Vegan Food and Cooking

25. Keith Kalmanowicz of Earth N' Us Farm

New Times' Best of Miami 2013 issue arrives June 13. To celebrate, Short Order is serving up the top 30 tastemakers in the 305. These people have helped shape the Miami food scene into what it is today. We began with number 30 and will lead up to the county's number one. A Q&A session is included in ... More >>

Even Adriana Lima Shops the Baking Girl in MiMo

We're not ones to scour the city looking for the world's greatest cupcakes. We don't even like them. But on a whim, we recently took a different route home from the office and found ourselves at NE 69th Street and Biscayne Boulevard. Most locals know the intersection for the restaurant Uva 69. H ... More >>

Ellen Kanner's Feeding the Hungry Ghost Teaches Readers on Seasonal Eats, Community & Food for the Soul

While Miami's vegan scene might be a little bit lacking, we have to give props to the dedicated herbivores working to educate the masses on the benefits of local produce, meatless Mondays and cruelty-free cuisine. One such teacher is Ellen Kanner, blogger, columnist and now, cookbook author. Kanner ... More >>

Conscious Bite Out's 100-Mile Dinner: Elegant, Locally Sourced Vegan Soiree

Yes, glamour-puss Beyoncé recently credited vegan food for helping her get back into red-carpet-ready form, and a slew of other celebrities have announced their vegan allegiance (Brad Pitt, Russell Brand, Jessica Chastain, and Woody Harrelson, to name a few), but the cruelty-free, earth-friendly cu ... More >>

Bunnie Cakes Opens in Wynwood Tomorrow: Free Cupcakes While Supplies Last

Vegans have a new place to give and get sweet treats -- just in time for Valentine's Day -- when Bunnie Cakes opens its doors in Wynwood tomorrow, February 9.The small shop, helmed by baker Mariana Cortez, features a selection of baked goods like cupcakes and brownies.In addition, ice cream treats ... More >>

Five Sexy Vegan Valentine's Day Gifts: Edible Body Butter, Candy Lips, and Beyond

When people hear the word "vegan," the last thing that comes to mind is decadence. The first thing is usually an image of a scrawny, pale lady wearing Birkenstocks and hugging a tree. Not exactly the picture of sensuality.But as usual, my aim for this column today is to challenge preconceived notion ... More >>

Miami Vegan Ultra Athlete to Munch Hummus, Sweet Potatoes During 62-Mile Race in Asia

Chad Weller, a Miami-based ultra athlete and running coach, has kept to a vegan diet for 18 of his 35 years on earth. He's been an endurance runner for 15 of those, and has competed in more than one hundred races to date, 10 of which were 100-milers. He's got 20 races and two more 100-mile competiti ... More >>

Vegan Pop Up to Take Over New Orleans-Inspired Lagniappe in Midtown Sunday

New Orleans is known for its jazz, its eclectic cultural milieu and its gumbo, a thick stew usually anchored by beef stock and crowded with shrimp, chicken and sausage. So what the heck would vegan gumbo look and taste like? Your guess is as good as vegan chef Keith Kalmanowicz's, but he'll work it ... More >>

Bunnie Cakes to Open Vegan Bakery in Wynwood

Mariana Cortez, owner and founder of Bunnie Cakes, began selling vegan baked goods from her home in 2009. Since then, she has expanded to a production facility on NE 59th Street. It's there that she offers treats by special orders to clients. She also sells wholesale to many of Miami's restaurants a ... More >>

Rich Roll, Vegan Ultra-Athlete, Recovered from Alcoholism and the Standard American Diet

One day, Rich Roll, a 41-year-old father of four, was out for what he planned would be a five or six mile run. Maybe it was the plant-based vegan diet he had recently adopted, or some primal, ancestral energy stream he had suddenly tapped into, but on that particular day, Roll didn't want to stop at ... More >>

Ginnybakes, Miami-Based Organic Treat Sensation, Rolls Out Scrumptious Vegan Cookies and Bars

If you're a celiac, a vegan, a vegetarian, a nutritarian, lactose intolerant, oat intolerant, or if you do your damnedest to keep kosher, you may have had more than one opportunity to moan about how there's nothing delicious for you to eat in this world. For me, a plant-based vegan, the feeling has ... More >>

