Vegetarian Star

Alicia Silverstone treated herself to some delicious vegan food at NYC’s Candle 79 just minutes after her performance on stage.

Alicia held the launch party for her vegan diet and lifestyle book, The Kind Diet, at the same restaurant.

“I like my vegan food to be sexy, dirty fun,” Silverstone told New York Times.

Silverstone got her fingers dirty with nachos slathered in vegan cheese, tofu sour cream, with refried beans and seitan adding an extra protein punch.

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Amanda Cohen of Dirt Candy

Amanda Cohen has been busy at NYC’s Dirt Candy making changes to the menu to refresh the not so old vegetarian restaurant she opened less than two years ago.

Change is allowing Cohen to introduce a vegetable version of a Chinese dim sum favorite–barbecue Pork Buns.

“We use carrots instead,” Cohen told Village Voice. “The buns will be different colors based on the different colors of carrots — there’ll be pink, orange, and yellow. They’ll have a slightly barbecued carrot filling and come with a little carrot cucumber salad, and I’m trying to figure out how to make sesame halvah to sprinkle on top.”

If you’re a fan of the kimchi doughnuts, sorry to say the carrot buns have replaced them.

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Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm has declared March 20 as Meat Out Day for the state.

Vegetarians surrounded by the Great Lakes will probably celebrate with seitan skewers, but not everyone, especially those in the meat industry are happy.

WNDU reports that some meat lovers are planning a cookout on the steps of the state capital to protest.

“It’s important to us that people eat meat because that’s what we do for a living. I don’t think anyone should mandate whether people eat meat or not, it’s a personal decision,” said Brian McKenzie, a hog farmer.

The governor received the request to invite Michigan to partake in the meatless celebration from a representative of Meatout, a program of  FARM, Farm Animal Rights Movement, who’s theme for the year is “Eat for life–live vegan!”

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“I haven’t been aware of what everybody’s been saying. Somebody showed me a story that made it sound like I’m too thin. I’ve just been living life and trying to live it to the fullest. That’s all I’m trying to do — live happy and healthy. I gained a lot of weight to play Idi Amin and afterwards I got a little more serious about diet and exercise. Also, I don’t think being a vegetarian hurts.”

—-Forest Whitaker, in Parade magazine, on his highly publicized weight loss.

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Jeff Garlin has lost weight by cutting almost every animal from his diet but fish.

The Curb Your Enthusiasm pescatarian has written a book, My Footprint: Carrying The Weight Of The World, that details his journey to lose both pounds on his body and impact on the environment.

Suffering a stroke in 2000, Garlin admitted his diet in the past couldn’t have enabled him to go from 320 to 260 pounds.

“I’m not fat from eating too many apples. It’s very serious, man. I could’ve died.”

Not only is Garlin enjoying better health, but he’s also gotten in good with the cool green kids.

He’s friends with Ed Begley Jr. and Curb Your Enthusiasm creator Larry David, both who are into the environmental scene.

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As mentioned earlier, vegetarian music great Paul McCartney is featured in the UK catering magazine Stir It Up, discussing his Meat Free Monday campaign and vegetarianism.

Introducing Meat Free Mondays into your diet should be fun, tasty and simple, and Paul proves this is possible by choosing a vegetarian dish in the very popular cuisine category of Mexican.

Vegans will be happy to know the recipe for spicy refried bean tacos with Mexican corn bread list cheddar cheese and other dairy ingredients as “optional.”

Spicy Refried Bean Tacos
230g canned refried beans
2 medium tomatoes, chopped small
1 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 tsp hot chilli sauce or to taste
4 taco shells, warmed as per
instructions on pack
Grated cheddar cheese (optional)

1. In a large frying pan gently fry the onions in 2 tbsp olive oil for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Stir in the refried beans. Add the chopped tomato. Fry till heated through.

3. Season to taste with chilli sauce and a little salt if desired.

4. Half-fill the warm taco shells with the mixture and top with shredded cheese and shredded lettuce (lettuce can also be placed at the bottom of the shell)

5. Garnish with a slice or two of avocado and a dollop of sour cream.

Want to make Mexican corn bread with your tacos? Visit Stir It Up for the recipe.

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This week Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado introduced the Healthy School Meals Act of 2010, H.R. 4870, a pilot program that would reward schools with food aid if they regularly offer vegetarian meal alternatives to students.

Polis is not a full time vegetarian himself, but has reduced his red meat intake to once a week and according to The Hill, Polis is a “big believer” in eating vegetarian.

He learned firsthand the problems adolescents have finding healthy food in educational environments when he visited dozens of schools.

“I have been in many lunchrooms during lunch period and can attest to the food that is frequently lacking from a nutritional perspective and very high in saturated fats,” he said.

“For a lot of kids, a lot of their meals come from schools, and many schools are really struggling to meet the USDA guidelines in terms of maximum saturated fat requirements,” he added. “What our bill will do is provide some lower-fat and lower-cholesterol ways for kids to get the nutrition that they need to be healthy.”

Polis’ legislation would create a $4 million dollar budget to test the introduction of vegetarian food and non dairy beverages into certain school districts over the next two years.

Politics has never been more exciting!

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Remember that million dollar challenge Phil Ivey took from Tom Dwan?

You know, the one where Ivey wouldn’t eat “anything that moves” for a year?

According to Cake Poker, Danish poker magazine Ace interviewd Dwan for next month’s issue and revealed a plate of chicken Ivey encountered while having dinner with friends took the poker player down.

That’s pretty pathetic considering the chicken was already dead.

Although Ivey held out for three weeks, “He couldn’t handle it,” Dwan told Ace. “He realized he couldn’t keep it up for a full year.”

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