These days, news moves fasteven good news! As more people ditch the suffering caused by the meat and dairy industries and go vegan, companies are moving quickly to make hungry plant-based diners happy. Its easy to see the progress being achieved for animals when you look at the exciting vegan fast-food options that debuted this year, even if its hard to keep up with the latest news. Thats why weve made this handy list of 2019s new animal-free options at popular chain restaurants across the country.

Nearly 20 years of PETA protests paid off in 2019 when fast-food giant KFC announced that it was bowing to customer demand by testing tempting vegan fried chicken from Beyond Meat. During the test, customers and cars wrapped around the building and the option sold out in hoursa sure sign that KFC should make vegan fried chicken available nationwide ASAP.

This popular West Coast burger chain made going vegan an easy New Years resolution in 2019. On the final day of 2018, Carls Jr. began serving up savory Beyond Burgers at all its locations.

Not to be left behind Carls Jr., Hardeeswith locations on the East Coast and in the Midwestbegan serving Beyond Burgers and Beyond Sausage breakfast patties in October. The exclusive-to-Hardees patties can be ordered in a lettuce wrap or flour tortilla to keep them vegan.

Right now, you can find the veganized version of Subways most in-demand submade with Beyond Meatmeatballsat more than 600 participating locations, including in Fresno, California; South Bend, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; Jackson, Mississippi; and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In order to make the new sandwich completely vegan, simplyorder it without cheese and get it on vegan bread, such as Classic Italian.

In 2019, hungry diners can start their day with Beyond Sausage breakfast sandwiches that will be available at over 9,000 Dunkin locations. All youve got to do is ask for it without cheese and egg.

The demand for plant-based options is apparent at Del Tacoit reportedly sold2 million Beyond Tacosin the two months after they debuted at 500 locations nationwide.

Starting in August, Baskin-Robbins debuted its two first creamy vegan ice cream flavors: Chocolate Extreme and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Its since launched a third: Coffee Caramel Chunk.

Taco Bell, one of the largest chains in the U.S., has long been a go-to for vegans looking to find a meal while on the road. This year, as part of its Tacos With a Side of Purpose initiative, its added a dedicated vegan-friendly menu.According toForbes, Taco Bells goal to cater more to animal-friendly eaters stems from its commitment to high-quality, healthy, and tasty ingredients.

Our neighbors to the north got lucky in 2019. In Canada, McDonalds is testing the P.L.T. (plant, lettuce, tomato), which features a Beyond Meat patty. This huge news has us wishing that next year, the Golden Arches will get a little greener here in the U.S.

Before we know it, 2020 will be here, so stay tuned for even more exciting vegan options debuting in restaurants and grocery stores. If youre ready to make the switch to compassionate living but dont know how to get started, youve come to the perfect place. Weve got all the free tips and tools youll need to goand stayvegan all year long.

If youre excited about the vegan fast food mentioned on this page, theres more you can do! Join the hundreds of thousands of people whove taken action to get more animal-free meals in chain restaurants across the country. It only takes a minuteand clearly, it works.

Urge More Chains to Add Vegan Options

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The Best New Vegan Fast Food Options of 2019 - PETA

With interchanging layers of noodles, melty cheese, bechamel, and tomato sauce, lasagne is one of the worlds most perfect foods. You can customize it with vegetables or meaty crumbles and its a reliable meal for potlucks and make-ahead weeknight dinners. No worries this traditionally non-vegan tray of pure comfort is easy to make vegan.

Lasagne is one of Italys oldest dishes. According to Italy Magazine, making pasta boiling a simple mixture of flour and water dates back to the Middle Ages. These flat, wide noodles, called lagana, were one of the most popular ways to eat pasta. Lasagne was an indulgent dish, even centuries ago. Italian friar Salimbene di Adam described one of his colleagues eating lasagne in 1284: Ive never seen anyone stuffing himself on lasagna with cheese so pleasurably and so fully as him.

It wasnt until the 1880s in Naples that tomato became integral to lasagne recipes. And it didnt become the multi-layered feast that it is today until Francesco Zambrini from Bologna introduced it in the 19th century.

As ancient as lasagne is, the modern version was popularized by Italian-American immigrants. Every family had its own special way of serving lasagne, customizing it with sausage, family recipes for tomato sauce, ground beef, and vegetables. Todays lasagne features layers of flat pasta made with eggs, rag sauce, and bchamel baked until the top is crispy. But, again every family has their own way of doing things. Its part of the beauty of lasagne.

Ricotta is a light, spongey, tangy cheese that gets between layers of savory sauce and lasagne noodles. According to Bon Apptit, ricotta is a whey cheese. In traditional cheesemaking, milk is separated into curds the solid part and whey, the liquid left behind. Leftover whey is repurposed to make ricotta by heating it up with a splash of whole milk and vinegar or citrus juice. The small number of curds left behind to coagulate and once big enough, are strained through a cheesecloth. The soft, crumbly cheese left is ricotta.

Ricotta is used in manicotti, lasagne, baked ziti, stuffed shells, as a spread, and on pizza. The cream filling in cannoli is usually made from ricotta. Although ricotta is made with dairy, its easy to make a vegan version using nuts or tofu.

So, whats the best dairy-free cheese for lasagne? Most lasagne recipes include ricotta, mozzarella, and a sprinkling of parmesan. There are store-bought versions available for all three. Try Tofutti or Kite Hill for vegan ricotta. You can also make your own from tofu or cashews. This recipe from Veggies Dont Bite uses cauliflower, cashews, and almonds.

