Compassionate Cooks Food for Thought Newsletter - January 16, 2008

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"info" Jan 16, 2008 10:21 AM ebbrewpunx Compassionate Cooks "Food for Thought" Newsletter - January 16, 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

food for thought

the compassionate cooks newsletter

 

 

 

New Year / New Design

www.compassionatecooks.com

January 16, 2008

 

 

 

 

in this issue:

Events & Announcements! • Food Lore • Recommendations

Upcoming Cooking Class • "Be Kind" Message Products • Recipes • Cookbook & DVD • Podcast • Essay • Our Fabulous Sponsors • Sponsor the Newsletter

 

 

 

Events & Announcements!

UPCOMING SPEAKING EVENT IN SAN FRANCISCO!

Join us on Sunday, January 20 from 2-4 p.m. at the Red Victorian Peace Cafe in San Francisco. I'll be speaking on the joy of eating vegan, offering tips for incorporating healthful whole foods into your busy routine. I'll also be signing cookbooks. I'm thrilled to be part of this event, featuring Will Tuttle, author of The World Peace diet and sponsored by Fat Chance Belly Dance. (Yes, there will be belly dancers!)

NEW MESSAGE BOARD!

It has been almost two years since I started the Food for Thought podcast, through which I address all the aspects of living a compassionate life: the social, food, nutrition, practical, spiritual, and ethical issues. A community of listeners has emerged around the podcast, and I'm thrilled to announce that we now have a way to connect everyone: through our new message board. NOTE: You do not have to be a listener to join this board. It's meant to provide support and cameraderie to everyone connected to and familiar with Compassionate Cooks. Join today.

 

Food Lore: Onions!

Onions are a staple for many of us. We use them in soups, stews, salads and salsa. Depending on the variety of onion, they may be sweet, sharp, spicy or subtle, but all are proven to be beneficial against the common cold, heart disease, osteoporosis and other diseases.

 

HISTORY: Onions have likely been used as a food source for millennia. Egyptian pyramid workers were fed onions; in ancient Greece, athletes ate onions in order to lighten the balance of blood; and Roman gladiators were rubbed down with onions to firm up their muscles.

 

CHOOSING & STORING: Choose onions without mold or soft spots. Store onions at room temperature away from direct light. Optimally, they should be placed in a hanging wire basket so air can circulate on all sides.

 

PREPARING: If cutting onions makes you cry, switch to a sharper knife and be sure to cut while standing so your eyes are as far away from the onion as possible. Another technique is to chill the onion in the refrigerator for an hour or so before cutting but this will dilute some of the healthful benefits of onions.

 

RECIPES: Whatever your next meal is, itÂ’s likely that onions can play a role. Chop red onions into small pieces in your salads. Saute white onions for your soup, stir fry or tofu scramble. Or, use onions in burritos or other bean dish. Many Compassionate Cooks Recipes feature onions, but one of my favorites, where onions play a starring role, is the French Onion Pie in Tofu & Tempeh II: Comfort Food.

 

Recommendations

I'm thrilled I can finally point you directly to the products that I recommend — whether it's my favorite food processor & kitchen tools, the books that changed my life, my recommended cookbooks, or pantry items - in all my classes.

‘STRIKING AT THE ROOTS: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO ANIMAL ACTIVISM’: If you've ever said you wanted to "do something on behalf of animals" but didn't know what, trust this fabulous new book to be your guide. Mark Hawthorne covers every type of activism - from letter-writing and protests to cooking classes and demonstrations - and offers practical tips, resources, and websites to get you started. Printed on recycled paper, this comprehensive, beautifully written book will give you everything you need to act on behalf of those who need us most. Purchase your copy today.

 

Upcoming Cooking Class!

JANUARY: HEALTHFUL RESOLUTIONS

A low-fat, plant-based diet is associated not only with weight loss but also with disease prevention and reversal, including cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. Though healthful vegetarian diets are naturally lower in calories and higher in fiber than meat- and dairy-based diets, our January class focused on those delicious dishes that are exceptionally low in fat and calories but high on flavor. On the menu:

 

KALE AND NORI SALAD » with cauliflower ASIAN-INSPIRED LETTUCE WRAPS » with tofu YELLOW SPLIT PEA DAL » easy and exotic NO QUESO QUESADILLAS » quick meal or snack HOMEMADE HUMMUS » with roasted red peppers FABULOUS FRUIT SMOOTHIES » two versions

SIGN UP TODAY!

 

"Be Kind" Message Products

NEW & IMPROVED!

Our popular "Be Kind to Animals" message products have undergone an improvement to make them easier to read from afar. The all-black text is darker and bolder than in the earlier designs so you can speak for the animals without saying a word.

VISIT OUR NEW STORE: For message aprons, totes, message bags, t-shirts, buttons, mugs, bumper stickers, and even shirts for your pooch, check out our newly designed store, featuring our updated products. Visit our store today.

 

Recipes!

VISIT OUR UPDATED ONLINE COOKBOOK

Our online cookbook enables you to "build your own cookbook" by choosing the recipe packets that appeal to your preferences. Themes and cuisines abound, so take some time to browse around. Enjoy these complimentary recipes for a delicious, nutritious meal.

