Amsterdam Farmers Market

Here are some images from the farmers market we visited on Saturday. Such an incredible selection of organic produce and more!

incredible bounty

fresh bread anyone?

fresh pasta and olives

bulk nuts and seeds

organic goodness

check out the pretzels

bulk grains and legumes

organic produce

there is fungus among us!

more organic produce

pastries galore

purple carrots

fresh herbs

Go Green with Vegan Cuisine

QUESTION: In past interviews we have been discussing the health benefits of raw and vegan foods. You mentioned that there are environmental and social benefits to this form of eating as well. Can you elaborate a bit?

MARK: We hear a lot these days about global warming, food shortages, water shortages and rainforest destruction. Many people, including environmentalists, don’t realize that including more vegan foods in our diet is one of the most effective steps we can take to protect our environment and conserve the earth’s resources. A recent UN report called Livestock’s Long Shadow revealed that 18 percent of all greenhouse emissions come from the livestock industry. That’s more than the entire world automobile industry combined! This is incredible to me.

The environmental impact of a vegan diet is a fraction of that of a meat-based one. According to Conservation International, the average carbon emissions from an animal product based diet are 11 tons per year per person. The average emissions on a plant-based diet are 6 tons per year. Another interesting tidbit of information is that it takes approximately 3 ½ acres of land and 2500 gallons of water a day to support an animal product based diet. A plant-based diet utilizes only 1/6 of an acre of land and 300 gallons of water a day. According to the USDA, 1 acre of land can produce 20,000 pounds of vegetables. This same amount of land can only produce 165 pounds of meat.

Animals are fed more than 80 percent of the corn and 95 percent of the oats grown in the United States. Each year, the U.S. livestock population consumes enough grain and soybeans to feed more than five times the U.S. human population. Less than half of the harvested agricultural acreage goes to feed people. Combine this with the fact that over 60 million people die of starvation every year. This means that we are feeding grain to animals while our fellow humans are dying of starvation in mind staggering numbers.

QUESTION: Wow! I had no idea. That’s pretty intense information. Where can I go to learn more?

MARK: We have more information in our books, Vegan Fusion World Cuisine and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Raw. You can also check out Diet for a New America, which is the source of much of the environmental information we share. Author John Robbins is a pioneer in the promotion of the health and environmental benefits of a plant- based lifestyle. His latest work, Healthy At 100, is a must-read in-depth exploration of health and longevity.

QUESTION: Can you share an environmentally friendly recipe for the holiday season?

MARK: Here you go, courtesy of Vegan Fusion World Cuisine

Sistah Jah Love Roasted Squash Soup

20 min prep / 35 min cooking / 5-6 servings

Ingredients
1 small Butternut or buttercup squash (1 ½ C cooked)
1 large Garnet yam, peeled & chopped (2 C)
1 medium Onion, chopped (1 C)
1 C Celery, sliced thin
2 Tbl Garlic, minced
4 ½ C Filtered water or vegetable stock
2 ½ C Coconut milk
2 Tbl Maple syrup, or to taste
3 Tbl soy sauce
½ tsp Curry paste
1 small Cinnamon stick
• Sea salt, to taste
• Black pepper, ground to taste

Loving preparation
1. Preheat oven to 375°. Rinse the butternut squash, slice lengthwise and remove the seeds. Place face down on a lightly-oiled baking sheet and bake until a knife can pass through it easily, approximately 30 – 35 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Scoop the inside of the squash into a large blender.

2. While squash is cooking, place the yams, onions, celery, garlic, coconut milk, filtered water and cinnamon stick in a 3 qt pot, cook on medium high heat until yams are thoroughly cooked, approximately 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and allow to cool 10-15 minutes.

3. Remove cinnamon stick, add shoyu and maple syrup, place in blender with squash and blend. Add salt and pepper to taste, mix well and enjoy.

4. Garnish with black sesame seeds and a leaf of mint or cilantro. The flavor of this soup may vary according to the sweetness of the yams and squash, add maple syrup to taste.