For mozzarella, try Daiya, Miyokos Creamery, or Follow Your Heart. Cashews blended up with dairy-free milk, nutritional yeast, and tapioca starch make for a stretchy dairy-free mozzarella. Greek brand Violife makes a vegan parmesan block that grates like the real thing. Go Veggie makes vegan parm that comes in a shaker. You can also use nutritional yeast or make your own, like this cashew-based recipe. Hemp seeds are good for a nut-free version, like in this hemp parmesan recipe.

Want to kick it up a notch further? Try adding vegan meat crumbles. Brands that make them include Gardein, Beyond Meat, Boca, and MorningStar Farms. You could also use textured vegetable protein (TVP), an old school plant-based protein thats cheap and has a meaty texture. When gathering ingredients to make your own vegan lasagne, look for egg-free noodles. You can get them from brands like Whole Foods 365, Banza, Explore Cuisine, San Giorgio, and Tinkyada.

Looking to make your own vegan lasagne? Look no further. Here are seven recipes to try.

This vegan lasagne features noodles layered with homemade spinach cashew ricotta, savory cashew cream, and a protein-packed marinara sauce. The made-from-scratch sauce gets a boost from red lentils and sweet potato. Dairy-free cashew cream that browns in the oven replaces bchamel.

Get the recipe here.

Packed with sweet potato, broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, and spinach, you wont have trouble eating your veggies thanks to this recipe. It features layers of mashed sweet potato and homemade tofu ricotta. This recipe uses whole grain lasagne noodles and is also oil-free.

Get the recipe here.

This gluten-free and vegan lasagna features a crispy top covered in marinara, plus cashew ricotta, plenty of vegetables, and vegan ricotta. As the dish bakes, the noodles soak up the savory sauce resulting in a hearty dish thats as flavorful as it is delicious.

Get the recipe here.

Looking for a modern take on the Italian classic? This creamy mushroom lasagne features dairy-free garlic sauce and layers of marinated portobello mushrooms, plus plenty of spinach. According to the recipe developer, you can make this nut-free by using her cauliflower alfredo or pumpkin seed alfredo.

Get the recipe here.

With a protein-packed red lentil marinara sauce and dairy-free tofu-cashew ricotta, this vegan lasagne will be a hit with everyone. Be generous with the sauce and tofu-cashew ricotta.

Get the recipe here.

Make this vegan lasagne a few days ahead of time for an easy heat-and-serve dinner. This hearty dish has layers of noodles, vegan ricotta, spinach, and a simple 10-minute marinara sauce. It doesnt get better than that.

Get the recipe here.

These vegan lasagne roll-ups stuffed with tofu ricotta and baby spinach are perfect for make-ahead meals, potlucks (no mess or slicing), and date night dinners.

Get the recipe here.

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How to Make the Best Vegan Lasagne

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How do you make the best vegan lasagne? Everything you need to know, from making dairy-free ricotta cheese and recipes to try.

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Kat Smith

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How to Make the Best Vegan Lasagne - LIVEKINDLY

Ready, set, recipes! Here are our just published, fresh-out-the-mill recipes in one convenient place! These are the top vegan recipes of the day, and are now a part of the thousands of recipes on ourFood Monster App! We have sweet potato casserole, cinnamon loaf, and almond date shortbread, so if youre looking for something new and delicious, you are sure to find a new favorite!

Source: Sweet Potato Casserole with Maple Pecan Topping

This vegan Sweet Potato Casserole with Maple Pecan Topping by Kennedy Kitchings is perfect for the holidays! It has delicious autumnal flavors and just the right amount of sweetness. With just sweet potatoes, syrup, sugar, coconut milk, cinnamon, pecans, and almond flour, is also quite easy to make! Everyone will love this vegan Sweet Potato Casserole

Source: Pumpkin Lentil Soup

This homemade Pumpkin Lentil Soup by Michele Elizabeth is easy and super hearty packed with carrots, potatoes and full of fresh flavors! Vegan and gluten free.

Source: Cinnamon Loaf

This Cinnamon Loaf by Bake Vegan Stuff, Easy Recipes For Kids (And Adults, Too!), Sara Kidd is makes a great, sweet breakfast or snack, and will have your house smelling like a cinnamon roll! Feel free to get the little ones involved; they can mix and help you pour the mixture into the loaf pan!

Source: Coconut Tomato Curry

This Coconut Tomato Curry by Sarah and Peter Hagstrom is to die for. It is so filling, full of nutrients and oh so delicious! And it is a great meal to prep and eat throughout the week!

Source: Tofu Fried Rice

This Tofu Fried Rice by Agnes Potier-Murphy is probably as easy as you could ever hope for a recipe to get! If you can cook rice, you can pretty much cook this vegan fried rice. Rice, peas, and tamari tofua simple, yet perfect combination. The tamari lends a pronounced umami taste to the tofu and makes it taste quite meaty, especially when paired with the rice. This vegan fried rice stores really well and makes for a very filling lunch! It travels well even if kept un-refrigerated for a couple of hours and tastes delicious warm or cold! Make this for dinner one night and then bring leftovers to work the next day for lunchyour stomach will thank you!

Source: Paleo Brownies

These grain free vegan Paleo Brownies by Nele Liivlaid are moist, gooey, and kid-approved. They are ready in under an hour and absolutely delicious! The binder is psyllium husk powder, which does an amazing job! In fact, you can lift up the whole brownie without breaking it apart! You have to try these vegan paleo browniesthey are such a game changer!

