Bay Area Vegetarians

Do you enjoy reading? Do you like learning? And talking about it over vegan food with like-minded people? Then maybe we have an opportunity for you!

We’re considering starting up a book club. We would select a book to read, read it, then meetup to discuss it, every 2 months.

Here’s a selection of books that would fit in the nonfiction theme we’re targeting, animal-rights or vegan health books (science-based). If you’re interested, please contact Tammy to express interest and let us know what works best for a meeting time for you (weekday/weekend, and morning/afternoon/evening).

Update

Initial responses have led us to selecting Sunday morning as our meeting time, and the book Beyond Beliefs for our first reading selection

We will be having an “open house” meeting in March, and we can discuss future books & meeting dates, etc at that time. Note:it’s not a requirement to join us for every book we read. You can opt-in based on whatever books interest you.

3/3 Sun “Open House”/introductory meeting, 10 am to 11 am (everyone can bring different books, talk about book club, dates) – RSVP

5/19 Sun Beyond Beliefs discussion, 10 am to noon – RSVP 

Want to enjoy a delicious feast of 100% plant-based foods without travelling far?   Then host our #veganfoodparty!

They’re typically the 4th Saturday of the month, and the time is flexible (usually 5-8 pm, but it can be earlier or later depending on your preference).

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Vegan entrees change daily at the Taj Grill lunch buffet. Photo: Tammy Lee

Taj Grill is a leader in Vallejo’s restaurants for vegan dining.  While it’s not a vegan restaurant, they are well-known in the local vegan community as they already clearly mark which items on their menu are “VEGAN” or “with vegan option”, and their daily lunch buffet includes vegan selections (signed as vegan).

We spoke to the owner Harish Chowdhary as part of our Vegan Restaurant Campaign, he confirmed:

• All of their “vegan dishes” are 100% plant-based, no animal products whatsoever
• Fried ingredients in vegan dishes are cooked in oil used only for vegan items
• Their Wednesday lunch buffet is entirely vegan/vegetarian

So what’s vegan at Taj Grill?  For starters, their menu lists 12 entrees as vegan (Mixed Vegetables, Tarka Dal, Aloo Gobi, Aloo Chole, Aloo Methi, Jeera Aloo, Aloo Palak, Saag Channa, Channa Masala, Pindi Channa, Baingan Bhartha, Bhindi Masala), and the 13th “with vegan option”, the Dal Makhni.  Harish mentioned several of their breads are vegan, as are their pakoras.  Other appetizers, like the samosa, are likely vegan, but have not yet been marked on their menu.

But what’s really notable about the vegan dining options at Taj Grill is their daily lunch buffet.  Earlier this year, Harish made Wednesday’s buffet entirely plant-based (i.e. it is a mixture of vegan and vegetarian selections).   The buffet features 13 items, all you can eat for $9.99.  In the past, savvy vegans relied on Harish to point out to them which entrees are vegan.   At our request, each vegan dish on the buffet will now be signed with a “V”.

Taj Grill Daily Lunch Buffet, 11 am to 2:30 pm: All You Can Eat $9.99

• 8 Entrees daily, described as 4 “dry” entrees and 4 curries
  • Wednesday, between 6 and 8 entrees are typically vegan, remaining are vegetarian.
  • All other days, it’s split between vegan/vegetarian and non-vegan/vegetarian.  It is typically 3 vegan, 1 vegetarian or all 4 vegan.
• Rice (vegan)
• Bread (usually vegan)
• Pakoras (vegan)
• Salad, with 2 salad dressings (vegan)
• Pudding (vegetarian, not vegan)

Harish  mentioned the possibility of having a vegan dessert option in the future.

We’d love to see the vegan/vegetarian theme on Wednesday carry forward to additional days of the week.  Please check ’em out.

Taj Grill, 758 Admiral Callaghan Ln , Vallejo 94591, (707) 644-4902 (by Safeway)

After you’ve dined there, please add your review of them to TAJ GRILL in the Ultimate Guide, and these hashtags elsewhere in the Internet!

#tajgrillvegan #vrcns #VallejoVeganRestaurantCampaign
#EatVeganVallejo #NapaSolanoVegans #WhatVegansEat #baveg

We dine out for a variety of reasons, the primary ones being hunger and convenience.  For me, enjoying a dining experience at a mixed restaurant serving both vegan and non-vegan foods means trusting that my vegan meal was prepared without contact with animal-based foods. Regardless of whether the underlying reason may be ethical concerns, food safety & handling practices, or health concerns, there are California state laws regarding food handling to avoid allergens.

For the many of us who have never worked in a restaurant kitchen and are unfamiliar with how it’s run, I’ve summarized a conversation I had with Anthony Jackson, a chef as well as a vegan who worked at a Vallejo restaurant handling both vegan and non-vegan foods:

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There are so many of us who have been working in various ways to promote veganism and vegan foods locally.   Yet, there is not a single vegan restaurant in the entire Napa and Solano county; many of us regularly drive 30 to 60 minutes plus to dine at a vegan restaurant.  Collaborating together will magnify our individual efforts, and hopefully, one day, we’ll have a vegan restaurant.

