan. Enjoy items such as the Breakfast for Champions (scrambled tofu, roasted potatoes, and fruit or kale salad); Giovanni’s Room Sandwich (Walnut Pate, craisins, grilled apples, greens, and thaihini dressing on a grilled roll); Falafel Wrap (Falafel patties with hummus, tomatoes, cucumbers, greens, and thaihini sauce grilled in a tortilla wrap); plus salads, soups, bowls, sides, and more. On Sundays they have a vegan brunch buffet! They are located at 133 E. Beaver Ave., State College, PA 16801. For more information, visit: www.webstersbooksandcafe.com

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

It may seem obvious that candy bars, potato chips, and soda can’t have wording on their labels that suggests that they are “healthy.” However, as of March 2025, a highly sweetened breakfast cereal with a bit of vitamin C added to it can be labeled as “healthy.” Avocados, nuts, and seeds cannot be labeled “healthy” because they are too high in fat to meet the FDA’s criteria. While candy bars, potato chips, and soda still can’t be labeled “healthy,” a new rule (1) scheduled to go into effect on April 28, 2025 and that must be complied with by 2028, does not allow sugary cereals to be labeled “healthy” but allows avocados, nuts, and seeds to have “healthy” on their label.

The new rule says that, in order to be labeled “healthy,” products must contain a certain amount of vegetables, fruits, “protein foods,” whole grains, and/or “dairy” and not have too much saturated fat, added sugars, or sodium. The “protein foods” group includes beans/peas/lentils and nuts/seeds/soy products along with meats, seafood, and eggs.

According to the FDA, “the ‘healthy’ claim can empower consumers by providing a quick signal on food package labels to help consumers identify foundational foods for building healthy dietary patterns” (2). The FDA also clarifies that foods that do not meet the requirements to be labeled “healthy” are on necessarily unhealthy foods (1). In addition to restricting the use of the word “healthy” to food packages that meet qualifying criteria, similar words like “health,” “healthful,” healthfully,” “healthfulness,” “healthier,” “healthiest,” “healthily,” and “healthiness” also cannot be used unless specific criteria are met (1).

Labeling a product as “healthy” is a voluntary action on the part of the manufacturer. Manufacturers don’t have to label qualifying products as “healthy” but cannot use words like “healthy,” on products that do not meet the updated requirements.

According to FDA’s website, “The FDA is postponing the effective date for the final rule, entitled “Food Labeling:  Nutrient Content Claims; Definition of Term ‘Healthy’” until April 28, 2025. The final rule was published with an effective date of February 25, 2025. The FDA is postponing the effective date in accordance with the January 20, 2025, memorandum from the President, entitled “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review” with respect to reviewing any questions of fact, law, and policy applicable to rules that have been published in the Federal Register but have not taken effect. “

References

1. Food and Drug Administration. 21 CFR Part 101. [Docket No. FDA-2016-D-2335] Food Labeling: Nutrient Content Claims: Definition of Term “Healthy.” https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2024-29957/food-labeling-nutrient-content-claims-definition-of-term-healthy?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery. 2024.
2. FDA Finalizes Updated “Healthy” Nutrient Content Claim. https://www.fda.gov/food/hfp-constituent-updates/fda-finalizes-updated-healthy-nutrient-content-claim?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery. 2025.

To read more about “healthy” on food labels see:

Some “Plant-based Dairy Alternatives” Can Quality to be Labeled as Healthy According to an Updated FDA Rule

What Does “Healthy” on a Food Label Mean to You?

The Vegetarian Resource Group Testimony to FDA (Food and Drug Administration) Concerning the Use of “Healthy” on Food Labels