My fantastic vegan fajitas

So many people are under the MISconception that vegan and/or vegetarian food is boring, dull, unsatisfying, tasteless, bland...well, you get the idea. All I can say to that is: NONSENSE! Anyone who thinks of vegan/vegetarian food that way has obviously never tasted good veg*n food.

Tonight I made some of my crazy delicious vegan fajitas. They're extremely easy to make, and they're so good that folks who eat dead animals will gobble these down--and usually ask for seconds.

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Vegan/vegetarian merchandise
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Here's my basic recipe, which can be adapted according to personal taste. My motto is "you can never have too many onions!", so I'll let you decide how much is right for you. For some of the ingredients, I've listed the specific brands that I prefer, but you can certainly use other brands/styles. I really encourage you to use "homestyle" tortillas, though, because they add a much nicer dimension to the fajitas than plain old tortillas do.

The following is roughly for 4 people:

. 2-4 large onions, julienned
. 1-2 any combination of red/green/yellow bell peppers, julienned
. 2-4 avocados, sliced
. 1 package Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Grillers Recipe Crumbles (Boca Crumbles are good, too)




. Lawry's Baja Chipotle Marinade




. Mission Homestyle Flour Tortillas




. Olive oil, extra virgin
. Lemon juice, preferably fresh
. Salt
. Pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Add the onions and bell peppers.

Add some lemon juice--depending on quantity of onions/peppers, approximately 2-3 tablespoons

Add some of the Baja Chipotle Marinade--taste it first so you'll know how spicy it is.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Saute the onions/peppers until they're as cooked as you prefer; they really need to be caramelized and/or charred a bit for best flavor in this dish.



When the onion/pepper mixture is done, scoop it out and set aside.

In the same skillet (without emptying or rinsing it), pour in the Crumbles; stir frequently and cook thoroughly.



Place 4-8 tortillas on a plate, then cover with another plate turned upside down; heat in the microwave for 30-45 seconds (don't cook them too long or they'll get TOUGH and HARD!; just cook them long enough to warm them up a bit).

For each fajita, spoon and spread some of the crumbles, some of the onions and peppers, and some avocado slices, placing the filling in the center of the tortilla,





then fold over both sides of the tortilla to make the finished product.

NOTE: These can be very messy to eat with your hands! You may prefer to use a knife and fork.

Enjoy!

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Animal lover since birth. Vegan/vegetarian since [your year]

If you're looking for a really unique gift for a vegan or vegetarian, we're proud to offer our collection of Animal lover since birth. Vegetarian since [year] and Animal lover since birth. Vegan since [year] merchandise.

We have a complete line of merchandise for every year dating back to 1970. Our products include a huge selection of shirts, plus bumper stickers, mugs, buttons and magnets, jewelry, kids' clothes and much more.

Speaking as a longtime vegetarian, I can say with reasonable certainty that most of us who've chosen not to participate in the cruelty of the meat industry are proud of that fact. I like letting people know that I've been vegetarian since 1988. When someone sees me in my Animal lover since birth. Vegetarian since 1988 t-shirt, it's very common for them to strike up a conversation to ask me how and why I went veg in the first place. This is always a great opportunity to tell people about the atrocities committed against animals--sentient beings--in the meat industry and on factory farms.

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Here are a few samples; click on any image to see all years with that design:














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Vegan/vegetarian alternatives to popular foods

I have a Squidoo lens--that's a work in progress--about vegan and vegetarian alternatives to popular, familiar foods. If you're newly veggie or you're thinking about going veg, you may not realize that you don't have to give up foods you love. Being vegan or vegetarian does not mean eating boring, raw, unsatisfying foods! You can enjoy everything from chili to pizza to spaghetti and much more--but without the guilt. (And you SHOULD feel guilty if you're not vegetarian. The animal abuse and cruelty involved in the meat industry is appalling. Why participate in that?) And I'm not talking about disgusting "healthy" versions that make you want to puke! I'm talking about satisfying, authentic-tasting foods that will please veggies and meat eaters alike.

Take a look at DELICIOUS vegetarian alternatives to popular foods for lots of info including brand suggestions for items like meat alternatives and yummy prepared foods like vegetarian chili.

If you're looking for vegan/vegetarian merchandise, please visit our shop for vegan and vegetarian themed t-shirts, bumper stickers and more.