Some may ask, why do we want to dine at an all-vegan restaurant when there are nearby restaurants with vegan choices?

1. A vegan or entirely plant-based restaurant can be a better dining experience
   1. Provides a a larger selection to choose from, versus the single vegan item available, or choosing an item and having to order it without meat/dairy
   2. There’s no risk of allergen contamination from non-vegan foods
   3. There’s no cues (visual or aromatic) of animal flesh or animal products
2. Our dining dollars are not supporting an establishment that profits from the suffering & slaughter of sentient beings

Yet, given the lack of vegetarian restaurants in the county, or even a smaller endeavors like food trucks, it’s a big move for a vegan restaurant to open.

To lay the groundwork for a vegan restaurant to open, we need to create a business climate where vegan foods are seen as profitable.  Once we demonstrate that there IS a demand for vegan foods, then someone will eventually exploit that opportunity and open an all-vegan restaurant. (We’re already seeing that explosion with prepared foods.  Ben & Jerry’s now has 9 vegan flavors, Haagen Daz and Breyers have vegan flavors too.)

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STAND UP FOR ANIMALS
Upcoming volunteer events at local colleges to raise awareness of how animals are treated and promote veganism.

2/14/2018 – Wed – Napa Valley college (Napa)

2/20/2018 – Tue – Diablo Valley College (Pleasant Hill)
2/26/2018 – Mon – Napa Valley college (Napa)
2/28/2018 – Wed – Solano Community College (Fairfield)

3/07/2018 – Wed – Diablo Valley College (Pleasant Hill)
3/12/2018 – Mon – Napa Valley college (Napa)
3/14/2018 – Wed – Solano Community College (Fairfield)

We typically start at DVC (Pleasant Hill) at 7:30 am, and at SCC (Fairfield) and NVC (Napa) at 8:45 am, and leaflet until 11:15 – 11:30ish, depending on how the student traffic is.

You’re welcome to join for all or part of it the time!  Please email us and let us know so we can plan accordingly for outreach materials.

Knowledge Needed:  Familiarity with veganism for the occasional question

Experience Needed:  Ability to smile, & hold out your arm while holding a booklet

As easy as smiling and holding out leaflet

Please join Bay Area Vegetarians for the first annual Oakland Veg Week!

Oakland Veg Week is a week-long celebration (April 15-21, 2012) that invites meat-eaters to pledge to be vegetarian for one week. It’s a positive, upbeat event where everyone wins: Meat-eaters who want a little help with their veg experiment, local restaurants who want more customers, the City of Oakland (who, let’s face it, could use some happy press!), and most importantly, the animals who would really, really, really like to see more vegetarians!

Bay Area Vegetarians is going to match every donation made for OVW12 up to $500.00. For real! That means a possible total of $1,000 to buy more vegan food to give to meat-eaters…if you can help us out. Your $50 donation is actually $100 with this match, and it’s tax-deductible! Oakland Veg Week is all volunteer, all free, and all awesome. With your support, OVW can reach more meat-eaters with the veg information and samples.

Please consider donating today to help create more vegetarians!
Bay Area Vegetarians, OVW, P.O. Box 700, Vallejo, CA 94590 credit card also accepted

What we like most about Oakland Veg Week … let us know what you like about OVW in the comments.

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Bay Area Vegetarians’ Vegan Food Party (VFP) is a community-inspired gathering where new and old friends meet to share conversation and like-minded camaraderie over homemade vegan foods.  Both members and guests (including veg*ns and non-veg*ns) are welcome to attend, as long as they bring a vegan dish to share.

And that’s the challenge for the party go’er.. deciding what to bring.

Alicia, who is hosting a Vegan Food Party this Sunday in San Rafael, has a straight-forward guideline for deciding what to bring:  “Depends on location–if it’s close, I like to bring something hot.  If it’s far, then I bring something that can be served cold or at room temperature.”

One of her favorite dishes is a linguine with a peanut sauce with steamed broccoli. The peanut sauce has peanut butter, rice vinegar, crushed red pepper flakes, olive oil, soy sauce, and water or veggie stock.

Cheryl, who is hosting a Vegan Food Party next month in Pacifica, shares her strategy: “I have selected what I bring to a food part a few different ways.  The first time I went to a summer Vegan food party, I went online and searched Vegan Summer recipes and found a wonderful vegan potato salad and I still make it to this day.   It was a wonderful way to find a new recipe that became part of my classic recipes.  I have also made something that I had somewhere when I was out and decided to have a go and make it on my own without a receipe.  It was a Cold Asian Tofu Marinate over rice and it turned out to be a huge success.

