Toronto Veg Blog

Cooking Up Sunshine

Hello! Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Barbi, TVA’s Donor and Volunteer Resources Coordinator and I’ve decided to join in on the blog fun that my colleague Carly enjoyed over the summer. Soon you’ll also be meeting Autumn, one of our past communications interns. Ever since the 29th Vegetarian Food Festival, people have been asking me what it’s like post-festival. “It must be such a relief!” “You finally get some relaxing time!”. Actually….no! Thanks to such an amazing, committed army of volunteers that the Toronto Vegetarian Association has, things don’t slow down after the Festival, and the office has been a buzz as we plan for almost non-stop outreach. Since September 8th, Toronto Vegetarian Association volunteers have staffed tables at Word on the Street, a Wellness Fair in Oakville and two Humber College events, and by the end of today will have also given out about 10,000 leaflets promoting a vegetarian diet on university campuses in the GTA. But there is one thing that changes in the office post-festival, and that’s the unveiling of the fully stocked, newly organized, bursting bookshelves full of all the latest and greatest vegetarian titles that shipped in just before September 6th. If you… Read More

Filed under: Toronto Veg Blog Uncategorised

The Gift of Support

Musings from Carly: Veg Directory Assistant 2013 One rainy Monday morning I was working away in the office of TVA when a long-time member phoned in with a unique request. She wanted to purchase a membership to give a friend’s granddaughter who had recently become vegetarian. Routine, I thought, and grabbed the form to fill out. However, this wasn’t just any gift membership (or maybe no gift membership ever is), this was much more. She explained that her friend was concerned over the belief that her granddaughter was “eating nothing but beans.” With a chuckle about the bean-centred meal she had been eating that day and the well-intentioned yet misinformed concern, she explained to me that she wanted to provide the new vegetarian with information to help her eat healthy, delicious, and varying meals while surrounded by meat-eating family members. She emphasized that she did not want to send anything that may be received as pushy, but rather offer help to someone with a genuine interest in and desire to live a vegetarian lifestyle. She wanted to purchase a cookbook or two and requested that helpful information be added to the package. As I spoke with her and gathered… Read More

Filed under: News Toronto Veg Blog

12 Short Listed Veg Summerlicious Hotspots – One Week Left!

Musings from Carly: Veg Directory Assistant 2013 Ok folks, there’s only a week left! Time to get yourself out there and sample Toronto’s finest vegetarian and vegan creations! Here’s a last minute look at some veg-friendly fare that’s likely been delighting Summerlicious explorers so far. Short Listed Vegetarian Fare: Kultura (169 King St. E. 416-363-9000) offers mushroom orecchiette with a range of delicious mushrooms, pinot noir pear chutney, and old cheddar cheese, for both lunch and dinner. Tundra at the Hilton Toronto (145 Richmond St. W. 416-860-6800) is featuring a creamy vegetarian summer pea risotto with kale chips, smoked paprika, and asparagus! Célestin (623 Mount Pleasant Rd. 416-544-9035) has created a baby herb tomato salad with white chocolate and sorrel ice cream – for an appetizer! There’s no vegetarian main unfortunately, but perhaps you could have this twice? Jaipur Grille (2066 Yonge St. 416-322-5678) has a selection of delicious vegetarian items including onions bhajias, samosa chaat, and chana masala. Definitely lots of amazing spices used in the making of this cuisine. Linda Modern Thai (11 Karl Fraser Rd. 416-642-3866) has made a vegetarian version of their popular hot & sour soup, Vegetarian Tom Yum! They also offer… Read More

Filed under: News Toronto Veg Blog

Top 5 Vegan Options for a Delicious Veg Summerlicious

Musings from Carly: Veg Directory Assistant 2013. As the 2013 Summerlicious season begins, vegetarians, vegans, gluten-freegans, and others will begin surveying menus for delicious dishes that meet their dietary needs. Even a quick glance at the selection and we realize that the days of a variety of creative and delicious omnivore options alongside bland and mundane vegetarian salads and pastas are over, not that we don’t love a good salad or pasta. Today’s vegetarian and vegan options are vast, innovative, and mouth-watering. And Summerlicious has brought some of the best creations together in countless three course prix-fixe menus. TVA is here to help make your Summerlicious decisions easier by narrowing in on the best options, or harder by pointing to more and more delicious veg meals. Here’s our top 5 restaurants that feature 3 courses of tempting and original vegan options. It is exciting to see a Vegan category on the Summerlicious website to narrow the options. The one and only restaurant listed: Prime at the Windsor Arms Hotel (18 St. Thomas St. 416-971-9666). The lunch menu features a tabbouleh salad, corn tempeh steak with sweet potato mash, and vegan truffles to finish off a likely impressive meal. The… Read More

Filed under: News Toronto Veg Blog