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A true story about ordering a veggie burger at Burger King :(

This story--unbelievable as it may seem--is, I assure you, absolutely true. It happened today, June 27, 2006 in a North Dallas suburb.

After a long day of packing--getting ready to move back home to Southern California--I was exhausted and hungry. So I decided to do something I almost never do: Go to a fast-food restaurant. There's a Burger King near my house so I headed over there, innocently thinking that I could order a veggie burger and onion rings and be on my way to getting back to work on the house. WRONG. Here's what happened...

I pulled into the drive-in lane and studied the menu; although I didn't have my glasses with me, I could make out the "BK Veggie Burger" followed by something like "Presented by Morningstar Farms." (For the non-vegetarians out there, Morningstar Farms is a well-known producer of wonderful vegetarian foods, including burgers, hot dogs, etc.) Great!, I thought. I love Morningstar Farms products...this'll be perfect. When asked what I wanted, I replied by asking a simple question: What comes on the veggie burger? The person said the veggie burger just has vegetables on it...so I asked, um, you mean it comes with lettuce and tomato? She said yes. Okay...I said I'd like to add cheese to that, and a medium order of onion rings. They told me the total and I pulled up to the window.

I paid for my order, waited a minute or two, received my order and left. I got home, sat down to eat, unwrapped the "burger" and found...nothing on the bun except--you guessed it!--lettuce, tomato, and cheese. Really. I sat there dumbfounded looking at it thinking, "How on earth could they forget to put in the veggie burger on a veggie burger sandwich?!"

So I picked up the phone and dialed the number on the receipt...and guess what that led to? A fax machine. So I gathered the "burger" and receipt and drove back over to BK.

Back at the drive-in window I told the woman that I had ordered the veggie burger but there was no veggie burger in it. She said "There's no meat in the veggie burger--it's just lettuce and tomato." I stared at her in abject disbelief. Another employee had come up to the window by then and he reiterated what she had said. I must've looked like I thought they were from another planet as I said, "The veggie burger that's ON YOUR MENU is a vegetarian patty instead of meat." They now said, "Okay..." and went to tell the cook to make it for me. The woman hands it to me and I asked, "So this is a VEGGIE BURGER, right? It's not MEAT, is that correct?" And she said, "Oh, there's meat on it. And the vegetables [lettuce and tomato]."

At this point I just couldn't believe the whole thing. But it actually gets worse. I handed it back to her saying that if there was MEAT on it, it wasn't a VEGGIE BURGER. She then called her manager over. I told him what I'd just gone through and he implied that he understood and would resolve it. They wanted me to pull up and park in order to clear the drive-in lane, so I did.

Employee #2 (the one who'd reiterated the first one's version of what a veggie burger is) eventually came out to my car. He handed me another order and I asked him--again--if this was a veggie burger and NOT meat. He said it DID have meat and--you guessed it!--vegetables! Now I'm just incredulous. I told him that I couldn't believe they were not familiar with their own menu, and that the veggie burger is a vegetarian product that does not contain any meat. He left to try again.

Another few minutes went by and back he came with another burger; I naturally asked if he was sure this was correct and he said it was. So I opened it at his suggestion...and, incredibly, there was another bun with nothing in it except lettuce, tomato, and cheese! Really. He said that there are TWO menu items with "veggie" in the name, one [he said] was the Veggie Whopper and the other was the Veggie Burger. (Forget about the fact that I had seen no such listings on the menu, okay?) I asked what the difference was and he said one was a burger [meat] with veggies on it [lettuce and tomato] and the other was just the veggies. I sat there shaking my head in disbelief...

I'm not sure when I've been as exasperated as I was by this point. I told him to go LOOK at the menu and that he would see an item called the "BK Veggie Burger from Morningstar Farms." I told him that a veggie burger is a NON-meat item that looks like a regular burger. He finally agreed to actually go look at the menu, and several [more] minutes later he came back with another order. Remarkably, this one was right! And it only took FIVE TRIES. FIVE FUCKING TRIES to get a veggie burger at Burger King.

As soon as I got home I went to Burger King's web site and looked for a way to contact them. I wanted to complain--while still this worked up--about the stupidity and ignorance I'd encountered tonight. But guess what? They don't accept correspondence via e-mail...