We all know the pitfalls of thinking something is vegan and then finding out isn’t always as animal friendly as we thought.Molly from POM recently sent me a sample case of POM pomegranate juice and I was totally stoked to guzzle it down and promote it, but then I saw the comments on Joanna’s blog about how they supported animal tests to prove the benefits of the all mighty pomegranate. I thought I should dig a little further.

After Peta got involved in the effort, POM has stopped testing on animals and has no plans to resume it. The literature I received from POM highlights the human tests that show how good it is for people. Check out POM’s website for more information.

Now you can be really militant and say, well they used to be OK with animal testing, so now I don’t want to support them at all. I think the opposite. When the people get together and show that we want something done and achieve victory, we should support and thank those that have come around. I mean most of us weren’t always vegan and anyone who’s ever popped even a Tylenol has supported animal testing. If you haven’t yet read Karen Dawn’s Thanking the Monkey, check it out for lots of great tips on becoming (and staying) an animal rights advocate.

Anyway, I totally enjoyed my POM juice mixed with some seltzer. And I feel pretty good about it.

This ad for a popular NYC grocery delivery service is on the side of a bus stop on 3rd Avenue in Murry Hill. Seitan is going mainstream.

Check out Vegan Samples for a chance to win their super cute tote bag packed with vegan crafts. Or if you want to go the easy route and just buy one, 10% of sales from the vegan craft bags will be donated to for the animals sanctuary. To buy, click here. It’s $25.

Easter Brunch was lovely at Puttanesca on the West side. I took a quick snapshot of my penne puttanesca. So easily veganized sans anchovies. The sauce is tomatoes, black olives, capers, and garlic.

Yeah I don’t think I’ll get the ninja to eat this, but after my earlier frittata success, I just had to see if this would come out.

This time the scramble part had onion, garlic, collard greens, leeks, carrot, celery, and a veggie burger.

I am an evil genius. OK, I’m no Dr. Horrible, but these freakin’ cookies are sinfully awesome. But wait, there isn’t really anything bad for you in them…as much natural, organic, non-hydrogenated goodness as you can pack into a cookie. These bad boys really pack a punch, or evil death ray blast, whatever you’ve got on you.Banana nut mocha chocolate chip oatmeal cookies

2 Cups cooked steel cut oats

2 Cups King Arthur Flour white whole wheat flour (or all purpose, or whole wheat pastry flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup vegan margarine (Earth Balance)
1 1/2 cup Sugar in the Raw
2 TBS Flax seeds
1 Banana
1/3 cup strong black coffee
1 tsp vanilla

2 Cups semi sweet vegan chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Cook oats or cook extra when you’re making breakfast. You are eating oatmeal for breakfast, right? Measure 2 cups of already cooked oats and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 375.

Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

Grind 2 TBS flax seeds. Blend together with 1 banana and 1/3 cup brewed coffee. Set aside.

Mix together margarine and sugar. Add flax banana mixture and blend well. In 3 batches blend in the flour mixture. Stir in the oats, choc chips, and nuts.

Drop by teaspoons full onto ungreased baking sheet and bake for 15 min or until edges start to brown. Let cool on baking sheet 1 min and transfer to cooling rack.

OK, I don’t know if this is really Boston style, but my friend’s grandma in Boston made the best eggplant parm and I found out the secret ingredient was American cheese.

The preparation was rather impromptu. I sliced the eggplant in rounds. Then breaded using the triple layer method. Dredged the slices in chickpea flour, then in a soy sauce/balsamic vinegar/broth mixture, then in mazo meal seasoned with Italian seasoning mix. I actually then baked them instead of my usual frying. Still good. I made an American Cheeze sauce from the Uncheese cookbook. And I made a tomato sauce from some sun dried tomatoes and shitake mushrooms. Layered it all up and put it in individual small baking dishes. Then I flipped it upside down and drizzled it with some more thinned American Cheeze sauce. I think there’s an Italian grandma out there that would be proud.

So I arrive home from work and lo and behold, there’s a package for me! My friend Mandy has lovingly sent me some maple syrup from her very own backyard trees, some homemade granola and some handmade cucumber scented soap! All vegan!

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Holy Trinity Frittata

1 TBS olive oil
2 TBS each diced shallot, carrot, celery, leeks,
1/4 cup diced shitake mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped kale
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup chopped seitan
2 pieces crumbled tempeh bacon

1/4 cup firm tofu
2 TBS nutritional yeast
2 TBS chickpea flour
1 tsp soy sauce
Pinch turmeric (for eggy color)
1/4-1/3 cup vegetable broth

Preheat oven to 400.

In a cast iron skillet saute the shallot, carrot, celery and leeks in olive oil until softened. Add mushrooms, kale, and vegetable broth and steam a few minutes until kale is cooked. Add seitan and tempeh and heat through until broth has cooked off.

Blend together tofu, nootch, chickpea flour, soy sauce, turmeric, and broth until smooth. The mixture should be the consistency of a thin hummus.

Pour the tofu mixture over the cooked veggies and spread around so it covers the pan.

Bake in oven for about 20 minutes until set. You can smell it when it’s starting to brown.

I tried to flip it out of the pan, but it stuck a bit and ended up looking like plain old tofu scramble anyway. Holy yum. This is one of the best experiments I’ve made in awhile. The consistency is kind of like quiche, so I imagine you could do this in a pie plate for the same effect. I’ll be making this again.