Paradise Farms Welcomes Vegan Chef Cherie Soria: Try Chipotle Soup With Cashew Yogurt

Locavores and vegans will bask in the spotlight at Paradise Farms during a lecture and workshop with chef Cherie Soria October 12 and 13. She's the same chef who founded Living Light Culinary Institute in California, which is one the highest rated organic raw vegan chef training schools. There wi ... More >>

Pop Goes the Basil

Make Raw Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream in Two Minutes

At one of my recent organic juice parties (if you're not sure what that is, click here), Jordan Wolfe, my friend and compatriot in all things healthy living, arrived toting the ingredients for his famous raw vegan chocolate "ice cream," which he proceeded to whip up in the Vitamix for the mind-blowi ... More >>

The Vegan & Vegetarian Guide to Miami Spice

Miami Spice begins August 1. Like New York's Restaurant Week, it lets diners indulge in prix-fixe menus at the city's best restaurants at deeply discounted prices. We Miamians are actually even luckier than our friends up north, because our opportunity to "Spice" up our diets on a budget lasts ... More >>

Stop Hating Vegetables in Five Steps

I have conversations about plant-based diets every single day. Most people I chat with recognize the value of moving to a diet that includes a higher concentration of nutrient-rich plant foods. Many express a desire or even a resolve to eat more fruits and vegetables, and then the discussion moves o ... More >>

Anthea Ponsetti Now Dessert Chef at the Corner, Late-Night Dessert Is Now Even More Delicious

Anthea Ponsetti, the owner and cookie maker of Om Nom Nom Cookies, was recently tapped to be the new dessert chef at the Corner.The queen of vegan cookies started about a month ago and now slings cookies, cakes, pies, ice cream, and other confections for late-night indulgence at the downtown Miami b ... More >>

Vegans Can Carbo-Load, Too, at LA's Real Food Daily

In my normal, South Beach-dwelling, plant-eating life, carbs play an important but purposely limited role. In my experience, the best way to get fat on a vegan diet is to increase the ratio of grains to vegetables in your diet dramatically. I try to stick to one to one and a half cups of strictly wh ... More >>

Five Reasons Why Being Vegan Is Patriotic

This Fourth of July, many Americans will be going out to pick up the hot dogs, hamburgers, and chicken carcasses they like to throw over the fire pit while the fireworks screech overhead. The head of the household will man the grill, bragging about his or her ability to rotate the meat at precisely ... More >>

Subway to Launch Vegan Sandwich Line

Subway is rolling out three new vegan sandwich options, in response to increased demand for meals on the go sans animal products. The Malibu Greek, Sweet Riblet, and Italian Black Bean subs are slated to roll out in select Subway locations in Maryland, Washington D.C., and Virginia. Compassion Over ... More >>

Veganism Safe for Kids, Says Lisa Dorfman, Director of University of Miami's Nutrition Program

Last week, I reviewed Vegan Is Love, a children's book that explains the reasons behind the choice to go vegan. It contains a page dedicated to the health aspect of the lifestyle, but most of the book is devoted to outlining the ethics of veganism -- how animals are treated on the dairy farm, at the ... More >>

"Am I a Total Bitch for Thinking Vegan Guys Are Lame?" Dating Without Meat, Part 1

Since I recently hit the dating scene again, the difficulties the vegan diet can present when navigating eligible singles has been at the forefront of my mind. Sometimes I think it's no big deal. And then I read something like this, a question excerpted from the New York Post's "Ask Ashley" dating c ... More >>

Babies Don't Want Vegan Mommies? What a Load of Baloney

This past weekend, the LA Times published an editorial suggesting pregnant women who adhere to a vegan diet and subsequently raise vegan children are irresponsible. The writer, Alexandra Le Tellier, was responding to the release of Vegan Is Love, a new children's book that explains and advocates a v ... More >>

Tomorrow: Om Nom Nom Party at Panther Coffee. New Website, Free Cookies

Vegan cookie company extraordinaire Om Nom Nom is ready to go global with the launch of an official website, and to celebrate, it's throwing a party tomorrow, Saturday, at Panther Coffee in Wynwood. Anthea Ponsetti from Om Nom Nom and Illeana Cardenas from Panther are cohosting the event, which ... More >>