I think it is fun to try new ideas and create your own recipes, but I have also made something that I have made for myself in the past too!  This upcoming party I am making something fun and that I have made in the recent past.”

There’s a variety of ways to decide what to bring.  Tammy and Chris, who hosted the first-ever Vegan Food Party, share a couple of their ideas on how to decide what to bring:  “Sometimes we need inspiration to try a new recipe, so we pick one that sounds interesting and bring it to the VFP to ‘animal test it’.  Or, maybe it’s an excuse to make a favorite dish that we haven’t had in awhile, like macaroni and cheese.  Because we both love vegan desserts, we’ll often bring something in that category, like brownies, chocolate mousse pie, cheesecake, apple cake, or pumpkin pie.”

So, join your fellow vegan food-lovers at an upcoming Vegan Food Party

02/06 VFP – San Rafael
03/12 VFP – Pacifica

Thanks to Cheryl for sharing her favorite potato salad recipe that she’s made twice for summer parties.

Vegan Calico Potato Salad

****SPICEY****

For the Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup vinegar (Red Wine Garlic)
1 1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp. Sea Salt
Dash of hot pepper sauce

For the Salad:
2 lb. red potatoes, peeled, cooked, and cubed (Organic)
1 1/2 cups cooked whole-kernel corn  (*Can)
1 cup shredded carrot  (Organic)
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup diced green pepper (organic)
1/2 cup diced red pepper (Organic)
1/2 cup sliced olives  (Can)

For the Dressing:
• Combine all the ingredients. Cover and chill.

For the Salad:
• In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients.

To Assemble:
• Combine the salad and the dressing and toss to mix.

Makes 14 servings

This class will feature holiday favorites pumpkin, apple, and pecan pies plus fruit & nut filled holiday cookies. With Dr. Christine Dickson, learn the secret tips for making perfect pie crust and take time to network and share ideas with others. Each dessert featured in this class makes a great gift for friends and family!

Space is limited and the classes typically fill-up fairly quickly, so please reserve your space today.

Date: Saturday, Nov 6th
Time: 1:00pm – 3:30pm
Location: Whole Foods Market, 1010 Park Place, San Mateo
Cost: $25/person *
Registration | Event Listing

When asked “What did you like most about the baking class?“, class participants replied:

“The taste and texture of the baked goods was very impressive. Very tasty.”

“It gave me confidence that you can make vegan dessert items that taste every bit as good as baked items with animal products.”

“Being with other vegetarians/vegans and learning how to make healthy desserts.”

“Learning all the tips/techniques you can’t get from just a recipe.”

“To meet an actual vegan baker — we need many more of these to progress the “cause” and get/perfect more options.”

“Christine has some good baking humor – she made me laugh”

To learn more about the Secrets of Vegan Baking classes, visit the SecretsOfVeganBaking.com website

For registration, please visit the Bay Area Vegetarians website – http://bayareaveg.org/cooking/

* Thank you to Christine for volunteering her time and expertise; all proceeds benefit Bay Area Vegetarians. In the spirit of promoting vegan baking, these classes are offered below market rate.

Veg Info for LGBT Pride

We had an amazing & awesome first day at the BAVeg SF LGBT Pride booth!!  A huge number of folks interested in veg*nism came by for their Free Veg Starter Kit, and sampled delicious coconut milk ice cream samples and meatless jerky.

I’m really looking forward to Day 2, Sunday.  We’ll again have the BAVeg booth (we’re on Larkin in front of the Asian Art Museum), and will also be doing some leafleting to the crowd who are standing around and waiting for the Parade to start ( for those watching the parade, look for the EBAA veg contingent!)

For now, I’ve uploaded a few of the photos that I took of our booth, and there will be more to come that the other volunteers have taken.

http://www.bayareaveg.org/gallery2/v/pride10/

Our entirely all-volunteer crew made this day possible.   I am privileged to have collaborated with such a dedicated group of fellow veg*ns on our outreach booth.

Michelle & Dan

Let’s give them all a virtual big hand of applause:
– Michelle, Dan, George and myself did the setup
– Heidi and Donna staffed the veg booth
– Heidi was also busy taking photographs, and Donna made the most amazing vegan goodies for the booth volunteers
– Michelle and Dan gave out information & stickers galore
– Mila and Mike organized the hugely popular ice cream samples (dry ice is amazing)
– Chris designed the new banners that had people walking over to the booth asking for their Free Veg Starter Kit

We also owe thanks to:
– Turtle Mountain and Primal Spirit Foods for So Delicious Coconut Milk Ice Cream Sandwiches and Primal Strips donations, respectively, distributed to booth visitors
– PCRM, PETA and Vegan Outreach generously donated literature
– Individuals who donated in response to our plea, which so far partially cover our expenses for Pride

BAVeg will be back at SF LGBT Pride all day Sunday .  Our info booth is on Larkin, right in front of the Asian Art Museum  Come by and say hello, and grab some literature for you or a friend 🙂

– Tammy

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