vegansaurus!

Interview with a San Francisco rockstar: Cafe Gratitude’s Gregory Manitsas  »

San Francisco resident and dessert-maker extraordinaire Gregory Manitsas has worked at Cafe Gratitude for three years, as the bakery manager and head pastry chef for the last year and a half. He is not only an amazing creative force, but an inspirational vegan as well. Gregory has been a vegan for 13 of his 28 years! Rumor has it, he’s about to go take L.A. by storm.

Vegansaurus: How long have you been vegan? What inspired the lifestyle?
Gregory Manitsas: In August I will have been vegan for 13 years. August 1 is my vegan birthday that I recognize every year and feel very proud of. I was vegetarian before vegan. When I was 10 years old, I stopped eating read meat, then came chicken, then came fish, and by 14 I was totally vegan. I don’t even remember why I stopped eating red meat; it just seemed like a natural thing for me to do. When I discovered how tremendously those we eat for food suffer, I wanted nothing to do with it. When I committed to a live a completely vegan lifestyle at the age of 14, I was extremely motivated and activated about being a voice for animal rights and raising the bar on how humans treat and relate to our fellow earthlings.

Are you raw?
I consider myself a raw foodist, but cooked food is definitely part of my diet. I have experimented with different ways of being raw. I’ve done 100 percent raw here and there. I usually do this for cleansing or to inspire myself. Eating all raw foods is really energizing and exciting for me, and sometimes I will do it to inspire myself and motivate my body. Right now my diet is about half raw and half cooked. I eat more raw in the summer than the winter. The more fresh, raw foods I eat, the better I feel.

What do you see as the benefits of a raw food diet?
There are so many benefits to eating raw foods. For me, raw foods mean fresh foods. The closer the food that we eat is to its natural state, the better it is for our bodies. The Earth has created a bounty of amazingness that grows right from the soil in perfect balance to nourish our bodies. As we cook, process and manipulate our foods, we actually deplete its nutritional value and diminish its ability to nourish our bodies. The impact of eating unnatural foods is profound and should not be disregarded.

Raw foods are often seen as time-consuming and expensive. What do you think of this? Which tools and tips are crucial for the budding home raw food chef?
Yes, raw foods can feel laborious and expensive. This was my experience when I began, but then I realized I was approaching it wrong. Keep it simple: raw foods is about eating fresh, natural foods that come directly from the Earth. Have fun! Go to the farmer’s market or grocery store and be amazed by the gorgeous fruits and vegetables. Try things you’ve never eaten before. Appreciate the colors, textures and smells. Start slowly and build. You’ll learn a little bit more every day. Just start exploring and have fun. Read up on raw foods. There are some amazing raw foods educators and chefs out there; I recommend David Wolf and Dr Gabriel Cousens. Knowing about the foods you are consuming is extremely empowering.

What goes into the process of creating new raw desserts and tastes? 
When I develop new recipes, I go with what I’m excited about. What do I want to eat? What would I love to serve at a dinner party? What ingredient do I want to use? Sometimes I try a dish or see a recipe that I am inspired by, or a painting, a film, or an experience. Sometimes at work I will create a recipe based around something really practical, like, “We have a lot of grapes from the farm; what can we do with grapes?”

What kind of sugar alternatives do you use in a raw dessert?
The main sweeteners I currently use are medjool dates and agave nectar. There are also other sweeteners out there like yacon, Jerusalem artichoke syrup, coconut nectar, coconut sugar, raisins, fresh fruit, dried berries, and fruit.

As someone who has lived in both New York and San Francisco, could you recommend your favorite vegan restaurants to Vegansaurus readers?
In New York, my favorite thing to do is eat falafel sandwiches. I love them! They got me through college. There are some great places to get falafel in New York—I recommend Mamouns near Washington Square Park, and Chickpea by Astor Place. Every falafel sandwich is different and it is so fun to discover new ones. Falafel sandwiches are essentially deep fried chickpea patties in pita bread with fresh salad and tahini sauce. Simple, delicious perfection! Some places use yogurt sauce instead of tahini, so double check that they are using tahini, which is standard.

My favorite place to eat in S.F.—honestly I don’t eat out very often. When I do it is usually some little hole-in-the-wall, ethnic kind of place. I love Japanese food. Soba noodle soup is my favorite, or yam tempura rolls. Since I live in the Mission, it’s super easy to go to a taqueria and grab a vegan burrito; rice, black beans, lettuce, salsa and avocado wrapped in a tortilla. Delicious and satisfying, all the time. I’m getting hungry. Good thing there’s a taqueria on every block in my neighborhood!

