Today, John and Colleen discuss travelling and issues that inevitably arise around being on a sojourn. Colleen recently had a highly successful vegan experience in Prince Edward Island where she ate a lot of potatoes and Lebanese food. John hopes that he can replicate Colleen's luck in a few weeks when he heads to Argentina and Uruguay. There is no way to say "vegan" in Spanish, so one has to say: Yo no como huevos, leche, o queso (I do not eat eggs, milk or cheese). Note: The International Vegetarian Union has several pages with translated phrases for vegetarian and vegan travelers.

Colleen mentions her bake sale contributions which you can purchase on Saturday, August the 2nd from 12 to 4pm outside of Heart On Your Sleeve. All proceeds will be going to Rabbit Rescue.

No podcast would be complete without John and Colleen talking a lot about food. John discusses his experiences with buying a case of mangoes, the challenge of making three new vegan recipes a week, and a raw carrot/parsnip "noodle" dish inspired by the Millennium cookbook. One of John's new recipes was for delicious raw cookies (one cup each of raisins, banana, walnuts and macadamia nuts blended in a food processor then dehydrated). Colleen discusses her favourite smoothie which consists of one banana, one cup of spinach, 3 strawberries, spirulina, efa oil and a bit of ginger.

Colleen poses this question: "What was the first meal you ate where you were consciously going vegan?" For John it was discovering that soy milk tasted alright. Colleen couldn't cook in her pre-veg days, so with limited options in Kingston, she resorted to making a basic curry out of lots of tofu, broccoli, other veggies, soy milk and curry powder. This she ate all the time until she discovered that there were lots of good vegan cookbooks available.

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Late June is mulberry season in Canada. These juicy black berries grow in great abundance on trees in Toronto and many other cities.

Saskatoon berries are also available at this time of year. You can find these purple berries in parks growing on bushes or slender trees.

Foraging for wild fruit is one of the best ways to eat local. It not only helps you get fresh, exotic and unsprayed fruit at no cost but also reduces the energy and resources necessary to grow, transport and store farmed food.

Today, I (John) am a one-man podcast show, but that doesn't mean there aren't things to talk about. The star of today's show is BlogTO's recent "Best Falafels in Toronto" review. My opinions on the subject:

1. I was impressed by how much geographical area was covered in the search for the city's best falafel. The top three are: King David up near Finch and Dufferin, Queen Pita in Leslieville, and The Empire on Bloor between Ossington and Dufferin.

2. There were two or three falafel places that were left off the list in my opinion: Falafel Queen at the corner of Queen and Bathurst, a place at Page and Bloor whose name I cannot recall, and a little place at the corner of Queen's Quay and Bathurst.

3. Homemade falafel can be darn tasty too ... even if you don't have a deep fryer. Check out page 121 of A Garden of Vegan Cookbook. I like to garnish them with red onions, sprouts and avocado (phenomenal!).

My top favourite snacks
Here are the snacks/quick meals that make it into my T-Mobile Fave Five (Dwayne Wade didn't make it).
5. Banana ice cream (a frozen peeled banana blended with vanilla soy, carob powder, nuts, etc.)
4. Brendan Brazier's Spicy Chocolate Energy Bars (from page 228 of The Thrive Diet)
3. Roasted chick peas (a can of chickpeas, olive oil, with some Italian seasoning in the oven for 40 minutes)
2. Rice noodles with braggs, nutritional yeast and hot sauce
1. Pita bread with ripe avocado

Upcoming recipe disaster? Tomorrow, I have some friends to impress at the Millennium Party and I have to bring smoked tofu as my potluck dish. The store I went to didn't have any for sale so I will be going ad lib with Liquid Smoke. This has "disaster" written all over it. You'll have to tune into the next podcast to see how this one turns out.

Even if I prove to be a Liquid Smoke Failure, you're still going to want to hang out with me simply because I smell phenomenal due in large part to the soap and laundry detergent I use. Both use biodegradeable ingredients and are vegan.

This podcast is an up in (liquid) smoke 17 minutes

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Today, Lisa and John had a lot to talk about. Last weekend, we made the vegan crepes you see pictured here. The recipe is from Veganomicon and if you want to impress someone, this is the recipe to do it with. We mutually impressed each other with it.

