THE VEGAN NEWS THE VEGAN NEWS
The Vegan News is written and edited by P M Lloyd. Please e-mail your contributions to the editor at: pauline@bury-rd.demon.co.uk or fill in the form provided.
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Recipe of the Month1. Cleaning
Scan seed on a white background, picking out any small, pale, light green immature or dark damaged seed. (Immature seed will pop if squeezed between forefinger and thumb.) Next pour good seed into a bowl and cover well with water. Move the seed around and any grit should sink. Scoop floating seed off into another bowl and compost any grit collected at the bottom of the first bowl. Repeat until you are satisfied that the seeds are clean.
2. Soaking
Allow hempseed and almonds (use 7 almonds) to be soaked for between 8 and 36 hours in distilled and/or filtered water (at a ratio of 3 or 4 parts water to 1 part seeds). Be sure to change the water every 8 hours (more frequently in warm conditions) to prevent fermentation. Best results are attained when the hempseed shells have split and the babies are just starting to peep their tails out (usually just before 24 hours). After soaking, drain and rinse the seed thoroughly.
3. Grinding / Blending
Make Soma in a low light area, away from artificial light . The seed grinds/blends best after approximately 24 hours soaking. We recommend using a granite mortar and pestle if possible, but for those for whom time does exist, a food processor/blender may be the next best thing. Add a little water to facilitate blending or grinding. Chlorophyll rich greens may be blended and strained with the seed.
4. Straining
After blending or grinding, strain through a damp sack, cloth or sieve, into an opaque jug or deep bowl, submerging and massaging sack to further extract the sacred elixir. Be sure to strain gently and thoroughly. Your 'Huoma' is now ready to be enjoyed or flavoured with vegetables, fruit, herb or spice which should be prepared before or with the milk. Both sweet (fig, banana, date) and sub-acid (apple, pear, mango etc..) fruits make excellent 'food combinations' with soaked nuts or seeds, as do all vegetables. (High-acid fruits may cause curdling). Hempstar Milk has no shelf life and should be drunk immediately.
Proven Properties of Hempseeds -
Approx 30% of hempseed is fat. However hempseed is low in saturatated fat and is a good source of Essential Fatty Acids (Omega 3 and Omega 6) and Gamma Linoleic Acid (GLA). Hempseed has the potential to increase metabolism, aid weight loss, reduce cholesterol, protect against heart disease, stimulate the growth of hair and nails, reduce inflammation and arthritis, boost the immune system and can also help to regulate menstruation and menopause and ease pre-menstrual syndrome.
Certified Hempseed
When making your hemp milk use only organic hempseed from a reputable source. Hempseed is available from various outlets, much of which is imported as bird food or fish bait and not from established varieties, developed to produce quality, edible seed. Much of this seed is of poor quality, is grown using chemical fertilisers, is often rancid (therefore toxic), immature, old, improperly stored and/or packaged. Fumigation with pesticides for transportation is yet another concern.
Certified, organic hempseed can be obtained by mail order from: Hempseed Organics, 79 Myddleton Road, Bounds Green, London. N22 8NE. (Tel: 0181 888 9277.) And if you would like to visit The Hempseed Organic shop, this is also located at the above address - just off Green Lanes. (Nearest Tube: Bounds Green, nearest British Rail: Bowes Park.)
Many thanks to Hempseed Organics for allowing me to publish their hemp milk recipe in Vegan News. If you would like a full hempstar milk recipe sheet, then it is possible to obtain one from the above address.
Readers'
ContributionsCoral Putman
Coral has just discovered 'The Vegan News'. She wants to know if any other readers know of a good Yorkshire pudding recipe, as her daughter really misses her Yorkshire puddings since they became vegan. You can e-mail any details of Yorkshire pudding recipes to her at: cputman@dlj.com
And in response to last month's query Anna Wilson-Nunn has written in to recommend the following low fat recipe books:
1. The (Almost) No Fat Holiday Cookbook' by Bryanna Clark Grogan. (The Book Publishing Company.)
This is a vegan cookbook (apart from occasional use of honey - use maple syrup or concentrated fruit juice instead) which gives recipes for a whole range of special events including Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, plus Jewish, Indian and Chinese events. Includes a recipe for low-fat pastry, which works well, and I have tried out the pumpkin pie, which was very good. Bryanna Clark Grogan has also written an everyday version of this book - 'The (Almost) No Fat Cookbook'.
2. 'Lighten Up' by Louise Hagler. (The Book Publishing Company.)
Another good low-fat vegan cookbook (again, some use of honey though).
3. 'Mother Nature's Garden' by Florence and Mickey Bienenfield (Crossing Press).
This is a totally vegan cookbook. The recipes are low-fat, sugar-free, low in salt and many are wheat-free. There is an excellent choice of healthy breads, cakes and desserts. Nearly all the savoury recipes use Bragg's Liquid Aminos (which you may not be able to track down, I haven't found it anywhere). However you can use soy sauce instead, although it is saltier unless you can find a low-salt version.
