8/3/2019 Food 11-23: Silently vegan

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ZOKU SINGLE POP MAKER

Make a frozen pop

in as little as sevenminutes with theZoku Single. You cancustomize up tothree pops beforethe unit needs re-freezing. Ingredi-ents such as fruitjuice and yogurtwork beautifully,and the unit takesup just a sliver ofspace in the freezer.

HERE TO FIND IT: Available at Williams-Sonoma

or $10.

Timesstaff

CWednesday,

November 23,

2011

foodLife&Times

So I received myThanksgiving dishassignment Monday,

and I was a little disap-pointed: cranberry sauceand an appetizer.

The cranberry sauce,which will of course bemade from fresh cranber-ries, isnt too bad, but itsa little intimidating. Lastweek, I called mymother-in-law and askedfor her recipe so I couldmake it for an officeparty, and she kind of hadto make one up on thespot because, like me, shedoesnt strictly adhere torecipes and had to try torecall what she actually

does versus what she haswritten down.I think its a great sign

of trust for her to ask me

to bring her cranberrysauce, but its a lot ofpressure, too. Plus when Imade it last week it

wasnt as good as I re-member hers being, so Ithink I need to tweak it alittle bit. So no sharing of

that recipe today its stillbeing tested.

And as for the appetizer,

Im still trying to come upwith the perfect thing. Itshould be something en-joyable but definitely onthe lighter side, consider-ing the hours of eating thatwill follow up the appe-tizer. Perhaps a veggieplate or a cheese plate witha fruit spread? Neither ofthese options requiresmuch cooking, however,which is why Ive been re-luctant to commit to any-thing yet.

Then again, Thanksgiv-ing is not the time to be ashow-off, even if it is such

a food-based holiday. Itsreally more about every-one coming together andsharing the work, the

meal, and good conversa-tion, and if I keep that inperspective, then putting

together a cheese plateisnt so bad.

In the meantime, hereare two recipes using left-over turkey. The turkeysoup recipe can be madea lot easier with store-bought broth, and I likethat you use two cups ofleftover stuffing to makethe dumplings.

The second is a recipefor Monte Cristo sand-wiches that kind ofharkens to Christmas,using eggnog as its battermixture. Eggnog is defi-nitely in stores already and

calling me with its sirensong. Were supposed to

hat we love this week

Please see Dish, C5

PHOTO COURTESY OF WILLIAMS-SONOMA

Hotchocolate,doughnutsjointogetherC5

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Choosing a turkey day dish

BY KELLI KENNEDYASSOCIATED PRESS

MIAMI When veganbakery BabyCakes NYC re-cently opened a satelliteshop in downtown DisneyWorld, honesty wasnt avirtue. The shops teal signstouting their dairy- andegg-free treats proved toomuch for the mostly middleAmerican, indulgent vaca-tioners passing by.

It was more of a repel-lant, said owner ErinMcKenna. People werejust walking away.

Within a few days, thescary v word on the signwas made much smaller.And soon, unsuspectingwalk-in customers weregushing over agave-sweet-ened vanilla cupcakes withlemon frosting and choco-late whoopie pies, unawarethey were made sans eggs,milk and butter.

McKenna took the sameapproach when she openedher New York bakery in2005 letting the desserts,rather than the vegan mes-

sage, speak for themselves.I didnt want people to

automatically write us offand not come in, saidMcKenna, who also has abakery in Los Angeles. Iwas confident the stuff Iwas making was goodenough to compete withother stuff on the market.

Celebrity vegans like LeaMichele and Alicia Silver-stone might help boost thelifestyle as a sexy new foodtrend, but for many Ameri-cans veganism remains aturn-off, conjuring imagesof political zealots, hippielentil loaves and hockeypuck pastries.

Its one reason veganrestaurants and bakeriesare increasingly findingsuccess by downplayingwhat they dont include onthe menu.

But vegan food also hasevolved, with vegan cup-cakes taking top prize onFood Networks CupcakeWars and restaurants likeCandle 79, an upscale NewYork vegan eatery, servingMoroccan spiced chickpeacake with red pepper-co-conut curry and date-apri-cot-ginger chutney.

It doesnt matter if themeatloaf or cake is veganso long as it tastes amaz-ing, said Harry Balzer,chief industry analyst forThe NPD Group, a con-sumer marketing research

firm. Marketing a deliciouscake or promoting thatyour restaurant offers themost diverse flavors willgrow a business, not hock-ing them as vegan.

When Ann Gentryopened Real Food Daily inSanta Monica, Calif., nearly20 years ago, the menu ad-

vertised its offerings as or-ganic vegetarian, eventhough everything theyserved actually was vegan.Vegetarians generallyavoid meat, but will con-sume dairy and eggs.

Nobody was using theword vegan, said Gentry.

When she opened a sec-ond restaurant in WestHollywood five years later,the sign boldly showcasedorganic vegan cuisine.

I came out and said itand really it didnt changeanything, said Gentry,who is expanding to an-other location at Los An-

geles International Airportand is refurbishing theWest Hollywood storefront.Gentry is consideringdropping the vegan tag be-cause the restaurant namesays it all and we have a

reputation and we dont

have to justify who we are.Most of who we serve arepeople that arent necessar-ily vegan or vegetarian.Theyre looking for reallygood healthy food in a greatenvironment, she said.

Recently, Ingrid Newkirk,

president of People for theEthical Treatment of Ani-mals, stumbled upon a LasVegas bakery with deca-dent-looking sweets inglass cases.

But she assumed few, if

any, of the options would be

dairy-free.There was no sign thatnoted anything at all aboutthe v word, said Newkirk,who happily discovered

AP PHOTOS

Top: Lemon cupcakes are shown on display at the BabyCakes bakery in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Nov. 4.Above: Customers pick out cupcakes from a display case at the bakery. When vegan bakery BabyCakesNYC opened a satellite shop in downtown Disney World, honesty wasnt a virtue. The shops teal signstouting their dairy- and egg-free treats proved too much for the mostly middle American, indulgent va-cationers passing by. Within a few days, the word vegan was made much smaller on its sign.

Restaurants find success with customers by downplaying the v word

Silentlyvegan

Karina Duran puts frosting on cupcakes at the BabyCakes bakery in LakeBuena Vista, Fla.

Please see Vegan, C2