Amsterdam Book Signing and Tasting

We have had an amazing and wonder-filled first week in Amsterdam. We are staying in the center of town, on a beautiful street along a canal.On Saturday, we checked out one of the most incredible farmers markets we have seen. (photos to follow in another blog post). After the market, we went to Delicious Food for a book signing and tasting. We met lots of people and handed out flyers for our upcoming workshops.

Jennifer in Amsterdam

Delicious Food, Amsterdam

Raw Flax Crackers with Cashew Cheese, Raw Chocolate Sesame Bon Bons, South West Corn Bread, Sweet and Sour Tempeh

Book Signing, Delicious Food, Amsterdam

Mark Reinfeld and Jennifer Murray

Recipe: Smokin’ Sesame Tacos with Cashew Coconut Sour Cream

This recipe is part of the wonderful collection of delicious and healthy recipes in Waking Up! our new ebook from Vegan Fusion.

Smokin’  Sesame Tacos with 
Cashew Coconut Sour Cream

David    Elberg, Haiku Hawaii

6 Servings / 1 hour

2 cups     hulled sesame seeds food processed for 3 minutes
1 tsp     sea salt
1/2 tsp     cayenne
1 Tbl     cumin
juice     1 large juicy lemon
3 Tbl     olive oil
1/2 medium     yellow onion peeled and chopped
1/2 cup     sauerkraut
1/2 cup     fresh coconut meat
1/4 cup     cashews soaked for 1 hr (1/2 cup after soaking)
2-3 Tbl     fresh coconut water
juice     2 limes
1/2 tsp    shredded lime peel
1/2 tsp     sea salt
1/2 clove     garlic
6 large     Napa Cabbage leaves
2 large     red tomatoes diced

1. For the taco meat put the sesame seeds in the food processor and mix for approximately 3 minutes or until they blend into a fine powder. Put mixture in large mixing bowl. Stir in cayenne sea salt and cumin.  Stir in Olive oil and lemon juice.  Finally add chopped onion and sauerkraut. This is your taco meat.  The mixture should be wet enough to hold together but not dripping.  The cumin should be a dominant flavor when you taste it.

2. For the sour cream: put the coconut meat cashews lime juice and peel sea salt and garlic in a blender.  Add the coconut water slowly as you begin to blend as there should be just enough moisture for the mixture to blend. This should look and taste like sour cream when you’re done! Serve taco meat in Napa cabbage leaves.  About two heaping tablespoons per serving.  Top with cashew coconut sour cream and diced tomatoes.

Smokin’  Sesame Tacos with 
Cashew Coconut Sour Cream
David    Elberg, Haiku Hawaii
6 Servings / 1 hour
2 cups     hulled sesame seeds food processed for 3 minutes
1 tsp     sea salt
1/2 tsp     cayenne
1 Tbl     cumin
juice     1 large juicy lemon
3 Tbl     olive oil
1/2 medium     yellow onion peeled and chopped
1/2 cup     sauerkraut
1/2 cup     fresh coconut meat
1/4 cup     cashews soaked for 1 hr (1/2 cup after soaking)
2-3 Tbl     fresh coconut water
juice     2 limes
1/2 tsp    shredded lime peel
1/2 tsp     sea salt
1/2 clove     garlic
6 large     Napa Cabbage leaves
2 large     red tomatoes diced

1. For the taco meat put the sesame seeds in the food processor and mix for approximately 3 minutes or until they blend into a fine powder. Put mixture in large mixing bowl. Stir in cayenne sea salt and cumin.  Stir in Olive oil and lemon juice.  Finally add chopped onion and sauerkraut. This is your taco meat.  The mixture should be wet enough to hold together but not dripping.  The cumin should be a dominant flavor when you taste it.

2. For the sour cream: put the coconut meat cashews lime juice and peel sea salt and garlic in a blender.  Add the coconut water slowly as you begin to blend as there should be just enough moisture for the mixture to blend. This should look and taste like sour cream when you’re done! Serve taco meat in Napa cabbage leaves.  About two heaping tablespoons per serving.  Top with cashew coconut sour cream and diced tomatoes.