Source: Almond & Date Shortbread

This Almond & Date Shortbread by Judy Moosmueller is so simple and so delicious! It only calls for four ingredients and does not require a lot of work to make.

Source: Spicy Loaded Nachos

These Spicy Loaded Nachos by Alejandra Graf are a protein-packed and flavorful snack. In this recipe, tofu, black beans, avocado, spicy peppers, and salsa are piled high on a bed of crispy nachos. Quick and easy to make, this dish is a perfect game-day party appetizer or even a savory and fulfilling breakfast dish.

Source: Breakfast Nachos With Tofu Scramble and Tempeh Bacon

Just when you thought breakfast couldnt get any better, we present to you: Breakfast Nachos With Tofu Scramble and Tempeh Bacon by Jasmine Briones! These babies are oil-free, loaded with some amazing plant ingredients and guess what? You can eat as much as youd like as these are good for ya, and wont have you feeling like garbage after. Have these for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Source: Air Fryer Apple Chips and Coconut Cranberry Nachos

These Air Fryer Apple Chips and Coconut Cranberry Nachos by Alison Corey are made with almond butter, and topped with cranberries, raisins, chopped almonds, and chia seeds. Theyre the perfect after school snack or healthy dessert.

We also highly recommend downloading ourFood Monster App, which is available foriPhone, and can also be found onInstagramandFacebook. The app has more than 15,000 plant-based, allergy-friendly recipes, and subscribers gain access to new recipes every day. Check it out!

For more Vegan Food, Health, Recipe, Animal, and Life content published daily, dont forget to subscribe to theOne Green Planet Newsletter!

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From Tofu Fried Rice to Paleo Brownies: Our Top 10 Vegan Recipes of the Day! - One Green Planet

On a recent day in Baltimores Cherry Hill suburb, within the enclosure of a tall chain-link fence that guards a grassy meadow surrounded by churches, schools, and apartment complexes, Eric Jackson reaches into a garden plot the size of a tennis court, lush with collard greens and dinosaur kale, to pick a green leaf of medicinal mugwort.

Its good for your joints, he says of the leaf. A Cherry Hill native, Jackson (pictured above) is a social worker, community organizer, and, officially, servant-director of the Black Yield Institute, where he co-produced the documentary Baltimores Strange Fruit, the story of post-Reconstruction lynching, redlining, and land consolidation by white farmers conspiring to estrange Black sharecroppers and their descendants from the soil.

The Cherry Hill Urban Garden where Jackson is working, sits on one of several undeveloped acres near the neighborhood center. Its the former home of Cherry Hill Homes, one of the nations biggest public housing projects; at its peak, it tallied 1,700 apartments. The neighborhood was founded as the nations first Negro Suburb, developed in the 1940s to house Southern Blacks who were migrating for World War II factory jobs. Its now home to some 8,000 Black residents, who still make up 90 percent of its population.

Ringed by metalworks shops, paper mills, plastic plants, shipping, trucking, and bus yardsand even one of the citys eight trash transfer stationsCherry Hill still faces industrial pollution and flooding and lacks basic amenities like a supermarket with a produce section.

Over the past century, the Jim Crow era approach to land appropriation, the Great Migration to cities, and deep-seated shame about their peoples plantation past have all contributed to the radical decline of Black farmers. The overall number has dropped from 14 percent at the turn of the last century to just 2 percent today. At the same time, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that Black Americans are more likely than others to eat fast food on any given day and to suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and a host of other diet-related illnesses.

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Its just a culture of economics that got not only African Americans but other people into eating on the run, says 70-year-old Warren Blue, Baltimores longest-tenured urban farmer, as he peels the dried outer layers of stalk from freshly harvested garlic bulbs. We have gotten away from so much that nature has afforded us.

Black Americans however, are finding their way back to the land, even in a dense urban neighborhood like Cherry Hill. From the freight-shipping communities of South Baltimore to the leafy northern suburbs to Freddie Grays Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood on the west side, Jackson and Blue are just two of many cultivators working across the citys 92 square miles to re-root their fellow Black Baltimoreans in the land. They are also increasingly collaborating with chefs, nutritionists, and food-access activists to encourage plant-based eating.

A couple of blocks from the site of DAngelo Barksdales pit in HBOs The Wire, for example, The Land of Kush serves up black-eyed-pea fritters and pork-free collards. Its headquarters for Baltimores multiple vegan restaurant weeks and for the Black Vegetarian Society of Maryland, which boasts an email and social-media reach of 4,000 people. Its also home to the annual Vegan SoulFest, which draws more than 10,000 people from across the nation, mostly African Americans, and has seen a seven-fold increase since it began in 2014.

Naijha Wright Brown and Gregory Brown, owners of The Land of Kush. (Photo courtesy of The Land of Kush)

You can be in line at The GruB Factory, another vegan caf certified by Baltimores Pan-African Liberation Movement, and meet Marvin Hayes, a 46-year-old Sandtown-Winchester resident who teaches composting to kids and who fought off a proposed trash incinerator in Curtis Bay, south of Cherry Hill, amid already-poor air quality. You can go on a tour of Hayes soil-making facility at Filbert Street Community Garden and meet curious farmers who have come here on learning trips from other parts of the city. And you might find a Black Millennial pruning tomato leaves at Whitelock Community Farm, wearing a t-shirt from SoulFest, a co-sponsor of the Afro-Vegan Society, a clearinghouse for finding Black-owned vegan restaurants all over the U.S.