Thanks Gregory! I’m hungry now too. Hungry for Cafe Gratitude’s tiramisu, the best dessert I have EVER eaten.

Interview: raw vegan superstar Lydia Kindheart!  »

If you haven’t heard of Lydia’s Organics, Loving Foods or Kitchen, then (a) you must not live in the SF Bay Area or (b) you live under a rock. If it’s the latter of the two, get yourself to Rainbow or your nearest Whole Foods, stat! I recommend her raw nori crackers, mint chocolate truffle, a slice of raw cheesecake and some kale chips— you won’t be disappointed! Every time I scout the raw and prepared-meal sections of those stores I see more of Lydia’s products! She’s taking the Bay Area vegan scene over with her amazing vegan, raw, gluten-free and organic snacks, meals, soups, spreads, appetizers and desserts! I am so jealous of those of you living in Marin County—you can just shimmy into her cafe! That’s it, road trip to Fairfax!

I was extremely eager to pick Parisian-turned-Californian/creative vegan force in the Bay Area/successful business owner Lydia Kindheart’s brain.

Lydia’s daughter Sonya—who’s 20 and never eaten meat!—and Lydia Kindheart at a festival

Vegansaurus: How long have you been vegan?
Lydia Kindheart: Off and on. On for mostly 30 years.

What inspired the lifestyle?
Girlfriends in high school, reading lots of books, asking questions and experimenting on myself. I started fasting at a young age and saw the direct effect of foods and well being.

Are you raw? How did you make the transition from cooked foods to raw foods? What do you see as the benefits of a raw food diet?
[I am] 98 percent [raw], mas o menos. I turned vegetarian at 16, then raw very quickly by 17. Raw foods are simpler, closer to their source, holding their vitality and life itself. Raw foods are alive, cooked foods are not. They use less resources, fossil fuels, etc.

How do organic foods play a role?
I am into health and well being for myself, all people, animals and life forms. Organic is the only way to work with the Earth, as opposed to poisoning life itself.

Do you have any advice for the beginning raw foodist?
Focus on your intake of greens and water; watch your sugar and nut intake. Use dehydrated crackers to help with transitioning—for that ‘bulk’ that one is used to.

What are the the most important tools?
A Vitamix, one’s teeth.

What are some raw foods to live by?
Kale, herbs, seaweed, sunflower seeds, lemon, watermelon and figs.

Your raw foods are absolutely amazing and taking the Bay Area by storm! What goes into your creative process for recipes/products?
Spending lots of time in nature, being in my heart, caring for people to serve them healthful alternatives.

Can you tell us the story behind Lydia’s Organics?
Since I was a little girl, I have always loved making food for people. As I learned about what foods can do and how they can affect people, it stirred up a passion and way to care for people and connect with the Earth through simple living. I had the opportunity to take over a smoothie shop in Fairfax and opened a raw food cafe—it then continued on this journey. I had never thought of creating a a business like this, it has led me to where it is now—to nourish as many people as I can with healthful, loving foods. My daughter, Sonya, and mother, Jacquie, have been integrative parts and support to this creation. Were were all three serving food at the first raw food event in San Francisco.

As a small, vegan, business owner, do you have any advice for budding vegan entrepreneurs?
Get some professional advice for logistics and unknowns. There is heart, dedication and hard work, but it takes practical logistics to implement our dreams.

Any favorite raw recipes you’d like to share with the Vegansaurus readers?
Pâté—Equal parts carrots and soaked almonds. Some celery, lemon, green onions, dulse seaweed and dash of salt. Grind until semi coarse in a food processor. It’s great in rolls and as a spread, especially with avocado. I’m not very good at recipes, I just kind of make dishes up, but it’s about playing and experimenting and creating what you personally like!

Thank you, Lydia!

Guest post: An interview with Mihl of Seitan Is My Motor!  »

Seitan Is My Motor is not only a cute reference to a clever song by Cake, it’s also an amazing food blog by vegan maven Mihl. She’s been blogging for over three years and has amassed quite a collection of recipes in her blog’s expansive index. And she doesn’t sacrifice quality for quantity, not a bit of it. Her photos are light and stunning (how does she do that? She has mad skills), and her prose is clear and unassuming.

Take a look at her beautiful photo of this mouthwatering Pflaumenkuchen (plum cake), which has ENTIRE PLUMS baked into the top of it. I’ve been dreaming about this cake ever since she posted, and only the cruelest tricks and whimsies of fate have prevented me from making it.

