Alicia Silverstone's Blog, page 3

5 Ooey Gooey Spooky Halloween Party Treats

These five desserts are probably delicious anytime. Here’s how you can adapt them for your Halloween party:

Halloween Hostess Cupcakes

Submitted by kind lifer Shana
This vegan take on the classic Hostess cupcake can be customized for Halloween. Sprinkle the frosting with orange and chocolate sprinkles, or instead of squiggles, draw the word “boo.” Get creative and have your kids help you decorate the cupcakes. YUM!

Spooky S’mores

Photo Source: OhSheGlows.com

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Reserve some of the icing from your Halloween Hostess Cupcakes to decorate these homemade s’mores. You can draw ghosts and use grain-sweetened chocolate chips by Sunspire to make your ghosts’ eyes. You can also use the icing to draw a border or use it as a base for orange and chocolate sprinkles. Have a baking and s’mores decorating party, and create an assortment of patterns with your friends or your kids!
 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

For anyone who used to love getting Reese’s peanut butter cups in their trick-or-treating bags, my chocolate peanut butter cups from The Kind Diet are a must-have Halloween treat. You can serve them on a party platter or put them in little baggies as a take-home party favor. Try wrapping your party favors in this biodegradable cellophane and tie with twine.
 

Yummy Gingerbread Cookies

Submitted by kind lifer Madeline.
Gingerbread is traditionally a Christmas treat, but these cookies are packed with the flavors of fall, and they’re easy to cut into Halloween shapes. Just use pumpkin or ghost-shaped cookie cutters instead of Christmas trees and holiday bells, then decorate them with white icing, Sunspire chips, and orange & chocolate sprinkles. You can also make sandwich cookies out of these for an extra decadent treat.
 

Hot Apple Cider

I made this for Thanksgiving last year, but it’s great for Halloween too. My hot apple cider is delicious to sip on during the cool weather. Serve it in a punch bowl on a table decorated with seasonal veggies like corn and squash. Apples are part of the “dirty dozen” list of fruits and veggies that absorb pesticides easily, so be sure to make this recipe with organic apple juice. If you buy organic apples and juice them yourself, even better!

Cauliflower Buffalo Wings

By Alexandra Caspero

These are the perfect solution to traditional wings, but much healthier and lower in both calories and fat. You could eat the entire recipe for the same amount of calories in 6 regular wings! What’s not to love about that?

Ingredients – yields 4 servings

1 cup unsweetened almond milk1 cup flour of choice- whole wheat or gluten-free1 chopped head cauliflower1 tsp onion powder2 tsp garlic powder 2 tsp,buffalo sauce- like Franks Hot Sauce 0.75 cupEarth Balance or other vegan butter 1 tbsp

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 F. Combine flour and milk together.
Whisk until no lumps are left. Add garlic and onion powder.
Dip each piece of cauliflower into the flour batter.
Place onto a baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes.
Combine buffalo sauce with melted butter.
Dip each piece into the buffalo sauce. Place back onto the baking sheet and cook for 5 more minutes.
Drizzle with remaining sauce and serve!

5 Vegan Halloween Recipes for a Sweet, Cruelty-Free Celebration

Halloween is approaching! There are many many ways to take this commercial holiday and celebrate the fall occasion kind-style with loved ones. Since there are so many festivities around this time of year, with the emphasis on treats… I’m listing some insane-looking sweets from various vegan blogs. For some eco ideas and background info on how this holiday came to be,  check out How to Have a Green Halloween.

Vegan Halloween Treats

1. Kitty Cat Halloween Cupcakes from Growing Up Veg

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2. Raw “Witches Fingers” from Fork and Beans

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3. Chocolate Pumpkin Cups from The Glowing Fridge

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4. Gingerbread Skeleton Cookies from Sarah Bakes

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5. DIY Vegan Candy Corn from Earth Balance

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The Healthiest Sweetener: Brown Rice Syrup

Brown rice syrup is a commonly used ingredient in macrobiotic cooking, but as this article explains, people from all walks of life are starting to discover it. If I need a sweetener, brown rice syrup is always my first choice. It is still a sweetener so it’s not a healthy food and you shouldn’t go out of your way to eat it, but when you need a sweetener, it’s the best choice.

Brown rice syrup raises your blood sugar, but doesn’t make you crash the way other sweeteners do. Because it’s a complex carb, it delivers a more mellow taste that still satisfies your sweet tooth. Every other sweetener, except maybe stevia, makes me feel like I’m jacked up. My heart pounds, my head hurts, and then I crash… it tastes great, but then I feel terrible. Brown rice syrup is gentle on me — and I am very grateful. (Check out page 68 ofThe Kind Diet for more info about how brown rice syrup is made.)

