• FPML: fruit platter meal. Contains only fresh fruit.
• RVML: vegetarian raw meal. A vegan meal that contains only raw vegetables and salads.
• VGML: vegetarian vegan meal. A meal with no animal-derived products.
• VJML: vegetarian Jain meal. An Indian-spiced vegan meal prepared according to Jain religious restrictions—contains only vegetables grown aboveground and fruit.
• VLML: vegetarian lacto-ovo meal. A meal with no fish or meat, with typical “middle American” flavors. May contain eggs and dairy.
• VOML: vegetarian Oriental meal. A vegan meal prepared in a Chinese style.
If you’re traveling to a country where you don’t speak the local language, these resources will help you explain your diet to other people:
• The Vegan Passport from the UK’s Vegan Society features an explanation of what vegans do and don’t eat in more than ninety languages.
• Smartphone apps like V Cards serve a similar function, showing translated “I am vegetarian” explanations. Just remember that the apps live on your smartphone and not in a paper book. Beware the “low battery” warning!
• Google Translate can help you draft a list of what you do and don’t eat, including general categories as well as the regional foods of your destination. Print four copies to a sheet and stash them in pockets, baggies, and luggage. Include a big translated PLEASE at the top of the page and THANK YOU at the bottom, a translation of “I am vegetarian,” and your food lists under “yes” and “no” headings.
• HappyCow.net lists veg-friendly restaurants worldwide, from Aarhus to Zlin. Yelp and Trip-Advisor can also help in some locations.
• Several tour companies offer package tours worldwide for vegetarians, as well as a vegetarian cruise and many vegetarian spas, but none of these come cheap.
5 Stealthy Nonvegetarian Foods
At this point, you’ve hopefully found some new foods you love, whether you’re cooking them yourself or scouring your surroundings for delicious vegetarian-friendly restaurants. You’re feeling good about the choices you’re making. Don’t let these five sneaky items derail your efforts.
1. Worcestershire sauce: This condiment and seasoning contains anchovies. Avoid not only the sauce, but foods and drinks it often goes into, like Chex Mix and Bloody Marys.
2. Gelatin: Made from boiled skins and tendons, it shows up in commercial fruity gelatin desserts, marshmallows, many chewy fruit candies, pill capsule coatings, and some margarines.
3. Broths and stocks: If you’re dining out, be aware that some restaurants cook vegetarian-looking foods in beef, pork, or chicken broth. Ask if you’re unsure. Even tofu dishes at Chinese restaurants are often braised in a meat stock, but many kitchens can substitute water or veggie broth upon request.
4. “Natural flavorings”: This phrase found on many American food packages can refer to foods of either vegetable or animal origin. When in doubt, contact the manufacturer or search online to see if someone else has recently researched the product.
5. Carmine/natural red #4/cochineal: This ingredient, used as food coloring and in lipstick, is made from powdered insects.
Despite the best intentions, we all make mistakes from time to time. Try not to worry too much about this stuff; we’re trying to make better choices in a sometimes-screwy world, not be so perfect that we burn all our energy keeping an immaculate vegetarian diet. If you accidentally eat one of these ingredients, don’t stress out—just avoid it next time. This isn’t a purity contest.
Acquired Tastes (and How to Acquire Them)
Two stumbling blocks that vegetarians face are disliking new foods and finding themselves in a rut. The solution? Put your mind to acquiring a taste! With a bit of effort and the following tips, you’ll find yourself falling in love with unfamiliar foods and maybe even something you thought you hated, whether that’s tofu or broccoli. A few things are key:
• Preparation matters. If you’re tasting a dish for the first time, make sure it has been prepared well. Certain foods—like eggplant or tofu—can be delicious or repulsive depending on whether they’re prepared properly. Try a new dish at a restaurant that is famous for making that food, or get a well-reviewed cookbook and follow the recipe precisely until you’ve mastered it.
• Quality matters. The first time you taste a food, try to get it from the best possible source so that it’s top quality. Think about the difference between an in-season tomato fresh from the garden and a pale, mealy winter tomato trucked in from far away.
• Cultivate open-mindedness. Don’t try to make the food something other than what it is. You wouldn’t eat an apple slice, knowing that it’s an apple, and criticize it for being a terrible orange, right? Similarly, don’t try miso-tahini sauce and be disappointed that it’s not beef gravy. Be in the present moment with the food that’s in front of you, and try to directly experience the unique taste and texture. Keep an open mind, and think of yourself as a curious person on a tiny adventure outside your comfort zone.
• Compare and contrast. Once you’ve tasted the dish, you’ll notice some similarities to and differences from other foods. Without labeling these qualities as good or bad, make a mental note of them, much like you would at a wine tasting.
• Don’t expect to like it. In fact, expect to have a negative reaction the first time you taste something and be willing not to convince yourself you’ll hate it forever. Most people dislike tea or coffee or olives or wine on first taste, but look at how many people develop an appreciation for them.
• Go slow. Research shows that familiarity is a key aspect of liking. Expect that you may need ten or fifteen exposures in order to develop a taste for something. Go gradually—sample a bit once a week for six months. If you still hate it, it might just not be for you. But…
• Don’t lose heart! The more things you try and (eventually) enjoy, the more pleasure you’ll get out of life!
