Tips for New Vegans and Eating Out at Restaurants

My Top Tips for New Vegans and Eating Out at Restaurants

Hi all!

I recently had a Facebook conversation with my friend Kandice who was greatly moved by the movie Vegucated and is trying to ease into a vegan diet for herself and her husband. She asked me some really great questions and I thought it would be a great idea to post my answers to them here.

Question (summarized): I noticed you are now vegan. Do you have any tips?

Answer : Yes I have gone vegan (on and off for over a year and totally vegan since the summer). My biggest tip is to try new foods. You can try to recreate foods you already know how to cook with "mock meat" or cheese ingredients. Those will taste strange for a while, but if you try new foods (tempeh, tofu, chia seeds, new vegetable dishes) you won't have the strange this-tastes-different-and-not-how-it-used-to-taste flavor problem. Don't worry about getting enough protein or calcium... if you eat a balanced diet containing fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, and grains you will do fine.

The best brands for “mock” foods:

Gardein is the best brand for vegan fake chicken and beef. I recommend the Orange Chicken and the Beefless Tips. I do not like Boca Burgers at all. They have a strange aftertaste that reminds me of plastic. Many meatless burgers, vegetarian sausages, and snacks are not vegan, so read the label carefully. I used to eat Morning Star Breakfast Veggie Patties almost daily in high school, but these contain egg in them.

 Daiya shredded mozzarella vegan cheese is the best for cooking with. I don’t like the Cheddar as much, but it works. Many dairy free cheeses, are not actually dairy free. They are lactose free, but still contain diary ingredients like casein. Look closely at labels to see if they are really vegan. Tofutti makes a really fantastic cream cheese spread out of oils and tofu. The Garlic herb is better than most real herb cream cheeses I have tried.

 Earth Balance Original Buttery Spread is my favorite butter substitute. Hands down. It is not too salty and not too sweet. It works well in cooking, but is good enough to eat plain on bread.

Vegenaise is the only vegan mayonnaise that I love. It tastes almost like Hellmann’s. I used to eat mayonnaise sandwiches as a child, I loved mayo so much. This works well. If you mix it with brown mustard, you get a really tasty sandwich spread. Try making avocado, lettuce, tomato, and sprout sandwiches. They are really good.

Eating out at Restaurants:

Eating out at restaurants can be hard. Salads are good. Most restaurants have a basic garden salad that consists of lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions. If they don’t, you can ask them to remove any meat and cheese and get a vinegar based dressing. Watch out for dairy in dressings. They use it in places where you don’t expect, like Italian dressing, or Balsamic Vinaigrette. Also, croutons are usually made with butter and/or cheese. Either ask to remove them, or give them to your family members that want them. An example: The Applebee’s oriental chicken salad looks vegan friendly if you remove the chicken, right? WRONG! The oriental dressing contains mayonnaise which contains eggs.

Soups can be tricky. It might say vegetable soup, but they use chicken bouillon to make the broth. Ask the waiter. They should be able to either tell you or ask. Also, remember that soups like tomato soup and cream of fill-in-the-blank are thickened with cream or milk. (Yes, Meagan, it really is!)

Sandwiches are hard. Many places don’t have even vegetarian options for sandwiches. Others have tons of cheese based sandwiches. Try grilled veggie sandwiches if they have them. Also, remember to say no to mayo!

Sides are your friend. Usually places will have streamed vegetables as a side. Make sure your beans are not cooked with meat. Baked beans usually are made with bacon and honey. Refried beans are often made with lard. Cooked vegetables are usually made with butter or margarine. Ask which it really is. You are usually safe with the following sides: Plain Baked Potato (no sour cream, butter, or bacon bits! Try scallions or green onions, ketchup, mustard, salt, pepper, or roasted vegetables), French Fries, Sweet Potato Fries, Marinated Mushrooms, and Fruit Platters.

Desserts can be hard. Most restaurants have a milk heavy desert menu. Sorbet is good if they have it... if not, get a coffee or tea with soy milk.

