Who: The Chicago Diner. Meat free since ’83!
What: Birthday celebration including specials and prizes
When: Wednesday, April 2, 11AM-10PM
Where: 3411 N. Halsted, Chicago, IL 60657
Why: Enjoy some of the best vegan food in town
Archive | Vegetarian
RSS feed for this sectionNot sure of your way around the kitchen?
Empower yourself and learn how to cook. Just like any other skill, once you learn the basics, it just takes practice. And yes, time, but it’s worth it when you can feed yourself healthy and tasty vegan food easily. Before you know it, you’ll be a highly skilled vegan cook and know what’s what in your own kitchen.
There are several cooking schools, restaruants, and other businesses around town that offer vegan cooking classes. I suggest taking hands-on classes, but it can be interesting to watch demonstrations too. Besides taking vegan cooking classes, it’s also a good idea to learn proper knife skills as a starting point. Check out the class schedules at some of the following places for more information. Enjoy and happy cooking!
Cooking Schools
The Chopping Block in Lincoln Square and River North
Fundamentals of Vegan Cooking on May 5 at the Lincoln Square location. Knife Skills offered several times a month for $40–one of the least expensive knife skills classes in town. I took this hands-on class years ago and recommend it for anyone who wants to use knives more efficiently in the kitchen.
Heat and Spice Cooking School in Uptown
Learn how to cook vegan Thai, Indian, and Mexican cuisines. I have taken the vegan Thai class and highly recommend the chef and the food. Spicy and delicious!
Cooking Fools in Wicker Park
Currently no vegan classes on the schedule, but this is where I learned to make seitan. Call and ask for a vegan class! Perhaps they will add one to there schedule.
The Wooden Spoon in Andersonville
Currently no vegan classes on the schedule. Call and ask for a vegan class.
Raw Food Preparation
Cousin’s Incredible Vitality on West Irving Park
Interested in the raw food movement? Learn how to prepare raw food and become a certified raw food chef. Check the website for upcoming classes.
Cru Cacao
This raw food catering company also teaches raw food preparation in your home.
More Classes
Lakeside Cafe in Rogers Park
No classes are currently scheduled. Check their website in the future because this local veg restaurant offers inexpensive vegan cooking classes on a wide variety of topics.
Whole Foods
Class schedules vary by location, but I have often seen vegan cooking classes offered. Some demonstrations are even free.
Cooking Shows on TV
Christina Cooks: Check your local television schedule. (It is on Saturday afternoons on my local PBS station.)
Delicious TV Totally Vegetarian with Chef Toni Fiore
Check local listing for TV schedule.
Free digital issue of Vegetarian Times
In honor of Earth Day next month, Vegetarian Times created a free digital issue. Excellent way to save some trees! Although not entirely vegan, I have noticed the magazine has more and more vegan recipes. Maybe they are catching on?
Get your nutrition questions answered
Reposting with new dates…
Eating vegan and eating healthy are not one in the same. As I always say “It’s easy being vegan!” but it’s smart to eat a nutritionally well-balanced diet as well. You can easily do just that in a vegan way if you take a thoughtful approach to what you put in your mouth. With all the diet and nutrition information available today, it can be mind-boggling deciding what is healthy and what is not.
The Vegetarian Resource Group wants to help! If you have any general nutritional questions, you can get answers from The VRG’s CALL-A-DIETITIAN DAY.
From the February 2008 issue of The Vegetarian Resource Groups News…
If you have general nutrition questions, Mark Rifkin, MS, RD, LDN, will be available from 2:30pm – 5:30pm EST on Friday, March 28, 2008. To reserve a 20-minute time slot, please email the VRG office at vrg@vrg.org or call (410) 366-8343.
Be advised that these sessions are not individualized nutritional counseling. Such advice should only be provided through direct in-person contact with a qualified health professional. There is no charge, but if you do commit, please call on time. Otherwise you are taking someone else’s spot.
Mark Rifkin, a longtime VRG volunteer, is a Registered Dietitian and has a Master’s Degree in Health Education. He has been presenting on food-related topics for more than seven years. Currently, he has a private practice in Baltimore, MD, that focuses on plant-based nutrition for prevention, as well as treatment of various chronic diseases and conditions, including diabetes, overweight/obesity, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, gout, women’s health concerns, cancer, and early-stage kidney failure.
In addition, Mark is offering a 20% discount on any service for VRG members. This is for his private practice and is not affiliated with The VRG or Call-A-Dietitian Day.
Too much soy?
I just received an email from a college friend who has decided to eat vegan for 30 days (and her husband is giving it a go too!). She had a couple of questions for me regarding a vegan diet including this question about soy: Can you eat too much soy? I am by no means a nutrition expert but I am quite good at “googling.” I found a great blog post on soy by Dr. Fuhrman, who promotes eating a plant-based diet. Thought I would share here for anyone else who might be interested. For his thoughts as well as others, go to: Disease Proof: Prevent and Reverse Disease with Nutrition.
