The latest cookbook in the “30 Minute Vegan” series by VeganFusion.com teacher Mark Reinfeld is all about soup.

The book 30 Minute Vegan Soup’s On! offers over 100 recipes for a wide variety of soups. “30 minutes” is for real. The recipes follow a measure, chop, and simmer pattern to get the food to the table quickly. Many of the soups tasted better after sitting overnight, but leftovers can be a great thing; when you’re coming in from a cold Minnesota winter, a quick, hot meal is very welcome!

The book divides the soup recipes into a few chapters: vegetable-based soups; soups made with grains, legumes and pasta; creamy blended soups; raw and dessert soups; and garnishes and sides. Reinfeld includes a good selection of gluten-free recipes, and those recipes that were not gluten-free often includeda list of gluten-free alternative ingredients.

Each recipe suggested a possible garnish. The vegan crème fraîche is made from just vegan mayonnaise and lemon, and that’s how it tastes. But some garnishes added a lot to the soup, like the “Crispy Kale” and the “Tempeh Bacon.”

The best soup recipes use coconut milk. The “Thai Coconut Soup with Lemongrass” and “African Peanut Soup” turned out to have a creamy texture with a great balance between the vegetables and spices. On the other hand, the “Indian Chutney Stew with Tamarind” numbed my mouth but didn’t have much flavor. The “Black Bean Tomato Soup with Polenta Dumplings” didn’t taste any more exciting than the sum of its ingredients, but using polenta for dumplings is something I would definitely try again.

Sampling these recipes, I realized how much ingredients matter. For example, shiitake mushrooms can’t always be substituted with cheaper mushrooms; they’re what made the “Thai Coconut Soup” great. Likewise, substituting brown rice for basmati in the “Caribbean Red Bean and Rice Soup” didn’t work. That said, the book is helpful when it suggests variations, especially with vegetables, and it weaves lots of tips for enhancing flavor and saving time into the recipe method. Those specialty foods that you may not have handy in your kitchen are worth the shopping trip.

I also learned that some spices go a long, long way in soup. For me, chili peppers are more unbearably hot than flavorful, so the “Mayan Tomato and Corn Soup” and “BBQ Tempeh and Roasted Corn Stew” were too fiery even when I cut the amounts of chili powder and jalapeño chiles in half. Caraway seeds also dominated the “Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Red Cabbage Soup,” especially when eaten the next day. My recommedation: ease into the spices that aren’t you’re favorites.

All in all, I appreciated this flavorful assortment of cruelty-free soup recipes, from the spicy, hot soups to warm you up in the winter, to the cool, raw soups to refresh you in the summer. I’d recommend 30 Minute Vegan Soup’s On! to anyone who enjoys soup anytime of the year and wants to make it under 30 minutes.

Some of us are naturally friendly, and some of us need to work at it. With this idea in mind, we have included a new page on our site: How to Be Friendly: A Guide for Animal Advocates. This resource for activists offers tips on how to be more friendly as a volunteer, as a host, in conversation, and especially with newcomers.

You might be wondering what’s the point of being friendly.

At Compassionate Action for Animals, we strive to encourage others to cultivate empathy for animals and move towards a plant-based diet. To support this mission, the quality of our communication is vital. We aim to be confident, positive, and welcoming in our interactions with all people. When each of us embraces the intention to be friendly, we are able to connect to a larger community and be a more powerful voice for the animals. We are also living our mission and treating others as we would want to be treated.

Read the guide and consider how you might grow to be a more effective advocate for animals.

Compassionate Action for Animals is hosting our third Twin Cities Veg Fest on Sunday, September 28th, 2014, 10am – 4pm at Coffman Memorial Union on the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota. An attendee at last year’s festival proclaimed it “fun and enlightening.” Now, you can help make this event even more fun and enlightening.

Become a supporter of Twin Cities Veg Fest 2014 with a donation to our Indiegogo campaign. Contribute today! The campaign expires on Tuesday, July 1st. Your support will help us reach new audiences, provide more tasty vegan food, and bring cooking demos to the festival.

Twin Cities Veg Fest is for anyone and everyone – from vegetarians and vegans to omnivores. Attendees learn where their food comes from, how they can be healthy on a plant-based diet, and why living compassionately benefits everyone. The festival offers free food, insightful speakers, great music, delicious meals, and the opportunity to mingle in a thriving community.

Twin Cities Veg Fest is free to attend. Your generous support is what makes this event possible.

Visit our Indiegogo campaign page, and check out the range of perks for different levels of contribution, everything from a cute CAA button to a homemade vegan cake. Who can resist cake? Please consider backing this project today.

Join us as we learn to transform plant-based pantry staples like tofu, lentils, and tempeh into tasty taco fillings. This cooking class taught by Jeff Johnson will be held at Van Cleve Community Center on Thursday, June 19th, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. This event is FREE and open to the public.