RESOURCES
Health and Nutrition
Vegetarian Nutrition
Evidence-based information from the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group.
vegetariannutrition.net
The Vegan RD
Approachable food and supplementation advice from registered dietitian and animal lover Ginny Kisch Messina.
theveganrd.com
No Meat Athlete
Recipes, workout plans, and book recommendations from a plant-powered runner.
nomeatathlete.com
Travel, Socializing, and Dining Out
Happy Cow
Free online vegetarian restaurant guide.
happycow.net
MeetUp
Search for “vegetarian,” “vegan,” “animal welfare,” “healthy eating,” and more to find activities and new friends, whether you’re at home or away.
meetup.com
Green Earth Travel
This organization has been organizing world travel for veg tourists for more than twenty years.
greenearthtravel.com
Veg Voyages
Vegan-friendly adventure tour packages in Asia.
vegvoyages.com
Online Recipes
Forks Over Knives
Recipes, meal planning, and information on maximizing the health benefits of a vegetarian diet.
forksoverknives.com
Oh She Glows
An award-winning veg recipe site by best-selling cookbook author Angela Liddon.
ohsheglows.com
Vegetarian Times
One of the largest compendia of lacto-ovo veg and vegan recipes online.
vegetariantimes.com/recipes
The Vegan Experience
Plant-based recipes and technique-focused articles from James Beard Award–winning chef and food writer J. Kenji López-Alt.
seriouseats.com/vegan-experience
Vegetarian Cookbooks
Afro-Vegan by Bryant Terry
F
eatures fresh, affordable, and healthy recipes honoring food traditions of the African diaspora: Caribbean food, soul food, traditional African dishes, and more.
Decolonize Your Diet by Luz Calvo and Catriona Rueda Esquibel
Focuses on the traditional healthy foods of the Mesoamerican peoples and puts an emphasis on indigenous American ingredients.
Homemade Vegan Pantry by Miyoko Schinner
A total game-changer regarding substitutions for meat, egg, and dairy products.
How It All Vegan! by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer
Full of realistic, wallet-friendly meals you can throw together in a snap.
The Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen
One of the first vegetarian cookbooks to reach a wide audience, full of adorable hand-written and illustrated recipes for hearty and homey meals.
Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi
A must-have for fans of vegetable-forward lacto-ovo vegetarian Mediterranean recipes.
Silk Road Cooking by Najmieh Batmanglij
Highlights traditional veg dishes of the lands spanning from Italy through the Levant and into Central and East Asia.
Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero
Full of robust plant-based possibilities, with solid how-tos for beginner cooks.
Vegetarian India by Madhur Jaffrey
Indispensable if you want to learn the basics of the veg-friendly cuisines on the Subcontinent.
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison
Widely regarded as a classic, a James Beard Award winner, and one of the best-selling lacto-ovo vegetarian cookbooks of all time.
Non-Veg Cookbooks and Writers for Cooking Basics
How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman
Will teach you just that. The author’s non-veg improvisation bible Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Matrix is also well worth your time.
Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop
Full of some of the best tofu and vegetable sections I’ve ever encountered, plus crucial techniques from the Chinese peasant kitchen. Even the meat recipes have sidebars on how to make them vegetarian.
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan
Precise and trenchant instruction for mastering the nuances of pasta; simple, seasonal vegetables; and hearty bean dishes.
Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz
Recommended if you’re looking to add tart and complex homemade flavors to food, boost digestibility, and enjoy the benefits of probiotics.
The Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker
Called “a fundamental resource for any American cook” by Julia Child.
Acknowledgments
Huge thanks to my friends whose tips and tricks—from rice to roll-cutting to rauschbier—have enhanced my cooking over the years. Special thanks to Team Humane League, Strong Hearts, the Tenney House diaspora, Philly Vegan Lady Gang, Chris (one of the best cooks I know, and a huge help with this process!), Carm, Josh, Lori, Kaecyy, Tiffany, Amy, and especially to my parents for putting up with a twelve-year-old who insisted that she wasn’t ever going to put another animal in her mouth…and who came to the same conclusion twenty years later about what would go on their own plates. Thanks to the Quirk crew, who have all touched this book in one way or another, but especially to Jane, Molly, and Elizabeth! Shout-out to everyone who’s ever come to a Vegetarians in Publishing dinner! Shout-out to Brett for opening his mind to a Quirk book with bacon substitutions in it. I hope you like them! Big love to Woodstock Farm Sanctuary for what they do and for being a great place for me to get away and clear my head after drafting this book.
Stuff You Should Know
STUFF EVERY MAN SHOULD KNOW
JOKES EVERY MAN SHOULD KNOW
INSULTS EVERY MAN SHOULD KNOW
QUOTES EVERY MAN SHOULD KNOW
DIRTY JOKES EVERY MAN SHOULD KNOW
JOKES EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW
STUFF EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW
STUFF EVERY HUSBAND SHOULD KNOW
STUFF EVERY DAD SHOULD KNOW
STUFF EVERY MOM SHOULD KNOW
STUFF EVERY BRIDE SHOULD KNOW
STUFF EVERY GROOM SHOULD KNOW
RECIPES EVERY MAN SHOULD KNOW
RECIPES EVERY COLLEGE STUDENT SHOULD KNOW
STUFF EVERY COOK SHOULD KNOW
STUFF EVERY VEGETARIAN SHOULD KNOW
STUFF EVERY GARDENER SHOULD KNOW
STUFF EVERY GOLFER SHOULD KNOW
STUFF EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD KNOW
STUFF EVERY GRADUATE SHOULD KNOW
STUFF EVERY COLLEGE STUDENT SHOULD KNOW
Stuff Every Vegetarian Should Know Page 6
