Pre-Vegan Dinner Prayer

Every 2nd and 4th Friday evening, I enjoy a vegan dinner with friends at the Greater Boston Buddhist Cultural Center in Cambridge, at an event called "Dinner with Dharma".  Before the vegan buffet is served and enjoyed among friends, we recite this meditative prayer:

Pre-Vegan Dinner Prayer

Meditation/Prayer Recited Before Eating

May palms be joined together in every world expressing kindness, compassion, joy, and giving.

May all beings find security in friendship, peace, and loving care.

May calm and mindful practice seed patience and deep equanimity.

May we give rise to spacious hearts and humble thoughts of gratitude.

Ci bei xi she bian fa jie. 

Xi fu jie yuan li ren tian. 

Chan jing jie heng ping deng ren. 

Chan quei gan an da yuan xi.

I would like a clear translation of the Chinese, which I think is Simplified Chinese.  Chinese Buddhist nuns run GBBCC.

Recipe Ingredient Substitutions List

The next time you’re missing an ingredient in a recipe, don’t panic.

The next time you’re missing an ingredient in a recipe, don’t panic. Many recipes are flexible and will still come out delicious when you improvise. Plus, many non-vegetarian recipes can be tweaked to create a new veg version. Use our chart below as a starting point, and start asking yourself questions such as: What do I really want this dish to taste like? What textures do I like? Why did the recipe developer put all of these ingredients in here, anyway? Here are some general guidelines about making substitutions in recipes: Try to keep ingredients within the same ethnic category. Ethnic flavor combinations have been developed over centuries and blend together naturally. If you are making over a Mexican dish without meat, use traditional Mexican proteins and starches such as pinto beans, black beans, and posole (hominy), not Asian mung beans or Indian lentils. Dissect the basic flavors of the dish. If you’re missing a certain flavoring, ask yourself if it is basically sweet, salty, sour, bitter, or spicy? Think of something from your cupboard in the same category. Substituting starches and proteins makes less of a difference in overall taste than spices and flavorings. Try the pantry approach to cooking: If you find yourself continually missing key ingredients, analyze your pantry and consider restocking it. Assemble complementary herbs, spices and flavoring in groupings in your pantry. That way, when you are experimenting with a dish—Italian, for example—your Italian seasonings such as basil, parsley, garlic, and oregano will be grouped together, and you can substitute accordingly. Keep staples such as flours, oils, beans, and grains on hand so you don’t have to run out to the store at the last minute.

MAKE IT MEATLESS Ingredient Substitute Meat Beans, cheese, seitan (wheat meat), tempeh (cultured soybeans), textured vegetable protein (TVP), tofu Meat/seafood stocks Vegetable stock, water in which beans, pasta, or vegetables have been cooked, vegetable bouillon cubes, miso (fermented soybean paste) diluted with water Seasoned or smoked meats Flavored soy meat substitutes, crumbled tofu seasoned with fennel, parsley, and garlic, canned chipotle chiles, roasted vegetables, toasted nuts, smoked tofu, smoked cheeses Gelatin  Agar-agar (powder or flakes), arrowroot (powder), guar gum (made from seeds), xanthan gum (made from corn), kudzu powder

MAKE IT VEGAN Ingredient Substitute Buttermilk Clabbered soymilk (1 cup soymilk mixed with 2 tsp. lemon juice or white vinegar) Cheese Soy- and nut-based cheeses Cheese or ricotta cheese Crumbled tofu Eggs Ener-G Egg Replacer, 1 mashed banana or 1/4 cup applesauce per egg (best for baked goods); 1 Tbs. agar flakes whisked into 1 Tbs. water and chilled for 5 minutes (for an egg white substitute), 1 Tbs. ground flaxseeds simmered in 3 Tbs. boiling water for 2 minutes Mayonnaise Soy-based mayonnaise Milk Nut milk, rice milk, soymilk

MAKE IT LOW-FAT Ingredient Substitute Creamy soups and sauces Nonfat strained yogurt, soymilk, puréed roasted vegetables, cooking rice in soup then puréeing it Oil in baked goods Applesauce, puréed bananas, puréed cooked prunes Oil for sautéing Vegetable stock, wine, vinegar Salad dressing Vinegar or citrus juice thickened with puréed roasted red peppers, carrots, onions, or garlic Sour cream Strained nonfat yogurt White sauce Puréed white beans

MAKE IT ALLERGEN-FREE Ingredient Substitute Butter Clarified butter (milk solids have been removed), olive oil, sesame oil Chocolate Carob Cows’ milk Goats’ milk, soymilk, rice milk, nut milk Cows’ milk cheese Goat cheese, sheep cheese, soy cheese, nut cheese Eggs Ener-G Egg Replacer, 1 mashed banana or 1/4 cup applesauce per egg (best for baked goods); 1 Tbs. agar flakes whisked into 1 Tbs. water and chilled for 5 minutes (for an egg white substitute), 1 Tbs. ground flaxseeds simmered in 3 Tbs. boiling water for 2 minutes Peanuts Almonds Wheat flour (for baking) Flours made from barley, buckwheat, corn, kamut, oats, rice, rye, spelt Wheat pasta Pasta made from corn, spelt, kamut, quinoa, rice