I love to make a sweet kuzu drink with brown rice syrup and Bear loves it too. It’s very relaxing and has a subtle sweet taste. If I’m feeling frisky and am craving something wild, this sweet kuzu drink satisfies my sweet craving and takes the edge off so I don’t need a full-on dessert.

Hot Sweet Kuzu Drink:

Inredients:
1 tsp kuzu
1-2 tsp brown rice syrup

Directions:
In a cup, add about 2 Tbsp. of water to the kuzu and stir it until it dissolves. Add water to this mix to fill the cup, about 1 cup of water or a mug-full. Pour into a small pot and heat on medium, stirring constantly, until the liquid becomes translucent. Add the brown rice syrup and continue stirring until it dissolves. Pour back into your mug and then drink it hot.

Here are some other ways I like to enjoy brown rice syrup:

In my Crispy Peanut Butter Treats with Chocolate Chips (page 184 in The Kind Diet)In the topping for my Peach Crumble (page 194 in The Kind Diet)In my Mom’s Granola recipe (page 201 in The Kind Diet). This is a seriously yum dessert!In my Mochi Waffles and Pan-Fried Mochi – this is one of my favorite superhero snacks! It’s also a great breakfast option, especially for kids, athletes, breastfeeding mamas, and pregnant ladies. Plus, it’ssupertasty!In my Candied Ginger Pears and my Plum Soup (page 280 in The Kind Diet) – both delicious superhero desserts.

Nourishing Breakfast Porridge

I wanted to remind all of you about the Millet and Sweet Vegetable Porridge recipe in my book (page. 288). It’s just so good, so healing, and a great breakfast dish. It’s really good for you, especially during the colder months of the year; it is the perfect way to start off your day.

I want to encourage all of you who haven’t tried this one yet to make it. It’s such a healthy superhero breakfast dish… so nourishing and yummy. The best part about it is that it tastes just as good (if not better) when you eat it as leftovers a day later. I usually make one batch and it feeds me for 2-3 days in a row.

I prefer to make it with big chunks of Kabocha squash, almost inch-wide cubes, because I like it when the squash is big and chunky (it says “bite-sized pieces” in the book…oops!). But if you’re not into chunky veggies, you can use smaller pieces of squash. Either way, it’s delicious!

Millet and Sweet Vegetable Porridge
Serves 6-8
Ingredients

1-inch piece kombu1 yellow onion, finely diced2 stalks celery, finely diced1 cup finely diced kabocha or butternut squash1/2 cup yellow millet2-3 teaspoons white miso2-3 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced on the diagonal

  Instructions

Layer the kombu, onion, celery, squash and millet in a soup potGenty add 5 cups of water to the pot, cover, and bring to a boilReduce the heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are tender and the millet is creamy (about 35 minutes)Place the miso in a small bowlStir in a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid to dissolve it, and stir the miso back into the porridgeSimmer gently, uncovered, for 3-4 minutes to avoid destroying the miso’s enzymesServe sprinkled with scallions

 
Enjoy!

Kind Bride: Planning a Fall Wedding

Often we think of weddings as taking place in the spring or early summer, but a fall wedding can be so beautiful. Katie Gillespie offers some tips for planning a kind fall wedding.

Autumn is a gorgeous time of year to have a wedding because of the natural beauty of the season. Early in the autumn, it’s still nice enough in many places to have an outdoor wedding. The changing leaves and crisp autumn air are amazing backdrops for wedding photos and for an open-air celebration. The bounty of end-of-summer harvest offers a spectacular array of food easily prepared vegan or Superhero. There are also many creative do-it-yourself ideas that can make your wedding more affordable and more kind. From the invitations you send—whether they are invites you send by email or made from recycled paper embedded with wildflower seeds—to the food you serve, planning an eco-wedding is an excellent way to expose all of your friends and family to your compassionate way of life.

Location

Deciding on the size of your wedding and getting a location pinned down is often the first step in planning a wedding. Choosing a natural setting like a farm, an animal sanctuary, a park or the forest creates a beautiful built-in backdrop for a wedding. Choosing a place with lots of natural beauty also means being able to cut down on decorations.