This recipe was born in the jungles of Costa Rica amongst a little known colony of raw foodists.  With such an emphasis on traditional Central American Cuisine with all of the meat cheese and frying antics we were looking for a healthy vegan alternative that would tantalize the pallet.  The first batch was made in a cabin at the bottom of Cascada Diamante (diamond falls) the largest waterfall in the country during a full moon by candle light. After consumption a wild swimming and howling frenzy ensued.

Waking Up! Your guide to health realized!

A Doctor’s Advice – A Vegan Lifestyle

Waking Up to health, prosperity and happiness. Waking Up is now available. Filled with recipes and stories of people who have transformed their lives.

Joseph Teel, MD 
Middletown, Connecticut

A Doctor’s advice

We are living at a time of great historical importance. The world’s current populace and leaders have the ability to improve this world, or continue us on the current path of environmental, social and personal destruction. As we look around our world, one can see ravaging of our biosphere, religious and cultural intolerance and worsening global health. Luckily, a few individuals are trying to change the tide. A small number of people across the globe are making choices to halt environmental destruction, improve their personal and communal health and foster a sense of tolerance for others. These goals are accomplished, in part, by choosing a vegan diet. These same individuals must now expand their circle of influence to span the globe through word of mouth and print. The environmental, personal, spiritual and cultural health of the world must be improved.

Since the dawn of the agricultural revolution that allowed humans to farm, we have dominated our environment. This dominance accelerated with the dawn of the industrial revolution and our need for raw materials, including fossil fuels. Today, we have further hastened this consumption, partially driven by a growing world population and partially driven by an endless need for a higher standard of living. This higher standard also brings a desire to eat richer foods, such as meat. Unfortunately, this wealth and new food choices come at a striking environmental toll. Meat and dairy production are tremendously inefficient, wasteful and polluting processes.

The energy required to produce one pound of meat is fifteen times that needed to produce one pound of grain. We are, therefore, clearing countless numbers of acreage worldwide for unnecessary grain production simply to feed livestock. This livestock production also carries the further damaging side effect of local environmental pollution. Dairy and meat farms contribute a huge amount of noxious run-off to local streams and rivers, contributing to algae blooms and other damaging processes. A view of the Chesapeake Bay prior to the modern protection efforts stands as testament to the damaging effects of dairy/livestock farms upstream. Modern civilization has to take these changes to heart and realize how their daily dietary decisions impact their environment. People must also make a change for their own health.
Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States and is on a marked rise in countries undergoing Westernization. While other factors, like smoking and sedentary lifestyles, play a large role in this pattern, diet and its link to obesity is one of the strongest influences within our society. Americans are unbelievably overweight. More than half of the country is overweight and a large percentage fall into the obese or morbidly obese category. This alarming rise in overweight adults and children is tied to an ever-increasing dependence upon fast, cheap, nutritionally deficient food; most of which is heavily based upon meat and dairy. We have to reclaim our health.

As a physician, I talk to my patients daily about the link between their health and the food choices they make. I explain the need for wholesome, nutritious, low-fat, organic food as a mainstay within our diets. Unfortunately, most people have never experienced this type of food in their lives. They need education and resources; resources including cookbooks like Vegan Fusion World Cuisine. I explain with great enthusiasm the fun and great tasting experience people can have making dishes such as Acorn Squash with Wild Rice Pilaf, or Split Peas and Roasted Parsnip Soup. I want all of my patients to experience the health related and physical benefits of a vegan diet through weight reduction, cholesterol control and improved blood pressure. I also believe people feel better about themselves in the knowledge they are contributing to the health of the world through their daily actions.

Most people in this world want to be good people. We all want to make the world a better place and there are many ways to do this. Some people give their lives to service through social causes, religious organizations, or though their own families and neighborhoods. By doing this, we enrich the lives of those around us and fill our lives with joy and positive emotions. I set forth the adoption of a vegan diet as another personal way to enhance this feeling of positive energy. The knowledge that one’s daily decisions have a direct impact on the world around them is empowering. It reinforces itself. It makes us want to do more good. Starting with ones food choices, we can inspire people to make this world a better place through environmental initiatives, or simply accepting other individuals as equal.

