Vegetarian Star

Okra Fries. Credit: The Sweets Life

Taking a risk with a vegetarian or vegan dish on a mainstream reality TV cooking competition isn’t as frightful as it used to be. Chefs are smarter, judges are open and almost no one faints to hear there’s no four or two legged flesh as the main centerpiece.

On a recent The Next Iron Chef, the competitors were given the task of turning classic diner food into something head turning (but not stomach turning). Chef Maneet Chauhan didn’t just give burgers a twist, she made the veggie burger a classic! Although the judges weren’t thrilled with the patty, Chauhan’s okra and squash blossom french fries were a hit.

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Spaghetti Tacos. Credit: Vegancognito.blogspot.com

Spaghetti Tacos are all the rage, thanks to the Nickelodeon on Sunset television series iCarly, which features adolescent Carly Shay, played by Miranda Cosgrove, who creates her own web shows with her two best friends Sam and Freddie.

Sam (Samantha) is known for her gluttonous desire for meat, which is probably why the original recipe for Spaghetti Tacos listed on the iCarly website calls for meat sauce. And burping.

Get taco shells.
Get spaghetti (with meat sauce).
Get a BIG spoon.
Use the BIG spoon to put spaghetti into taco shells.
Eat.
Burp.

Thank goodness for Carly’s 26-year old brother and guardian Spencer, who at least recommends some low-fat vegetarian pizza from time to time.

There are numerous ways to vegify this recipe to make it healthier and cruelty-free, as Vegancognito did using faux meat and vegan sour cream.

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A sneak peek at an upcoming episode of The Biggest Loser reveals coach Bob Harper will trade his tank top for an apron as he invites contestants into his home and prepares a vegan meal for them!

The episode is scheduled to air on October 12th and will also feature celebrity chef Curtis Stone preparing healthier desserts, like his Poached Pear with Red Wine Reduction and Yogurt.

Will Harper use faux meats? Or will he prepare a high protein substitute like seitan from scratch? Or maybe he will do it plain and simple, utilizing some of his favorite vegan staples like soy, beans, raw or roasted nuts and hummus.

Tune in next week on NBC to find out!

Photo: PR Photos

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Oh, no. The life of stardom has turned Juliette Lewis into an addict who can’t break the habit of the white stuff. The coconut stuff, that is.

“Since I’m a health freak, it’s my crack,” the actress told New York Magazine of coconut milk, before getting her fix of a smoothie with extra coconut and hemp protein.

Thankfully, coconut milk is both legal and readily available for purchase in the non-seedy parts of town during the daylight hours. One brand you might see regularly in natural foods stores in Thai Kitchen. Originating in Thailand, the excellent non-dairy substitute is made from pressing ripe coconuts and adding nothing else–no preservatives or chemicals.

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Chocolate Pecan Pie

This is for Veg Star’s fantastic graduate students out there, in the middle of another grueling semester.

When a writer at Riverfront Times wanted to conduct a, ahem, “scientific” experiment on vegan goods, she tested the hypothesis that “Vegan baked goods are always readily identifiable as being vegan.”

In other words, this skeptic wanted to prove that vegan desserts are cardboard, pasty, granola pyramids of disaster. Sure hope she didn’t bet her thesis on it.

Materials for vegan chef and author Bryant Terry‘s vegan dessert included a coconut pie crust made from coconut oil in place of butter, a chocolate pecan pudding filling with non-dairy rice milk, maple syrup and arrowroot powder, a fantastic thickener for pies, puddings, gravies and other dishes that doesn’t add fat.

Results: “I don’t understand how that is vegan.” (In non-scientific terms: How the heck does it taste so good?)

Conclusion, experimenter notes and recipe below.

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Lea Michele‘s cast mate on Glee, Chris Colfer, joked about putting meat in one of her vegetarian dishes. Totally NOT funny, but the joke is on him and the rest of the cast because Michele once secretly gave the guys (and gals) on the set some cupcakes without telling them they were animal-free.

“I had vegan cupcakes on my birthday,” Michele said at PETA’s 30th Anniversary Gala. “Once you eat a vegan cupcake–I once put out vegan cupcakes for the whole crew and didn’t tell them that they were vegan. And they were like, those are the best cupcakes I ever had. And then the next day I was like ‘They were vegan. See, you can eat vegan food.'”

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PETA’s president and co-founder, Ingrid Newkirk, would like to treat Lady Gaga to a full course vegan meal.

At the group’s 30th anniversary gala, Newkirk revealed she sent Gaga a little letter due to the singer’s recent escapades in outfits fashioned from raw meat.

“I’ve written to her privately and suggested that maybe we have a vegan dinner privately somewhere,” Newkirk said.

A special event may have varying levels of dress requirements, but we do hope Lady Gaga realizes her meat dress worn to the MTV Video Music Awards is a little inappropriate and would get her turned away faster than a polka dot pants wearing shirtless gent at a black tie party.

As a vegetarian or vegan, you’re probably already an expert at hosting meatless dinner parties, but if you’re going to be on the guest end of things, you can politely email tips for hosting a vegetarian friendly dinner to your host.

The basics of ensuring the guests feel welcomed, of course, is remembering what each type of diet means.

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Following in the footsteps of her mother Linda, who penned books like Linda’s Kitchen: Simple and Inspiring Recipes for Meals without Meat and Linda McCartney on Tour: Over 200 Meat-Free Dishes from Around the World, photographer Mary McCartney has compiled a book of her favorite vegetarian recipes, complete with photographs of the dishes she took herself.

According to Booktrade, Chatto & Windus, an imprint of Random House, have acquired the rights to the collection of meat-free dishes, schedule for publication in 2012.

“I am excited to be working with Chatto & Windus on a contemporary vegetarian cook book,” said Mary, in a press release that comes just days after the late Linda’s birthday. “My mother, Linda, became the focal point for vegetarians and meat reducers in the past and helped inspire many, through her books and actions, to realise that there was a viable and tasty alternative. I am so proud to be able to carry on what she started. Vegetarian cuisine has come a long way and with the addition of my other love, photography, we are going to try and show just how sophisticated and varied the vegetarian palate has become.”

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