Urban farmers aim to animate dormant land and feed people in food desertsor areas where Jackson, 33, says residents suffer from food apartheid. But they also recognize that providing fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables will nourish Baltimores burgeoning vegan and vegetarian movements, addressing racialized health disparities while showing the possibilities for a climate-friendly food system. As the livestock industry contributes an estimated 14.5 percent of global greenhouse emissions, Baltimores plant-based food-justice movement is also on the frontlines of grassroots climate intervention.

The only thing I got to say is, the young folks got to save us, says Warren Blues wife, Lavette, 64. Youre the next generation, the only one that can kind of understand and see whats happening.

Jacksons story begins with his grandmother, Edith Mae Louise Briscoe, who grew her own vegetables in a Cherry Hill Homes courtyard. Still, in a neighborhood of corner-store snack foods and fried-chicken carry-out, she lost a leg to diabetes and lived to meet Cherry Hills average life-expectancy: 69 years old, which is four years lower than Baltimores as a whole and a decade below the national average.

Jacksons family doesnt know whether the diabetes was genetic or brought on by a steady diet of sweet tea and biscuits. But, in Cherry Hill, as with the nation at large, Black Americans are twice as likely to die of the disease than their white counterparts. Likewise, cancer and heart disease are 50 percent more likely to be what kills you in Baltimore as anywhere else in the nation.

Its not just human health that suffers; the sickness of the planet manifests in Cherry Hill, too. Public-housing tenants complain of flooding and mold growth amidst an increasing number of hurricanes and tropical storms over the past two decades. Marylands coastal waters have risen a foot since the Industrial Revolution, and the Chesapeake Bay set a record during Hurricane Isabel in 2003, surging seven feet above the benchmark sea level at that time.

Without huge reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, the latest five-year report from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science predicts the states shoreline will recede another two feet, and possibly as much as seven feet, by 2100, flooding Baltimore not just during storms but daily.

Its a changing weather pattern, believe me, says Lavette Blue, who retired from her job with the state unemployment office to start farming full-time in 2011. She and her husband Warren have worked their little farm, The Greener Garden, in their own suburban yard and their neighbors yards, for more than 30 years. They sell greens, garlic, and more at the citys farmers markets, both on their own and through the Farm Alliance of Baltimore.

Warren and Lavette Blue at The Greener Garden. (Photo by Jesse James DeConto)

Many of their crops are in hoop houses, and while 2018s Hurricane Florence was downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it reached Maryland, it still marked Baltimores wettest year on record. Nearly 72 inches of rain drowning everything the Blues had planted outside. If you talk to some of the farmers, theyll tell you, Lavette says. Are we just going to be Waterworld?

Harvesting from more than an acre of earth northeast of Morgan State University, she and Warren have eaten meat-free for two and a half decades. I feel like Im at least helping the earth kind of recover, helping the people to eat better, learn how to eat differently than what theyre used to, she says, and to show them that they dont have to eat fast food.

About six miles to the southwest, in the gentrifying Hampden neighborhood near Johns Hopkins University, Chef Crystal Forman, 42, cuts bunches of Cherry Hills dark, leathery dino kale into tiny strips. Shes in a concrete warehouse, with a ceiling of unfinished sheetrock, Sharpie anime on the walls, well-worn couches, and mismatched chairs.

This is the Baltimore Free Farm, not so much a farm as a self-described egalitarian collective, supporting the small Ash Street Community Garden and a kitchen used by the Food Not Bombs meal service and Food Rescue Baltimore, the program that brought Forman here.

About 30 people line up outside the concrete-block building across from the garden, then wind their way through dimly lit halls to wait for boxes of fruits and vegetables rescued from a local organic grocer and a supermarket distributor. Formans job is to teach people how to prepare healthy, vegan meals with what theyve gotin this case, free bread and fruits and vegetables that would have otherwise gone to a landfill. Food waste contributes 8 percent of global greenhouse gases; between diverting waste and boosting vegetarian diets, Food Rescue Baltimore exists to shrink the citys carbon footprint ever so slightly and improve peoples health at the same time.

Working behind a folding table, Forman tells the crowd the kale is full of vitamins A, C, and K, which means that it nourishes the brain, eyes, bones, blood, and immune system, and can even fight cancer, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Shell eventually top the salad with nutritional yeast for the nutty flavor and the extra B12 and potassium.

Chef Crystal Forman teaching a meal-prep class. (Photo courtesy of Crystal Forman)

What type of fruit would be complementary to kale? asks 28-year-old Brittany Dulin. Shes been looking for recipes to help her mom eat better after chest pains sent her to the hospital and doctors found a partially clogged artery.

Forman pulls out a bag of dried cranberries to add to the salad. She dices organic Fuji apples from the rescue and tells Dulin that avocados, blueberries, or oranges could all work, too. Her recipe includes sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and is topped with a vinaigrette made with balsamic vinegar, fresh garlic, agave syrup, basil, oregano, black pepper, and pink Himalayan salt.

Its always good to add an acid, she says, pouring her concoction over the leafy greens, to break down the cell walls of the kale.

Forman runs these food demonstrations several times a month, all over the city. The local Abell Foundation funds her work through the Farm Alliance of Baltimore, whose 17 members constitute about half the number of urban farms in the city, supported by about 20 farmers markets and supplemented by more than 100 community gardens. She teaches cooking at the markets, at community centers, and at two of nine Food Rescue distribution sites. Shes also on the board of directors for the Black Vegetarian Society.

On the previous weekend, Forman presented at the Societys Keep It Fresh vegan youth festival at West Baltimores Druid Hill Park, teaching kids how to make her tuna-less salad out of chickpeas. She leads monthly workshops at subsidized apartment towers including Monument East or City View at McCulloh.