To make Tofu Rancheros, we’ll combine peppers and onions to make an easy tofu scramble that we’ll top with a tasty tomato and chili sauce. To make Ancho Lentil Taco Filling, we’ll season lentils with smoked chili peppers and spices. And to make Tempeh Asada, we’ll marinate tempeh pieces in lime juice, cumin, and other spices and then sear them in a cast iron pan.

You won’t want to miss this opportunity to learn how to make easy, delicious, and vegan Mexican food. Please note that any of these dishes would be the perfect thing to bring to our June Potluck and Bonfire, which has a Latin American food theme. How convenient!

Class instructor Jeff Johnson is an assistant professor of philosophy at St. Catherine University in Saint Paul, where he regularly teaches courses on animal ethics and on the ethics of eating animals in particular. In his spare time, Jeff volunteers for Compassionate Action for Animals and serves on the board of directors. He loves cooking and eating all kinds of delicious plant-based foods.

Would you like to volunteer for this event? If interested, contact event coordinator Justin Leaf.

Events

Volunteer for the June cooking class at Van Cleve Community Center on Thursday, June 19 at 7:00pm. The theme is simple vegan Mexican food. Volunteer positions include the transporting of supplies to and from the CAA office, setup, welcome team, assistance for the instructor during the class, and cleanup.

Volunteer for the June Potluck and Bonfire at the home of Jennifer Swick in Roseville on Friday, June 27 at 6:30pm. The theme is “Fiesta!” Attendees will bring Latin American dishes. Volunteer positions include setup, maintenance during the event, washing dishes, and general cleanup.

If you’re interested in offering your time to help make either of these upcoming events a success, contact [email protected].

Outreach

Outreach volunteer work involves talking to members of the general public about animal agriculture and the work of Compassionate Action for Animals. Volunteers should be friendly, knowledgeable about the issues and our mission, and comfortable interacting with strangers. Leafleting and tabling are both very effective forms of outreach.

Leaflet at Rock the Garden, a summer music festival at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden on Saturday, June 21 and Sunday, June 22.

Table at the Minneapolis Pride Festival, a celebration of the LGBT community at Loring Park on Saturday, June 28 and Sunday, June 29. At this event, volunteers will offer festival attendees one dollar to watch a five-minute segment of Mercy for Animals’ hard-hitting documentary “Farm to Fridge”.

If interested in volunteering at either of these outreach opportunities, contact [email protected].

Were you unable to come to the release party on Sunday? No problem! The book is available for purchase on Amazon. Here’s a description:

And if you like what you read, follow Compassionate Action for Animals to hear more from Mistress Ginger (aka Justin Leaf). Soon, Justin will be our new Communications and Events Coordinator.

Over the past few years, Subway has worked to offer more options for health-conscious patrons. In 2012, Subway tested a variety of veggie meats in the D.C. areas and received raving reviews from customers, and in 2013 they rolled out falafel in more than three dozen stores in and around the D.C. area.

Now, Subway announced that they will offer roasted red pepper hummus in 1,000 stores across the country. Currently it is offered at an extra cost, but if the demand is high enough, they will consider putting in stores nationwide.

According to the Associated Press, Tony Pace, Subway’s chief marketing officer said: “It’s something we’ve been talking about for the last three or four years,” saying it has “tremendous potential.” As further noted in the article, Pace suggests that since many customers already order vegetarian subs, offering hummus would expand the meatless choices available to them.

If you’d like to see more veg-friendly options at more Subway restaurants across the country, be sure to add your voice to the conversation and let them know what you’d like to see! More than 13,000 consumers have already let them know they’d like to see more compassionate choices on their menus, so be sure to make your voice heard!

We heard about this awesome news from our friends at Compassion Over Killing. 

Update: this class has been canceled.

Join AmyLeo of Vegan Affairs on Tuesday, May 13th for a vegan treats cooking class at the Lake Calhoun Whole Foods store! The class will run from 6-8pm and the cost is $30 per person. Pre-registration is required for this class and you can either register online, in the store at the customer service desk, or by calling 612-927-8141. Learn more about the class below!

Whether you have a few sweet teeth or steer more towards the savory, everyone loves a treat from time to time to enjoy and share. In this class, you’ll learn how to satisfy your cravings for treats using entirely plant-based ingredients like nuts, dried fruits and natural sweeteners. AmyLeo will guide you through whipping up some fresh-baked desserts to sweeten up your day and savory nibbles to keep you company when you desire a wholesome treat that blends crunch, nutty flavor and a little spice.

This class is vegan friendly, with hands on opportunities as desired. On the menu:

• Garlic and Cracked Pepper Cheesy Popcorn
• Chedda-Cheese Delights
• Fig Pumpkin Bread with Maple Cream Cheese icing
• White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Be sure to sign up for the class to learn some new tasty vegan recipes and meet some new friends!