Ethinc restaurants are your friends! Asian restaurants are easier than Italian. Greek restaurants are easier than American. The best way to figure out what you can eat is to do research before you get there. For example, the Chinese restaurant near my home has a small section of the menu that is vegetarian versions of some of the other meals on the menu. The way to veganize them is to remove the egg. That simple.

Some sample meals I get at various restaurants in the area:

Chinese: Mu Sui Vegetable (no egg), Eggplant and bamboo shoots, Spicy tofu (the vegan version of presidential chicken), vegetable spring rolls, vegetable fried rice (no egg), white rice, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, fortune cookies (yes they are vegan! I read the label!), green tea

Japanese: Seaweed salad, miso soup, sautéed tofu, vegetable roll, cucumber roll, edamame, pineapple sorbet, spring roll, fried rice (no egg), green tea

Thai: House noodle with tofu (no egg), tofu lettuce wraps, vegetable spring rolls, coconut based curries with tofu, basil fried rice (no egg), jasmine tea, green tea

Indian: Vegan curries (ask the waiter if they are made with animal products, sometimes they are, sometimes they aren’t. each restaurant is different), Lentils, Palak Daal, Jasmine rice, tea. (Naan is made with egg.)

Greek/Lebanese/Mediterranean: Vegetarian eggplant moussaka, lentils, vegetarian stuffed grape leaves, couscous, tabule, hummus, baba ganoush, salad, tea.

New Orleans: Green salad with vinegar based dressing, sweet potato fries, fried onion rings, French bread (make sure there is no butter in it), vegetarian red beans and rice (really hard to find because it is usually made with a ham hock or sausage), grilled mushrooms.

Mexican: vegetable fajitas (without sour cream or cheese), corn chips and salsa, rice, black beans, guacamole.

Café/sandwich shops: vegetable sandwiches/ wraps, garden salads, vegetable soups, tempeh tacos/ vegetable tacos, curry salad (no chicken), baked potato.

Italian: make your own pasta with tomato or oil based sauce (no cheese, no meat) usually with eggplant or spinach, garden salad, sorbet, tea.

Pizza: salad, A pizza without cheese… it’s better to just not go to these if you can help it.

Fast Food: Salads without meat or cheese. French fries (make sure they aren’t fried in the same oil as the fish/shellfish/chicken). Subway: Veggie Delight sandwich.

Chain Restaurants: These are super hard since most of them are dairy and meat heavy. Usually you can get a garden salad and French fries or a baked potato. If you can’t even get the garden salad, just find a salad that you can take the chicken and cheese off (example: at Longhorn Steakhouse they have a Grilled Chicken and Strawberry Salad. To make it vegan take off the candied pecans, feta, and chicken. I had a side of French fries. It wasn’t the most exciting meal ever, but I didn’t go hungry.) Olive Garden is nearly impossible, so is Applebee’s.

Hidden animal products:

Lard is added to lots of beans. Meat is often cooked with vegetables to season them. Many Asian sauces are made from fish stock or with bonito flakes. Milk and/or butter is added to a lot of prepared sauces, stews, crackers, croutons, breads, cookies, and dressings. Some noodles are made with eggs. Some breads are brushed with egg to make their crust shiny and dark.

Other restaurant tips:

Choose restaurants that are vegetable based if possible. It is really hard to find things to eat at BBQ sandwich places and Micky D’s. If you have to go to a restaurant, look it up online beforehand. There has probably been a vegan who has gone there before and reviewed it online. If you can find a menu online, you can plan what you want before you get there so you don’t have to read the entire menu meticulously before you grill the server on their vegan friendly menu items. Don’t yell at your waiter if there is something on your plate you don’t want or they get your order wrong (I am the queen of the incorrect order, I know about this). If you treat them with respect, you will be more likely to get your order corrected quickly and without fear of it getting spit on when it is returned to the kitchen. ALWAYS TIP WELL. If you tip your server well, when you return they will remember and give you good service, no matter how complicated your orders are.

Q: The biggest challenge is my love for dairy and sausage.

A: Soy chorizo is pretty good. Also, tofurkey makes sausage. I don't like it, but some people do. Cheese is the hardest. Sometimes I still crave it. I used to eat dairy at every meal. I also thought I would never give up bacon... and I haven't had it in months.