The Dress

Picking out a wedding dress can set the tone for your whole wedding. The rest of the wedding planning can evolve around the style of dress you choose. Is it vintage? Casual? Tea length? A formal gown? Whatever style you choose, there are different ways to ensure that you make a choice that does not exploit humans, animals, or the environment. The most environmentally friendly choice you can make is to use a second-hand gown—either one that’s in your family or from a friend, or a second-hand or vintage gown you find in a shop.

I love the long-sleeved vintage dress with lace pictured above. It is simple and feminine; it has a train, but is not overly fussy, and it is long-sleeved if you are outdoors on a cooler autumn day. Another kind choice you can make is to wear a handmade gown. Etsy is a great place to find handmade wedding dresses of varying prices. Be sure to talk with the designers about kind fabric options—like choosing organic hemp, bamboo or cotton fabrics and avoiding fabrics that contain silk.

The Flowers

If you choose an outdoor setting for your wedding, the natural beauty of the area can be enough without flowers. If you’d like to have a bouquet or flowers on the tables, consider using fallen leaves, pinecones, and other fallen autumn foliage that doesn’t harm the plants. The colors are brilliant and offer an earthy and vibrant touch.

Another idea is to use living plants—potted herbs or succulents as centerpieces that guests can take home, or a living succulent bouquet, pictured above, that can be taken apart and planted afterwards. Potting plants or collecting fallen autumn foliage is something you can do yourself and can be a very affordable option.

Many cut flowers are grown with pesticides, which is not kind to the environment, the growers, or your own health. If you choose to use cut flowers, use an organic florist.

Favors

There are lots of creative options for wedding favors. Because weddings are all about new beginnings, plantable gifts are one of my favorite ideas for a wedding. Organic seed packets are a nice, simple idea, particularly if you have guests who are travelling to the wedding. Or tiny potted herbs or succulents. Baby tree saplings are a beautiful gift for guests. You can find second hand containers at thrift stores or buy compostable peat pots at a garden store. We used compostable pots with organic soil and wildflower seeds wrapped in muslin for our wedding favors. An edible favor option is handmade jams. If you’re crafty in the kitchen, jam is a great thing to make ahead of time during the summer berry harvest. You can put them away and your favors are done months ahead of time. Cover the tops with a cute upcycled fabric and hemp twine.

For the Groom

Finding a new wool-free vegan tuxedo or suit can be a challenge for a groom and the rest of the wedding party. Luckily, The Discerning Brute has some awesome recommendations for kind formal fashion for men. Men can also look for beautiful vintage jackets and slacks, which lend a creative edge to men’s wedding fashion.

For the Wedding Party

If you are going the traditional route and having bridesmaids, groomsmen, a flower girl and ring bearer, there are some fairly straightforward options. Groomsmen can seek out the same options as the groom (see above). If you have young boys in the wedding, there are easy rental and second-hand options for them as well. For flower girls, if you can’t find a second-hand dress that works, there are lovely handmade options on Etsy, like the vintage lace flower girl dress pictured above, which would be beautiful paired with a little cardigan. The most eco option for bridesmaids (and probably the most comfortable option for them) is to have them wear something they already own.

The Food

Autumn is a season of bounty and harvest and the food at your wedding can reflect that delicious abundance. Think stuffed acorn squash, herb roasted root vegetables, kale salad, hearty bean chili and vegan corn bread, or whatever other harvest meal you can dream up. For dessert, if you have a friend who is great at baking, ask them to bake you a vegan cake or cupcakes as a wedding present. Or look for a vegan bakery that can make you a delicious cake or cupcakes. Alternatively, forego the cake and serve an array of fall desserts—pumpkin bread, apple or pumpkin pie, baked apples, etc. Or you can serve fondue with fair trade chocolate and an array of treats for dipping.

 

Katie Gillespie writes the Seattle-based blog Serenity in the Storm, which features vegan news, recipes, fashion, and animal advocacy-related topics, she is a contributor at Our Hen House and MindBodyGreen.

 
 

Lindsay’s Thai Pineapple Curry

Lindsay, the Happy Herbivore, is sharing her Thai Pineapple Curry recipe with us. It looks good! Add some tofu or your favorite protein to the mix for a heartier meal.

Thai Pineapple Curry
Serves 2

Ingredients:
4 green onions, sliced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4cup vegetable broth
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into thin strips
1/2-1 red finger pepper, seeded and sliced
red pepper flakes, to taste
1 8-oz can diced pineapple (in juice, not syrup)
1 1/4 tsp mild yellow curry powder
1/2 cup lite coconut milk
2 tbsp fresh basil, minced
1/2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
green onions (garnish)

Instructions:
Set aside a few dark green onion slices for garnish. Transfer the rest of the onions to a skillet with ginger and garlic Add enough broth so there is a thin lining on the bottom of the skillet and sauté over high heat for a minute or two, until onion, ginger and garlic are fragrant.

