25 Vegan Cuisines

By Chef Nancy Berkoff, RD, EdD, CCE

As we celebrate 25 years of bringing you vegan information, we thought an article celebrating the vast diversity of vegan cuisine that Vegetarian Journal has examined was in order. Unfortunately, we have featured so many different menus over the past quarter of a century that we could never include them all in one article. Therefore, we narrowed them down to (fittingly) 25 approaches to vegan cooking and included one health needs, cultures, and belief systems. You'll notice a very brief overview of each cuisine before the recipe. We realize that such an introduction cannot cover the depth and detail of each wonderful approach to vegan eating, but we hope you will enjoy our whirlwind tour of delicious food as much as we did.

VEGAN LIFESTYLES

Middle-of-the-Road Healthy Vegan

Vegan cuisine can be as American as maple syrup-sweetened apple pie. Many vegans eat a healthy, moderate diet, utilizing regional and seasonal ingredients as well as vegan items available in traditional grocery stores. Fruits, vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, and vegan convenience items are only a few of the many ingredients that characterize the basic middle-of-the-road vegan diet.

CARROT AND ZUCCHINI BREAD

(Makes two 8" x 4" loaf pans or approximately twenty-four 1-ounce muffins)

This recipe is great when paired with a hearty soup or toasted and served with carrot marmalade. In fact, you may want to make a double batch and freeze some.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour (or half allpurpose flour and half whole wheat flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ cup silken tofu
• 2 cups sugar (Use your favorite vegan variety.)
• ¼ cup oil
• ½ cup puréed bananas
• 1 cup grated carrots
• 1 cup grated zucchini
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon orange zest
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• Vegetable oil spray and additional flour to prepare loaf pans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, and cinnamon.

In a small bowl, whisk tofu until airy and frothy. Stir in sugar, oil, bananas, carrots, zucchini, vanilla, and zest. Add to dry ingredients and mix only until combined. Stir in nuts.

Pour into greased and floured loaf pans or into muffin tins lined with baking papers. Bake for 45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Total calories per muffin: 180	Fat: 6 grams
Carbohydrates: 30 grams	Protein: 3 grams
Sodium: 66 milligrams	Fiber: 1 gram

Vegan Junk Food

Let's face it. Vegans are as likely to 'stray' when it comes to fat, calories, and salt as anyone else. We tried to make this recipe as 'terrible' as possible to fit with typical junk food profiles!