One of the rare things I’ve found missing from my life as vegan is “milk” chocolate. I run into a lot of “accidentally-vegan” dark chocolate that has certainly widened my scope of chocolate-eating, but not very many people are tackling a vegan chocolate for those of us who, well, aren’t that into dark chocolate to begin with. So, when I heard there was a box of vegan milk chocolate (or “light chocolate” as NO Whey! is calling it) to be reviewed, I got excited.  And when I saw it was a Valentines assortment, my heart sang and angels appeared.  One of my great past loves was those heart-shaped box Valentines Day assortments. The boxes almost made up for the dumb holiday.

The NO Whey! Candies Valentines assortment is a sampler of heart-shaped chocolate in a tasteful (non-heart shaped) brown-striped box with white, pink and red (recyclable!) paper ribbon, accompanied by a candy menu with ingredient listings in red print. The box sparked memories of chocolates of yore (my pre-vegan days) as visions of Chunkys and Cadbury crème eggs popped into my head. The light chocolate, used for most of the varieties in the box, is very sweet and creamy.

I’ll start with the varieties that aren’t normally my favorites:

The Cream-Filled Hearts stood out as surprisingly on-target for that type of candy. The Cherries & Cream reminded me of the cherry/raspberry confections you’d stumble upon in the assortment box, but better as they weren’t cloyingly sweet (I actually finished this one instead of casting it aside). The Coffee Cream's creamy coffee-flavored filling was a nicely sweet coffee-in-candy alternative compared to the ubiquitous dark chocolate covered espresso beans you find everywhere (that are more coffee than candy). Remarkably, the chocolate covered cherry, My Cherry Amour, didn’t leak goo all over as I bit into the nice mound of sweet milk chocolate to reveal a perfectly respectable maraschino nestled in its creamy interior.

Then I got down to business with the chocolates I was most looking forward to, and for which I had the highest expectations!

If you are growing bored of anonymously eating the same dishes at the same old restaurants, Nasturtium might be for you. Nasturtium is the newest vegan dinner party in town. Hosted by Chef Scott Winegard, a friendly six-foot-something hardcore guy who has worked in the kitchens of various restaurants including Pure Food and Wine, Broadway East (back when it was veg), and Angelica Kitchen, the dinner party aims to bring his signature fresh twist to vegan dining and socializing. As a gardener does with the spicy, carefree edible flowers which inspired its name, Winegard plants seeds in the form of a delicious meal made of seasonal, locally-sourced ingredients and hopes that friendships and a colorful evening will grow.

We're hosting a vegan bake sale for Haiti at this week's Vegan Drinks NYC on Thursday, January 28 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm at Angels & Kings bar! More than 30 talented bakers want to sell you amazing sweet and savory baked treats. Please come with small bills and big to-go containers and buy, buy, buy! All proceeds will be donated to Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti (ARCH) and the Dominican animal rescue group Sodopreca. Angels & Kings will also be donating a portion of its sales to the Haiti relief effort.

This month's Vegan Drinks marks our 21st event! DJ Lil Ray will be present to rock your world. Sambazon is bringing some of their açaí juice by for drink specials and giveaways. And, we'll give an autographed copy of Alex Jamieson's new book, Living Vegan for Dummies, to one very lucky winner. (Thanks, Sambazon and Alex!)

As always, the drinks are cheap ($3 domestics, $4 imports and $1 off well drinks) and the crowd is cool.



We'll turn down the music around 8pm and encourage people to promote themselves, their groups and/or causes for 30 seconds. If you represent a veg*n or animal rights group, come prepared with your (very short!) spiel and literature.

Check out our map of restaurants near Angels & Kings where you can grab a bite after the event. And if you haven't already, link up with Vegan Drinks on Facebook and MySpace.

Vegan Drinks is held from 7pm-9pm at Angels & Kings, 500 East 11th Street (btw Ave A & Ave B), New York, NY 10009.

