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I loved my Thanksgiving menu from last year and am not especially eager to make too many changes. But it’s always fun to try something new, so I’m tweaking the menu a little bit. I have some reluctant omnivores coming this year so dinner had better be good!

We’re trying a new sweet potato recipe, made with coconut milk. And there will be three kinds of cranberries on the table (you can never have too many cranberry dishes!) I’m also going to try to create a veggie version of that wonderful green bean casserole with French onions, although I haven’t worked out the details of that yet.

I’m serving White Wave Vegetarian Stir Fry Strips again because they are still the best meat substitute I ... Read More >

My local animal welfare group gave a little wine and cheese reception this past weekend for a group of new members. Although most of the guests were not vegetarian, I wanted to have one nice vegan appetizer on hand. I chose this quick tapenade recipe below and served it with little slices of ciabatta bread. It was a hit; people were practically diving into the bowl! Fortunately, however, I had made a double batch so I’d have a good supply for myself at home.

Leftover tapenade has endless possibilities and here is what I did with mine.

• Roasted Winter Veggies with Tapenade: I had made some roasted winter vegetables over the weekend —sweet potatoes, onions, Brussels sprouts, and white potatoes—and I tossed those with ... Read More >

I was a lacto-ovo vegetarian for many years before becoming vegan. When people tell me that they want to eat more ethically but veganism seems too hard, I understand completely. I suggest, of course, that they start out by giving up meat and work their way—at their own pace—toward a vegan or mostly vegan diet.

But I am meeting more and more people who are taking a surprisingly different approach. They are giving up eggs and dairy foods even though they still eat meat. Their rationale is that some of the worst factory farm abuses take place on egg, chicken, and dairy farms. Therefore, they believe they can do more good for animals by being a meat eater who doesn’t use eggs or dairy than ... Read More >

My friend Kate recently asked what I thought about the fact that her granddaughter drinks a lot of soymilk. I said I thought it was great!

There are plenty of reasons—mostly from ethical and environmental standpoints—to avoid cow’s milk. Whether there are important health risks associated with dairy consumption is still a question of debate. But there is little to suggest that dairy has any protective benefits that you can’t get elsewhere. Soy, on the other hand, may have some unique and long-lasting benefits for young girls.

Interest in a cancer-protective effect of soyfoods comes, in part, from the fact that breast cancer is much lower in Japan, where soyfoods are commonly consumed, than in western countries. Scientists have been speculating for decades that the ... Read More >

My friends Lynn and Steve came to visit for the 4th of July. We had a blast—went to the Fiddle Festival, watched the fireworks from the beach, and drank champagne at the local monthly art gallery event.

But I have to admit that cooking for them made me feel a little stressed. They are not just omnivores; they are foodie omnivores. I’m not always sympathetic to foodie-ism, but they were my guests and my beloved friends and I wanted us all to be happy, and comfortable and well-fed.

For the 4th, I decided on a down-home picnic on the front porch. (Foodie or not, everyone loves potato salad, right?) I made homemade potato salad with wonderful little waxy new potatoes, and coleslaw with shredded green ... Read More >

Most of the people I encounter say they cannot imagine completely giving up meat, fish, dairy and eggs. And I always tell them that that’s okay.

Maybe you can’t see yourself as 100% vegan, but you can choose meals with fewer animal foods right now in some pretty painless ways. Don’t worry about never eating meat again or never eating cheese. Just start out with some easy changes and replacements and see where it takes you.

Here are 10 things you can do this week that will reduce your consumption of animal products:

Like the television jingle says, soup is good food. It’s great for weight control because the high water content helps to fill you up with fewer calories. Research shows that starting a meal with soup is likely to help you eat less overall. And of course, all by itself, soup makes a very filling lunch or dinner.

You can make a big pot of soup over the weekend and have it ready in the fridge for fast healthful meals later in the week. It’s portable, too—great to carry to work in a thermos.

It’s wonderful to make old-fashioned soup from scratch, but you can also make yummy and healthful soups in a jiffy using some great vegan convenience products. I am especially smitten with soup-in-a-box, ... Read More >

Happy Earth Day!

I am vowing to make some changes this week in an effort to make my lifestyle a little more green. And there is plenty of information out there to get me started. Recycling, composting, reducing and reusing, eating locally—you can learn about the best personal choices for the environment on any number of websites. But I am astounded—absolutely stunned—by how many people who are trying to reduce their carbon footprint don’t have any idea about the effect of meat and fish production on the planet. And clearly they are not going to learn about it from most of the national environmental organizations.

I checked the websites of some of the major groups working to reduce global warming. Some, like Greenpeace and EarthFirst!, ... Read More >

I ate meat and cheese and eggs for the first 28 years of my life. It would never have occurred to me that I could live without them. So when I hear people say “Oh, I could just never give up meat!” I understand exactly how they feel.

And I think it is a big reason that many people simply do not want to know about factory farming. If you can’t imagine a life without meat (or cheese or eggs), it creates a lot of uncomfortable inner conflict and psychological discord to hear that meat-eating is unethical. It’s no wonder that so many people ridicule vegans or get downright hostile about this way of eating.

People who believe that vegan foods taste good and that ... Read More >

Many foods—including soy, broccoli, and millet—contain goitrogens, which are compounds that interfere with thyroid function. Most people can eat these foods regularly without problems. Problems do occur in people who have low intakes of the mineral iodine, which is needed for a healthy thyroid.

In the 1950s approximately 10 cases of goiter—a symptom of thyroid problems—were identified in infants consuming soy infant formula. These 50-year-old studies have been used to fuel arguments that soy is dangerous for infants—but in fact, they have no relevance to infants who are currently fed soy infant formula. Today’s formula is fortified with iodine and is processed differently than older formulas. As a result, there has not been one case of goiter reported in the medical literature in the ... Read More >