 

CARAMELIZED TEMPEH » one of my faves STEAMED KALE » lacinato (dinosaur) or curly CURRIED QUINOA » fast and easy

»Cut the tempeh into strips, and steam for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, roughly chop the kale into bite-sized pieces. I include the stem when using the lacinato (dinosaur) kale. Steam for 10 minutes. »At the same time, add 3 cups of water and 1 cup of rinsed quinoa to a pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the quinoa has soaked up the water. As you're bringing it to a boil, add half of a veggie bouillon cube, 1/2 teaspoon of curry powder, 1/2 cup of raisins, and a handful of pine nuts. Turn off heat. Stir.»When the tempeh is steamed, heat up a small amount of oil in a saute pan. Saute for 5 minutes on each side until golden brown. Now sprinkle some tamari soy sauce and maple syrup over the tempeh strips, alternately, until a golden coating appears on the tempeh. Add more to desired taste, and flip to coat both sides. »Remove the tempeh from the pan (keep the heat on), add a little water and a couple cloves of minced garlic. Toss the steamed kale in the pan until coated with the garlic. Sprinkle a little tamari on the kale, if desired, and turn off the heat. »Plate it all together, and serve at once!

BUILD YOUR OWN COOKBOOK

 

Cookbook & DVD

SIGNED COPIES & GIFT SETS

ORDER SIGNED COOKBOOKS: If you order our award-winning cookbook directly through Compassionate Cooks, you have the option of choosing signed copies.

ENJOY A DISCOUNT ON THE COOKBOOK/DVD GIFT SET: When you order a gift set, which includes a signed copy of our cookbook, plus our award-winning DVD, you enjoy a discount.

CHECK OUT THE COOKBOOK PHOTOS GROUP: A fan of the cookbook started this "photo group" to post photos of recipes she makes from the cookbook. Anyone can join, and anyone can admire the photos already posted by members.

LEAVE A REVIEW: If you are enjoying our cookbook and feel inclined to tell the world, we really do appreciate the favorable reviews at online stores. Thank you for your support and kind words.

 

--> Podcast

ON THE ROAD: TIPS FOR TRAVELING AS A VEGAN

Join me for today's episode as I share some of my adventures on the road, in the sky, and in a far-off place called Florida. We learn why eating a whole foods plant-based diet works not only at home but also "abroad," we explore the abundant resources out there for planning a vegan voyage, and I offer some tips on getting Pizza Hut to treat you like royalty. I also share my thoughts about why we should treat ourselves like children when we travel, and why I'm moving to Italy as soon as possible.

DON'T KNOW WHAT A PODCAST IS? Visit our new podcast page which explains what a podcast is and how to listen.

 

*If you'd like to receive email alerts when I post new podcasts, you can easily sign up for this service. Each episode addresses a different issue, question, and myth related to veganism/animal rights.

 

Essay - This I Know

ONE CULTURE'S TRADITIONS...

In her haunting 1948 short story “The Lottery,” about the annual selection of a sacrificial victim in a small American town, Shirley Jackson sheds light on humanity’s tendency to cling blindly to meaningless rituals and participate in pointless violence.

In my many years as an animal advocate, I’ve heard many excuses for our use and abuse of animals, but I’m often taken aback by the one that concludes that certain practices are justifiable because they’re embedded in the “culture” and sanctified by “tradition,” as if that’s all the reason we need to justify our behavior. And yet, what doesn’t fall into these categories?

Nobody wants to see themselves as contributing to cruelty, but participating in cultural customs? Carrying out tradition? That doesn’t sound so bad. To shroud our violence against animals in the sanctity of “tradition” is to romanticize our exploitation of them.

And yet our reliance upon the “tradition” argument is not without hypocrisy. We’re outraged to hear about dog fights and “cock” fights, but we enjoy hamburgers and hot dogs on our visit to the circus. We judge those who eat rabbits, buffalo, or deer, but we gleefully dine on turkeys, chickens, and ducks. We’re shocked to hear that people eat horses, goats, and whales, we scorn those who eat cats and dogs, yet we relish our lamb, veal, and ribs.

To the animals, it’s all the same. They want to live. If they have wings, they want to fly. If they have legs, they want to walk. If they have offspring, they want to nurture them. To humans who perceive animals as ours to possess, their lives are ours – to end. Their bodies are ours to consume. Their offspring are not their own. To the animals, it’s all the same. A Korean dog wants to live and resists death as much as an American pig.

“There’s always been a lottery,” one of the townspeople in Jackson’s story declares when he hears that a neighboring village has given up this empty, violent ritual. We justify our use of animals in a similar way, but just because we always have doesn’t mean we always have to. After all, one culture’s “traditions” are another culture’s “taboos.” It’s all relative to us, but to the animals, it’s all the same.

ACCOLADES

I want to send a huge thank you to Jennifer Tyson and David Goudreau for their amazing talents and generosity. Jennifer used her creative genius to design this newsletter, and David did his technical magic to implement it. I'm very grateful to them both!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to our newsletter sponsors!

 

 

 

Arbonne International

It's time once again to share the spirit of giving with those in our hearts. We invite you to indulge those on your holiday list with Arbonne's classic products that are only available once a year. Send an email with "Seize the holidays" and enjoy 25% off your entire retail order.

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Vegan Essentials

VeganEssentials is a fantastic vegan-owned online store and retail shop located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Find everything from Companion Animal Supplies, Hair Care, and Cosmetics to Food & Sweets, Outdoor Wear, and Vitamins.

CHECK OUT THEIR FABULOUS VEGAN STORE!

 

 

 

 

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Share your fabulous products or services with our readers! Check out our many advertising opportunities, including sponsoring this newsletter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Compassionate Cooks is dedicated to empowering people to make informed food choices and to debunking myths about vegetarianism through cooking classes, nutrition courses, podcasts, essays & articles, farmed animal sanctuary tours, lectures and workshops, and cooking DVDs.

 

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Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.

Confucius