Over the past two years, using Formans recipes, McCulloh resident and Navy veteran Yusuf Hadith, 72, says hes lost 30 pounds, stopped taking pain meds for arthritic knees and a degenerative disc, and ditched his wheelchair for a cane. Hadith says he often starts preparing Formans peanut or pumpkin soups at 6 p.m. and is eating dinner by 6:30.

The other day she taught us to mix kale and collard greens as a salad, he says. The history with African Americans is that you cook that vegetable. As simple as that idea is, it just never occurs to us that it can be a salad. My generation, we complicated things, and we forgot the simplicity of cooking, he says. We made a hell of a mess of things. We taught our children speed, convenience, and hopelessness.

According to a Johns Hopkins study, about a quarter of Baltimores residents live in Healthy Food Priority Areas, which are defined as being more than a five-minute walk from a supermarket. In these neighborhoodswhich cover much of the predominantly Black east and west sidesquick, convenient food comes in the form of the Baltimore chicken box of breaded wings and fries, sold at corner carry-outs. Cherry Hill has several of them within a one-mile radius, while the nearest supermarket that sells fresh produce is a Walmart Supercenter two miles away.

Jacksons Black Yield Institute, along with the Cherry Hill Development Corporation, is working to open a co-op market to provide healthy food from Black-owned farms, and to craft a cookbook with recipes from residents of the Cherry Hill Senior Manor, across the street from the garden. The cookbook will have two versions of each recipe: The classic dishes, full of salt, animal fat, and sugar, plus healthier alternativeshis wifes vegan take on his grandmothers biscuits, for instance.

Like other food-justice advocates across the city, Jackson and his collaborators recognize both the damage to health and to the earth that industrialized food has wrought and also the deep roots of healing embedded within African Americans own painful history. Enslaved Africans were the ones who crossed the Atlantic with what are now soul-food staples like okra and black-eyed peas; some say the New World didnt have watermelon before they came, and they even brought coffee to the Americas from Ethiopia through the European slave trade.

Not only do we not have a relationship with the land; we dont have a relationship with food, Jackson says, kneeling to pull weeds from land where sections of the Cherry Hill Homes project were demolished 20 years ago. But Jackson says he and his neighbors are rekindling those connections, on the shoulders of ancestors, literally.

This report was supported by an Environmental Justice Reporting Award from the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources.

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Baltimore is at the Vanguard of a National Black Vegan Movement - Civil Eats

Mexican entrepreneurs Adrin Lpez Velarde and Marte Czarez recently debuted Desserto, the first organic leather made entirely from the nopal (or prickly-pear) cactus. The entrepreneurs aim was to create a sustainable, cruelty-free alternative to animal leather. The material is partially biodegradable and has the technical specifications required by the fashion, leather goods, furniture, and automotive industries. Thanks to its flexibility, breathability, and durability of at least 10 years, the cactus leather has the ability to replace the use of animal leather and synthetic materials that are not environmentally friendly. Lpez Velarde and Czarez quit their jobs to focus on developing Desserto, also known as cactus or nopal vegan leather. After two years of research and development, we managed to produce a suitable material that complies with the features and technical/mechanical specifications required by those industries that use animal or synthetic leather, Lpez Velarde told media outlet Fashion United. Also, thanks to its organic composition, it is breathable, which makes cactus or nopal vegan leather similar to animal leather. The creators showcased Desserto last month at the International Leather Fair Lineapelle in Milan, Italy and are already working with major groups in different industries for potential applications.

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Two Guys in Mexico Just Created Vegan Leather From Cactus - VegNews

On November 8, two artisan ice cream chains, OddFellows and Humphry Slocombe, will add a new vegan ice cream option to all five of their locations in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area, respectively. The launch will mark the public debut of Eclipse Foods, a San Francisco food technology startup which creates what it calls an udderly indistinguishable vegan milk with whole food ingredients such as cassava and ancient corn that mimic cow-derived dairy on a molecular level without the use of soy, nuts, coconut, stabilizers, gums, or GMOs. At OddFellows, guests can order two flavors of the new vegan ice cream (Miso Cherry and Olive Oil Plum), while Humphry Slocombe will offer a Mexican Hot Chocolate flavor.

Eclipse was founded this fall by two food-technology experts: Aylon Steinhart (who previously worked with nonprofit The Good Food Institute) and Thomas Bowman (an award-winning chef and the former Director of Product Development at San Francisco startup JUST). We founded Eclipse Foods because we want to make it easy for consumers to make sustainable, healthy, and humane choices, Steinhart said. Delicious plant-based foods that actually appeal to all types of eaters can and will change the world. Backed by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Gmail founder Paul Buchheit, and Daiya Foods former Chairman of the Board Eric Patel, Eclipses mission is to produce identical vegan replacements that are cheaper, kinder to animals, and more environmentally friendly than traditional dairy. While there are a growing number of excellent replacement meat options with brands like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, dairy has lagged behind, Steinhart said. There are clearly alternative milks, cheeses, and ice creams out there made from nuts and other plants, but there are no true replacements that are indistinguishable from their dairy counterparts. And thats exactly what were doing. Its been incredible to watch people try our ice cream for the first time, and see the total disbelief on their faces when we tell them it is made of plants.

