Although meat-eating is on the increase in China, so too is vegan dining.

Pri’s The World reports that there is a growing vegan trend throughout the country, including in many of the major cities.

Interviewed on the show, pop singer turned vegan advocate, Long Kuan, said: “The young generation, especially, they love to be eco-friendly, and they love to be compassionate.”

Around four to five per cent of China’s population (more than 50 million) are thought to be vegetarian.

Originally published in Vegan Future newspaper. Read the newspaper for 18 pages of vegan news from around the world.

Tofurky and Field Roast are big names in meat alternatives, both offering a variety of flavors of vegan sausages.  I have always been a fan of Tofurky’s Italian sausages, but on a recent trip to the Follow Your Heart market, I wondered if that was only because Tofurky was available at most grocery stores.  I decided to test the theory and pick up a package of Field Roast Italian Sausages.

One weekend morning, I cooked up a bowl of both, along with some red bell pepper.

All of the Field Roast Italian Sausages were individually wrapped and I could immediately see why.  They were pretty delicate and came apart a bit as you can see in the photo above.

Here’s a photo of the sausages cooked and looking quite tasty.  My opinion was that the Field Roast sausages were heartier and more meaty and would probably be great crumbled up…

Welcome to doctor vegan, the latest venture in healthy plant-based eating in L.A. Make sure to follow this blog to read the latest reviews on vegan and vegetarian restaurants, bakeries, and markets, plus receive healthy vegan recipe suggestions and the latest in food and nutrition news.

Check out the ‘Doctor Who?’ link above to learn more about me and this website. I’ve been eating at a LOT of vegan locales recently so there are many reviews in the pipeline. I hope you’ll follow me so that we can all enjoy this vegan foodie adventure together!

May the Food Be With You,

Dr. K

You can make this recipe completely raw by making the base with nuts and dates, or you can prepare a biscuit base as in the photo above.

Ingredients:

Base:

(RAW): 11/2 cups walnuts or Almonds (or half and half) – 1 cup pitted dates – Sea salt

Or,

(NON RAW -BISCUIT BASE) – 1 and 1/2 cups of vegan biscuit crumbs (digestives) – 1/2 cup of oil or approx equivalent of vegan margarine

Filling:

2 cups of blueberries (Reserve several for topping)

1 cup cashews, soaked in water for at least two hours and drained

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup maple syrup

Directions:

(RAW) For the base, place the walnuts or almonds, dates, and pinch of sea salt in blender and pulse to break the ingredients until ground up and sticking together in your hand.

(NON RAW – BISCUIT BASE)  Melt the margarine and mix in the biscuit crumbs…

This is a slow cooker recipe with good flavor that adds some variety to our standard evening meal rut.  It’s from Fresh from the Vegan Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson.  My only complaint is that I’m not a fan of slow cooker recipes that require 30 minutes of prep and cooking before even putting the food in the slow cooker.  It’s not absolutely required, but the cook book says that cooking it in advance gives it the best flavor.

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium-sized yellow onion, minced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice or cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
• 1 1/2 cups thawed frozen artichoke…