If you’re still not convinced, because you’re a total freak, know that the lovely Mihl lives in Dresden and posts selected recipes on a version of her site that is entirely auf deutsch. You have been looking for an opportunity to practice your German, haven’t you? How is she so amazing? I’ll let her explain for herself:

Vegansaurus: When did you start Seitan Is My Motor?
Mihl: Right away when I went vegan back in April 2007.

What inspired you to start a food blog?
The correct question would be “who inspired you?” When I thought about making the switch from vegetarianism to veganism, I started to read vegan food blogs. They provided so much information and since they were packed with awesome vegan recipes, they made the switch to go vegan very easy for me. I talked to my boyfriend about how awesome these blogs were and he suggested to start one as well. He even bought a digital camera. That’s how I started my blog.

What motivates you to keep blogging?
Several things. First of all, my readers, all the people who leave comments or just read my blog. Right from the beginning I got wonderful feedback and I met some awesome people through blogging. People from all over the world stop by my blog and I feel like I am part of a huge international community. It helped me to feel confident about my veganism right from the beginning. At that time I didn’t know any vegans in real life, and I still knew there were many like-minded people out there. Second, if you have access to the internet, blogging is an easy and cheap way of sharing ideas and information for free. And I probably wouldn’t think about cooking and baking that much if I didn’t have a blog. The blog documents how I developed some of my cooking and all of my baking skills. If it wasn’t for Seitan Is My Motor, I would probably still bake from cake mixes.

How would you describe your blog?
It’s a recipe blog that documents my experiences with vegan cooking, developing recipes, trying out new ingredients or flavor combinations.

What is your favorite food blog?
Have Cake Will Travel by Celine Steen. Her blog was one of the first food blogs I discovered. I loved Celine’s original recipes and her amazing writing skills.

Any advice for aspiring food bloggers?
Just start! A blog is a great place where you can post whatever comes to your mind. There are endless possibilities.

In a desert-island scenario, what three food items would you bring with you?
A loaf of whole rye sourdough bread, a bag of potatoes, a can of chickpeas.

What do you like best about being vegan?
I am vegan for ethical reasons. I am very glad I made that decision and I try to live my life as cruelty-free as possible. Knowing to have made the right decision and not having to make excuses anymore for consuming animal products is what I like best about being vegan.

What is your least favorite defensive-omnivore question/argument?
I don’t get that much negative feedback. Most people are curious about my lifestyle and their questions are honest. I’ve not always been vegan and I remember that I asked the same questions and made the same excuses. Using animals is such a huge part of our culture that it is really difficult for most people to look behind the scenes.

Now, just TRY to restrain yourself from holing up in your apartment for a week, baking all of her recipes, and slipping into the happiest carb-induced coma the world has ever seen. Photo by Mihl, of course.

Marla Wick lives in a small town in Sonoma County with one lucky fella and two cats. When she’s not practicing a perfect 1/4” dice or looking for work, she blogs at Vegan Squared and Bully Pulp.

Vegansaurus interview: Lindy Loo of Yeah, That Vegan Shit!  »

Lindy Loo wants you to read her funny-as-hell food blog, Yeah, That Vegan Shit. Perhaps you’ve already heard about it. Just maybe you’re already one of her 660+ followers, a list that has steadily swelled since she started her blog in 2006. Her blog was even featured as one of the ten best vegan blogs by Vegansaurus’ Laura at VegNews. Once you’ve had a steady dose of Lindy’s suggestive and delightfully scatological humor, you will doubtless want to read some of her other stuff, too. She blogs regularly at several sites where she talks about, among other things, being vegan in Cleveland, and “Things that Make [Her] Heart Go Squish.” And did I mention she’s hilarious? And an awesome vegan cook? Her posts are sweet and raunchy and full of useful information for an enterprising (and maybe a little slutty) vegan cook. The archives are an especially good source for everything from recipes (Black Bean and Chocolate Chili…WHAT?) to musings on food that looks like poop. Just click the link titled “Recipes to Make You Scream with Unbridled Pleasure—OH OH OH OH YES YES YES!!!!” Lindy Loo agreed to indulge me in an interview, which I submit for your reading pleasure

Vegansaurus: What inspired you to start a food blog?
Lindy Loo: I thought, “Hey, how can I get laid more often? I know! I’ll start a potty-mouthed vegan food blog!” I mean, who DOESN’T want to immediately shag a chick who’s a vegan, a blog nerd, and likes to talk about poop a lot? I also started the blog because I wanted a kind of self-support that would help me keep on track while I transitioned to vegan. I work better and am more motivated when I have a bit more structure and a constructive way to funnel my energies. Posting and testing out recipes regularly made the transition to vegan much more fun. It also does a world of good to regularly have people post comments because it reminds you that there IS a community out there that loves and supports one another, even if they’re not in your immediate area. So yeah: all that. And the getting-laid thing.