Add red bell peppers and red finger pepper (or red pepper flakes as desired) and sauté until bell peppers start to soften, adding splashes of broth as necessary to prevent sticking. Once bell peppers start to soften, add pineapple with juices, stirring to combine. Cook another minute, until peppers are cooked but still somewhat crisp and pineapple is warm.

Meanwhile, in a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk curry powder into coconut milk, then pour into skillet and stir to combine.

After 30 seconds, add basil and soy sauce, stirring again to combine. Taste, adding more soy sauce or basil if desired. Garnish with green onions, lime wedges and a basil leaf or two.

Per serving: 155 calories, 3.6g fat, 30.7g carbohydrates, 3.7g fiber, 20.3g sugars, 2.7g protein
You can find Lindsay’s cookbook Happy Herbivore Abroad, full of dishes from around the world, on Amazon.

DIY Mamas, Don’t Fear The Sewing Machine

This fashion guest blog comes from fashion correspondent Katie. She has written a thoroughly impressive guide to sewing kids’ clothes. If you’re intimidated by the idea, you won’t be after you read this! Take it away, Katie!

xo,
Alicia

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Making Eco-Fashion for Kids
by Katie Gillespie

There are a lot of great reasons to sew your own clothes for children:

It’s a great way to make eco, kind fashion choices for kids.The clothes are one-of-a-kind and can take into account the individuality of each child. Kids can even help pick out the fabrics to make them more their own.It’s fun and satisfying to make something with your own hands that will be well-worn and loved.Little kids can get away with almost anything, which makes kids’ fashion projects so inspiring.

Making your own clothes for kids may sound intimidating if you are not an experienced sewer. I know it did to me! But whether you’re an old pro on the sewing machine or have never touched a sewing machine in your life, making clothes for kids can be an easy, fun, creative and kind way to clothe the children in your life.

If you have a sewing machine, you’re ready to go. If you don’t have one, ask around your circle of family and friends—someone should be willing to lend theirs out, along with a quick lesson on how to make it work.

Choosing a Pattern

Once you’ve got a sewing machine squared away (whether it’s your own or borrowed) the next step is to choose a pattern. My favorite place to get patterns is Etsy for two reasons:
1.  They are unique, affordable, and support individual craftspeople.
2.  The patterns are emailed to you in PDF format, so you get them quickly, and you can print them on scrap paper (to avoid killing more trees).
To get the most out of patterns, I always try to choose patterns that can be used for both girls and boys, like these adorable overalls/romper from The Cottage Mama:

Buying patterns this way is a sensible and eco-investment—they will be useable for years, for a variety of ages and for lots of different kids in your life. The Cottage Mama overalls include the pattern for children from 6 months to 6 years of age! I also like to choose patterns for reversible clothes because a reversible jacket is like having two jackets in one, like this sweet ‘Every Which Way’ coat from Chicken Hill that’s great for either a boy or girl:

The darling Cottage Mama reversible dress at the top of the post, in addition to being reversible, can be worn as a top once the child outgrows the dress.

Finding Fabric & Notions

The pattern will tell you how much fabric you will need to complete the project. The most eco-friendly (and affordable) fabric choice you can make is to repurpose clothing or fabric you already have, or to buy fabric at a local thrift store. Some thrift stores (like Goodwill) actually have a ‘yardage’ section, where you can buy donated vintage and secondhand fabric yardage. You can find some amazingly unique, affordable, one-of-a-kind fabrics this way. You can also look at thrift stores for clothing that can be taken apart and repurposed as an ‘upcycled’ fabric choice. You’d be surprised how much great fabric you can get out of an old dress and a seam-ripper.

Sometimes you can find notions (thread, buttons, and other embellishments) in thrift shops. With second-hand thread, test its strength by trying to break it. If it pulls apart easily, don’t buy it. If it feels strong, go for it! Vintage stores and antique shops sometimes have wonderful button collections. Mismatched buttons can be a great look down the front of a colorful little jacket, or as an embellishment on sleeves or collars. Let your imagination run wild!

If you can’t find reused fabric and notions options, there are some excellent eco-fabric options out there. Check your local fabric stores for eco-options. And of course, you can always support individual artisans on Etsy, where you can search for adorable organic fabrics. Out of kindness and respect for animals, avoid fabrics containing wool, leather, fur, down or silk and buttons made from bone, leather or shell. Once you’ve got your pattern, fabric and notions, you’re ready to sew. Follow the instructions on the pattern and, most of all, have fun!