We also discussed our plan for the Millennium Party. No, we're not eight years too late – this is the Millennium cookbook party. Although we may listen to Prince's "1999" while watching Voltron episodes to keep with the theme. If that sounds confusing,  listen to the podcast to get a better understanding.

Soy Delicious has come out with a coconut milk line of non-dairy ice cream to help all of those with soy allergies. It is only available in the U.S. so far.

Oprah's vegan diet experimentation is discussed. She is in the middle of a 21 day vegan challenge. She has had no complaints so far, and has been enjoying it. As a service to all those thinking of trying a vegan diet, Erik Markus has posted an intro series of 21 mini podcasts. Topics include: Essential Cookbooks, Nutrition, Supermarket Survival, and Kitchen Setup.

We mention the Food Network. They are featuring some of Dreena Burton's vegan recipes. There were also some new library books donated today.

If you know of any vegan/vegetarian doctors in the Toronto Area (or those who are understanding/knowledgeable of vegetarian issues) please email us at tva@veg.ca. There are lots of questions that come in from the public about this.

Today was Peter McQueen's 50th birthday party! The party was held directly below us at Vegetarian Haven restaurant. As a result, there were lots of people coming into the Resource Centre today. We wish Peter all the best as he has done Toronto Vegetarian Association a great service for over 20 years in about fifty different capacities. He also inspired this week's "Question of the Week:" What would you do to celebrate your 50th birthday? Lisa would be at the Blossoming Lotus in Hawaii and John would be at Farm Sanctuary.

This podcast is a pensi 32 minutes.

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Today, Steve joined us (John and Coleen), as we tried to fight off the intense Toronto heat by eating some ice cream while doing the podcast. The ice cream was all vegan and came from Hibiscus in Kensington Market. We tasted several of their creative homemade flavours: Earl Grey, Coconut, Double Chocolate, and Pistachio. Hibiscus also makes vegan crepes, salads and cookies.

We were going to have pie from Wanda's Pie in the Sky, but they were sold out of vegan pies. Her new location, across from Urban Herbivore, is entirely vegetarian and will soon offer pizza, sandwiches and soup, in addition to desserts.

There was a lot to talk about this week. Colleen fielded a question about vegan vitamins. There was a discussion about vegetarian barbecuing (veggies in tinfoil, corn on the cob, sweet potatoes, and even pizza) and meals to make when it's so hot outside that you refuse to turn on the stove or oven. Good things to try are sandwiches and hearty salads. If incorporating beans, using canned ones will avoid having to cook them. For breakfast, try granola or Ani's raw pudding (1/4 cup dates, 1 1/2 cups water, 2 cups of cashews, and 1/2 cup of shredded coconut in a food processor).

Today's question of the week: what is your favourite unhealthy vegan snack?

The main course of today's show was New York City. Steve visited The Big Apple for a few days last week and had a great time eating at Candle 79, 'snice, Wild Ginger, Red Bamboo, and Babycakes. John was also in NYC last weekend and he had a good time eating at Vegetarian Paradise 2 and Babycakes. For links, check out SuperVegan's top restaurants in NYC.

This podcast is a fat-licious 35 minutes.

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There is nothing better than freshly harvested fruits and veggies. Already at farmers' markets you can find field-grown lettuce, arugula, garlic greens, radishes and asparagus, as well as mushrooms, herbs and greenhouse cucumbers. In another few weeks there will be strawberries, heritage tomatoes, basil, peas, beans, broccoli, peaches, raspberries, yellow plums, the first apples and much more.

New organic markets in Toronto

Sorauren Farmers' Market (South end of Sorauren Park east of Roncesvalles, www.westendfood.coop) is a brand new organic farmers' market taking place on Mondays from 3pm-7pm, May 26 – Oct 27, 2008. There is a full selection of local, organic, and sustainable vegetables, fruits, artisan cheeses, flour/grain products and more – with 20 vendors, of whom more than half are from the Greenbelt and GTA foodshed. There is also a selection of prepared foods made locally with locally grown and processed ingredients.