How would you describe your blog?
John Waters meets Robin Swoboda meets vegan cooking?

What motivates you to keep blogging?
The community. I appreciate so much the support and comments from people, and I like the constant reminder that there are like-minded folks out there. I also like to know I’m helping explode the stereotype of the uber-serious, stuffy, judgmental, humorless vegan, and that my blog and recipes have helped make the transition to veganism more enjoyable for newbies. Blogging also keeps me motivated to constantly try out new recipes, which is good ‘cause otherwise I’d probably just eat pizza all the time.

What is your favorite food blog?
To be honest, I haven’t been keeping up with vegan food blogs since my editing job ended last year. BUT that being said, I have always loved Don’t Eat off the Sidewalk. Katie is MAD sassy and funny as hell, and she takes gorgeous food pics. She also likes zombies and horror flicks. I guess I mostly just kinda wanna make out with her and then have her cook me dinner. She’s kind of the vegan Betty to my Don Draper.

In the infamous desert-island scenario, what three food items would you bring with you?
Ha ha ha. This seems like the most futile question ever since they’d get eaten immediately and then you’d still have to resort to sucking the juice out of coconuts. But nonetheless…avocado sushi. For sure. Nothing quite makes my heart pitter-pat like a perfectly constructed bite of avocado sushi. Pesto pasta of some sort would be among my survival gear. I can eat LOADS of that stuff. And then something desserty. Hm. Maybe the Vegan with a Vengeance chocolate chip cookies. Definitely one of my go-to dessert recipes.

What do you like best about being vegan?
I like blowing people’s minds with it. It’s so much fun creating delicious meals or desserts and serving them to unsuspecting folks and then being like, BLAM! YOU’VE BEEN VEGANED!!! It also does a world of good in helping make people realize that eating vegan isn’t all iceberg lettuce salads and raw carrots. That it’s also ooey gooey decadent caramel fudge pies and sexy seitan piccata. I also just really like how being vegan has made me a much better cook. It makes me more resourceful and inventive, and I love the challenge of it, especially when it comes to vegan baking.

Do you have a least favorite defensive-omnivore question? If so, what is it?
My least favorite, defensive-omnivore ARGUMENTS are actually just the ones that omnivores leave on my blog all the time, essentially consisting of a completely disorganized, verbal diarrhea of non-factual vegan-slamming where you can tell they have no ACTUAL idea about the statistics and information they’re spouting off about. I don’t even make an effort to respond to these folks because it’s not worth MY while or their while. Those kind of omnivores make my brain short circuit and make me have to get off the internet immediately so that I don’t randomly start shouting things like “Your mom is a omni-whore” and “If I wasn’t vegan, I’d eat your baby’s face off.”

Any advice for aspiring food bloggers?
When I first started blogging, I had a concerned older female blogger send me an email telling me that maybe I should change the name of my blog and not be so foul-mouthed because I was alienating my readers. Obviously I didn’t take her advice, and my blog has since had more than a million hits, has over 650 followers, and got a nod in VegNews as one of their VegWebmistress’s favorite blogs [Ed.: That’s ME! I love Yeah, That Vegan Shit]. So my advice would be: Write in ways that are true to you and your heart. You’ll be surprised as to how many vegans like a good poop joke.

Now go over there and get some.

Marla Wick lives in Sebastopol, a small community in Sonoma County, California, where people never change out of their yoga pants. She spends her time cooking, baking, knitting, and raging about politics when she’s not working as a freelance editor and writer. She blogs about food, animal ethics, cultural politics, and horror movies at Vegan-Squared and Bully Pulp. Photos by Lindy Loo.

Interview with Susan from The Breakroom Cafe! Plus, they’re serving VEGAN BRUNCH!!  »

Have you ever wondered how one of your favorite vegetarian restaurants got their start? Here’s the story of The Breakroom Cafe in downtown Oakland! Susan, a 10-year veteran of working in bars and restaurants (and a kick-ass, awesome girl), and her partner Jason, a former department store manager (and all-around really cool guy), dreamed about opening a vegetarian restaurant and went for it! Coming up on the fourth anniversary of The Breakroom, Susan and Jason reflect on starting their veg business.

