One Month on a Vegan Diet: Our Intern Shares her Personal Vegan Challenge (Podcast #150)

by The Meal Makeover Moms on June 29th, 2011

The vegan diet — a vegetarian diet also devoid of eggs, dairy, honey, and other animal by-products — is all the rage. It’s been featured on Oprah, Ellen, and Martha and it’s making its way into the mainstream. On this week’s Cooking with the Moms radio podcast, we sit down with our nutrition intern, Ashley, to chat about her self-imposed Vegan Diet Challenge. For Lent, Ashley decided to give up meat and follow a vegan diet. Through her month-long culinary adventure, she sampled new foods and flavors, read food labels like it was nobody’s business, and came to the realization that eating in restaurants was “nearly impossible.”

One of the recipes she enjoyed several times during her 30-day meatless mission was Eggplant Scallopini from Molly Katzen’s award-winning Moosewood Cookbook. Instead of topping it with grated Parmesan cheese, she uses nutritional yeast.

Eggplant Scallopini

Makes 4 to 6 Servings

  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 3 cloves crushed garlic
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 cups peeled, cubed eggplant
  • 1 pound chopped mushrooms
  • 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • black pepper, to taste
  • 1 cup Marsala wine
  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

1. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan or Dutch oven.

2. Add the onions, garlic, ½ teaspoon salt, and bay leaf and sauté five minutes. Add eggplant and another ½ teaspoon salt, stir, and cook, covered, for ten minutes stirring occasionally.

3. Add mushrooms, green pepper, tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, and pepper. Mix well and simmer, covered, for ten minutes.

4. Add Marsala and parsley. Cover and simmer over low heat, about 15-20 minutes. Serve over whole wheat pasta and sprinkle with vitamin B12-fortified nutritional yeast.

Print Recipe

Ashley turned to vegan expert, Isa Chandra Moskowitz from Post Punk Kitchen for cooking inspiration. Isa has written a bunch of cookbooks including two of Ashley’s favorites: Vegan with a Vengeance and Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook.  Be sure to tune in to Cooking with the Moms to hear all about Ashley’s vegan eating adventures, her true confession (“I hate tofu”), and her favorite vegan treat, Big Gigantoid Crunchy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies.

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9 Comments | Filed Under CulinaryAdventures, Dinner, Podcast, Vegetables, Vegetarian 

9 Responses to “One Month on a Vegan Diet: Our Intern Shares her Personal Vegan Challenge (Podcast #150)”

  1. Katheryn on July 6th, 2011

    I know your intern was just sharing her experience, but I thought the tone of going vegan was on the negative side. My family and I are not vegan, but we eat vegan at least 75% of the time with much success. Two bloggers that are vegan and have loads of great recipes are
    http://ohsheglows.com/
    http://peasandthankyou.com/

    Sarah from Peas and Thank You even has a cookbook coming out later this month, and is a SAHM to her two girls. All of her meals are super quick, cheap (one-income family), and oh my goodness delicious.

  2. Meal Makeover Moms on July 7th, 2011

    Katheryn, thanks so much for your feedback. Ashley’s challenges in following a vegan diet may have come across as more negative than she intended since she told us she really enjoyed the experience. Certainly, there are more and more people adopting a vegan lifestyle and we support their efforts. Thanks so much for sharing your helpful vegan/vegetarian resources as well. Peas and Thank You certainly is a great blog and we and we look forward to learning more about her new cookbook. Thanks again for your comments and keep on cooking!

  3. Kim on July 25th, 2011

    I was so excited to listen to your vegan podcast as I have been vegan for over a year and a half and love your podcasts. I was so disappointed, however, when I listened as I believe the podcast really was: (a) inaccurate and misleading, as it was missing certain facts (for example, reasons why the dairy and egg industries are actually cruel to the animals – it is not just about taking things away from the animals) and had inaccurate facts (for example, I do not believe nutritionists think you can get adequate B12 intake from nutritional yeast); and (b) made being vegan seem much harder than it actually is for many people (though I do not doubt it was difficult for your intern or judge her for that). I hope that in the future you can include a vegan or perhaps a nutritionist who finds being vegan fairly simple and beneficial (and delicious!) to provide a balanced opinion so that your listeners do not become discouraged by just one point of view. Becoming vegan is one of the best decisions I have ever made. I feel great, my husband (who had a very good diet before) has lost weight and his cholesterol got much better, and I love food more than we ever have! The tone of your podcast was clearly anti-vegan, as opposed to a balanced message like Martha Stewart had on her show.

  4. Janice on July 25th, 2011

    Hi Kim:
    Thanks so much for your feedback. As you know, our podcast is lighthearted and we regret that we didn’t give the vegan issues as much serious attention as we could have. Ashley’s experience was mostly positive and we’re surprised that didn’t come through more in the show. We totally support people’s decision to follow a vegan diet and it can be very healthy and beneficial (as evidenced by your husband’s lower cholesterol levels). We have eaten in vegan restaurants and love the food! We like your suggestion for a follow-up show and will reach out to an RD friend who has been vegan for more than a decade and ask her to be a guest on a second vegan podcast in the coming months.
    As far as vitamin B12 and vegan diets, here are a couple of resources from the Vegetarian Resource Group and another helpful website:
    http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/b12.htm
    http://www.beyondveg.com/walsh-s/vitamin-b12/vegans-1.shtml
    It is difficult but not impossible to get adequate vitamin B12 from some nutritional yeasts and fortified foods, although a B12 supplement is an option for many.
    Thanks again for getting in touch.
    All the best,
    Janice & Liz

  5. J on July 29th, 2011

    This sounds like a great recipe … and one I hope to try this week!

    QUESTION: What would be an acceptable substitute for the Marsala wine? I’m quite sure that the wine adds a depth of flavour that a substitute will not do; however, I’m not in a position to buy a possible ‘one use’ only product.

    Many thanks!
    Cheers from J

  6. Janice on August 1st, 2011

    Hi J, according to Substituting Ingredients by Becky Sue Epstein you can use sweet vermouth, madeira, medium sweet sherry or port in place of marsala wine. If you don’t have those ingredients on hand, use regular wine or maybe vegetable broth with a tablespoon or two of cider vinegar for a boost of flavor. Hope this helps!

  7. J on August 1st, 2011

    Yes, it will help. Thanks so much.
    Cheers
    J

  8. Tina R. Clark on December 16th, 2011

    “We have eaten in vegan restaurants and love the food! We like your suggestion for a follow-up show and will reach out to an RD friend who has been vegan for more than a decade and ask her to be a guest on a second vegan podcast in the coming months. As far as vitamin B12 and vegan diets”

    -Most of the vegans are at risk with this b12 deficiency, that’s why im taking this mouth spray http://products.mercola.com/vitamin-b12-spray/ to have at least vitamin b12 in my body.

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