Daily Apple Centre (35 Lytton Blvd, at Duplex, 416-899-1990, near Yonge and Eglinton) is hosting an organic market this year on Wednesdays from 3pm-7pm  June 4 to Oct 8, 2008. About 16 vendors and farmers are lined up.

Where to find a complete list of farmers' markets:

• Toronto – Veg.ca/fm (organic markets) and the Toronto Farmers' Markets Network.
• Ontario – Farmers' Markets Ontario lists all the local markets across the province.
• United States – Localharvest.org has a great, zoomable, searchable map of local markets.

Today, Jason and AngelA briefly broke their Resource Centre fast to join me (Colleen) for the 100th episode of the Toronto Vegetarian Podcast!

We warn about surprising animal ingredients at two restaurants: Terroni's Adelaide location in Toronto and Desert Rose Cafe in Elora. Jason talks about a bad experience with a chicken samosa being mistaken for a tofu and spinach one. However, good karma and order in the universe were restored when Jason and AngelA immediately thereafter found a place in St. Lawrence Market selling FIVE KINDS of vegan strudel; check out Oodles of Strudel in the southeast corner of the North Building.

We also discuss Jason's fascination with sonic knife (avoid thick sandwich-squishing syndrome), vegetarian shoes, top restaurants in NYC, cookbooks (Ani's Raw Food Kitchen, ReFresh, Crack of Noon, The Grit Cookbook), new veg restaurants in Toronto, a new veg B&B near Port Perry, and a new vegan cookbook launch for Get it Ripe, which will be held on June 5 at the Toronto Woman's Bookstore.

In keeping with old times, we also went off on a number of unrelated tangents, one of which resulted in Colleen cursing like a sailor on air – listener discretion is advised!

This podcast is a potty-mouthed 37 minutes long.

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In Toronto, two vegetarian restaurants and a nearby Bed & Breakfast have recently opened.

Pure Vegetarian Restaurant
668 Dundas St W (e. of Bathurst), 416-815-7676
A new vegan Chinese restaurant has opened up next door to Buddha's in the space where Cafe 668 used to be. Lots of stir-fried dishes and mock meats. They also serve deep fried spring rolls, dumplings and four varieties of soup. The owner, William, is very friendly. Until June 15, they are offering an opening special of 20% off. After that, a 10% discount applies for our discount cardholders.
Hours: Tue-Sun 10:30am-10pm

Govardhan Thal
840 Markham Rd (n. of Lawrence), 416-438-0544
Jan emailed us with the following description: "Run very much like a homestyle kitchen by a team of Gujarathi homemakers, this is an authentic vegetarian buffet with an excellent selection of Gujarathi foods. They have dishes like stir-fried ivy-gourds (Tindora in Hindi) and Bajri rotis (made from a gluten-free millet-like flour). They also have the regular rotis and its a joy to actually see them make it fresh before your eyes. Lunch is usually $4.99 plus tax and dinner is $8.99 after taxes. The cooks double as staff, and although sincere, they only speak Gujarathi. So you might have a hard time communicating but usually the clientele here is quite friendly and jumps in to help out the vernacular-challenged vegetarian. :) They have sit-down tables as well as a takeout counter. But there is not much ambiance to speak of per se." Hours: daily 9am-9pm.

The Roosters Inn – B&B/farm sanctuary
Near Port Perry, roostersinn@live.com, 905-986-9843
www.torontobandb.com/roostersinn.htm
This bed & breakfast opened recently in April 2008. They are just one hour north-east of Toronto. Vegetarian breakfast with organic juices (vegan meals available). Their small farm sanctuary includes Norweigian Pygmy Goats, Muscovy Ducks, chinchillas, rabbits, chickens and, of course, roosters. The chickens still produce eggs, so they are used for eating. Discount cardholders will receive a 10% discount if they pay with cash. Open all year.

Other updates:

Daily Apple Centre (35 Lytton Blvd, at Duplex, 416-899-1990) is entirely vegan. They serve a delicious take-out menu with a focus on locally-grown foods. Marcella writes that "the chickpea curry soup is to die for." They are also hosting an organic market on Wednesdays from 3pm-7pm from June 4 to Oct 8, 2008. There are around 16 vendors and farmers lined up.