Vegansaurus: What was your opening date?
Susan: July 14, 2007. You were there, Anne! I think you just happened to be walking by or something, and you saw we were finally open. I remember us forcing all these free pastries on you.

What made you want to start a vegetarian restaurant?
While living in Cleveland, I always fantasized about moving to another state and running a vegetarian restaurant. After moving to Oakland, I served at a vegan restaurant for a few years, where I learned that there was definitely a market for vegetarian food out here. While browsing Craigslist, Jason found a space available, and voila! To be honest though, I thought this place would be more of a coffee shop that sells veg sandwiches. It turned out to be a sandwich shop that sells coffee.


Where do you draw inspiration for your menu items?
I guess it’s different for each menu item. I remember loving Sloppy Joes as a kid. Remember that Manwich stuff? Loved it! And since becoming vegetarian at 16, I had a craving for it, so I knew we had to have a vegan Sloppy Joe on the menu.M ost of the menu items are veg versions of familiar standard American sandwiches that people may miss eating since becoming vegan/vegetarian.

What’s your most popular dish?
It’s a toss-up between the Meatball, Club and Turkey/Bacon.

If your Sloppy Joe sandwich was a song, what song would it be?
Maybe “Cool It Now,” that New Edition song—for those that think it’s too spicy!

Tell us a funny story about an unwitting omnivore who ordered one of your veg sandwiches.
None specifically comes to mind, but there are those that just don’t understand the imitation meat concept. We’ve had people say, “So when it says bacon, it’s not really bacon?” We say “nope,” and the next question is, “But what about the Ham & Swiss sandwich? That’s real ham, right? We answer “No,” and then they move on to questioning the “turkey.”

I noticed that there’s a cock on the front of your building, what’s up with that?
I guess the owner of the previous business Zodiac Desserts put it there. I didn’t even notice it until a few months after we bought the business, a friend and I were walking by the shop and we both noticed it at the same time. I was like “Where the hell did that rooster come from?”

If you could give one piece of advice to someone who wants to start a vegan business, what would it be?
Make food that NON-vegan/-vegetarians will like, and make them believe they could survive not eating meat.

This is Laura here and I just want to chime in because Breakroom just started doing Sunday brunch! It’s from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and it’s the BOMB! A huge plate of potatoes, veggie ham, tofu scramble, fruit, AND french toast for like 10 bucks! You’ll be full for days! MORE VEGAN BRUNCH IN THE EAST BAY, Y’ALL!!! Oh, and here’s a shitty camera phone picture because I love you:

Uh, and you can check out their Facebook page for more updates and better photos!

Breakroom Cafe: 300 13th Street, Oakland. (510) 836-3864. Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Anne Martin is an eater of free pastries and a lover of veg restaurants. She is a Ph.D. Candidate at UC Berkeley’s City & Regional Planning department, and is a member of the Berkeley Organization for Animal Advocacy. When Anne is not researching or eating vegan Hearty Bagel sandwiches at The Breakroom, you will find her volunteering with Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary.

Happy Veggie Kids: Logan!  »

Logan is seven (almost eight!) and he lives in Fresno, CA. He just celebrated his one year vegetarian anniversary! Go, Logan! A note from his mom: “He is vegan several days a week, but he tells me he is not ready to give up cheese all the way (as you can see from his favorite food).”

What is your favorite food?
Logan: Cheese tortellini.

What is your favorite kind of birthday cake?
Logan: Carrot cake.

Why are you vegetarian?
Logan: Because I saw the video with the chickens and they cut their heads off and I don’t want to be a part of the team that kills animals.

Do you like being vegetarian? Why?
Logan: Yes. Because there is good food.

Is it ever hard to be vegetarian?
Logan: Yes. Sometimes at Mimi’s [grandma] house they eat steak and I remember that I really liked it cause it tasted good. And I miss chicken nuggets. [Ed. note: Logan! You’ve got to try the Gardein crispy tenders!]

What do your friends think about you being vegetarian?
Logan: One boy at school tries to force me to eat meat and tells me they let the animals live a long happy life. But I say that’s not true.

What is your favorite animal? Why?
Logan: Dogs and cats. I have a dog and a cat and I really like them. [Ed. note: Ditto!]

Do you like pink dinosaurs? Can you draw one for us? We would love it!
Logan: If there was such a thing I would have to say yes. [Ed. note: I’ve seen them! On the internets!]

Another Happy Veggie Kid! Thanks, Logan! Happy anniversary!

