Summer Fun, Vegan Style!

It's summertime and the living is easy, so fire up the grill or pack a picnic lunch and enjoy an abundance of tasty, healthy, and humane plant-based foods. 

Meat, eggs, and dairy products are likely to harbor E. coli, listeria, and salmonella—three bugs that are even more unwelcome than ants at an outdoor picnic. Animal products are also loaded with cholesterol, saturated fat, and concentrated protein, all of which contribute to heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, cancer, and many other diseases. According to the National Cancer Institute, barbecuing beef, pork, fowl, and fish can cause the formation of carcinogens called heterocyclic amines, or HCAs. HCAs are found only in meats cooked at high temperatures—never in vegetables, grains, or beans.

Fortunately, it's easy to banish beef and other animal products from your barbeque and grill great-tasting mock meats and flavorful fruits and vegetables instead.

Many popular brands of veggie burgers, including Boca vegan original and roasted onion burgers, Morningstar Farms Better 'n Burgers, Amy's All American Burger, and Gardenburger Flame Grilled burger, taste great grilled. "The key with mock meats is not to overcook them," says Tal Ronnen, a vegan chef who graduated from The Natural Gourmet Cookery School in New York. "They are pre-cooked, so you only need to heat them up for a few minutes. Try basting veggie burgers with barbecue sauce before grilling to keep them moist and to add some zesty flavor. Most store-bought brands of barbecue sauce like Bull's Eye and Kraft are vegetarian."

In addition to veggie burgers, try grilling Gardenburger Meatless Riblets and Flame Grilled Chik'n or marinated tofu vegetable kebabs. "Roasting veggies over coals caramelizes their natural sugars, and brings out their flavor," says Tal. "Be sure to cut the veggies the same size so they cook evenly, and use a wire mesh grilling screen to prevent soft foods, like tofu and tomatoes, from falling into the fire." Corn on the cob, zucchini, potatoes, onions, pineapples, mangos, bell peppers, eggplant, asparagus, and portobello mushrooms taste especially good when grilled.

Vegetarian hot dogs tend to dry out over an open flame, but they are delicious when boiled or fried and served with vegetarian baked beans or topped with chili non carne. Smart Dogs, Tofu Pups, and Not Dogs are just a few of the popular brands commonly sold in grocery and health food stores.

Cole slaw, pasta salad, potato salad, creamy dips, and other summertime side dishes, can be made with eggless mayonnaises, such as Vegenaise or Nayonaise, which have less fat and calories and none of the cholesterol found in traditional mayonnaise. Vegan mayonnaise can also be found in most well-stocked supermarkets or at your local health food store.

Pack a Vegan Picnic with Pizzazz

PB&J is fine, but if you want to pack a picnic with a little more punch, stuff pita bread with hummus, falafel, chopped tomatoes, lettuce, sprouts, carrots, and onions. Or stack your sandwiches with veggie deli slices from Yves Veggie Cuisine (YvesVeggie.com) or Turtle Island Foods (Tofurky.com) and Tofutti soy cheese slices (Tofutti.com). You can also pile meat-free Smart Deli Pepperoni slices (Lightlife.com) and soy cheese on crackers for a tasty treat.

Make a mock chicken-salad sandwich with Worthington's Chic-ketts, or a tuna-free tuna-salad sandwich with Worthington's Tuno (both Worthington products are available at health-food stores or at NoMeat.com). You can also make mock fried chicken using chopped Chic-ketts or White Wave's wheat meat (Whitewave.com) and one of Shake N' Bakes' several vegan mixes.  

Or, prepare an easy pasta salad by combining cooked spiral pasta with diced cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and chunks of baked tofu or Chic-ketts, mixed with vegan mayonnaise or your favorite vinaigrette.

To make mini burritos, spread tortillas with Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese; add olives or diced veggies, roll up, and cut into bite-size pieces. Also, try pairing veggie kebabs (perhaps cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, sweet peppers, and baked tofu cubes) with vegan ranch dip (mix Tofutti Sour Supreme with McCormick Spring Onion Dip Mix).

Add fresh fruit, soy yogurt cups (try Stonyfield Farm's O'Soy, WholeSoy, or Silk brands), ZenDon soy pudding cups, and other vegan snacks for a satisfying picnic spread. The possibilities are endless!