Urban Herbivore (64 Oxford St, at Augusta, 416-927-1231) has changed their hours to 9am to sunset. The closing time is somewhat flexible and depends on how busy they are. Work is underway to put a green roof on top of their recent addition.

Organic Lifestyle (Hazelton Lanes, up the escalators from Whole Foods, 87 Avenue Rd, 416-921-7317) is an environmental store that carries only organic products like mattresses, bed linens, towels, and organic baby and adult clothing.

Mark you calendars! Saturday, June 7th and Sunday, June 8th, the Windfall Centre is hosting its 7th annual Windfall Ecology Festival at Fairy Lake Park in Newmarket. It is a two-day event that celebrates sustainable living and includes music, art, lectures, cooking classes, kids’ activities, an eco film festival and more.

Nimisha Raja of Evolving Appetites and longtime TVA volunteer, will be teaching a cooking class and talking about how our food choices impact the environment. Nimisha has been a vegetarian from birth, and became vegan 10 years ago.
Saturday, 9:30 – 11am

Caroline Dupont, author and senior cooking instructor with the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, will be teaching “Enlightened Eating” at the festival. “Enlightened Eating” is the name of her new book – a 17-year journey into the compelling and powerful world of nutrition. In it are gleanings from live foods philosophies, vegetarianism, veganism, macrobiotics and Ayurveda. All the recipes are vegetarian and half are raw.
Saturday, 11:30 – 1:00 pm

Update: All classes are free. Arrive early to get a seat. There will also be locally-grown and organic vegetarian cooking demos and free food sampling at the Habitat For Humanity in-park kitchen. Bring your own container, a spoon and enjoy!

The festival is part of Environment Week that includes the 4th Annual Trash Fashion Awards on Thursday June 5th: a unique look at fashions designed by colleges, universities and professionals, featuring clothing designed from recycled trash. It will also feature Second City Comedy Troupe, and food service from Naturally Alive, by Patricia - York Region Raw Food Potluck Group. $50 fund raiser.

For a full program listing, please visit: www.windfallcentre.ca

Oprah is doing a vegan challenge for 21 days! Billed as a cleanse, she is also giving up alcohol, caffeine, and gluten. As Colleen and Lisa discuss in this week's podcast – she may just go back to eating dead animals at the end of the three weeks. But what ever happens, by highlighting how a vegan diet is beneficial to humans, animals, and the environment, Oprah is bringing a positive message to her viewers that has the potential to save countless lives.

Well, I feel like I got baptized in Vegan Land today.
– Oprah

The news was announced on her May 20 show that featured Kathy Freston, bestselling author of Quantum Wellness. In her book, Freston describes the 8 pillars of wellness, with "the mother of all pillars" being conscious eating. "...conscious eating means you stay aware of where your food comes from, how the animals are treated, and how the environment is affected by the foods that you eat. You take in the energy of whatever went into creating that food," she says.

Back in March 2007, we wrote about Kathy Freston on veg.ca, after she had three excellent articles posted online by the Huffington Post: "Vegetarian is the New Prius" , "A Few More 'Inconvenient Truths", and "One Bite at a Time: A Beginner's Guide to Conscious Eating." In the latter, she offers suggestions for die-hard meat-eaters who want make the transition to a vegetarian (or mostly vegetarian) diet. See our article for a summary and links.

Oprah is blogging about her experience and sharing vegan recipes by chef Tal Ronnen throughout her journey. Please send her a message of encouragement.

Who is Tal Ronnen? He has performed cooking demonstrations on numerous television shows and works with hotels, businesses and schools, including Hyatt, Hilton, AOL, Yahoo and New York University, to assist with vegetarian menu options. In 2004, he started Veg Advantage, a nonprofit education organization to help food-service operators integrate vegetarian options into their menus.

He has also worked at the top vegan restaurants in the United States, including Sublime in Fort Lauderdale, Candle 79 in New York City and Madeleine Bistro in Los Angeles. In 2007, Tal assisted rocker Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders in opening her restaurant, VegiTerranean in Akron, Ohio.