Bombshell 70-Year-Old Raw Vegan Annette Larkins Leads Us to Fountain of Youth

​The outside of Annette Larkins' pastel-pink Kendall home looks like it belongs to a grown-up Barbie doll.In a way, that's not far from the truth. Larkins' curvaceous chest-to-waist-to-hip ratio must be close to that of America's favorite figurine. One big difference, though, is that there's no pl ... More >>

Veganism Is My Health Insurance

​Going to the doctor is hardly an option for me. It hasn't been since I left my last full-time job -- and the health insurance it offered -- about a year and a half ago, when I decided to pursue my writing career.As a freelancer, I'm lucky to enjoy a steady stream of work and a lot of creative fre ... More >>

Oil-Free, Plant-Based Diets: Extreme or Extremely Necessary?

​The term "fat-free" rarely brings joy to anyone's heart. But a vegan diet free of extracted oils -- including extra virgin olive oil -- can literally save your heart.The trouble is, as I personally have discovered, it's hard as hell to stick to such a plan.Have you noticed those "no oil added" si ... More >>

Om Nom Nom Cookies Bring Vegan Deliciousness from Miami to Miami

​Delicious vegan cookies, you say Impossible! Well, was impossible. Now that Miami has Om Nom Nom cookies, no one will be able to question the ability of a vegan treat to shine. First spotted by Short Order at Panther Coffee, these desserts may be lacking animal products, but they lose nothin ... More >>

Last Week to Enter the $1,400 Whole Foods Holiday Bake-Off

Photo by Bryan Ochalla/Wikimedia Commons​If one of your wild food fantasies includes running up and down the aisles of Whole Foods like a crazy person, filling your shopping cart with any and everything your heart -- and stomach -- desire, and doing it without spending your whole paycheck, read on ... More >>

Bunnie Cakes: Gluten-Free, Vegan Love Cakes by Family Gal Mariana Cortez

​Even though, or maybe because, I was always a really really tall girl, I've always gravitated toward tiny things. I love miniature doll furniture, pocket-sized notebooks, glitter, and as a child of the '80s, Shrinky Dinks.So does vegan baker Mariana Cortez, who at 29, is the exact same age as I a ... More >>

Beet Reporter Hustled into Breaking Vegan Diet with $2 Taco Bell Burrito

​​As I stood in line at a Taco Bell on NE 36th Street and Biscayne Boulevard, I was not comfortable or hopeful. It had been a long time since I'd been in a fast food joint, and the proximity of all the nutritionally bankrupt white flour tortillas, preservative-packed foodstuffs, and grade D meat ... More >>

Tim Crandall, Sous Chef at Red the Steakhouse, Dishes on His Vegan Past

Tim Crandall, sous chef at RedHis passion for a woman brought him to veganism. After five years, his passion for culinary art brought him back to beef.Okay, so maybe that's packaged a little too neatly. Timothe Crandall, the relatively new sous chef at Red the Steakhouse, never enjoyed eating meat a ... More >>

NYC Marathon This Weekend: Vegan Ultra-Marathoner Terence Gerchberg Runs on Rice

Terence Gerchberg is fit to be tied. Literally, fit to be tied. In June, he and four friends tied themselves together and ran the God's Country Marathon in Coudersport, Pennsylvania, breaking the Guinness world record for "fastest marathon completed by a linked team," with a time of 3:26:15.He will ... More >>

Scarpetta's Chef Michael Pirolo Crafts Gourmet Vegan Tasting

​In this new series, the Beet Reporter aims to see whether Miami's tastiest restaurants are prepared to feed vegans with something more than boring garden salads.There are two ways to make vegan food. Or rather, there are two ways to make food vegan.One starts with "normal" dishes, subtracting the ... More >>

Former Vegan Chef at Red the Steakhouse Does Tofu Three Ways

​There's a perception that the vegan diet, which excludes all animal products, is incompatible with fine dining. In this new series, the Beet Reporter aims to see whether Miami's tastiest restaurants are prepared to feed vegans with something more than boring garden salads.I doubt many vegans have ... More >>