Happy Veggie Kids: Rowan!  »

Rowan is four years old and lives outside of Chicago (if you couldn’t tell). He’s vegan! And his mom says he’s the WORLD’S CUTEST vegan kid! He’s pretty darn cute.

Vegansaurus: What is your favorite food?
Rowan: Vegan cheese sandwich.

What is your favorite kind of birthday cake?
Blueberry and strawberry train cake.
[Mom note: I have no idea!]

Why are you vegan?
Because I don’t want to kill animals.

Do you like being vegan? Why?
Yes. And because, just because.

Is it ever hard to be vegan?
Yes.

What do your friends think about you being vegan?
They like to see what I have for lunch at school.

What is your favorite animal? Why?
Leopard! Because they are friendly.

Do you like pink dinosaurs? Can you draw one for us? We would love it!
No, because they’re not friendly.

[Mom note: He did draw a picture though] [Ed.: Yay! And the pink dino is friendly, I swear!]

Another Happy Veggie Kid! Thanks, Rowan!

Happy Veggie Kids: Mac!  »

Hey people! Welcome to a new Vegansaurus series: Happy Veggie Kids! Are you tired of people acting like it’s child abuse or something to deny kids meat? OMG, the babies, they need the bacon! Without it, they will be pale and sickly weaklings! I, for one, am over it. So let’s show the world what happy and healthy little veggie kids are out there!

I have some great interviews with great kids and I’ll be rolling them out periodically. First kid up: Mac! Look at that face!
Mac is a three-year-old (almost four!) vegan living in Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Vegansaurus: What is your favorite food?
Mac: Hot potatoes.
[Mom note: He loves oven fries, mashed potatoes, pierogi, tater tots, latkes, anything potato!]

What is your favorite kind of birthday cake?
Lemon one with the pink icing like for my birthday last year.

Why are you vegan?
So I can be like you, Mommy. And because it’s nice and fun.

Do you like being vegan? Why?
Yeah because all the food is so yummy.

Is it ever hard to be vegan?
No it’s always soft to be vegan.
[Mom note: Ha!]

What do your friends think about you being vegan?
They think it’s great to be that.

What is your favorite animal? Why?
Cow because I want to hug ‘em.

Do you like pink dinosaurs? Can you draw one for us? We would love it!
Yeah that would be cool!
[Mom note: but he doesn’t know how to draw that, he says]

Yay! Thanks Mac! Our first happy vegan kid. Plus: how cute is he? Those cheeks! Email me if you want your vegan or vegetarian kid to participate!

Xgfx: vegan and gluten-free website launch! Meet the geniuses behind it!  »

I hope you’re ready for prettiest day on the vegan internet, because a stunning new website full of all things both vegan and gluten-free launches today!Xgfx “brings you the ultimate 100 percent vegan and gluten-free resource—featuring a shiny new blog, a community recipe hub, xgfx tips and so much more!” You guys, I just want to pinch this URL’s cute little cheeks, and I’m not even gluten-free. I practically live off gluten alone, but that’s going to change ASAP because the recipes in the xgfx database covered some of my favorite foods in the world, and yours too, sans gluten! You don’t have to feel sorry for your celiac vegan friends anymore, and you can bully your non-vegan celiac friends to go vegan without being an asshole! Actually, you’ll probably be kind of jealous and soon we’ll all be xgfx because we want to be the most popular kids in the community. These people are onto something.
The adorable ladies behind the community, Kittee, Allyson, and Jessy, put their gluten-shunning heads together to create a site that fills a gap in the online vegan community and brings delight to gluten-intolerant vegan tummies everywhere. Following a week filled with scandal, it is kind of the best thing ever to see passionate vegans launching a site filled with earnestly vegan and gluten-free content. Vegansaurus interviewed the trio, so check it out if you can hold off clicking through to xgxf for another second. It’ll be worth it! There is a recipe for vegan pho at the end!

Vegansaurus: Who coined the term xgfx?
Kittee: I coined that term back in 2009, shortly after I went gluten-free. I was blogging for Vegan MoFo and it was bugging the shit out of me to type vegan and gluten free over and over and over again. I definitely got the idea from XEDGEX, but I didn’t mean to steal or demean it in any way—we’ve had a tiny bit of backlash about it. Somehow some folks are afraid that if they go to a show with tattooed exes on their hands, people will mistake them for being gluten-free? Every time I would type out vegan and gluten-free, it would just make me feel bad about myself, like I was sick and dragging a feeding tube on stick a really long distance. When I shared the name with Jessy and Allyson, they liked it too! 

