By Zack Newman
Former President Bill Clinton, TV personality Ellen DeGeneres, and former heavy-weight boxing champion Mike Tyson have all made the switch. Not to wearing a certain brand of clothing, or doing a particular dance, but to a vegan lifestyle.
And they are not alone. According to a recent Harris Interactive Study, the number of vegans in the U.S. has doubled since 2009 to 2.5 percent, a trend that, if it continues, will put 80 percent of America as vegans by 2021. And this change makes sense. A recent study conducted by the National Institute of Health reported that the average vegan is 30 pounds lighter than their meat-eating counterparts, and will live almost a decade longer.
In order to become vegan, participants must cut out of their diet all animal by-products, from honey and eggs, to meat and butter.
Different people make the switch for different reasons, but for mother of four Bonnie Sorak, it was to keep her family as healthy as possible.
“Mostly it was health related at the beginning, it was to avoid having our children to have allergies, both my husband and I were allergic to dairy as children, so we wanted to avoid having our children be allergic as well,” Bonnie said. “But, now that we have been Vegan for so long, we see the other benefits of this lifestyle choice… from environmental to ethical.”
Because vegans can't have any animal byproducts, a common misconception is that they can't enjoy everyday foods. However, according to Bonnie, that couldn't be farther from the case.
“The key to it is finding substitutes for the foods that you mentioned, the dairy and the eggs,” she said. So for something as simple as garlic bread, where someone who wasn't vegan would have butter, we found a really great substitute, margarine, or I just use olive oil."
The family made the choice to become a vegan 17 years ago, a year after the Sorak’s eldest son, Jacob, was born.
Bonnie's husband, Arthur, has seen the benefits of being a vegan for himself. Arthur had painful eczema that caused painful splits in his fingers; he depended on powerful steroid creams to keep it under control.
“I eliminated all dairy from my diet, and after three months, my eczema was about 80 percent better, and maybe I wasn't convinced enough, but I went out and had some pizza, and the cheese caused it to all come back,” Arthur said. “That was it, I never had dairy again."
After Arthur, who is ironically a son of a butcher, made the first step in removing dairy, he said that the rest was not that big of a deal and he no longer needs the creams.
"It can be an evolution for a person, you can start eliminating foods from your diet and find other things to substitute," Arthur said.
Bonnie Sorak Vegan Recipies Candle Cafe Soy Chocolate Mousse Pie Keys: Desserts Pies Yield: 8 Ingredients: ----------------- PIE CRUST ---------------- 1 cup spelt flour (can be found at health food stores) 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1/4 cup organic sugar, such as Sucanat (can be found at health food stores) 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 cup soy milk 1/2 cup maple syrup 1/4 cup safflower oil 1/2 cup water 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 tsp almond extract
2 tbl chocolate chips
----------------- MOUSSE ----------------
2 1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 cup vanilla soy milk plus
2 tbl vanilla soy milk divided
1/2 tsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp kuzu root starch* or cornstarch
(*can be found at health food stores)
20 oz silken firm tofu
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
Method:
For the Pie Crust: Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. In another bowl, combine the soy milk, maple syrup, oil, water, and vanilla and almond extracts. Add to the flour mixture and stir well.
Pour into a 9-inch-square baking pan; bake 35 minutes. Cool 15 minutes, then refrigerate 1 hour. Crumble and press the crumbs into a 9-inch, deep-dish pie plate. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips.
For the Mousse: Place the chocolate chips, 1 cup of soy milk and cocoa powder in a bowl. Dissolve the kuzu in the remaining 2 tablespoons milk and add to the mixture. Place the mixture in a double boiler set over simmering water and melt, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a mixing bowl and let cool slightly.
Puree the tofu in a blender until smooth. Add the syrup and vanilla and almond extracts; blend again. Fold into the chocolate mixture. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Pour into the crust. Refrigerate overnight.
This recipe yields 8 servings
Ratatouille Serves 6-8
2 1lb eggplants, peeled and cut into 1” cubes (I don’t peel)
3 small
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