Aulacese Sandwich with an American Twist... Yum!

Vegan Aulacese Bacon Sandwich à la Tom

I got to admit, Tom made a salivating, mouth-drenching vegan bacon sandwich using Aulacese-style French baguette that left me hankering for more! It's quick, easy to make, and you can add whatever you like!

Ingredients:

1. Plain Aulacese-style (or Vietnamese) French baguette (or any sandwich rolls, but the French baguette is the best)
2. Tomatoes, as many slices as you'd want
3. Cucumbers, as many slices as you'd want
4. Black pepper
5. Jalapenos to taste
6. Vegan bacon

This is the type of vegan bacon we use:

Once you open the package, you'll see two big chunks like this:

I think there are a total of 20 slices or so, but don't quote me on that. I didn't think to count the slices. Maybe I'll count them next time :)

Directions for cooking the vegan bacon:

1. Heat some oil in a wok or pan.
2. Put 3 or 4 slices, depending on how many you want in your sandwich, in and cook each side for 4 minutes.
3. Sprinkle some black pepper on each side as they cook.
4. Put them on a plate when done.

Directions for preparing the baguette:

1. I like to cut my baguettes into 12-inch sandwiches, but you can cut it however long or short a sandwhich you'd like.
2. Slice down the middle, lengthwise.
3. Toast for a few seconds if you want it hot, optional.
4. Spread vegan mayo, as little or as generously, in the baguette.
5. Put in a layer of the newly cooked vegan bacon.
6. Next, add a layer of tomatoes on top of the bacon, and a layer of cucumber slices on top of the layer of tomatoes.
7. If  you like jalapenos, add some slices to your baguette.

And... it's ready to eat! Now, to make it taste even better, sprinkle some crushed, toasted sesame seeds. Oh la la, c'est magnifique!

The crushed sesame seeds really enhance the flavor of the sandwich. But try one without the sesame, then the next time try it with the sesame seeds (or have half of your baguette with and the other half without the crushed sesame seeds) and you'll see the difference.

This can be eaten at any time of the day, as a snack or a meal. If I have my way, I'd eat two in one sitting. Yeah, I'm a veritable cochon and not afraid to admit it when it comes to good food! Enjoy!

Mean Greens: A University of North Texas Cafeteria Goes Vegan

When students returned this August for their fall classes at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, they were treated to a healthy surprise – the UNT Dining Services has converted the Maple Hall cafeteria to become a new 100% all-vegan full-service cafeteria, Mean Greens. The decision was based on a survey of University of North Texas students in which 15% responders were vegetarian and 5% were vegan – and, of course, to attract more students with specific dietary preferences to the campus.

In order to create the perfect vegan menu, UNT Dining Services staff visited a number of restaurants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for inspiration, and according to a press release by the UNT Dining Services, “The culinary staff has been creating recipes using nothing but fresh herbs, vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole grains.” Apparently, the University of North Texas is the first in the US to open an all-vegan cafeteria to meet the plant-based needs of its students.

But that’s not all – the UNT Dining Services will also make, on the spot, any vegan dish upon request by concerned students. In “White Paper: A Vegan Diet,” published by the UNT Dining Services, vegetarian or vegan options are offered at other cafeterias on campus, with each item being labeled with a “V” next to each item. However, “If a nutrition card is not available on the food being served or the student has questions about the food preparation, a manager is always available to assist the student with his or her questions. If a student is still concerned about food preparation of the item, he or she can ask for the food to be prepared a different way as long as the ingredients needed are available in the cafeteria.” Moreover, managers at non-vegan cafeterias are requested to maintain at least one vegetarian option daily for students who didn’t want to eat meat for either environmental, compassionate, or health reasons. Students at the University of North Texas can also visit a registered dietician at the UNT Wellness Center for consultations on the planning of a healthy and balanced vegan lifestyle.

In an interview with NT Daily, Ken Botts, director of special programs for UNT Dining Services, stated, “We put a lot of effort into designing recipes that would provide protein, would provide the necessary vitamins and nutrition to a balanced diet, so chances are, you’ll get a better balanced opportunity in your food choices at Maple than you would at any other eating establishment in and around campus.” Opened to the public on August 22, the concept for an all-vegan cafeteria began a year ago.

Speaking to the University of North Texas News Service, Botts commented, “Most schools only have one or two cafeterias, so it is difficult for them to dedicate an entire dining hall to one type of cuisine. We are fortunate to have five cafeterias on our campus, so it made sense to diversify the dining halls to offer more variety. UNT has a very diverse population with many different tastes and lifestyles, and we believe that this new dining option will be attractive to current students and community members.”

In addition to begin the first vegan university cafeteria in the nation, Mean Green is also going green: plates are used instead of the traditional cafeteria trays, which cut water usage by 40 percent. And surprisingly, not all students who dined at now popular vegan cafeteria are vegans or vegetarians – they’re simply students who love good, healthy food.

Impressed by the university’s decision to provide healthy food to its student body, Animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals honored the University of North Texas with the Compassionate Campus award. Kudos to UNT for blazing the vegan trail in the cattle-country Lone Star State!