The main reason you should be getting your tickets right now to this Saturday, January 23rd's Mercy for Animals Celebrating Compassion gala is of course to support the grassroots group's amazing work on behalf of animals. But another great reason is the gala's exciting and mouth-watering menu featuring vegan foodie heavyweights like Match premium meat alternatives, VeganTreats pastries, Daiya cheese, So Delicious ice creams, and Frey Vineyards organic wines!

A few exciting highlights: chicken vol au vent, crab thermidor, and chicken-stuffed zucchini using Match and a baked lasagna with Match Italian sausage and Daiya cheese. (Yes, there are options for you silly folks who don't do fake meats too!) Catered by the Queens-based, all-vegetarian company Natural Delights, the gala will use local produce, 80 percent organic ingredients, and fresh herbs. Check out the full-menu after the jump.

Get your tickets now!

This recipe is my very best rip-off of Dao Palate's pineapple fried rice, which I think is the shizzle (but EXTRA shizzle if you replace the lettuce with peas and soy powder with flaxseeds!). I made it as easily as possible, using frozen veggies and canned pineapple, cause when I get home from work I feel more like watching videos of fat cats than waiting in the KILL ME long lines at Pathmark/heading southward to Natural Land. You can totally make it with fresh veggies, though!

The whole she-bang takes about 20 minutes + rice cooking time = 1 hour, 5 minutes, not accounting for tofu-baking time because I used pre-baked tofu. If you have leftover rice, you can save 45 minutes of your life, with which you should make cupcakes for the bake sale to support animals in Haiti. (You KNOW I'm going to work that into every post until January 28 so save yourself the second-guessing and make those cupcakes!)

Pineapple Fried Rice
makes 3 servings

Like Isa, we're tired of sitting on our asses tipity-typing away our concerns for Haiti, so we're holding a VEGAN BAKE SALE to support Haiti during Vegan Drinks on Thursday, January 28, 7-9 p.m. at Angels & Kings. WE NEED YOUR HELP, NY VEGANS!! I know many of you have crazy vegan baking skillz (Mattie!), and we want you to put those superpowers to work on behalf of the critters of Haiti.

We'll donate proceeds from the sale to Sodopreca, a group of veterinarians from the Dominican Republic who seem to have their shit together; they're going over specifically to help animals, and they have a real, live departure date. Lots of groups are having trouble traveling via plane; the Port-au-Prince Airport is chaos. Sodopreca, because they're in the Dominican Republic, can get there by land, so we think they're the surest thing right now.

If you can bake for the sale, e-mail me right this second! Let me know what you'd like to bake and how much of it and what you propose we charge for each one, and send a list of ingredients. If you need ideas or recipes, e-mail me for that, too. Obvs, everything should be v-e-g-a-n. Vegan bake sales are totally going to save the world, so let's get to it!!

Oh, and before we quit -- there's another NYC vegan bake sale for Haiti, and it's at Mooshoes on Sunday, January 31. Proceeds for this one will go to Doctors Without Borders. Message those folks via Facebook if you want to contribute.

There are so many things that are just not right about Los Angeles. It's 80 degrees in January, bars close at 2 a.m., and rush hour starts at 2:30 in the afternoon. BUT! Then there are other things that are trying for good, they really are, but they just aren't quite making it -- carpool lanes that trap you inside like a high-security prison; a public transportation system that goes from nowhere to nowhere because Beverly Hills, which is smack dab in the middle, wouldn't let us regular people ride through it; and a restaurant grading system with a curve that looks like a ride at Six Flags.

I know what you're thinking, "Did you say restaurant grading system?" Yes, yes I did. Thanks to the LA County Department of Public Health, restaurants are assigned a letter grade based on their inspection, and then are legally required to post said letter grade, in the form of a 12" sign in their front window. Here's the thing though, pretty much every restaurant you see gets an A; there are no Ds or Fs (in open facilities), so how reliable is it? If most places are getting As, what does that say about a B? That it's really kind of like a C-? It passes, but you KNOW there is definitely stuff they're doing wrong. And a C? That's probably akin to an F; you're risking your life by eating there and what's on the plate is anybody's guess.