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Artisan Scoop Shops OddFellows and Humphry Slocombe Unveil Hyperrealistic Vegan Ice Cream - VegNews

You might think the words carnivore and vegan are completely opposite ends of the spectrum. The former is the meatiest of meat-eaters, they love anything and everything that comes from an animal. The latter abstains entirely from animal products. In the past, vegans have been stereotyped as sporting flower crowns and eating nothing but leaves and fresh air.

But theres a shift happening. Plant-based food can be just as indulgent and filling as animal-based food. And one blogger is here to show people that food loved by vegans and carnivores can be one and the same.

Candice Hutchings YouTuber and founder of recipe blog Edgy Veg first turned vegan nine years ago. She didnt make the switch out of a disdain for meat, but out of a love for animals. I love animals so much, I couldnt justify eating them or things that come from them, she told LIVEKINDLY.

I couldnt find foods I enjoyed so I started making my own foods to satisfy my cravings. I started sharing these recipes with people I knew, then more people became interested in them, she added. At the time, no one else was eating or making vegan junk foods, so thats what made it Edgy.

Hutchings carnivore-approved recipes range from fried chicken (using grapefruit peel) to sushi tuna rolls made with watermelon. Each of her recipes is about making the vegan diet seem approachable to everyone. She said, I want people, vegan or not, to enjoy plant-based foods.

For Hutchings, its all about keeping the familiarity of the foods you eat every day but without the animal products.I think a good way to transition to cooking and eating vegan is to really master the vegan foods youre already eating,she explained.Your favorite pasta dish, favorite snacks, stir fry, anything that youre already used to eating.

She stressed that theres no point in trying to force down a kale salad if you werent interested in these types of foods before you went vegan.

The secret is to take the dishes you already love and start by making simple swaps. Love cheesy pasta? Find a vegan recipe. Love burgers? Try out some different vegan meat brands, or make your own patties.

Its important to transition foods you already love eating to their vegan counterpart, said Hutchings.The way to sustainably eat a vegan diet is to keep as close to how youre regularly eating as possible. Eat burgers, sandwiches, pasta, soups, but eat the vegan equivalent. This way you stay satisfied and you can happily stay on a plant-based diet.

Many people are now flexitarian; they still eat meat, but theyre trying to eat more plant-based foods. Hutchings said, I definitely think there has been a huge shift and I dont see it slowing down anytime soon. But could everyone go all the way and be plant-based all the time? The food blogger is dubious.

She said, I would love for everyone to eat plant-based, but Im not sure there would be more vegans than meat-eaters in the near future.

Shes positive that change is just around the corner, though.With the way things are going, I think it will be more normalized, more accessible, more accepted, but I think as a society it will be a slower transition,she added.[Its] not impossible.

Its all about having the courage to try new things, believes Hutchings. If more people are open to trying out new plant-based foods and experimenting with new recipes, we could be headed towards a future that is better for the earth, the animals, and our bodies.

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The Secret to Eating More Vegan Food? Think Like a Carnivore

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Recipe blogger Candice Hutchings -- the founder of Edgy Veg -- makes vegan meat recipes to suit everyone, even carnivores.

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Charlotte Pointing

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LIVEKINDLY

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The Secret to Eating More Vegan Food? Think Like a Carnivore - LIVEKINDLY

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These vegan Thanksgiving recipes can sneak onto a conventional table or make up their own plant-based feast.

No one likes to hear the words dietary restrictions around the time of a holiday thats literally centered on food, but when setting the table for a mixed crowd, it can be helpful to whip up options that everyone can enjoy.

Thanksgiving has never been the vegan-friendliest celebrationthe pilgrims were not carving up a tofurkey, for instancebut a little bit of ingenuity can not only make every mouth happy at dinner but also lighten up the meal to leave plenty of room for seconds or dessert (and then seconds of dessert).

If youve got a fully vegan crew, then consider your menu planned. If youre hosting both vegan and non-vegan guests, consider offering some of these plant-based versions of classic Thanksgiving dishes side-by-side. If youre simply interested in cutting back on dairy, eggs, and meat to make dinner a healthier or more earth-conscious affair, you probably dont even need to say the word vegan when you put these dishes out to sharetheyre so good, they dont need any introduction.

istetiana / Moment / GettyImages

This recipe is a bit labor-intensive, but hey, so is turkeyall that defrosting and brining and roasting and basting and resting and carving, who wants to go through that trouble? Instead, take the time, energy, and enthusiasm you normally reserve for the bird into mixing up this protein platter of pumpkin-crusted tempeh, quinoa, roasted chestnuts, and roasted pumpkin for a seasonal sensation that will quickly have you thinking, Turkey? What turkey? (Bonus: totally guilt-free leftovers for sandwiches the next day.) Get the Pumpkin Protein Platter recipe.

For an easier but no less impressive vegan main, hasselback butternut squash is absolutely perfect. This recipe glazes the roasted, scored squash halves with honey, olive oil, Dijon mustard, fresh sage, and thyme and tops them off with chopped pecans. Obviously the honey is not vegan, but theres an easy, totally autumn-appropriate fix: Swap in maple syrup instead. Simple and stunning. Get the Hasselback Butternut Squash recipe.

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This garlicky-good side dish will make everybody forget the old-fashioned limp green beans with slivered almonds that passes as a healthy side at these get-togethers. A creamy mushroom sauce made from non-dairy milk, non-dairy butter, and a tiny bit of flour subs in for a heavy bchamel without sacrificing any of the flavor, and the beans stay crisp enough to remind you that yes, you are in fact eating real vegetables. Get the Green Beans with Garlic Mushroom Sauce recipe.