Tudor House Gives Damn Good Vegan

​There's a perception that the vegan diet, which excludes all animal products, is incompatible with fine dining. In this new series, the Beet Reporter aims to see whether Miami's tastiest restaurants are prepared to feed vegans with something more than boring garden salads.Celebrity chef Geoffrey ... More >>

Vegan Dining at Tapas y Tintos: Popeye and Olive's Chickpeas and Creamy-Crunchy Paella

​There's a perception that the vegan diet, which excludes all animal products, is incompatible with fine dining. In this new series, the Beet Reporter aims to see whether Miami's tastiest restaurants are prepared to feed vegans with something more than boring garden salads.The menu at Tapas y Tint ... More >>

Vani's Vegan Cupcakes at Govinda's in the Grove

​Contrary to popular belief, vegans love cupcakes. In fact, we probably love cupcakes more than the average omnivore. We go months on end conscientiously filling our plates with leafy greens, quinoa, tofu, and vibrant seasonal fruits. We stopped bothering to look at dessert menus at tradition ... More >>

Derek Tresize, Vegan Bodybuilder: Meat Grows Muscles and Cancer

Derek Tresize has an unreal body. The 24-year-old has been bodybuilding on a plant-based diet for five years. This summer, he took third place in his class at the North American Natural Bodybuilding Federation competition, his first contest.He grew up a multitalented athlete in San Diego. At age 19, ... More >>

Coconut Grove Organic Market is a Vegan Nirvana (Photos)

All photos by Laine Doss Spinning tunes and serving coconut water at the Coconut Grove Organic Market.​Every Saturday, an empty lot just a few blocks from CocoWalk turns into a tent-city of vendors selling everything a Miamian could want to lead a cleaner (and greener) life. People from a ... More >>

Vegan Juice Jam Ends Mass Fast at Choices Cafe (Video)

Camille Lamb Raw vegan Marie Jorgensen and Amanda Resto, the raw vegan chef at T.H.R.I.V.E. on Miami Beach, get goofy on juice.​In the world of puritan health foodies, Welch's grape, Capri Sun, and even Tropicana are not acceptable examples of "juice." The word, and associated terms like "j ... More >>

Miami Communes at Alex Cuevas' Vegan Potlucks (Video)

Camille LambThe entrance fee for a vegan potluck is an animal product-free dish, like this "fruits of the forest quinoa."​At 7 p.m. Sunday, Short Order pulled up to the quiet block near Brickell where Om Garden used to be. It was a little dreary outside, but we followed some smiling, healthy looki ... More >>

Forks Over Knives: A Case Against Animal Food Products

Dr. Pam Popper in Forks Over Knives.​Forks Over Knives is a new food documentary that makes you take a long, hard look at what you eat. It follows filmmaker Lee Fulkerson, an average middle-aged man with high cholesterol and high blood pressure, who decides to treat his conditions with a "whole fo ... More >>

Vegan & Raw Chefs Battle at The Space Next Week

via Conscious Bite Out Communal dinner table at The Space​Vegan and raw food fans have a safe haven in Miami. On March 17 -- next Thursday -- The Space hosts Conscious Bite Out, which has been organizing monthly dinners that cater to alternative foodies since January 2010. This month's dinn ... More >>

Top 5 Vegan Restaurants in South Florida

Riki Altman​Vegan restaurants in Miami are rare. For the most part, they cater to a granola-munching, Birkenstock-wearing demographic, but neglect the rest of us who just like to eat. Maybe veganism would be more widely accepted if it struck a balance between looking appetizing and providin ... More >>

Escopazzo's Expanded Vegan Menu Coming This Month

Jason Postal​It might seem like some kind of miracle that an Italian restaurant is offering vegan fare. Wait...it is a miracle that any fine dining restaurant would want to do vegan cuisine. Nevertheless, it's true, South Beach's Escopazzo has a section on its menu entirely dedicated to raw, ... More >>

Miami's Vegan Pizza Options Are Limited

​The coolest thing I heard this week is that Bill Clinton is now eating a mainly vegan diet. Not only that but he's doing it right -- vegan protein shakes in the morning and a eating well-balanced, colorful range of foods. You go, Bill, the whole vegan community is rooting for you.The second best ... More >>

Forget the Bunny, Worship the Earth

305 Fest