What if this program existed in New York? My guess: there would be no restaurants and the city's inhabitants would die of malnutrition. It's sort of an unspoken understanding that when you eat food in NYC, it's at least a little bit dirty. My palette has even acquired this taste because to me, B stands for Better in LA cuisine.

Well guess what, East Coast folks, prepare to have your minds blown and your stomachs turned. (WARNING: This is not for the faint of heart.) Go to this website, type in the name of your favorite eatery, and behold their abysmal score (lower is better). You too can know whether your regular lunch spot has mice infestations, rat infestations, or both! And lest you think that vegan restaurants aren't prey due to their lack of meaty supplies to be fed upon, think again. Some of my favorite spots are just one (1!) point away from having to spin their OPEN signs around.

What did you find? Comment!

Eric of Sun In Bloom was on Good Day NY on Tuesday making vegan western burritos! He provides the how-to in the video, and the ingredients are below. Before you watch, I just want to say:

1. I ate these. They are delicious.
2. I'm sorry to make you watch Fox!
3. I'm double-triple sorry for the sloppy eating noises Greg Kelly makes while downing this tasty wrap. Not judging or anything, Greg, but you're miked! Keep it down!
4. Eric is probably replacing some horrible inane news. Yay!


Vegan western burrito
1-1/2 cup soaked sunflower seeds
1/4 cup onion
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup peppers
Seasonings
Ranch dressing
Fresh salsa
Shredded cabbage
Zucchini
Avocado
Sprouts
Ezekiel sprouted wrap

P.S., guys, I know you're wondering, since when is SuperVegan the Sun In Bloom Show?? Since SIB is GETTING SHIT DONE! (Also since they're reporting Gyllenhaal sightings on the weekend. You heard it here!)

It's TIME. Time to get tickets for MFA's Celebrating Compassion Gala, Saturday, January 23, 7 p.m. to midnight. Tickets are $75 (c'mon, I know you spend that much on ice cream every month!) and they buy you a chance to get all fancy shmancy and accidentally totally on purpose bump butts with Dan Piraro, Peter Max, Jane Velez-Mitchell, GirlieGirl Army's Chloe Joe Davis, Discerning Brute Joshua Katcher, Nellie McKay, and a bunch of other awesome vegans and animal supporters. And of course it's another opportunity to EAT. There will be vegan hors d'oeuvres from Natural Delights and Match meats, desserts provided by Vegan Treats and SO Delicious, and booze! Also a silent auction and an awards ceremony, all to benefit MFA's efforts to help other animals.

So that's Prince George Ballroom, 15 E. 27th St., January 23 at 7 p.m. MFA has the deets. E-mail questions about volunteering your pretty face and bankrolling MFA to Matt Rice.

Guys, so much happened this week, I don't know where to begin. So let's just start with restaurant openings, yes?

• Sun in Bloom opened Saturday, January 2 and, because I am a man of my word, I went for brunch. It was good. Really good. I mean, check out that loaded burrito -- avocado, beans, tofu scramble, and all sorts of tastiness up in that bitch. And no nutritional yeast, thank you.
• On that same magical day, Vinnie's Pizza in Greenpoint opened. Almost makes you want to move back to Greenpoint, doesn't it? (Actually, no, Pizza Plus is right here and I'm laaaazy.)
• Babycakes opened its LA location Sunday, January 3. I know, you're in NYC and you can't do a thing about it except drool. Well, drool on this!
• And in restaurant closings, Red Bamboo Brooklyn closed.
• The New Yorker profiled Whole Foods co-founder and CEO John Mackey.
• Food, Inc. is online and free, so no more excuses.
• Hospitals in the UK's publicly funded healthcare system will take meat off the menu to cut carbon emissions and costs, The Guardian reports. Yes, less pollution AND less expense! ALL SIGNS POINT TO NOT EATING ANIMALS.
• 
  Sweden is using bunnies as fuel. They are shooting bunnies, "deep freezing" them, burning them, and then calling it biofuel! COME ON. BUNNIES, NOT BIOFUEL.