MAKE IT ETHNIC Origin Ingredient Substitute Americas Cactus pads (nopales) Green beans, okra Chayote squash  Yellow or green pattypan squash or zucchini Poblano or Anaheim chiles  Minced jalapeño chiles and green bell pepper Posole (dried hominy)  Canned white hominy Asian Bok choy (Chinese white cabbage) Beet greens, kale, Swiss chard   Chinese cooking wine Dry sherry   Chinese five-spice powder Mixture of anise seed or star anise, fennel seed, cinnamon, black peppercorns, and cloves   Galangal (Thai ginger) Fresh ginger   Lemongrass Lemon zest   Lotus root Jicama or water chestnuts   Mirin (Japanese rice wine) Sweet white wine   Nam pla (Thai fish sauce) Soy sauce and lime juice   Rice wine vinegar Cider vinegar, white wine vinegar   Sesame oil 1 Tbs. sesame seeds fried in 1/2 cup vegetable oil   Thai basil Italian basil   Water chestnuts Jicama Indian Atta (chapati flour) 1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour plus 1/2 cup sifted whole-wheat flour   Chana dal Split yellow peas   Curry powder Mixture of ground ginger, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, turmeric and fennel   Garam masala Mixture of 1 tsp. cardamom seeds, 1 Tbs. cumin seed, 1 Tbs. coriander seed, 2 tsp. black peppercorns, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 tsp. cloves, and 1 tsp. nutmeg   Jaggery (coarse palm sugar) Date sugar or brown sugar   Toor dal, urad dal, mung dal Red lentils Mediterranean Broccoli rabe Broccoli plus arugula or dandelion greens   Cannellini beans Great Northern beans, navy beans, red kidney beans   Fava beans Lima beans or butter beans   Fennel Celery plus some fennel or anise seeds   Parmesan cheese Any hard, aged grating cheese such as Asiago, Romano or aged Monterey Jack   Pine nuts Walnuts or a mixture of walnuts and almonds

MAKE IT ALCOHOL-FREE Ingredient Substitute Red wine Pomegranate juice or 1/2 cup water with 2 tsp. balsamic vinegar White wine Vegetable stock, apple juice, carrot juice Wine or beer Non-alcoholic wine or beer

Vegetables, Fruits, Soy Help Prevent Breast Cancer

Vegetables, Fruits, Soy Help Prevent Breast Cancer Consumption of soy, fruits, and vegetables helps reduce the risk of developing breast cancer, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Postmenopausal women who consumed plenty of soy, fruits, and vegetables had a 30 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer, compared with those who consumed relatively little of these foods. The research was based on 34,028 women in the Singapore Chinese Health Study. The longer the women had consumed these healthful foods, the less chance they had of developing breast cancer. Butler LM, Wu AH, Wang R, Koh WP, Yuan JM, Yu MC. A vegetable-fruit-soy dietary pattern protects against breast cancer among postmenopausal Singapore Chinese women. Am J Clin Nutr. Published ahead of print February 24, 2010. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2009.28572. For information about nutrition and health, please visit www.pcrm.org/. Breaking Medical News is a service of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 5100 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., Suite 400, Washington, DC 20016.
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine 5100 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., Ste. 400 Washington, DC 20016	Phone: 202-686-2210 E-mail: info@pcrm.org

Forwa

RAW Vegans in America's Entertainment 'Capital' (emphasize CAPITAL !)

Hollywood's Coolest Vegans

By Wynter Mitchell | Saturday, October 10, 2009 8:00 AM ET

Investigation of the benefits of a vegan lifestyle may for some deep doubters need to come from someone incredibly hip and stylish.  I don't care much for Woody Harrelson, and when he appeared on a late night comedy TV show this past week, I had no idea he was and is consistently vegan, but I learned that the next day from online postings the next day.  Could he persuade anyone to tumble head over heels for tofurkey?
Here's what Wynter Mitchell says in his blog (these are NOT my words):

In this month's Maxim, actor Woody  , who stars in next month's "Zombieland," discusses how a chance meeting with a girl made him become a vegan. When the stranger promised him it would cure his chronic acne, he claims the decision turned his life around.
The actor claims a meat and dairy diet ruined his skin and left him lethargic and sluggish. He's been on a raw food diet for 25 years. He tells the monthly, "I used to eat burgers and steak, and I would just be knocked out afterward; I had to give it up."
"The first thing was dairy.  I was about 24 years old and I had tons of acne and mucus. I met some random girl on a bus who told me to quit dairy and all those symptoms would go away three days later. By God she was right."
Recently on "Top Chef Masters," the chefs were challenged to provide a vegan lunch for charming and Zooey Deschanel and about 20 of her friends. Simple right? Except she's gluten intolerant and doesn't eat soy. In other words, everything on her plate has to be totally raw. Explains her dewy skin and cheery outlook.
It got me thinking, who are some of the coolest vegans in Hollywood?  And more important, will they have any impact on my rather bad eating habits?
Here are Hollywood Top Ten Coolest Vegans That Could Talk Me Into A Raw Food Diet:
10. Prince (especially if he put it into song)
9. Alec Baldwin
8. Olivia Wilde
7. Lenny Kravitz (see Prince)
6. Shania Twain
5. Fiona Apple
4. Kathy Freston
3. Zooey Deschanel
2. Casey Affleck
1. Ginnifer Goodwin
So, if anyone is interested in giving me a lesson in converting my junk-only diet into something of value and worth, and you are one of the top listed above, I'm available.
photo courtesy of veganbenalaru.files.wordpress.com