 
Katie Gillespie writes the Seattle-based blog Serenity in the Storm, which features vegan news, recipes, fashion and animal advocacy-related topics, she is a contributor at Our Hen House and MindBodyGreen.

 

Is There An Eco-Friendly Way to Dispose of Dog Poop?

I’ve been cringing for years at all the single-use plastic bag waste that’s used to pick up dog poop! There are roughly 63.4 million households in the U.S. that are home to our furry dog friends — which is so lovely — but the eco-warrior in me can’t help but think about most dogs’ eliminating waste at least 2x a day and the majority of people using the ubiquitous option of plastic bags to pick it up. Yikes! It makes my head hurt thinking about all this plastic garbage that will be on the planet for decades!

In my brain, letting a dog poop out somewhere in nature and leaving it to biodegrade naturally seems like the most eco choice, but with so many dogs in the world and their poop being high in bacteria, it’s  an environmental hazard. Just two to three days worth of waste from 100 dogs can contribute enough bacteria, nitrogen, and phosphorous to close 20 miles of bay-watershed to swimming and shellfishing, according to the U.S. EPA! Similarly, the Center for Disease Control says that dog waste can spread diseases including campylobacter, tapeworm, hookworm, roundworm, giardia, and E.coli, and salmonella. Arg.  So what’s an eco dog-lover to do??

Similar to the world of disposable ‘compostable’ bioplastic-based cups and containers that I see distributed all over LA and NY, it’s now quite common to see people using ‘biodegradable or compostable’ dog poop bags. However, this can be greenwash-y too because ultimately you can’t put your dog’s poop in your city’s green/compost bin — at least not yet. Even places like Marin County, that are quite ahead of the game in waste reduction, omit animal waste from their compost collections. So if you can’t put it in a green ‘compost’/green waste bin, and it’s not recyclable, will it biodegrade in a landfill? Sadly, most likely the answer is no.  Most landfills lack oxygen, so natural or biodegradable materials can’t properly decompose. Blah! Some bags claim to eventually biodegrade in landfills, more quickly than conventional plastic bags, but it still doesn’t seem ideal.

I know some far-out earth lovers might create or purchase a separate dog poop composter for their place, and compost their dog poop themselves… but I already struggle to keep up with my kitchen-scrap compost bin so I won’t be tackling another system any time soon. Some folks advocate for flushing dog poop. Bags like these exist, but it really depends on your local septic system if this will actually work for you. Plus I realize it’s inconvenient to bring your dog’s waste back to your house to flush, but hey!?

So what is the eco solution to tackle dog waste?

For now, I will aim to use old newspapers and I will also purchase these paper ‘eco poop scoop’ bags made with recycled paper! They are free of any plastic materials, no funky confusing bioplastic materials either. Just simply recycled paper! Plus, they look pretty handy.

Lastly! In doing this research I read about this amazing invention called the “Park Spark”, it’s an incredible dog poop collector located at a dog park in Massachusetts. Park Spark uses the methane from dog poop as captured energy to power the light in the dog park, check it out!

I would be so thrilled to see this invention spread around the world and help reduce methane and plastic bag waste! Let’s contact our City’s Parks department and advocate for this awesome eco-efficient community solution!

How to Find the Best Vegan Food In Italy

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Do you dream of gazing up at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, floating down the canals of Venice or wandering the streets of a medieval hilltop village in Tuscany? Italy is one of the world’s most popular travel destinations, and with good reason. But what about for vegan travelers? Won’t everything be covered in cheese? Will you have to live on nuts and dried fruit the whole time you’re there, while you watch your travel companions stuff their faces with pizza, pasta and gelato?

Most definitely not! Let me assure you that pizza, pasta and even gelato are all readily available in vegan versions all throughout the country. But just how vegan-friendly is Italy? Like so many things in life, the answer is, “It depends”.

You see, there is so much regional variation in the country’s cuisine that you could almost say there’s no such thing as “Italian food”. Likewise, the number of vegan options also varies widely. While choices are relatively limited in the north, as you travel further south they start to multiply exponentially.
This can be explained as much by the country’s geography as by its history and economy. In the mountainous regions of the north, heartier meals made of meat and dairy products were traditionally eaten to keep the chill of the Alpine winter air at bay. Whereas, in the much poorer south, “cucina povera” (peasant food) was the daily fare. The latter was (and still is) very plant-based, and meat and other animal products were used very sparingly, if at all.