Our world grows smaller daily. Multiculturalism is becoming the norm. Even within the smallest most remote towns or villages across this globe, we see an infiltration of knowledge and ideas. This can sometimes be accepted with open arms, but it can just as easily be rejected. Cultural heritage must be preserved, but we all have to realize the richness foreign influence brings. It adds perspective, tolerance and richness to our lives. This is seen in literature, art and food. Vegan Fusion World Cuisine is a perfect example of this. It exhibits the benefits of cultural exchange and how enriching a variety of influences can be for one’s life.

We are all responsible for our own health and the health of the world around us. While, at times, it may seem an unobtainable goal, we can make this world a better place. We have the power to make changes in our own lives which benefit other humans, animals and the environment. One powerful change we can make is the adoption of a vegan diet. It is an obtainable goal.

Waking Up to health, prosperity and happiness. Waking Up is now available. Filled with recipes and stories of people who have transformed their lives.

Mark Reinfeld at Whole Foods, Portland Oregon

Cooking demo at Whole Foods, Portland Oregon, Spring 2007.

Chocolate Orange Pudding gets a Review

A Good Clean Life tried our Raw Chocolate Orange Pudding recipe.  Here’s part of what they had to say:

I made this pudding last week and was blown away! I find it is more of a chocolate mousse than a pudding. So rich, creamy and smooth it would be a sure hit for vegans and non vegans a like. Vegan Fusion has some great recipes in their cookbook as well as on their website.

~ A Good Clean Life

A Good Clean Life has a good clean blog with tips, recipes, articles and other tidbits pertaining to healthy eating, healthy living and healthy children.  You can also follow them on Twitter ( @agoodcleanlife )

Bloggers and Tweeters!  We love reviews.  Try our recipes and blog and tweet about them.  Let us know and we will help share the love.

Recipe: Moroccan Soup

This is one of the featured recipes in our new book Waking Up.

Moroccan Soup

Susan    Brudner, Northampton Massachusetts

6 servings / 30 minutes prep / 30 minutes cook
1 1/2 cups     Spanish onion chopped
2 cups     cooked garbanzo
2     Butternut squash — 8-10 cups
1 1/2 cups     red pepper chopped
2 Tbl     olive oil
1- 12 oz can     coconut milk
1 cup     raisins
2 Tbl     curry powder
1 Tbl     cumin
pinch      cayenne
1/4 cup     tamari
1/2 cup     orange juice
2 cup     sweet potato or regular potato chopped
2 quarts     water
salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel and chop squash boil until fork-tender then puree. Peel and chop potato boil until fork tender

2. In a large pot, sauté onions in olive oil and tamari until onions are translucent. Add red pepper and sauté for a minute. Add potatoes curry and cumin.

3. Mix in pureed squash 1 qt water coconut milk and chick peas turn to low a let simmer 10 minutes. Add raisins cayenne, orange juice, salt and pepper. Add more water if too thick. It should be thinner than a stew and thicker than a soup.

Best when left to sit an hour. Garnish with cilantro. Can be served over a whole grain. This recipe knocks the socks off of our customers at our vegan cafe in Massachusetts.

Waking Up!  All You Need for Health, Prosperity and Health

Opening Your Eyes to a Vegan Diet

Waking Up is our new ebook from Vegan Fusion. Filled with testimonials and wonderful recipes to help you wake up to revitalized health and wellness, Waking Up has something for everyone.

Ty Jones Reno, Nevada

“I lost 30 pounds in two months…”

“How did I get here?” I asked myself one night after a big dinner of beef tri-tip and red potatoes.  I was 30 pounds overweight, moody and had a perpetually upset stomach.  It was right then that I decided to watch the DVD my friend had been pestering me about.  He and his wife had become vegans after watching it and he raved daily over how much better he felt and how he had lost a bunch of weight.  I had been putting off this video for quite some time… ok months.  I knew that I would feel guilty for my carnivorous habits.  Even so, I hardly expected to change my entire outlook on life that very night.  Sure, I knew that the world could feed a lot more people on plant based diets than on carnivorous ones.  This was basic environmental science… the energy pyramid and all that.  So, I finally sat down to watch this mysterious video, all the while feeling fat and lazy.