4. 'The Light Body: A Transformational Guide to Health Supportive Eating' by Marita Rose Collins (The Traveling Gourmet).
Don't be put off by the odd title: this book contains loads of very tasty vegan recipes including drinks, breads, breakfasts, dressings, desserts, pasta, salad, sandwiches, main dishes (honey again though). Also contains a useful section on preparation and technique e.g. how to make sundried tomatoes, how to make vegan buttermilk, cooking beans and grains, what to use instead of eggs. Many of the recipes do have rather long ingredients lists, so if you want simple recipes this may not be the one for you.
(Visit the Amazon (UK) or the Amazon (USA) website, if you want to order any of the above titles.)
5. 'Seven Pillars of Health' by Jay Solomon.
A healthy vegan cookbook which I found in my local library. Includes plenty of nutritional advice. It's also available from Amazon.
6. 'Low-Fat Vegetarian Cooking' by Sue Kreitzman.
This book deserves a mention. Although it's not a vegan book, the majority of the recipes are vegan and others can be adapted by using soya yoghurt and egg replacer where necessary. There are no 'weird' ingredients and the book contains savoury recipes only. I found this in my local library. It should be available from good bookshops and an American version is available from Amazon.
Please note: With the exception of the British version of Sue Kreitzman's book, measurements are in cups. Stainless steel cup measures are available from most cookshops and are worth buying if you intend to buy American cookbooks, or try out recipes from the many American foodie websites.
February
Product ReviewSuma Ecoleaf Forest-Friendly Toilet Tissue
Suma Aloe Vera Fragrance-Free Shampoo
You can find out more about Suma products at the Suma website. Quite a few of their products are suitable for vegans.
Vegan
Nutrition - Folic Acid
What's
Happening in the Veganic Garden This Month?It is often possible to make some outside sowings this month, although the soil temperature needs to be about 10 degrees centigrade for many kinds of seeds to germinate. Around mid-February, I usually make an early sowing of 'Feltham First' peas. This winter-hardy, dwarf variety will stand frost, but because the weather can be rather unpredictable at this time of year I usually cover my early peas with envirofleece for extra protection. (Delay sowing peas until early March if the weather is very bad, particularly if you live in the North of England.) Broad beans, such as the varieties 'Aquadulce claudia' and 'The Sutton' are also quite hardy and can be sown from the end of February. These early sowings of peas and beans should be ready for eating around mid-june/ early July. Also don't forget if you would like to grow some garlic this year, then February is your last chance to plant garlic cloves. Try the variety 'Printanor' which can be obtained from the Organic Gardening Catalogue and plant the cloves in a warm, sunny position.
Shallots, Jerusalem artichokes and new rhubarb sets can also be planted outside in February and I also plant my onion sets, under a fleece, sometime towards the end of February unless the ground is frozen. (If you don't have a fleece then it is better to delay planting onion sets until March). Plant baby onions in firm soil leaving only the tip visible and inspect them daily until they are well-rooted, replanting any that the birds pull out of the ground. 'Stuttgart Giant and 'Turbo' are both good varieties to use, or try one of the red onion varieties for a change. It is also possible to make early sowings of summer spinach and parsnips this month. Summer spinach grows best on well-composted, rich soil and can be intercropped between rows of broad beans which will provide some shade.
If you have some established rhubarb crowns, then these can be forced by covering the rhubarb crowns with compost (or fermenting leaves) and then placing an old bucket or barrel over the top of them. Young sticks of rhubarb should be ready for pulling by April.
Seed potatoes should be spouted this month. Place them in shallow wooden boxes (or old seed trays) with the best eyes uppermost and keep them in a frost-free and fairly light place.
Brussels sprouts, celery, corn salad, kale, Jerusalem artichokes, landcress, leeks, parsnips, sprouting broccoli, winter cabbage and winter cauliflower.
Any
Queries?Rebekha Jennings, Atlanta, ga.
I have covered the main vitamins and minerals which are of special relevance to vegans in recent issues of The Vegan News. Vegans particularly need to make sure that they obtain adequate supplies of calcium, B12, iron and iodine. And if you are thinking of having a baby, then you also need to make sure that you obtain sufficient folic acid. However, it is better to obtain these nutrients from your daily diet, whenever possible, rather than relying on taking supplements. I am going to e-mail the relevant extracts about the above vitamins/ minerals to you. If you feel that you need further information, then I would recommend that you obtain a copy of 'Vegan Nutrition Pure and Simple' by Dr Michael Klaper which covers the basics of vegan nutrition and also contains some vegan recipes and meal plans. It is possible to purchase a copy of Dr Klaper's book from The Vegan Society for £7.95 + postage. (American Readers can obtain a copy from Gentle World for $9.95.) There is a review of this book in the March 1997 Issue.
Vegan
Organisation ReviewThe following organisations have been reviewed in earlier issues:
Other
Interesting Vegan Websites
February
Book ReviewHTML written by P M Lloyd
Copyright © Pauline Lloyd 1999