Vegansaurus: What is this community all about? How do people interact with others to share information about xgfx living?
Allyson: We have an actual community of folks, which is a list of individual bloggers who blog entirely vegan and gluten free. We also have a recipe archive that is community driven, and can enable folks who may not have their own blogs (or blogs that are not exclusively vegan and gluten free) to share xgfx recipes with everyone under one big happy roof. And lastly, we have an entire website dedicated to housing all the info. The site has how-to guides, resources, recipes, product reviews, blog posts and much more.

Vegansaurus: Whose idea was it to start the community? How did you three connect with each other?
Kittee: During Vegan Mofo last year, I contacted Jessy and Allyson, because I liked them and their blogs. I wanted to see if they were interested in doing some kind of xgfx event for the month. Our email conversations turned into a website proposal. The whole project has really come together in a very organic way. Each of us has unique things to add to the project, plus Allyson is a Wordpress lumberjack, so that made the website seem like something we could totally do. 

Vegansaurus: How did you come to be xgfx?
Allyson: I personally had been vegan (for ethical reasons) when I discovered that I had celiac disease back in 2009. It had been a long drawn out “diagnosis,” and I was thrilled to finally understand where all my medical problems were coming from. At the time, my doctor knew very little about celiac disease and actually had to call in a grad student who was doing his thesis on autoimmune disorders to come in and give me his opinion. Once I heard my prognosis was that I had to give up gluten, it all made sense. I wasn’t going to change my morals, so the xgfx diet itself kind of chose me. Today, I am very happy that it did.
Jessy: I started out vegan—my spouse and I had made that decision back in 2008. I have suffered from IBS for as long as I can remember. I went on Kris Carr’s “Adventure Cleanse Tune-Up” as a guinea pig for her Crazy Sexy Diet book back in the summer on 2009, and within three days my IBS ceased to exist. ‘Twas awesome. After the cleanse, I slowly started to reintroduce what was omitted from my diet, and as soon as I incorporated gluten, my IBS returned. I’ll never go back to my glutinous ways.
Kittee: I’ve had really bad muscle pain (myofascial pain syndrome/fibromyalgia) since my senior year in college, ‘89/’90. For 20 years, I’ve experience periods of debilitating pain, mixed with daily chronic stuff. I had no idea there was any correlation to all of the bread and seitan I loved, until [my partner] Dazee and I evacuated New Orleans in ‘08 for Hurricane Gustav. To make a long story shorter, I cleaned out the fridge before we left town and then ate nothing but burritos, bagels, seitan and other wheaty convenience foods while driving to refuge in D.C., where my parents live. When we finally got back home, I had the worst flare-up of all time—I literally sat on the couch for weeks on end unable to do anything, including stand up, without horrible muscle knots. The bout made me question why I was feeling so badly, which led me to realize I had been eating a ton of gluten, so I stopped eating it to see if it made a difference. I would say going xgfx has improved my quality of life by at least 50 to 65 percent.  

Vegansaurus: What are your hopes for the future of the community?
Jessy: I hope it just keeps growing and expanding and reaching more people. I hope vegans who aren’t gluten-free and gluten-free people who aren’t vegan can find something within the community which might help them out, and I hope we can show everyone that xgfx is possible, it isn’t scary, and it’s pretty damn delicious, too.
Kittee: Fame, notoriety, cash and a sportswear line would be awesome.

Vegansaurus: Any favorite recipes from the database?
Jessy: Kittee’s pho (recipe below!) is the bee’s knees and I’m currently addicted to Allyson’s besan!  

Vegansaurus: Who is the genius behind the stunning design?
Kittee: Allyson has the skillz! We’ve been working very collaboratively, which is great for a project like this. We share ideas, color schemes, etc, then Allyson sprinkles pixie dust on all of it and it comes to life.
Allyson: Going off the basic framework [Jessy, Kittee, and I] came up with, I put my rudimentary web development knowledge to work, and got plugging away with the technical sides of things. I also helped migrate our graphic ideas into Adobe Creative Suite to make to all come to life. We re-worked it continuously until we finally got it to where we wanted it. In general, the look of the sites has been a big happy collaboration among all three of us.  

Vegansaurus: Do you think, in general, that things are looking up for people following a vegan and gluten free diet? Are there options in your local restaurants/grocery stores?
Jessy: I really, truly do! Both natural food stores [here in Richmond, VA] have fairly decent sized gluten-free sections and I’d say that 50 percent of the products offered are vegan. There isn’t much in the way of xgfx restaurants, but there’s a little veggie friendly place downtown which now serves an xgfx pie every once in a while. I think I almost cried the first time it was offered—I was absolutely elated.
Kittee: I would say things are looking up indeed, because for the most part, it seems like folks go gluten free for their health—so it makes people feel better. Living with chronic pain, or IBS, or any of the other symptoms that gluten can produce or aggravate is not a good way to be. I’m lucky, because where I live (Portland, Ore.) is not only Vegan City, but it is also extremely xgfx-friendly.