Another easy way to add some green to the plate is with a heaping helpful of coconut-cream spinach, comfort food at the ultimate. Frozen spinach not only makes this dish a cinch to slap together, but it also gives it that perfect kind of gloopy texture you remember from holidays (and cafeterias) past. Get the No-Cream Creamed Spinach recipe.

There are two types of people in this world: Those who like their sweet potatoes with marshmallow, and those who dont. Thankfully weve got both covered: This dish calls for a spiced topping of aquafabachickpea-can liquid or pot liquor whipped up into a cream-like foamthat is fluffy, sweet, and as heaven-pillow light as roasted marshmallows, without the icky gelatin. If you like your side dishes to straddle the border between dinner and dessert, this recipe is your ticket to paradise. Get the Aquafaba Topped Sweet Potato Casserole recipe.

Not into the marshmallow thing? No problem: This nutty, maple-syrup-kissed casserole has the perfect balance of warm homey flavors, slight crunch, and sweet, comforting decadenceno mallows (or substitutes) to be seen. Get the Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Crumble recipe.

If youre in the two types of potatoes belong on the Thanksgiving table camp, youll need a good non-dairy recipe for mashed potatoes too. This vegan version uses coconut milk and apple cider vinegar to mimic the richness and tang of buttermilk, and tops things off with a wine-based gravy. Get the Buttermilk Vegan Mashed Potatoes recipe.

Related Reading: How to Make Creamy, Dairy-Free Mashed Potatoes

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You cant have Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce, and this easy homemade version is naturally vegan, as long as you make sure to buy beet sugar (which is never processed with bone char). Fresh orange juice and zest help brighten it up. Get our Cranberry Sauce recipe.

Jiffy cornbread mix is the secret ingredient to this vegetarian classic, combining the sweetness of corn with the depth of flavor added by the Scarborough Fair flavors of parsley, sage, and thyme. (See below for rosemary, to complete the tune.) Onion and celery add texture, and a bit of imitation-chicken flavor rounds out the Wait, this is vegan? surprise. Get the Cornbread Stuffing recipe.

Look, why not have two stuffings on the table? Heaven knows everybody loves stuffing. This sweet-and-savory version combines the tart pop of cranberries with the earthy, herbaceous note of sage and umami-rich mushrooms for a more complex flavor profile that is so good it can almost anchor the plate as a main. Smash leftovers into patties and pan fry them for the perfect griddle cake, topped with poached or fried eggs for your non-vegan morning gang. Get the Vegan Cranberry Stuffing recipe.

Creamy, sweet, luxurious, and the perfect way to end an evening of plant-based indulgence, this show-stopping pie builds on a date-nut crust with a creamy layer of tangy cashew-cheesecake and a classic top of silky pumpkin goodness. Serve with a scoop of vanilla soy or coconut-milk iced cream and a steaming cup of hot coffee, and youve simply outdone yourself this year, my friend. Get the Pumpkin-Cheesecake Pie recipe.

But okay, one more, because pecan pie has its diehard fans too. This corn syrup-free pecan pie combines vegan butter, coconut sugar, maple syrup, creamy coconut milk, vanilla, and lots of pecans with a bit of cornstarch to help bind the filling. Top with a dollop of coconut whipped cream. Get the Vegan Pecan Pie recipe.

For more Thanksgiving tips, hacks, and recipes, check out ourUltimate Thanksgiving Guideand our Ultimate Friendsgiving Guide.

And for more vegan menu ideas, check out The Best YouTube Cooking Shows for Vegans.

Header image courtesy of istetiana / Moment / GettyImages

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Vegan Alternatives to Famous Thanksgiving Dishes - Chowhound

Suzy Spoons Vegetarian Butcher has opened a vegan butcher shop in Sydney, Australia.

The vegan meat companys new store sells a variety of own-brand vegan charcuterie products. It also sells condiments, sauces, and plant-based cheeses.

Customers can also order a range of foods to go, including hot and cold pies, quiches, and sandwiches.

Suzy Spoons Vegetarian Butcher has been going since 2012, when founder Suzy Spoon spotted a gap in the market. She told Food and Drink Business in 2017, there was a real lack of delicious vegan food in the supermarkets, things were just so highly processed.

The flavors were terrible. Rubbery and just awful,she added. Spoon who has followed a vegetarian diet for more than 30 years wanted tasty meat-like products made with healthy ingredients. She knew that others must feel the same.

I just thought vegans and vegetarians, theyre not about processed. Thats like the opposite of what were all trying to do,' she added.

While she started off with vegans and vegetarians in mind, Spoons products which include Smoked Chilli Sausages, Smokey Rashers, Schnitzel, and Seitan Fillets appeal to meat-eaters too, thanks to the rise of flexitarianism.

As consumers learn about the environmental, ethical, and health benefits of consuming plant-based foods, more and more are opting for vegan meat over traditional animal-based products.

In response to rising demand, vegan butcher brands like the Netherlands Vegetarian Butcher and Canadas the Herbivorous Butcher are launching around the world.

Spoon told SBS in 2018,I certainly dont think this is a flash-in-the-pan trend, but the result of all the information were now exposed to thanks to the internet.

Most of us were kept in the dark on the issue of animal welfare, she continued. And the environmental concerns of eating meat and animal products with every meal.

Now that were all becoming aware, changes are being made and its about time,she said.

Suzy Spoons Vegetarian Butcher shop is now open for business on King Street Newtown in Sydney. You can also buy Spoons vegan meat from the brands online shop. Various health food stores across Australia also stock her products.