Tal's signature dishes include a key lime and avocado cream dessert parfait, Old Bay tofu cakes with vegan horseradish crème and artichoke tortellini with saffron "cream" sauce.

Today, Colleen and Lisa (from the Wednesday night Resource Centre crew) celebrate the late arrival of something resembling spring in Toronto by discussing the city's great farmers’ markets as well as vegetarian summer events, like Summerfest in Johnstown, PA on June 18-22 (which they, unfortunately, can't attend this year).

The topic of celebrities trying out vegetarianism came up again, this time in relation to the queens of the daytime talk show: Oprah is going vegan for 21 days, and Ellen DeGeneres may be next, after the vegan authors of Skinny Bitch were on her show on May 23rd. 

Lisa saw some good in it all, because of the discussions that would ensue. Colleen agreed that discussion is always good but, as always, was skeptical about the whole celebrity endorsement thing.

They discus the meaning of "vegan" and whether changing one's diet for only health reasons is enough to make a lasting commitment. Lisa talks about how her mom tried going vegetarian for three weeks but committed to sticking with it after only a week, once she saw how easy it was and how much energy she had. Her diabetes has since improved dramatically and wishes she had become vegetarian ten years ago! But Colleen tells a story about a friend who went traveling to spiritual places around India for nine months maintaining a vegetarian diet the whole time. When he got back he went back to eating meat, even though felt initially sick doing so. His only reason was that he didn't want his family bugging him.

The question of the week: What is your favourite brunch recipes?

Colleen likes the Tofu Scramble in Vegan with a Vengeance, and the Apricot Oat Pancakes in Via la Vegan. Lisa likes the Banana Pancakes in the latter cookbook. Also see veg.ca's Breakfast & brunch page for tips and recipes.

They also talked about good food, with Lisa giving Hema Parekh's new cookbook, The Asian Vegan Kitchen, two thumbs up and both Lisa and Colleen raving about the great vegan Ethiopian food they had the Friday before (with the rest of the RC crew) at Rendez-Vous (1408 Danforth Ave).

This podcast is an injera-wrapped 29 minutes long.

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Here are the latest additions to Toronto's raw foods scene:

Rawlicious
3092 Dundas St W (w. of Keele), 416-551-3161
www.rawlicious.ca
Rawlicious is a brand new raw food/vegan cafe in the rejuvenated Junction area. The menu includes smoothies, salads, appetizers, wraps, pastas, healthy breakfasts and delicious desserts. The place has a beautiful airy ambiance with open kitchen, exposed brick, fresh flowers and nice art. In the basement there is an infrared sauna complete with shower. They also offer other alternative health practices. Hours: Mon-Thu 11am-7pm, Fri 11am-9pm, Sat 10am-7pm, Sun 12am-5pm.

Pictured here is Nut-loaf Patty Wrap (seasoned nut loaf, spinach walnut pesto, tomato, red onion, lettuce and pinenut sauce wrapped in a collard leaf) and Marinated Thai Broccoli Salad.

Photo of Kaiya, Robin and Angus in the kitchen.

LIVE – Organic Food Bar
264 Dupont St (at Spadina), 416-515-2002
www.livefoodbar.com/classes.html
Since the new year, Live has been offering vegan raw food classes. "Learn practical knowledge about raw and vegan cuisine, shopping for organics, reading labels, the fundamentals of nutrition and much more." Held on Mondays at 11am-12:30pm for $65, or at 6:30-8:30pm for $80. Sign up for 4 classes for $290. GST is Included. Some classes are interactive. See website for schedule.
   Upcoming classes include: Dehydrating, Blending Bonanza, Equipment Basics, Brunch Munch, The Raw Pantry and Nut Cheeses and Påtés.

Rawcovery
416-489-9414 www.rawcovery.com
Seminars, workshops, coaching and e-books from the Rawcovery program. "Total well-being from the inside out. Discover the power of raw living plant food that includes weight-loss, radiance, vitality, mental clarity, improved immunity and optimum health."

See see our raw page for more Toronto listings and vacation spots.