First from VegWeb

Kale Chips

Simple Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Wash and de-stem kale. Chop or tear into “chip” size pieces.

Spread onto baking sheet. Pour the apple cider vinegar, oil and seasoning (1-2 tablespoons) onto kale. Mix to coat all pieces.

Bake for 10 minutes or until crispy. Serve immediately!

Makes: 3-4 servings, Preparation Time: 3 minutes, Cooking Time: 10 minutes

That sounds simple enough but what if you’re a raw vegan? try this one from renegadehealth
Ingredients:

2 head Kale, Washed and Torn
¾ cup Tahini
¼ cup Tamari
1/4 cup Cider Vinegar
½ cup Water
2 scallions
1 clove garlic
1 lemon (juice of)
¼ teaspoon Sea Salt
1/4 cup of nutritional yeast

Preparation:

Place kale in a large mixing bowl. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth to get a thick consistency. You may have to add more water. Pour over kale and mix thoroughly with your hands to coat the kale. You want this mixture to be really glued onto the kale.
Place kale onto a Teflex sheet, on top of a mesh dehydrator screen, and dehydrate for 6 hours @ 115 degrees. You’ll need to use two trays. Rotate kale occasionally to dry uniformly.

There are two different recipes to help you with your crunchy snack attack that will satisfy and give you a good daily dose of leafy greens.

1/2 bunch / 6 oz / 170 g dino kale or lacinato kale, remove stems

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 – 3 big handfuls of cooked large white beans (see head notes)

1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/3 cup / 1 1/2 oz / 45 g walnuts, lightly toasted
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
scant 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1/3 cup / 1/2 oz / 15 g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Finely chop the kale, wash it, and shake off as much water as you can. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in the widest skillet you own. Add the beans in a single layer. Stir to coat the beans, then let them sit long enough to brown on one side, about 3 or 4 minutes, before turning to brown the other side, also about 3 or 4 minutes. The beans should be golden and a bit crunchy on the outside.

Add the kale and salt to the pan and cook for less than a minute, just long enough for the kale to lose a bit of its structure. Stir in the walnuts and garlic, wait 10 seconds, then stir in the nutmeg. Wait ten seconds and stir in the lemon juice and zest. Remove from heat and serve dusted with Parmesan cheese.

via 101cookbooks

Pan-fried Corona Beans & Kale Recipe

Serves 2 – 4.

20 (Delicious!) Vegan Meals That Don’t Suck

These look pretty good, I must say, especially the grilled salad.
“Eating lower on the food chain is a great way to minimize your personal environmental impact. Fortunately, incorporating more earth-friendly fare into your menu does not require slimy tofu or weird vegetables. Long gone are the days of rice cakes and baby carrots. Eating a vegan meal now and then is a great way to live a little greener. Is your girlfriend a vegetarian and you find yourself sneaking off to scarf a beef burrito? This post is for you. Here are 20 vegan meals that don’t suck – even if you’re an omnivore.”

via webecoist

mediterranean pepper salad

I put my own spin on this, of course. I omitted the green peppers because, well, they’re not my favorite and I quick-pickled the red onion to sweeten and soften its blow. But really, my favorite part of salads like this is is that they can be kept in the fridge already dressed, and only grow more deliciously marinated in a day or two. Should they last that long.

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup cold water
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 a red onion, cut into a 1/2-inch dice (use less if your onion is huge)
3 bell peppers, your choice of colors (I used one red, orange and yellow)
1 kirby cucumber,
1/4-pound firm feta cheese use tofu or nothing instead, add green peppers or another veg of your choice.
1/4 to 1/2 cup pitted kalmata olives
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Swish together the red wine vinegar, water, kosher salt and sugar in a small bowl until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Add the red onion and set it aside.

Meanwhile, time to practice your knife skills. Core and seed your bell peppers and chop them into 1/2-inch pieces. Chop the cucumber and feta into similarly-sized chunks. Put your peppers, cucumber, feta and olives in a large bowl.

By now, your onions will have lightly pickled, both sweetening and softening their blow. Drain them and add them to the other vegetables in the large bowl, but reserve the vinegar mixture. Pour a quarter cup of the vinegar mixture over the salad, then drizzle with olive oil. Season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper, or to taste. Toss evenly and serve at once, or let the flavors muddle together in the fridge for a few hours.

Forgetful, who me? People, I just realized I forgot to add the cup of grape tomatoes that are usually in this salad, and that I’d purchased specifically to add to it. Like grape tomatoes? Add them! Don’t like them? Turns out you might not know they were missing.

via smittenkitchen

God gave man dominion over the animals. Animals are one of God’s creatures that we are to love and respect. I do not want to support an industry that tortures and mistreats animals.

There, that’s pretty much a light summary of what I believe. Of course this is usually followed up by one or two notorious questions:

“So if you don’t eat meat, how do you get protein?”

and

“So I can understand not wanting to kill an animal, but what about cheese and eggs? Nothing dies for those.”

This is good reinforcement for you as to why you believe in being vegan and also can be used as a chance to spark conversation with people who would never think to consider where their food comes from. Also, for new vegans, this might serve as something to hold on to so that when confronted, you have something to say that will, hopefully, knock their socks off.

So here is my question for you guys:

What is /your/ vegan elevator speech? and what are the most common follow up questions?