Picture of Success

Summer Avocado Toast (VEGAN)

Quick! Make this before it’s too late!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups tomatoes
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1/4 large purple onion, diced
• 2/3 cup fresh corn, sliced off the cob
• 1/4 cup basil, chopped
• salt to taste
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar reduction (buy it in the store or make your own, it’s so easy!)
• 4 pieces of good, hearty, whole-grain bread, toasted

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, gently stir together the tomatoes, avocado, purple onions, corn, and basil. Add just enough salt to flavor the concoction well. Spoon generously over pieces of toast. Top with Balsamic Vinegar Reduction. ENJOY!

(Source: cheekykitchen.com)

Coconut-Curry Chickpea Quinoa Pineapple Burgers (VEGAN)

I could rant and rave about this recipe from Cheeky Kitchen until the cows come home, but all I’m going to say is out of the numerous vegan recipes I have tried this year, this one is hands down my favorite. Try it, you’ll know what I mean.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder (recipe just says curry, I don’t know if it’s the same thing, but the powder worked fine for me.)
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala (I could not locate this in the grocery store and just threw in some extra spices and it was fine, but if you have it, it might be better!)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon Goya Adobo Seasoning (or onion salt)
• 1/4 cup fresh chives or scallions, chopped
• 1/2 cup quinoa, cooked
• 2/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 4 slices fresh pineapple
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seed oil
• 1/4 cup Vegenaise
• lime zest
• pepper
• 4 whole wheat hamburger buns
• 4 teaspoons Earth Balance butter
• lettuce

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place the chickpeas, coconut milk, curry, garam masala, adobo seasoning, and garlic powder in a Vitamix or food processor. Pulse until pureed.
2. In a large bowl combine the mixture with the chives, Quinoa, and panko crumbs. Form into 4 patties.
3. Heat a grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Drizzle the pan with olive oil and a bit of sesame oil. Pan fry patties until golden brown on each side. Then set aside the patties and grill the pineapple until golden brown grill lines appear on each side of the fruit.
4. Butter the inside halves of the hamburger buns with Earth Balance butter. Bake, buttered sides up, in an oven preheated to 400 degrees until the butter is melted and the buns are toasty.
5. In a small bowl, stir together the lime zest, pepper, and Vegenaise.
6. Serve the Chickpea burgers topped with grilled pineapple, your flavored Vegenaise, and a bit of lettuce on top of of your burger buns.

IDA BLOG: Good News for Vegetarians, Vegans, and Animal Lovers Alike!

Think being vegan is just a symbolic gesture, and that someone else will be eating the meat you are not? Think again. The last ten years has seen a steady decline in the consumption of meat and eggs in the U.S., according to a study using data compiled by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Center for Health Statistics, the United Nations and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Beef consumption has been in a downward spiral for 20 years – the national beef cattle herd is now smaller than it has been in any year since 1962. Chicken and pork production has also slumped in the last five to ten years, and the USDA predicts another dip in meat and poultry consumption for 2012.

U.S. meat consumption reached its highest point in 2004, when we ate an average 184 pounds of meat per person. That fell to 171 pounds in 2011. With the USDA’s estimated further reduction to 166 pounds in 2012, that will be a 10% dip over an eight-year period. This is a significant drop. And there’s more good news for animals – people don’t seem to be replacing meat with eggs. Egg consumption decreased by about a dozen eggs per person, per year, since 2006.

So how does this translate into lives saved? In just one year, between 2010 and 2011, there were 1 million fewer cows slaughtered, 5 million fewer pigs slaughtered, and 240 million fewer chickens slaughtered. Between 2005 and 2011, there were 725 million fewer animals killed for their flesh.

The number of animals slaughtered is in decline and that is thanks to the vegans, vegetarians and flexiterians reducing and eliminating animal products from their diets. These lifestyle shifts are preventing lives of misery on factory farms and in slaughterhouses across the country.

The agricultural industry wants us to believe the decline is due to economic factors, which could play a part, but the dramatic reduction coincides with a mainstreaming of veganism, including undercover investigations in major media exposing the horrors of factory farms, key farm animal legislative initiatives gaining widespread attention, and celebrities, athletes and politicians adopting vegan diets.