My eyes had suddenly been opened!  I had received the food gospel and I felt like standing up and screaming “Hallelujah!”.  But with my stomach full of fat-laden beef, I quickly thought better of it. Over the next few months, I soaked up information about plant based diets like a sponge.  I bought videos, books and surfed the web for articles and resources.
 
But why become a vegan?  From the day I modified my diet, I felt better. Not just physically either.  My cholesterol dropped from 230 to 140 since the only dietary source of cholesterol comes from animals.  I also lost 30 pounds in two months.  More than that, though, I felt fulfilled.  It feels good to know that by avoiding meat, thousands of gallons of government-subsidized water are conserved each week.  I was no longer contributing to the shameful abuse of animals by large companies.  It was also pretty nice to be able to eat a meal without wondering if some stray prion was going to infect me with Creutzfeldt Jacobs Disease.

My first instinct as my outlook on food and life changed was to run around trying to “convert” my friends and family.  I quickly learned that people take it personally when you inform them that their diet is detrimental to their health, the health of the planet and the sustainability of our food supply.  Apparently, it doesn’t matter how politely you say it.  Since then, I have found that simply living a vegan lifestyle is quite contagious.

What of the “benefits” of a carnivorous diet though?  Are they valid? Obviously I don’t think so and here’s why.  The convenience of being able to eat whatever I want is a moot point since I honestly don’t want to eat animal products any longer.  I’m not claiming that they don’t taste good.  I am simply saying that I can eat whatever I want.  And what I want to eat consists entirely of plants.  As for the social stigma of being a vegan, it is a badge of honor as far as I’m concerned.  Besides, how many times have we all heard the old cliché: “If all your friends were jumping off the Empire State Building, would you do it too?”  The last reason is really a big one for most people.  Darn it, animal foods taste good!  John Travolta said it best in Pulp Fiction: “Pork Chops are good!”  While that may be true, I must emphatically say “Plant foods are good!”

 
I would love to see a vegan world, and I believe it’s entirely possible.  In fact, I believe it is inevitable.  I also believe that in the same way that a waterfall begins with a single drop of water, a vegan world starts with individuals opening their hearts and minds to doing what is right more than doing what is easy.  If we want to see a world where water is not squandered on raising livestock and a world where everyone has enough to eat, we all need to make the right food choices as individuals.  We need to eliminate the demand for foods that are detrimental to our world by no longer demanding those foods.  A vegan world is possible, we just have to make our own small contributions and it will happen someday.

Get your copy of Waking Up today!

Raw Recipe: Frosted Almond Butter Cookies

Frosted Almond Butter Cookies

Courtesy of Jennifer Murray and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Raw

Worth their time in the dehydrator, these almond butter cookies with creamy chocolate frosting are beyond gratifying.

Yield: 14 cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Dehydrate Time: 48 hours

1[1/4] cup almond butter

1 cup gala or other red apple, peeled and diced

6 dates, pitted, and soaked at least 30 minutes

[1/4] cup date soak water

Pinch cinnamon

[1/4] cup raw cacao powder

3 TB. agave nectar

1 TB. coconut oil

1.   Place almond butter, apple, dates, date soak water, and cinnamon in a food processor fitted with an S-shaped blade. Process on high speed for 20 to 40 seconds or until lumps are smooth..

2.   Using a spoon or a small scoop, scoop batter onto 2 Teflex-lined dehydrator trays in small rounds. You want them thin, about [1/4] inch thick. Drag a fork across them, making that distinctive peanut butter cookie cross-hatch.

3.   Dehydrate at 145°F for 2 hours. Reduce heat to 110°F and dehydrate for 22 more hours. Remove from Teflex and continue dehydrating for another 24 hours.

4.   Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, whisk together cacao powder, agave nectar, and coconut oil until smooth and creamy. Using a rubber spatula or a butter knife, frost cookies. Serve immediately or chill for 20 minutes before serving. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 or 6 days.