tofu dearest: vegan love for poor taste magazine

How to Make Culinary Love to a Vegan
Confession time: I live with an adorable meat-eater. I throw in the adorable because he really is, despite our surface-level divergent eating habits. He may devour roast chicken or fried calamari when we hit local food establishments, but at home he mostly keeps it vegan with me — another reason to throw in the complimentary descriptor [...]

tofu dearest: vegan myths for poor taste magazine

We’ve all heard it a thousand times before, from the nosy friend of a friend, the second cousin, the ex-co-worker, what have you. They’ve read some unfounded study somewhere in the wilds of the Internet and henceforth decided that vegans can’t possibly get all those juicy meat-based nutrients, or they lack protein, or vegans are at elevated risk for heart disease. Untrue, untrue, and double untrue.[...]

tofu dearest: hangover scramble for poor taste magazine

There’s nothing greater after a night of heavy drinking than a steaming plate of scrambled tofu. This may be the first meal — the hangover breakfast — that worries new vegans. Fear not, tofu scramble is delicious and probably the easiest dish you’ll ever make. The main part to get right is the breaking up of the tofu itself, after that you can add any number of fun and exotic ingredients to the oil-sizzling mix [...]

tofu dearest: valentine's for poor taste magazine

A few years back the live-in boyfriend surprised me on Valentine’s Day with a small, white take-out box full of cocoa-dusted vegan truffles [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste magazine

Hello, Meat and Cheese: Veganize This!
I’m not a person who typically enjoys mock duck. I don’t often try to imitate meaty taste and texture when home cooking like many vegans do, and when faced with faux meat versus gold standard-but-simple tofu dishes at restaurants; I’ll always choose the latter [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste magazine

Vegan Pizza Day Is Coming: Time for Doughy Boot Camp
The vegan pizza slice is elusive. It’s a rare, yet progressively more visible gem, in a world traditionally made up of shredded cheeses and rounds of meat. Walk in to any standard pizza joint in the country and ask for a piping hot slice of dairy-free, meat-free pie. Chances are, the confused chef will either laugh or offer to simply pull the cheese off a slice (um, no thanks)[...]

tofu dearest for poor taste magazine

New Year’s Eve: Cheap, Vegan, and Out of Control
It’s time to get decadent — on a budget. New Year’s Eve is upon us and whether you’re throwing a massive NYE soiree or just hosting a few select guests, planning a vegan appetizer, dessert, and cocktail menu can be a headache. Especially if your crowd is weary of all meat-free, dairy-free treats [...]

guide to alamo square/north panhandle for poor taste

Home to the famous Painted Ladies Victorian houses, the breezy and bulbous hill of a park facing them, and an assortment of emerging independent businesses, Alamo Square is both classic San Francisco and a neighborhood in flux [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste mag

The Locavorism vs. Veganism Problem
Many vegans, myself definitely included, find the concept of including locavorism to their already specific diet extremely daunting. Sure, we gladly avoid meat and animal byproducts by crafting delicious meals from scratch or checking out every new vegan-friendly restaurant within a 20-mile radius. But many of our products, the ones we use on a daily basis, weren’t made or grown locally [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste magazine

Potato Pancakes and Israeli Donuts: A Vegan Does Chanukah
Oil popping off shredded potatoes, fragrant with freshly chopped onion and spices. Yes, Chanukah has always been a special time in my family. Besides the tradition, the candles, the gifts — there was always the food [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste magazine

De La Soul Food: Vegan Collards, Okra, Barbecue, and Fried “Chicken”
Okra, mustard collard greens, creamy mashed potatoes with savory gravy, and two pieces of crispy Southern fried tofu “chicken.” I ate it all, in one grand sitting, a few weeks back and was incredibly full, a tad over-salted, and deeply satisfied [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste magazine

Love and Sambal: A Vegan Goes Indonesian


I’ll be the first to admit it; I knew little of Indonesia before I met the live-in boyfriend. Now that I’ve tasted the region’s style of food many times over, I’ve become completely fascinated with it [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste magazine

Vegan Halloween: My Bloody Punchbowl (and Other Ghoulish Treats)
Growing up, Halloween was always my favorite holiday — and it remains at the top today. Oh those evenings I spent dressed as a pink-cheeked cheerleader, glittery mermaid, French painter, and “weirdo” (I went through phases, okay?), hoarding treats earned through rigorous doorbell ringing and appreciative smiles [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste magazine

Dreaming In Swirls of Cinnamon
Are you aware that if you live anywhere in the U.S., you can now have a box of four gooey vegan cinnamon rolls delivered to your door? Not only that, but the cinnamon rolls come with a variety of delicious flavor options. It’s a mind-blowing concept, I know. I’ll let you sit and salivate with that knowledge for a moment [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste magazine

The Art of the Vegan Lunch
The after-summer dregs can get anyone down. Classes have begun; vacations from the office are just a memory. There is one thing, however, that can pump a vegan’s mood once he or she is back to a day-to-day routine — a tasty lunch to look forward to [...]

tofu dearest for poor taste magazine

Nothin’ Fishy About Vegan Sushi
Perhaps it’s sacrilegious to promote the art of sushi without fish, but isn’t being vegan all about creative ways to make food? And what could be more creative than a meal centered on an ingredient that will not be included?

I used to think of sushi in black-and-white terms, too. Sushi equals fish which equals avoidance, simple as that. Slowly but surely, it dawned on me that sushi could be made vegan by simply replacing fish for veggie for a healthy and tasty Japanese meal [...]

tofu dearest column for poor taste magazine

I recently devoured a flaky, savory mini-pie filled with spicy potatoes, leeks, and Daiya cheddar. No bigger than a cupcake, the tiny faux-buttery meal filled me up and pleased my most important sense — taste [...]

tofu dearest column for poor taste magazine

The Taco Chronicles
Name any kind of meatless, non-dairy ingredient and I’ll find a way to taco it up [...]

tofu dearest column for poor taste magazine

Meatless grilling on a summer’s day
Lately, all I can think about are three syllables: bar-be-cue. Maybe it’s the hazy, pleasant vibe of the summer months in general [...]

tofu dearest column for poor taste magazine

I’ve missed you most of all, pizza
I stared intently at the greasy delivery pizza slice forming grayish pools of oil on my paper plate, fully aware of the impending stomach trauma [...]