Vegan foods take root at cookouts [Telegram & Gazette]

Posted by Drew.

Pick up a copy of today’s Telegram & Gazette. There’s a great story about being vegan at memorial day cook outs.

From “Vegan foods take root at cookouts“:

By Steven H. Foskett Jr.

WORCESTER — For millions of Americans, a hefty portion of the approximately 25 billion pounds of beef we eat every year will be slapped on the grills at cookouts across the country this weekend.

But for a small but growing portion of the party-going populace, meat won’t be on the menu. According to the nonprofit Vegetarian Resource Group, a 2011 poll found that about 5 percent of Americans say they never eat meat, fish, seafood or poultry.

Local vegetarians and vegans say they’re not surprised to see more people go vegan, and say that with a little preparation and a bit of education they get their grub on like anyone else cooking out over the summer.

Relieving a non-vegan cookout host of the burden of accommodating a vegan is one way to avoid being stuck eating salad.

“The best way to approach it, I think, is that I never want it to seem like I don’t have any options,” said vegan Kaitlyn Miklinevich, a doctoral student at UMass Medical School. “I’ll make a veggie burger and bring it, or buy vegan burgers at the store and bring them along, and eat them with everyone else. Bring yourself a main dish, and bring some sides and desserts and share. People are curious.”

Vegan Manda Rose, who said she once got stuck at a cookout eating a bun with mustard, also ascribes to the head-them-off-at-the-buffet-table method. It’s almost like having a food allergy; if she can control the ingredients, she knows she’ll have at least one thing she can eat at a cookout.

Still, she said she appreciates the effort by carnivores and omnivores.

“Normally what I do is if I’m going to a cookout with friends or family, I take the opportunity to bring something with me that’s vegan that I can share,” said Ms. Rose, a member of the local nonprofit VegWorcester, which promotes the vegan lifestyle in the area. “I don’t expect people will be mindful to have a vegan option. They’re not sure what to do.”

In fact, many cookout masters already make vegan dishes without even knowing it.

“Guacamole is something people will bring unknowingly, and I can dig right into it,” Ms. Miklinevich said.

Other dishes might take a few alterations, but can be just as much of a hit at cookouts as burgers and steaks.

“One thing I love to have at cookouts is potato salad,” Ms. Rose said. “Potato salad usually has eggs in it, and mayonnaise. I love potato salad, so I use a vegan mayonnaise, it’s called Vegenaise, it tastes the same. People are normally surprised when they eat vegan food. It’s not just grass and twigs.”

VegWorcester founder Drew Wilson said it’s amazing how many offerings there are for vegans and vegetarians now.

Most grocery stores have a section, and he said he just recently snacked on mock ribs while cooking out with a friend.

“You just throw ‘em on the grill,” said Mr. Wilson, 26, who has been a vegan since he was 12. “You don’t have to worry about some things that you do with meat, you don’t have to worry about bacteria or pathogens.”

Read the rest of the story…