Below are some recipes to get your summer feast off to a mouth-watering start. Please visit VegCooking.com for more recipes and helpful cooking and shopping tips.

Scrumptious Summer Recipes

Creamy Coleslaw

Makes 3 to 4 servings

1 1/2 cups shredded green cabbage
1 medium-sized carrot, grated
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
3/4 cup vegan mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. caraway seeds
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a large salad bowl. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and serve.

Creamy Potato Salad

Makes 4 to 6 servings

6 medium white potatoes
1/2 cup Vegenaise or Nayonaise
4 Tbsp. yellow prepared mustard
2 Tbsp. distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Paprika (optional)

Cut the potatoes into cubes and cook in boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain and let cool completely.
Put the potatoes in a bowl and combine with the remaining ingredients.

Spinach Dip

1 box frozen spinach
1 container non-dairy sour cream (try Tofutti Sour Supreme)
1/2 cup Vegenaise or Nayonaise
1 packet vegan ranch dressing or onion soup mix
1 round loaf of sour dough bread

Thaw the spinach in a bowl in the microwave for about 40 seconds. Get your hands in the bowl and squeeze out ALL the water with your hands. Then mix the spinach and all the other ingredients together, except the bread. Let it sit for a couple of hours for the flavors to blend. Cut the top and middle out of the bread loaf to make a bowl. Serve the dip in the bread bowl and cut the rest of the bread into chunks for dipping.

Tempting Tempeh Ball

1 8-oz. pkg. tempeh
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup Vegenaise or Nayonaise 
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
3-4 Tbsp. soy sauce

Steam the tempeh for 20 minutes. Let cool. Meanwhile, roast the almonds in a dry frying pan until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Set aside and allow to cool.

Place the tempeh, Vegenaise, yeast, and soy sauce in a food processor (or blender) and process until smooth. Refrigerate until firm and chilled. Scoop the tempeh mixture into your hands and shape it into a ball. Roll it in the almonds, then put it on a plate. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours more. Serve with cracker

Eggless Egg Salad

Makes 4 servings

2 Tbsp. Vegenaise or Nayonaise
1 tsp. distilled vinegar
1 tsp. mustard
1 tsp. white sugar
1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
1/4 tsp. dried dill weed
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 lb. firm tofu
1 Tbsp. onion powder
2 Tbsp. celery powder
Salt and pepper, to taste

Mix together the vegan mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, sugar, turmeric, dill, and parsley to make the dressing. Place in the refrigerator until chilled. Crumble the tofu then stir in the onion powder and celery powder. Add the dressing to the tofu mixture. Season with the salt and pepper and chill for several hours before serving.

Couscous Salad

Makes 4 servings

5 oz. couscous
3-4 cups water, boiling
3/4 cup chickpeas
1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, and chopped
1/3 cup black olives, pitted
1/3 cup onions, chopped
3 Tbsp. fresh mint, chopped
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
Salt, to taste
Pepper, freshly ground
5-6 lettuce leaves
5-6 fresh mint leaves

Add the couscous to the boiling water. Cover and let stand for 2 minutes. Drain the excess water in the strainer and place into a dish. Add the chickpeas, bell pepper, olives, onions, and mint. Toss the ingredients with the olive oil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Lay the lettuce leaves in a serving dish and pile the salad over the bed of leaves. To garnish, make a flower in the center with the mint leaves. Refrigerate until ready to serve

Fruit Salsa
Makes 4 servings
1 cup finely chopped strawberries
1 orange, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
3 kiwis, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh pineapple
2 green onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped yellow or green bell pepper
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

Combine the ingredients well in a large bowl. Cover and chill for several hours or overnight. For delicious "chips" to dip in the salsa, brush flour tortillas with melted margarine, sprinkle with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar, cut into wedges, and bake at 350°F until crispy.

Key Lime Cheesecake
Makes 6 to 8 servings

2 pkgs. Tofutti plain cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup key lime juice
2 tsp. lime zest (grated rind of lime)
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 9-inch graham cracker pie crust
Kiwis and/or strawberries, sliced

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, lime juice, lime zest, and cornstarch in a blender and mix until smooth. Pour into the graham cracker pie crust. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and let set until cool to the touch, and then chill in the refrigerator overnight. Top with sliced kiwis, strawberries, or both.

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