Vegetarian Star

Amanda Cohen of Dirt Candy

“I think the challenge to all of us is that we have to be better. Vegetarian chefs are like the Ginger Rogers to the omnivore chef’s Fred Astaire: Our job is harder because we have to do everything they do, only backwards and in high heels. We have to work twice as hard for half the respect. Despite this, we desperately need to engage with the mainstream food world, because it’s not enough to preach to the choir anymore. Chefs and owners, myself included, need to step up our game. We need to become the 4.0 GPA overachievers of food.”

—-Amanda Cohen, owner and chef at Dirt Candy, an award winning vegetarian restaurant in New York City.

via vegcooking.com

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Cartoonist Dan Piraro attended the launch party for Alicia Silverstone‘s book, The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet at Candle 79 vegan restaurant in New York City.

Dan is the founder of Bizarro.com, a website containing his cartoons that often depict vegetarian/vegan/animal rights issues.

Was Dan the only vegan special enough that night to get a pic taken with Alicia?

The Kind Diet is set for release October 13.

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Giada De Laurentiis made an appearance at Alicia Silverstone‘s launch party for her book The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet held at Candle 79 vegan restaurant.

Does the Food Network‘s Italian cooking diva have a thing for vegan meals?

If so, we’d love to see Giada feature a cheeseless lasagna dish, similar to her recipe we found for vegetarian Individual Vegetable Lasagnas.

The Kind Diet is set for release October 13.

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Alicia Silverstone launched a release party for her book, The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet.

The event was held at Candle 79, a prestigious vegan restaurant in New York City.

Other celebrities that attended the event include Robin Quivers, Lake Bell, Giada De Laurentiis, Dan Hedaya and Dan Piraro.

The Kind Diet is set for release October 13.

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Amanda Cohen

Amanda Cohen, founder and owner of Dirt Candy, has been named “Chef of the Month” at the Veg Cooking Blog.

Dirt Candy is an all vegetarian restaurant in New York City and Cohen was received prestige for her work at the restaurant.

Veg Cooking sat down with Cohen to discuss all things veggie and here are some of Amanda’s thoughts:

Lube it up:
Splurge on good oils. Truffle oil, almond oil, hazelnut oil, or pistachio oil are all really nice ways to finish off a dish. You can drizzle them over just about anything, cooked or raw, and they add an extra, savory dimension.

On Favorite Veg Ingredients:
Right now, what I’m really into are potatoes. And even though beet season is wrapping up, I’ll probably stay obsessed with them until the year’s last beet is pulled up out of the dirt.

On Vegan Cooking:
Everything at Dirt Candy comes in a vegan and a non-vegan version, and I really like skipping back and forth between vegan and vegetarian cooking. Vegan cooking is challenging in a way that’s a lot of fun. It wakes your brain up. And I actually think that the Orange Tofu we serve is better vegan (we use coconut milk in the sauce instead of butter).

On Producing Great Vegetarian Dishes
Vegetarian food should be about what you can eat, not what you can’t. Aping the “protein, sauce, side of veg” format of the standard meat dish just reminds omnivorous diners of what they’re not eating, and it doesn’t do justice to vegetables, fruits, grains, and all the other fun stuff we get to play with. To me, breaking the “meat replacement” mold is the most important element in cooking great vegetarian food.

Read the entire interview with Amanda at vegcooking.com.

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Mayim Bialik had said she needed a vegan, kosher, organic chef in the neighborhood, but from the looks of this recipe, sounds like Chef Mayim’s got it all under control.

These Double Chocolate Brownies can be made vegan or not, depending on your preference and have the unique addition of adding sweet potatoes to the batch.

Get the recipe for Mayim’s Double Chocolate Brownies after the jump… (more…)

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So much chatter is going on about Alicia Silverstone‘s upcoming book, The Kind Diet, that some may have forgotten about another big project of hers debuting this year.

As we brought you the news earlier, Alicia has teamed up with EcoTools to create a line of eco-friendly cosmetic tools.

Besides being animal-free,  the materials are also made from recycled fibers.

Alicia took a moment to talk to Chloe Jo Berman of girliegirlarmy.com about animal and environmentally friendly cosmetics.

CHLOE JO: You are such a tireless activist for the animals and the environment, and a prime example of how living ethically makes you emanate glitter and beauty! We love that you totally get the power of offering luxurious and glamorous tools (whether it be food, fashion, or literature) to entice people into living a more cruelty-free and green lifestyle. What inspired you to make vegan brushes and make up bags specifically, rather than a shoe line or clothing line… or is that coming soon?

ALICIA SILVERSTONE: Regular make up brushes are often made with animal hair, and i promise the animals didn’t sit in a salon and get a little trim – you can be sure it was a painful horrid experience. Anywhoo, the other side of the coin is that synthetic brushes although way better option than animal hair, they are not awesome for the enviroment either, but still better. And actually the best option (if I do say so myself) is my eco tools, ’cause they are free of animal – but also using bamboo and recycled metal and the kindest synthetic hair for the planet possible to date that works great. So they are cruelty-free, but also the most enviromentally friendly option out there. And the bags are all made with hemp and veg inks and recylced plastics for the lining are as pretty and stylish as it gets, while still being green!

Alicia’s beauty tools hit Target and Wal-Mart this holiday season 2009.

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Crazy Sexy cancer survivor Kris Carr will be a featured speaker at the Think Pink Boutique presented by The Augusta Chronicle and University Hospital Breast Health Center on Oct. 13 at the Savannah Rapids Pavilion in Augusta, Georgia.

Kris is the founder of crazysexylife.com, a website for all things health, wellness, and veg.

Before Kris was diagnosed with a rare form of incurable cancer on Valentine’s Day in 2003, she was meat food junkie.

“I was a disaster. I was a junk-food junkie. I ate steak and processed foods,” she said.

Now she sticks to an organic, vegan diet that’s mostly raw.

She also advises using shampoos that are made with plant based ingredients versus chemicals.

Kris is popular, as there are only about 60 or so tickets remaining for her “Think Pink Boutique” speech next week.

To purchase and learn more, visit this link.

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