Vegan for Life (31 page)

While we don’t understand everything about the needs of animals, we know that they can experience pain and fear. Is that reason enough to consider their interests? If you put yourself in the original position, knowing that you may end up as a cow or a pig, it’s very likely that you would consider the interests of these animals to be important.

If someone has to kill to stay alive, can you blame them for doing so? Perhaps not, but staying alive should be the only legitimate excuse for taking the lives of others. Tradition is not a good argument, as anyone who opposes human sacrifice should agree. And doing what is
natural
is also not a good argument given how hard it is to define or know what is natural, and how few people actually seek to live in a state of nature.

These philosophies raise legitimate and powerful questions about whether we can claim any right to use animals when we don’t need to and, as our book shows, a vegan diet offers such an easy, healthy and enjoyable alternative.

www.veganhealth.org
: This is Jack’s comprehensive overview of vegan nutrition studies.

www.vrg.org
: The Vegetarian Resource Group provides extensive information about vegan nutrition for families.

Latest in Clinical Nutrition DVDs, compiled by Michael Greger, MD: Each DVD addresses highlights of nutrition research for the year.

The Dietitian’s Guide to Vegetarian Diets
, 3rd ed., by Reed Mangels, Virginia Messina, and Mark Messina (Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett, 2010).

Simply Vegan: Quick Vegetarian Meals
, 4th ed., by Debra Wasserman and Reed Mangels (Baltimore, MD: The Vegetarian Resource Group, 2006).

You can download or order free booklets on vegan nutrition and cooking from these websites:

The Animal Activist’s Handbook
by Matt Ball and Bruce Friedrich (New York: Lantern Books, 2009).

Strategic Action for Animals: A Handbook on Strategic Movement Building, Organizing, and Activism for Animal Liberation
by Melanie Joy (New York: Lantern Books, 2008).

Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide to Animal Activism
by Mark Hawthorne (Winchester, UK: O Books, 2007).

Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals
by Karen Dawn (New York: HarperCollins, 2008).

The Ultimate Vegan Guide
by Erik Marcus (Santa Cruz, CA: Vegan.com, 2009). Free download available at
www.vegan.com/ultimate-vegan-guide/
.

Eating Animals
by Jonathan Safran Foer (New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2009).

Meat Market: Animals, Ethics, and Money
by Erik Marcus (Ithaca, NY: Brio Press, 2005).

Vegetarian Sports Nutrition: Food Choices and Eating Plans for Fitness and Performance
by D. Enette Larson-Meyer (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2007).

PETA’s Vegan College Cookbook: 275 Easy, Cheap, and Delicious Recipes to Keep You Vegan at School
by Starza Kolman and Marta Holmberg (Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2009).

Student’s Go Vegan Cookbook: Over 135 Quick, Easy, Cheap and Tasty Vegan Recipes
by Carole Raymond (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006).

Vegan Lunch Box: 130 Amazing, Animal-Free Lunches Kids and Grown-Ups Will Love!
by Jennifer McCann (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2008).

1000 Vegan Recipes
by Robin Robertson (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2009).

The Conscious Cook: Delicious Meatless Recipes that Will Change the Way You Eat
by Tal Ronnen (New York: HarperCollins, 2009).

The New Soy Cookbook
by Lorna Sass (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1998).

Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food
by Alicia C. Simpson (New York: The Experiment, 2009).

The Saucy Vegetarian
by Joanne Stepaniak (Summertown, TN: Book Publishing Co., 2000).

Tofu Cookery
, 25th anniversary ed., by Louise Hagler (Summertown, TN: Book Publishing Co., 2008).

The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook: Delicious Dairy-Free Cheeses and Classic “Uncheese” Dishes
by Joanne Stepaniak (Summertown, TN: Book Publishing Co., 1994).

Vegan Brunch: Homestyle Recipes Worth Waking Up For
by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2009).

Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook
by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero (New York: Marlowe and Company, 2007).

Vegan on the Cheap: Great Recipes and Simple Strategies that Save You Time and Money
by Robin Robertson (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2010).