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A Vegan Butcher Shop Just Opened In Sydney

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Suzy Spoon's Vegetarian Butcher has opened a vegan butcher shop in Sydney, Australia. The new shop will sell a variety of meats, condiments, and cheeses.

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Charlotte Pointing

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LIVEKINDLY

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Australia Just Got Its First Vegan Butcher Shop - LIVEKINDLY

Cherry-miso ice cream, made with a plant-based product called Eclipse. Photo: Liz Clayman

Over the weekend, I was invited to an OddFellows scoop shop, and, amid people editing their cone-centric Instagram posts, I got to try some ice cream. The flavor was cherry-miso, and the first thing that hit me was the deep umami funk. Miso is right in the name so, like, you think you get it, but it is continually surprising. Oh!, I thought, with every bite until it was gone. Its a team player, miso. It lifts the flavor of the cherries while also mellowing them. The flavor an OddFellows classic is a triumph of balance.

The other thing I noticed was a texture: thick, gently melting, ice-cream-y. Normally, when ice cream is the texture of ice cream, its not a big deal; it lives up to its contractual obligation. But this particular ice cream was not, technically, ice cream. It was made with a nondairy ice-cream base that came from a San Francisco start-up called Eclipse Foods. What Impossible Burgers did for plant-based beef, founders Thomas Bowman and Aylon Steinhart want to do for plant-based dairy.

There is, of course, no shortage of plant-based milks to choose from. If a plant exists, someone in a lab is trying to figure out how to milk it. (I recently tried banana milk; it tasted like bananas.) But there were veggie burgers before the Impossible Burger too. It broke through by re-creating the experience of eating beef and had its own version of a killer app: The Impossible Burger could bleed, thanks in part to an ingredient called soy leghemoglobin. What is the Eclipse equivalent that will set its faux-milk apart from the oat milks and rice milks of the world?

All the other dairy alternatives out there are just that: alternatives, Bowman says. What weve created is a dairy replacement. The goal is to create something that tricks your brain into thinking, Hey, this is milk, and not, Hey, this is a creamy liquid made from a nut.

Theres already a lot of vegan ice cream. Nick Morgenstern makes it. Sam Mason from OddFellows makes it himself. Van Leeuwen makes a lot of it. Ample Hills can make it. But still, ask ice-cream experts and they will tell you, there is a difference. It becomes an emotional connection, says Brian Smith, the co-founder of Ample Hills. If your mind is comparing it to being 6 or 7 and eating a vanilla ice-cream cone, its very hard to compete with that. (When I contacted the National Milk Producers Federation to ask about their feelings re: non-milk dairy, a rep got straight to the point: The vegan products aint ice cream.)

But Eclipses founders say theyve cracked it. Its not just that theyve been able to capture the heart and soul of dairy. Its that theyve managed to do it cheaply. Eclipse doesnt use any nuts or seeds or coconuts, all of which drive up the price. Instead, the founders say theyve figured out a way to re-create casein micelles the particles that allow dairy to react the way it does without using any specialized ingredients at all.Its all really common things you could buy at any Whole Foods, Bowman promises, including potato, cassava, cane sugar, and canola or rice-bran oil, and definitely not soy, wheat, GMOs, gums, gels, or stabilizers.

The end goal is to be everywhere, to offer this formula to the masses so that dairy-free milk becomes extremely common to a point where no one thinks twice about it. Really, the vision for the ice cream is if every Burger King has an Impossible Whopper, Steinhart says, theyre going to have a dairy-free shake or cone, and it should definitely be Eclipse.

To borrow the parlance of the tech world, Eclipse is not really an ice-cream company. Its a dairy platform, and it wants to use Eclipse to make anything you might make with cows milk: cheese, sour cream, whatever. But ice cream is the beginning.

Taking another cue from the Impossible Burger introduction, which saw the faux-beef brand partner with a few select chefs around the country before a wider rollout, Eclipse has partnered with a few select ice-cream shops, including Humphry Slocombe in San Francisco and OddFellows in New York. Starting this Friday, you can try it yourself at the shops.

At OddFellows, it will be available in two flavors: the cherry-miso and an olive-oil roasted plum. The texture was a little more accurate than I expected, Mason says. He picked these flavors, he says, because theres something salty about the Eclipse base that is different from the classic milk-and-egg combo. It definitely has a flavor to it toward the end. Youre like, Oh, thats something unique, Mason says. Its pleasant, but you know its not quite what youre used to.

Hes right. Neither flavor tastes exactly as if its made with dairy from a cow. Its difficult to describe, but traditional dairy has a gentle confidence, like a hot high-school quarterback who doesnt even realize how frictionless his whole life will be. But ice cream made with Eclipse doesnt taste exactly like the other vegan ice creams Ive had. As a vegan-ice-cream enthusiast, I have come to expect some kind of seedy base note, a hint of almond, the specific mouthfeel of coconut something vegetal but all of those were missing too. Eclipse is not quite dairy, but its also not not-dairy.

At home, I tried a pint of Eclipses own chocolate flavor, trying to get a sense of what Eclipse ice cream would be like if it werent made by a world-class pastry chef. The chocolate also had the weirdly alluring saltiness I have never before experienced in ice cream. It is unexpected but extremely pleasant. It adds a layer of sophistication, the difference between a candy bar and a chocolate bar with fleur de sel. I dont know if it is quite intentional, but I am into its slightly otherworldly weirdness. Like all ice cream, made with milk or without it, it is perhaps best taken on its own terms. Functionally, though, it is certainly an ice cream: I ate it and felt as though Id had ice cream.

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