Vegansaurus: Is there anything else you’d like to add for the xgfx-curious?
Jessy: I’d like to add that for those struggling with becoming xgfx, I promise it gets better. When I first became gluten-free, I already had the vegan card under my belt and I kind of figured gluten-free would just require a few tweaks to my diet. I knew how to cook like a mofo, so I was cocky and thought gluten-free would be a snap. Well, it wasn’t—there was a lot of crying over failed attempted xgfx recipes. But these days are happy-faced ones—and I don’t cry over baked goods anymore. Many of us, myself included, have some very strong emotional ties to food (it can be comforting, it’s linked to memories and emotions, it’s a large part of ones culture and buddies up with a slew of traditions), so becoming xgfx can be hard because you don’t know where to start, and you might find yourself having to rethink some of your favorite dishes. But it is possible and it is awesome. Remember to enjoy yourself and don’t get tangled up in the little things. We promise it will [get better] and we’re here to help because we’re all in this together! 
Kittee: The main reason I wanted to build this website is not to grow community, which is lovely, but to provide a resource for vegans who are also gluten-free. I know folks who have starting incorporating eggs into their otherwise vegan lifestyle, because they didn’t feel like they had options or enough support to stay vegan. People are always saying how awesome one or two particular gluten-free blogs are, because they always have vegan options. But honestly, if you check out most of their vegan recipes, they just call for “egg replacer” instead of the five eggs in their original recipe. Expecting egg replacer to work in a recipe like that is setting it up to fail.  We want to share recipes and resources for xgfx food that tastes great and works.

For an example of such, check out Kittee’s vegan Pho. MAKE IT FOR ME NOW:
Xgfx Pho (Vietnamese noodle filled soup—tangy, spicy and full of herbs and mushrooms)

Ingredients
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2-inch piece ginger, thickly sliced
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
12 cups water
4 pods cardamom, crushed, or ¼ teaspoon ground
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 whole star anise pods
Small pinch anise seeds
6 whole cloves
2 tsp. unbleached granulated sugar
1 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
Large handful dried shiitake mushrooms, optional
1 1/2-2 cups fresh shiitake or portobello mushrooms, sliced 1/3” thick protein–-about 1/3 cup per bowl (bite-sized fried tofu, thinly sliced baked tofu, and seasoned Soy Curls would go especially well in this)
2 to 3 cups fresh mung bean sprouts
Bunch fresh basil
Bunch fresh mint
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
Small bunch fresh cilantro
2 limes, cut in half and quartered
Hoisin sauce*, optional but tasty (Premier Japan–makes an awesome xgfx product)
Sriracha or red chili pastewheat-free tamari
13-oz. package rice noodles

Instructions
1. Place the onion, garlic and ginger on a cookie sheet and broil under direct heat until lightly charred.

2. In a large pot, bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the charred ingredients, the spices, sugar, salt, carrots and dried mushrooms, if using. Cover the pot and let the broth cook over medium-high heat (rolling boil) for 30 to 45 minutes.

3. While the broth is cooking, prepare the noodles as directed on your package, rinse ‘em well with cold water and set aside.

4. Prepare the herbs by giving ‘em a good bath and drying them well. The fun part of eating pho is that diners get to assemble and season their own bowls. So, you can pile the “accessories” onto one platter to be shared by the table, or arrange ‘em into individual bowls for each person. Make neat but separate piles of the sprouts, basil, mint, cilantro and limes. Leave the leaves on the herbs, and let folks rip them off into their own bowls at the table.

5. Strain the broth to remove all solids, rinse out the pot and return the broth. Bring back to a soft boil and add the fresh mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms are soft, about 5 minutes, then remove from heat. Season to taste lightly with salt.

To serve: divide the noodles evenly between four deep bowls. Top with your protein choice, and then fill up with broth. Let each person season their bowls to taste with freshly torn herbs, sprouts, lime juice, jalapenos, wheat-free tamari, Sriracha and hoisin sauce.

This interview was brought to you by Gabrielle Pope, who is our resident (guest) expert on Canadian living. She lives on a small island where she is currently 1) going pleasantly insane, and 2) writing a novel.