Q: I'm tired of the processed vegan food. In my view, part of going Vegan is to be healthy and clean...how is eating processed fake meat clean?

A: Very true. I don't eat it all that often... just when I'm craving something like sloppy Joe's or grilled cheese. My staple cooked foods are pasta with marinara sauce, beans and rice, stir fry, and curry. I eat tofu in a lot of pastas and stir fries. I also eat tons of salad, bananas, apples, hummus, celery, etc. Lettuce sandwiches are so good.

“Vegan staples” that I highly recommend:

Nutritional Yeast. This stuff is great for adding to pastas or salads and takes the place of parmesan.

Flax seeds or flax seed meal: great egg substitute in baking. This is the only thing that has worked for me so far.

Tofu: this goes great with everything. It really does. There are so many different textures so it can be made to fit any kind of substance from firm cubes to soft crumbles to smooth smoothies.

Q: Tofu kind of freaks us out too...curd? What the heck is curd anyway?

A: Tofu is made in a similar process to cheese where they separate the solids from the liquids of the soy and compress them together until they solidify... it's a little more complicated than that, but I don't really understand the process that well since I have never made it. Look at these fun links about TOFU! How tofu is made! I love tofu though. Always have. I eat way too much of it.

Q: How can one person really make a difference by giving it all up completely? We still buy from stores that buy and sell meat, and they will buy it whether we buy it or not, so what difference does it make?

A: I get this question a lot. It makes a very big difference to that animal.  It does make a difference because stores buy their products based on demand. If everyone is demanding beef, they buy beef. If everyone demands soy dogs, they buy soy dogs. If people tell thirty other people about veganism and all those people don't eat meat for a week, it does make a difference.  I like to think that I'm making some sort of difference to end suffering on some level, either animal or human. Based on these websites,(Here, here, and here) I have saved over 100 animals in the past seven months of being completely vegan, just by not eating meat.

 

Q: Didn't God give us dominion over animals? So we should kill and eat them right?

A:Here is a great resource on the question: Can you be Christian and Vegan? Here is the website for the Christian Vegetarian Association.

Movies I recommend: Vegucated, a documentary style movie about 3 people who learn about veganism and challenge themselves to go vegan for six weeks. This is one of the most accessible movies about veganism. Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead is another great movie about the evils of the Standard American Diet. It follows Joe Cross across America as he Juices his way to health. There is a movie on Netflix called Frankensteer that is about factory farming in Canada. It is less than an hour long and really horrifying in the view it gives of the meat and dairy industry.

Q: Milk freaks me out too...so many reasons. I need to find a good alternative to my half and half. I have tried almond milk and didn't like it. Any suggestions?

 A: I'm not a big fan of any of the milks for drinking purposes. I usually use them only in cooking. Unsweetened soy milk tastes the best to me, but I don't use it that much. Coconut milk is fantastic for cooking though. For cereal or coffee, I would recommend unsweetened soy milk or vanilla soy milk.

 

Q: Where do you get your Protein/ calcium/ iron/ etc.?

A: This is the question I get the most often. Where do you get your protein? The same place everyone gets their protein: from food. I'm just getting mine solely from plant foods, not animal foods. Read this for more information about the misinformation about protein in the Standard American Diet. This is probably the most annoying question I get on a weekly basis. It is closely followed by: Would you eat meat if you were stranded on a deserted island? and Don't you want to taste? One bite won't kill you. I'm sorry, but do you go up to Muslims and ask why they don't eat pork or Orthodox Jews and ask why they don't eat cheeseburgers? No, you respect their religious and ethical code, so you should respect other's even if they are Christian, or Atheist, or Pagan and don't eat meat.

 

There ends my four page long single spaced list of tips and mini rants.  Since I've gone vegan, I've had several really wonderful discussions with friends about the ethics of factory farming, killing animals, and veganism. Several of my friends have told me that they are trying to eat less meat and dairy and others have gone vegetarian or semi-vegan. If nothing else, I have engaged my friends in conversations and spent time spreading love and joy. So, in closing, Peace to all of you! Go eat some veggies!