Going Vegan
Grant Butler
Posted Dec 9, 2010
Step one: Decide to embrace a vegan diet.
Step two: Rid the refrigerator, freezer and pantry of all those products
containing meat, cheese and dairy. Some items became a donation to one of the
best non-profit kitchens out there, while others were a last-minute indulgence
before jumping on the vegan train.
Step three: Head to the grocery store. And here's where things at first
feel daunting.
Stocking your vegan kitchen means embracing a whole new way of shopping.
Some changes are obvious: No more stops at the fish or meat counters; you have
to carefully pick and choose what lands in your cart out of the refrigerator
case; and the produce and bulk bin departments are where you'll spend a lot of
your time and money.
Other changes require some work: You have to be diligent about reading
labels, making sure that things like eggs and honey aren't lurking somewhere
on the list of ingredients, and that products aren't swimming in sodium and
fat; and you have to be willing to experiment with grains and products that
haven't been part of your cooking repertoire.
And that's where things get fun. For my first round of vegan grocery
shopping, I headed to my neighborhood Whole Foods, where I picked up staples
like vegan sugar, agave syrup, Earth Balance spread, several types of tofu,
raw nuts, lentils, cannellini beans and a wider range of produce than I
normally buy.
A happy surprise! While tooling up and down the aisles I discovered that
a lot of foods I already love happen to be vegan. I'm addicted to
Portland-made Dave's Killer Bread, which contains no animal products. I love
Toby's light tofu pate, which comes from Eugene and is made with an egg-less
mayonnaise. Hood River's Juanita's tortilla chips are as vegan as they are
delicious. And the Lebanese staples tabouli, tahini and hummus are totally on
the menu.
I also bought some things I've been curious about. Every Thanksgiving, I
see big displays for Turtle Island Foods' Tofurky roast, and once I stop
giggling over the silly name, I wonder if it could possibly be any good. Whole
Foods had the whole Tofurky feast (which includes apple dumplings, mushroom
gravy and wild rice stuffing) on sale -- at a steep $6 discount -- so I picked
up one for a vegan dinner party I'll throw sometime in the next few weeks. And
a friend swears by Coconut Bliss ice cream, which is made from coconut milk
and contains no dairy -- though at $5.99 a pint, this will be a
once-in-a-while splurge.
Before heading to the checkout line, one last essential: cocktail olives
-- but not the fancy ones stuffed with blue cheese. I've got to keep those
vodka martinis vegan. Who says this isn't going to be fun?
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