This is not to say that you will starve in northern cities like Milan or Turin. Far from it. Two of the most common dishes in this area are risotto (a special type of rice cooked in broth) and polenta (cornmeal boiled into a thick porridge), and both of these can easily be made vegan.

Liguria – the region that hugs the coastline near the border with France – is famous for its focaccia, which is a delicious vegan flatbread that can be topped with a number of different vegetables and spices. Farinata – a savoury pancake made of chickpea flour – is another vegan speciality and a popular form of street food in the region.

When navigating a menu in an Italian restaurant, you can skip right over the secondi (main dishes that are almost invariably meat-centred) and head straight for the primi (first courses), which is where you’ll find the pasta, risotto and polenta dishes. These are substantial meals in themselves, and Italians will often order just a primo without a secondo.

Even if you don’t see any primi on the menu that look vegan or can be made vegan, there’s sure to be something among the antipasti (appetizers) or contorni (side dishes). For example, bruschetta (toasted bread) is a common appetizer that can be topped with chopped tomato and basil or with spreads made from artichokes, olives or truffles that are often vegan, despite the word “crema” in their name (e.g. crema di tartufo).

Side dishes will almost always include vegetable options, such as a mixed plate of verdure grigliate (grilled vegetables) or a bowl of greens like cicoria (chicory) or scarola (escarole), seasoned with extra-virgin olive oil and perhaps some garlic or chili flakes.

Rome lies in the center of the country both geographically and culturally, so it’s no surprise that it occupies the middle ground on the scale of vegan options. While it has its fair share of meat-based local specialities, it’s also famous for its carciofi (artichoke hearts), cooked either Roman-style (stuffed with herbs and garlic and cooked in white wine) or Jewish-style (deep-fried).

And then there are the pasta dishes, such as spaghetti all’arrabbiata (a spicy tomato sauce). Another naturally vegan pasta sauce typical of Roman cuisine is all’aglio, olio e peperoncino (garlic, oil and chili peppers).

But what about the pasta itself? Doesn’t pasta have eggs in it? The answer once again is, “it depends”, but there is plenty of pasta out there that is naturally egg-free. Basically, pasta can be divided into two types: pasta secca (dried pasta, the kind you would buy in a box at the supermarket) and pasta fresca (fresh pasta). Pasta secca is made from semolina, a hard form of wheat, and usually does not contain eggs. Pasta fresca, on the other hand, usually does have eggs in it, but the line can get a bit fuzzy. There are literally hundreds of different shapes of pasta made in Italy, and some of them – like orecchiette, strozzapreti and legane – are never made with eggs, even when fresh. If in doubt, just ask for pasta senza uova (pasta without eggs).

From Rome, head along the Tyrrhenian coastline down to Naples, the home of the true Italian pizza. Did you know that the oldest and most traditional form of pizza is vegan?? That’s right – pizza marinara is topped with tomato, oregano, garlic and olive oil. No cheese! It remains one of the most popular types of pizza in Italy even today.

Head even further south into the toes and heel of the boot (or better yet, the oddly-shaped ball being kicked by the boot, better known as Sicily), and you are in the heart of “cucina povera” territory. Here you’ll find an almost infinite number of naturally vegan pasta toppings, such as pesto sauces made from a variety of nuts and herbs. And unlike the more famous pesto alla genovese, most of these are made without cheese! You might even find that the waiter offers you a dish of breadcrumbs or crushed pistachios to sprinkle over your pasta instead of parmesan.

Another common ingredient in cucina povera dishes is day-old bread. A great way for frugal cooks to use up leftovers without any waste, stale bread finds it way into many different soups, salads and other dishes such as acqua e sale – a local speciality in the region of Puglia.

And while you’ll probably have your hands (and mouth!) full with all the naturally vegan dishes in Italian cuisine, don’t forget to check out the vegan and vegetarian restaurants there too. Check out Happy Cow for the most current list of vegan-friendly restaurants.

Not only is it possible to travel in Italy as a vegan, it’s an absolute joy. Indeed, even with all the rest Italy has to offer in the way of history, architecture and culture, the food is likely to be a highlight of your trip.

About the author:

Wendy Werneth is a nomadic traveller and vegan foodie. She shares her travel adventures at The Nomadic Vegan and is on a mission to show you how you can be vegan anywhere and spread compassion everywhere. Wendy will soon be publishing a vegan guidebook to Italy! Find out more here.