Vegan and gluten free meals can be tasty, too – Corvallis Gazette

Your favorite niece is coming for a visit and you’re excited.
Then you remember: she’s a vegan. You panic. What can I cook? Can I
even take her out to eat? What is a vegan, anyway?

Like vegetarians, vegans don’t eat meat. Nor do they eat foods
produced by animals — eggs, dairy products, honey, etc.

But, don’t panic. The upside of increasingly conscientious diets
such as vegan or vegetarian — or necessary ones, gluten-free or
diabetic, etc. — is that is we’re more aware of what we eat. 

We read labels, ask questions and do more cooking from scratch,
which often involves the fresher, simpler ingredients you find at
farmers markets. Knowledgeable staff at food co-ops and natural
food stores can help. But you can find vegan ingredients in any
grocery store — and in your own pantry and refrigerator.

Look at the visit as a learning adventure. Don’t focus on what
vegans don’t eat — but on all they do eat. Soon you’ll notice the
foods you prepare regularly that are vegan.

This Saturday you can meet a vegan — Beth Barnett. She has
written a cookbook on the subject. Anyone who titles her cookbook
“The Rabbit Food Cookbook” (Sasquatch Books, 2011) has to have a
wonderful sense of humor and be very comfortable to talk with.
Barnett, also a local artist, is scheduled to be at Grass Roots
Books Music, 227 S.W. Second St., at 2 p.m. Saturday to talk
about the book, vegan lifestyle and her focus on sustainability in
the kitchen. Learn more about Beth at www.bethbee.com.

Second ‘Fill Your Pantry’

The list of foods available at the second annual
Fill-Your-Pantry event is available at www.tenriversfoodweb.org.
This is akin to an annual farmers market for storage staples: dried
beans, grains, flour, frozen meats, honey, cheeses, cured storage
vegetables and more. 

Purchase in bulk directly from the farmers at a price fair to
you both. Pre-orders are encouraged (in fact required for larger
quantities) and due by Nov. 4. The event is scheduled from 2 to 6
p.m. Nov. 12 at the Methodist Church in Shedd at 30090 Highway 99E.
Oregon Trail tokens will be accepted after 3 p.m.

Press your own cider

Besides raindrops, fall brings delicious fresh cider. Pick a
sack of apples and take them to Corvallis Brewing Supply at 110
S.W. Fourth St. between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday to grind and
press them into cider. Be sure to bring your own containers, too.
At the same event, 2 Towns Ciderhouse is hosting a tasting from
noon to 3 p.m. Saturday. Call 541-758-1674 for more
information.

Want still more apple flavors? Head to Midway Farms on Sunday
(midway between Corvallis and Albany at 6980 N.W. Highway 20). From
11 a.m. to 4 p.m., you can press organic apples from their farm.
Bring the family and your own containers. Find more information
online at [email protected].

Fresh Sheet alerts readers to seasonal foods and
food-related events and activities in the mid-Willamette Valley.
You can contact Chris Peterson at [email protected].

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