For a VEGAN 2011: Vegan Inspirations from Seven Food Blogs & Websites

It is beautiful to see the internet space flourishing with hundreds of vegan recipe blogs/websites and thousands of people beginning to subscribe to a cruelty-free lifestyle. Is this New Year the year for you? Yes, it is that time of the year again – time to make New Year resolutions!

Courtesy: PETA

Today we have put together a compilation of seven wonderful recipe blogs/websites written and managed by seven wonderful vegan women and their respective teams. Of course, there are many, many more vegan food blogs/websites as we have stated at the outset, but for the sake of brevity, we have selected some from among them. We have aimed to include food blogs/websites containing recipes that suit the Indian taste buds and whose ingredients are readily available in the Indian kitchen. We have also tried to include a bit for everybody: for those of us who want to go the vegan way this New Year, for the long-term vegans looking for variety, for the aspirants of raw vegan food, for those interested in oil-free vegan food… ah well, suit yourself, we hope there is something for everybody!       

The blogs/websites are arranged in alphabetical order. You can click the name of each blog/website to be led into their respective spaces.

RawChocolateCake

1.    ‘Choosing Raw’ by Gena Hamshaw: This website, replete with semi-raw vegan recipes is one among the best internet references to consult if you are already a vegan who likes to eats a lot of raw food combinations. Or, if you are planning to take the ‘Raw Vegan’ pledge in the New Year. Or, if you occasionally and consciously like to binge on raw vegan food. Something about the website that greatly helps in imagining how raw vegan food looks like are the exceptional photographs. ‘Choosing Raw’ links up to other raw vegan foods blogs/websites as well.

Bhindi&LimaBeanMasala

2.    ‘FatFree Vegan Kitchen’ by Susan Voisin: This blog contains an incredible compilation of over 1400 low-fat delicious vegan recipes from across the world. These low-fat recipes, by and large, do not use oil, margarine, and shortening; instead, use water or broth for sautéing and apple sauce, flax seeds, and so on for baking. For the most part, the recipes use avocados, nuts, and seeds to lend the healthy and essential fatty acids into the food. Do check out the Indian cuisine section at ‘FatFree Vegan Kitchen’ by clicking this link. The blog is a super guide if you plan on getting rid of the unwanted fats in the body and still enjoy tasty food.

EgglessFrenchToast

3.    ‘Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes’ by Vaishali Honawar: This recipe blog contains more than 300 vegan recipes from across the world. The recipes suit a wide variety of Indian tastes as many dishes represent cuisines from the different Indian states. One highlight of the blog is that you will find the healthy and delicious vegan versions of many traditional non-vegan dishes. A great place to start for the non-vegans amongst us! You can also read our recent review of ‘Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes’ by clicking this link.

CashewVegetableKorma

4.    ‘Post Punk Kitchen’ by Isa Chandra Moskowitz: This website with dashes of humor and peppy stories interlacing the recipes is quite entertaining. The author makes vegan food sound like a lot of fun that it actually is! Suit yourself; there are some Indian-inspired recipes and many others from around the globe. There is quite a bit to explore at ‘Post Punk Kitchen’ as well. We found this very cool note entitled vegan Culinary Activism in 10 Yummy Steps and just loved reading it!

Gaajar-ka-halwa

5.    ‘Tongue Ticklers’ by Harini Prakash: This blog containing recipes of hundreds of mouth-watering dishes accompanied by enchanting photographs and interesting stories of the trials and triumphs in a vegan kitchen, is both a culinary and visual delight! The recipes are largely Indian and here too, you will find the vegan versions of many traditional favorites. Most recipes in the blog use organically grown ingredients and whole grains to ensure that the dishes are nutritious alongwith being tasty. ‘Tongue Ticklers’ well establishes that you need to give up nothing but unhealthy eating habits to become a healthy, responsible vegan.

TandooriVegetables

6.     ‘Vegan on the Prowl’ by Rithika Ramesh: This blog chronicles the culinary feats of a Mumbai-based Vegan Baker. The recipes are quite insightful – some simple, some requiring skill, but all the same, all recipes make use of ingredients commonly available in the Indian kitchen. After going through ‘Vegan on the Prowl’ and trying out the recipes in there, you might never want to ask – “What does a vegan eat, anyway!?!” The health bytes on the blog is another thing to look forward to.

TomatoMintSoup

7.    Vegan Recipes from ‘SHARAN’ by Dr. Nandita Shah: This website is an all-time favorite reference, especially if you are learning to integrate vegan cooking in your daily life for the first time. You will find a good number of recipes well indexed in every imaginable category and very much cut out to delight the Indian taste buds. Do check out the index for soups, you might go off the processed soup packets in the market after this! The desserts index contains recipes of a remarkable range of vegan sweetmeats that you can joyfully look up to, make, and share!  

Vegan cooking, as most vegans who love to cook would testify, is a form of meditation. Meditation moves you to center within and make modifications in the internal programming. When you emerge from the state of rumination, you are an individual with greater control over your actions. Simply put, your actions become more mindful than ever before and are guided by love and caring. Vegan cooking is all about love and caring – towards yourself and towards all other sentient beings that inhabit the Planet.

Won’t you give veganism a chance this New Year… hope you Can! Do take the Vegan Pledge for 2011 that PETA has so thoughtfully put together by clicking this link.