The Vegan Thread

I'm pretty sure the internet kills wildlife.
I don't know how it would do it, but my gut tells me it's true.

Increasing demands for land due to increasing numbers of data centres* and mining for new tech raw materials?

(*apparently we have created 120 exabytes of data in existence. The rate we are going, by the end of the year there will be about 4000 exabytes).

And that's just the forum, goodness only knows how much data the rest of the world is creating.

Increasing demands for land due to increasing numbers of data centres* and mining for new tech raw materials?

Sounds about right.

LOL

okay in a desperate bid to incorporate something other than food in my contributions to this thread i'll also say did you know superdrug's own-branded toiletries and cosmetics aren't tested on animals and almost always contain no animal ingredients

I love Superdrug for this - I buy most of my cosmetics and toiletries from there, including hair dye. What's more, their own brand products often smell nicer and are half the price of the brands they've blatantly and unashamedly ripped off (even down to the exact same ingredients) such a Bio-Oil.

LOL

Would work even better if gorillas were 100% vegetarian ;)

Can somebody recommend an interesting couscous recipe?

Ethiopian/Eritrean food. They have lots of spicy vegan dishes which are served with couscous. Go google.

cheers

Can somebody recommend an interesting couscous recipe?

Ottolenghi does some lovely couscous dishes with interesting flavour combinations:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/sep/19/couscous-lentil-chickpea-salad-yotam-ottolenghi
(looks like lots of ingredients but it's mainly herbs.)

Also, Persian food lends itself to couscous - here's one idea (just leave out or substitute the labneh):
http://veggiestan.com/2011/12/08/a-winter-salad-spice-toasted-giant-couscous-with-dates-and-labneh/

Have you tried wheatberries?
I recently discovered them - really nutty, chewy whole grain that you can treat as you would couscous or rice.
Seems to go well with just about everything.

Regular Couscous is dire. Get rid of it.
Go get some Freekeh or Palestinian Giant Couscous, and enjoy flavour.

Thank you for the suggestions! Will look into these.

I'm basically looking for a cold dish I can cater for the people of this weekly event I was cooking stews etc. for the last months.
..on a sidenote: I think the most popular was a variation of Isa Chandra's Black Bean & Quinoa Soup. Tip: use half red and half "normal" quinoa!

So now I'm not looking for food that can stand being continiually heated / kept warm for five hours,
but something cold I can brin in a huge bowl / pot, that can stand being in 20°C for five hours without turning "urgh".
I don't want to do the standard german cold dishes for occasions like this, potato or pasta salad, so what came to mind first was couscous..

How about sprouting seeds and lentils? Things that sprout very nicely:

Chickpeas
Mung beans
Quinoa
Any kind of lentil

Adds great flavour and texture to any salad or stew - just stir it in. Particularly good for cold dishes, because the sprouted grains/seeds have textures that would otherwise require cooking to achieve.

Good ideas, thank you for the input!

Ottolenghi does some lovely couscous dishes with interesting flavour combinations:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/sep/19/couscous-lentil-chickpea-salad-yotam-ottolenghi
(looks like lots of ingredients but it's mainly herbs.)

I did this today, and it is very good!
Keeps you busy for a while (shopping and preparing), but is very much worth it.

Thanks again!

And no I did not do much with wheat berries, not a huge fan of chewing them to be honest.

I already mentioned the great little vegan supermarket Dr. Pogo - here are two more tips for people in Berlin -

At Lausitzer Platz (one minute from U1 / M1 "Görlitzer Bahnhof") in Kreuzberg (left to the big church), there's Baraka.
It's a restaurant that also does sandwiches the way all the Falafel joints do.
Since they prepare (season / marinade etc.) all the stuff for the "real dishes" in the restaurant anyway, you get those in the sandwiches as well,
meaning it tastes a lot better than the standard stuff you get on every corner, for the same price.
"Makali" (variation of veggies, potatoes / hummous / salad etc.) in a sandwich is €2.50 - and it's super good!
They make it without yoghurt etc. (vegan) if you tell them, and most of the time give you tea for free!

A nice organic food store in Neukölln (3 minutes by foot from U7 / U8 "Herrmannplatz") is Biosphäre at the corner of Hobrechtstraße / Weserstraße.
Not a dedicated vegan store (just a regular organic one) they stock more and more vegan stuff beyond the basics,
and today I've found they also sell vegan cosmetics from lenz, which are pretty great & reasonably priced.

haven't logged in into the site in years!

adding information to a few posts after skimming the last few pages.

favourite Tofish place is Loving Hut (Islington) although Gallery is much closer and I always go for pizza :)

melting cheese, favourite available in the UK is Vegusto. I brought some Daiya from the US... been using that.

Vegan Doc Martens, bought them as a birthday gift couple years ago and are still as new! Comparing with my trainers which fall apart after 6 months.

Vegan cooking? Veganomicon, Vegan with a vengeance (good seitan, pizza recipes), Vegan Brunch (basically anything by Isa Chandra Moskowitz from PPK)

Nut milk is easy One change: Sarah Britton at TEDxAmsterdamWomen - YouTube

By the way, If anyone can give me tips on tattoo parlours in London (specially East) that have vegan ink that would be helpful!

well, welcome back - and thanks for the feedback!

Went to Coach and Horses tonight - tofush and chips now has proper chips (not the skinny frozen ones from before) and the tartare sauce is vegan. Much improved.

By the way, If anyone can give me tips on tattoo parlours in London (specially East) that have vegan ink that would be helpful!

Dont know about East but I had a really good chat with Darryl Gates at Diamond Jack's in soho. His stuff isnt really my style but hes vegan and uses vegan inks and tattoo supplies, very nice chap too.

In other news, I really want to move to Berlin. Can someone find me a job over there? Please? Tina?

By the way, If anyone can give me tips on tattoo parlours in London (specially East) that have vegan ink that would be helpful!

Divine Canvas on Caledonian Road. Most of the staff are vegan.

Last minute lunch - mildreds soho 1pm

By the way, If anyone can give me tips on tattoo parlours in London (specially East) that have vegan ink that would be helpful!

Fifth Dimension Tattoo, http://www.fifthdimensiontattoo.co.uk/, are vegan and in East London (Shoreditch)

^^It was good, you all missed out