Oprah did it. Are you up for a vegan challenge?
It’s hard to ignore all the buzz about eating vegan. From stories about the eating habits of vegan stars (like Ellen DeGeneres, Alicia Silverstone and Sara Gilbert) to bookstore shelves filled with vegan cookbooks. Over the past few years veganism inched out of the obscure to merely fringe status. (Interesting that vegan eating gained popularity during the same time bacon had America’s unwavering attention. I love food trends, often opposing and always fascinating.)
Expect to hear a much louder buzz about vegan eating after the Oprah Winfrey Show airs today, February 1, 2011. It seems Oprah has taken an interest in vegan eating. Oprah and 378 HARPO staffers went vegan for a week. Today’s show promises to highlight the experiences of Oprah and her staffers following a one week vegan challenge of eating “no meat, no milk, no animal anything”. Michael Pollan (author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma)
Let me know what you think of the vegan challenge. I’ll be watching. And, if you’re looking for more information on vegan recipes and vegan eating I’ve listed some of my personal favorite recipes and great resources for vegan cooking.
A Few of My Favorite Vegan Recipes:
Lemon Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas
Vegan Banana Bread
Chocolate Almond Smoothies
Easy Vegetarian Chili
Edamame Hummus
Vegan Cooking and Recipe Resources:
Vegan Recipes from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks
Recipes and Vegan Baking Tips from Post Punk Kitchen
Vegan Recipes from Vegetarian Times
Vegan Recipes and Resources from PCRM 21 Day Vegan Kickstart Challenge
Products Links (Amazon):
Veganist: Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change the World
Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook
The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet
Appetite for Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes
Hi Jen,
I am very interested to see this show and have set my DVR today. Whether or not people decide to go 100% vegan, Oprah has an enormous platform to educate people about the benefits to the earth and to ourselves. I’ve been nearly vegan since September 1st and definitely feel better overall, although it took about six weeks to adjust. And my cholesterol dropped by 40 points after just five weeks. So that was a great benefit. The recipes look amazing!
Jen, really enjoy your website and am looking forward to trying some of your recipes.While I do eat fish (wild), chicken (only organic) and some pork (no beef) and am a huge vegetable lover, I believe eating less animal products would benefit all of us. Two terms I’ve heard lately are “flexitarian” and “less-meatarian”. It would do everyone so much good to just try eating vegetarian or vegan a few days a week!