The Garden Party

Photo by Everyman

Ever heard of the Garden Party? It does sound a little more productive than tea parties, doesn’t it? From its appellation, it appears that members of this party are growing something instead of sitting around drinking tea, shooting the breeze, and talking politics. A quick search on the Internet won’t come up with anything about this movement, which is surprising. The principles of the Garden Party are practical and very doable, especially for this period of time when it’s critical that individuals and families are encouraged to go local and organic. Let’s face it, climate change is a reality. There are plenty of scientific studies that point to the urgent state of our planet, as well as devastating physical manifestations of Mother Nature herself in the forms of earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, droughts, and for some countries, floods. Climate change is here to stay – be it global warming or global cooling – unless humankind does something about it, for example, curb manmade activities that are toxic to our air, our planet, and to the survival of all beings.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations released a report, “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” which implicates the livestock industry as the number one source of greenhouse gas emissions, 18 percent, more than all the transportation sectors combined. However, in 2009, researchers at the Worldwatch Institute estimated that that number is a bit higher, producing about 32.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year. That’s about 51 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Imagine that. Just reducing our meat consumption – or even better, going vegetarian or vegan – we, as individuals, are already doing our part in the fight to stop or even reverse climate change.

Aside from cutting the meat out of our diet, we can contribute our efforts in another way – going organic. If the world’s agriculture switch to organic farming, not only will we eliminate chemical runoffs of fertilizers into the oceans, which harm marine life as well as create dead zones, but the sustainable methods of organic farming actually absorb 40 percent of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. That’s why a Garden Party is so important. A Garden Party in every neighborhood – what a wonderful way to have healthy and affordable vegetables, right in our backyard, or windowsill or rooftop.

Let us take a look at the Manifesto of the Garden Party (which can be found in its entirety at the Feral Scholar website):

1. The Garden Party is a collection of people who are committed to designing and implementing local, practical initiatives that:

a. increase food security through local sustainability

b. reduce our dependency on money, on-the-grid jobs, expensive and entropic technology, service agencies, and the government to feed ourselves.

2. The Garden Party is not seeking to acquire power for itself, but to deflate the structures of power by reducing people’s dependencies on those structures, in particular from the industrial food-grid, general-purpose money, and administration/management by employers, service agencies, and government.

The Garden Party is preparing for the ultimate General Strike, whereupon people can quit working for wages, quit requiring money to survive, quit paying taxes, quit obeying cruel, stupid, and unjust laws, and quit requiring resources that are not locally available for survival. This will not happen in one stroke, but little by little, spreading as both root and seed.

3. The Garden Party is peaceable. We do not accept the right of anyone to use physical force to bend the will of another; and we will not use any form of violence against persons as part of any campaign or initiative, no matter how much violence and force might increase our efficacy. The ends do not justify the means.

4. The Garden Party can “bind and loose.” If we voluntarily participate together in a boycott, or pickets against some entity, or any other trans-local initiative, then so be it. It requires no executive bodies, but can be suggested in the course of broad communication. Broad communication is encouraged to share helpful, practical tips, and to describe local activities. If the majority decides to participate in trans-local actions, then the majority will participate. No one will be coerced or expelled who doesn’t. If local groups want to initiate local projects, they need not request permission from anyone. Executive committees are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

5. There are no geographic boundaries for the Garden Party. Anyone anywhere can join.

6. The Garden Party is based on a concept of community that emphasizes the practical and personal, not the ideological. Local groups of the Garden Party should be friends. If you can’t be friends and treat each other with genuine goodwill and affection, then nothing you do will last anyway. A communication network is a good thing, but it is not a community. Communities can share food with each other, tend to each others’ children, nurture one another through times of personal trial, and celebrate together. If you’re too far apart to do these things, then there’s a better word than community.

The only requirement for membership into the Garden Party is to have a garden, be it pots that sit on windowsills or vegetables in plastic containers around the yard. What a wonderful way to empower ourselves, our family, as well as our neighborhoods and community. We are not helpless in the face of climate change. Together as a free-thinking collective, we can make a huge difference.

Kudos to Stan of the Feral Scholar website for the Garden Party concept. May there be members in every neighborhood throughout the world.

Sheena Blackhall's "The Animal Refugees"

Oh dear, Leao the loyal canine in Brazil started it all. After reading his story, I couldn't help but look for more animal stories. I found this poem on the internet, written by Sheena Blackhall, about animal refugees. It's a very thought-provoking one... And once more, it's us humans who bring destruction and despair to the natural world and the world of other beings. Now we're also destroying our Earth, our only home, through our destructive habits of excessive consumerism. However, it seems that the main culprit of the most destruction -- polluting our oceans; deforesting our rainforests; impairing human health, those who live in the vicinity, through toxic gas and fumes and waste lagoons -- is the livestock industry. We're decimating biodiversity, human as well as animal. Going veg, being vegan, reducing meat consumption, is the first step we can take to protect all lives, as well as preserve our planet for posterity.

The Animal Refugees

By Sheena Blackhall

I’m the only elephant in Phnomh Penh
No more of my kind you’ll see
My wife ran off from the killing fields
She’s an animal refugee

I’m a Mekong crocodile from Vietnam
When the napalm scorched each tree
I swam to Laos at dead of night
I’m an animal refugee

I’m a slithery snake from Angkor Wat
Where the mountains churned the sea
Now tourists squat in my habitat
I’m an animal refugee

When people’s homes are ripped apart
There’s appeals on world TV
No one saves us. There’s little fuss
For an animal refugee.