Vegan Yum Yum: Decadent (But Doable) Animal-Free Recipes for Entertaining and Everyday
by Lauren Ulm (Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, 2009).

More Great Good Dairy-Free Desserts Naturally
by Fran Costigan (Summertown, TN: Book Publishing Co., 2006).

The Joy of Vegan Baking
by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (Beverly, MA: Quayside Publishing, 2007).

Sweet Utopia: Simply Stunning Vegan Desserts
by Sharon Valencik (Summertown, TN: Book Publishing Co., 2009).

Vegan Cookies Take Over Your Cookie Jar
by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2009).

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World
by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2006).

The Everything Vegan Pregnancy Book
by Reed Mangels (Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2011).

Food Allergy Survival Guide
by Vesanto Melina, Jo Stepaniak, and Dina Aronson (Summertown, TN: Healthy Living Publications, 2004).

The Vegetarian Diet for Kidney Disease Treatment
by Joan Brookhyser Hogan (Laguna Beach, CA: Basic Health Publications, 2009).

www.meettheshannons.net/p/betty-crocker-project.html
(This is the Betty Crocker Project, which is devoted to veganizing every recipe in the 1950
Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook
).

Whether or not you like to cook, it’s good to know a few basics for preparing beans, grains, and vegetables.

Regardless of the type of beans you cook, the technique is the same; it’s just the time that varies. Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t need to soak your beans. It tends to make them more easily digested, but vegan chef Bryanna Clark Grogan points out that Mexican cooks don’t soak their beans. In fact, she says that Old World beans—like chickpeas and soybeans—cook better when soaked while all other beans—like pintos and black beans—can easily be cooked without soaking. Lentils and split peas should never be soaked.

Here are the steps to cooking dried beans:

Cooked beans will keep in the refrigerator for four to five days. You can also freeze them. This will change their texture and taste slightly, but it’s a good way to make sure you always have beans on hand. Cooked beans will keep in the freezer for about six months.

These cooking times are ballpark figures. Actual cooking time depends on the size of the bean and its freshness. (The beans that have been stored in your pantry for a couple of years will take much longer to cook!)

Grains are at the center of life throughout the world, and they have been since the beginning of agriculture—about 12,000 years ago. It’s fun to explore different grains, especially those used in different cultures.

Rice is the most popular grain in the world. Brown rice is much more healthful than white—but for traditional ethnic dishes, feel free to enjoy
white rice on occasion if it fits the dish. Some favorites are basmati rice for Indian dishes, jasmine rice or sticky rice for Thai cuisine, or Arborio rice for creamy Italian risotto.

Other good grains to explore are barley, an old-fashioned favorite for soups; quinoa, which has been a staple in the Andes Mountains for centuries; fast-cooking couscous for Mediterranean salads; and chewy wheat berries for hearty winter stews.

Many cooks use rice cookers for all types of grains. They automatically shut off when cooking is complete and keep the food warm. If you cook a lot of grains, a rice cooker might be a worthwhile investment.

These instructions are for cooking grains on the stovetop. The time needed for different grains varies, but the technique is the same. For each cup of dry grain, bring two cups of water (or broth) to a boil. Add the grain, cover the pot with a lid, and lower the heat. Let simmer until all of the liquid is absorbed and the grain is tender. Here are cooking times for different grains:

Most of the work in preparing vegetables involves washing, peeling, paring, and chopping. If you don’t have time for fresh vegetables, frozen or even canned are perfectly healthy choices. Check the produce section of your
supermarket for packages of veggies that have already been washed and chopped. You’ll find baby peeled carrots, precut and washed broccoli and cauliflower florets, broccoli slaw (shredded broccoli stalks—great for stir-fries), salad mixes, cabbage shredded for coleslaw, washed spinach, and more.

When it comes to cooking fresh veggies, the same technique works well for almost all vegetables: steaming followed by a quick sauté. (The exception is leafy greens: They require their own cooking technique, which is described below.) Here are the steps for cooking just about any type of vegetable: