THE EDGY VEGGIE
Ellen Kanner

A vegetarian since age 13, Ellen Kanner has written for Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Eating Well, Vegetarian Times and regional magazines nationwide including Pebble Beach and Palm Beach Illustrated. She shares meals in Miami with her meat-eating but otherwise adorable husband, and is at work on a book, Love in the Time of Broccoli: A Joyful Vegetarian's Path to a Beautiful Life.

Her website is www.ellen-ink.com. She blogs at edgyveggie1.blogspot.com

Write to her at ekanner@miamiherald.com.

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An online community for South Florida's vegetarians and vegans

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BOOKS

A case for turkey-free feasting

There will be no Thanksgiving turkey at Jonathan Safran Foer's house. The author of the acclaimed novels Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close gave up eating animals in favor of writing Eating Animals (Little Brown, $25.99), a personal and philosophical exploration of food choices he discussed Tuesday in Miami Beach.

THE EDGY VEGGIE

Good news: Grapefruit's out of food jail

October is a banner month, and the banner is pink. Besides being Vegetarian Awareness Month, it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and breast cancer support's signature pink ribbons are everywhere.
THE EDGY VEGGIE

For Vegetarian Month, let's set the record straight on soy

Happy World Vegetarian Day, the start of Vegetarian Awareness Month. We'll mark it here with a consideration of soy, a food formerly known as healthful that's been getting a lot of grief. Much of it is undeserved and comes via Web misinformation, including claims it causes breast cancer, developmental delays, Alzheimer's and man boobs. Yuck. And not true.
THE EDGY VEGGIE

3 knockout cracker choices

In this corner, three classic Nabisco crackers -- Premium saltines ($2.39, 8 ounces), Wheat Thins ($3.57, 10 ounces) and Triscuits ($3.57, 8.5 ounces). Entering the ring, three contenders vying to make healthier versions.
No butter, no eggs, no problem: Vegan baking comes into its own

When Becca Medvin went vegan at the age of 14, she had no trouble giving up meat. Or milk or cheese or eggs. What she missed was dessert.
THE EDGY VEGGIE

Love those summertime blues

Two pints of blueberries for $5. Just a few weeks ago, they were even cheaper. Sigh. How quickly summer passes. Hoarding sounds so greedy. Nicer to say stocking up or putting by. Call it what you will -- stockpile blueberries while they're in season.
THE EDGY VEGGIE

Almond joys go way beyond chocolate

Sweet, mild almonds are nutritional superheroes. An ounce (a handful, or about 24 nuts) contains 6 protein grams (the same as an egg) and 3 grams fiber, and is way up there in essential magnesium and vitamin E.
THE EDGY VEGGIE

Lowly greens gain sheen

Rarely recognized as haute cuisine, collard greens are downright presidential these days, thanks to the White House vegetable garden. Michelle Obama's recent harvest of a healthy crop of collards and other greens occasioned many photo ops and gave the first lady a chance to talk of the garden as an edible lesson ``about health and how delicious it is to eat fresh food.''
THE EDGY VEGGIE

2 hits, 1 miss on fiber front

Health pros from the FDA to the Mayo Clinic tout fiber for lowering blood sugar and cholesterol, boosting metabolism and cardiovascular health and reducing cancer risks. Found naturally in produce, legumes and whole grains, fiber clearly is linked with good health, but not always with pleasure.