Vegan Celebrity : Three Vegan Recipes From Alicia Silverstone

Among her television portrayals are leading roles in three of Aerosmith's best known videos (including "Cryin'" which was voted Best Video of All Time by MTV), a Golden-Globe nominated performance in the NBC series "Miss Match," and an Emmy-nominated performance in the hit animated children's show "Braceface," for which Silverstone provided the voice of the main character and served as executive producer. The series earned a Genesis Award, an Environmental Media Award, and a Prism Award nomination.

 When she stole our hearts in Clueless, actress Alicia Silverstone was battling asthma, acne and constipation. . Nearly three years after that film, Alicia switched from a "steak and doughnut diet" to a vegan lifestyle. Why being vegan feeds her mind, body and soul. An avid animal lover, she says she had flirted with vegetarianism since childhood.

"When I was 8 years old, my brother was making the noises of the animals I was eating, so I decided to go vegetarian," she says. "Then I would give up because I was 8 “

At 21, Alicia says she saw a documentary about how animals were raised and slaughtered. "I just took a look at my dog and said, 'If I'm not willing to eat you, how can I continue to eat these other creatures that have the same desire to live, are just as funny, just as cute as my dogs?"

At 33, she says she sleeps like a baby, doesn't worry about her weight and has tons of energy. "I used to have all those white marks on my nails and they were very brittle, and now they're so strong I cannot bend them," she says. "My eyes got really white, and I feel like I look less puffy."

Alicia Silverstone has long been a vocal advocate for environmental causes and was awarded a 2009 "Heart of Green" award by the Hearst corporation, which recognized her pioneering work in helping "green go mainstream." she is a dedicated advocate on behalf of the planet and its animals, and was voted "Sexiest Vegetarian Alive" in 2004. Silverstone is continually asked to offer environmentally friendly fashion, dining, entertaining, and lifestyle tips to leading media outlets.

Alicia's experiences inspired her to create a vegan cookbook called
 "The Kind Diet"
"The kindness is about being truly kind to yourself first," she says. "Letting yourself have the best health and look your best and feel your most vital."  Her New York Times bestselling first book, The Kind Diet: How to Feel Great, Lose Weight, and Save the Planet, was published by Rodale in October 2009 and features recipes and advice which speak to the fact that, what's good for the planet is also good for the body .  In The Kind Diet, actress, activist, and committed conservationist Alicia Silverstone shares the insights that encouraged her to swear off meat and dairy forever, and outlines the spectacular benefits of adopting a plant-based diet, from effortless weight loss to clear skin, off-the-chart energy, and smooth digestion. She explains how meat, fish, milk, and cheese—the very foods we’ve been taught to regard as the cornerstone of good nutrition—are actually the culprits behind escalating rates of disease and the cause of dire, potentially permanent damage to our ecology.

Yet going meat- and dairy-free doesn’t mean suffering deprivation; to the contrary, "The Kind Diet"
introduces irresistibly delicious food that satisfies on every level—it even includes amazing desserts to keep the most stubborn sweet tooth happy. Alicia also addresses the nutritional concerns faced by many who are new to a plant-based diet, and shows how to cover every nutritional base, from protein to calcium and beyond.

Alicia knows that changing life-long dietary habits is a process, and that each person progresses at a different pace. For that reason, The Kind Diet encompasses 3 separate levels, from Flirting to Superhero. Flirts learn to dip a toe into the vegan pool, reducing their meat-eating and swapping out a few key foods for plant-based substitutes to see quickly how even small changes can reap big results. Vegans get to experience the life-altering effects of forgoing animal-products entirely, while still enjoying many convenience foods and meat substitutes in addition to the wonderful grains, vegetables and fruits that form the core of that diet. True enlightenment comes with the Superhero program, based on the principles of macrobiotics and built on a foundation of whole grains, vegetables, and other yummy foods that Alicia describes in detail.

Whether your goal is to drop a few pounds, boost your energy and metabolism, or simply save the world, Alicia provides the encouragement, the information, and the tools you need to make the transition to a plant-based diet deliciously empowering.

Alicia Silverstone Interview VEGAN "The Kind Diet"

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Here three vegan recipes from Alicia Silverstone  :

Cabbage and Leeks

1/2 head cabbage (green, red, Napa, your choice), chopped into big bite-size pieces
1/2 leek, chopped into big bite-size pieces
2 - 3 tablespoons roasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons umeboshi plum vinegar
2 tablespoons flaxseed oil

Steam the cabbage pieces and leeks separately. They will have different steaming times. Steam until they are soft but still crunchy, a few minutes or less. Combine seeds, umeboshi plum vinegar, and flax seed oil in a bowl. Mix well. Pour sauce over steamed cabbage and leeks.

To roast seeds: Wash seeds and roast in a pan over medium heat until they break easily between thumb and forefinger. They will have a nutty scent. Cover toasted seeds with a few drops of shoyu sauce when finished roasting. If seeds are "popping" out of the pan, the heat is too high.

Peanut Butter Crispy Rice Treats

1 3/4 cups brown rice syrup
1 pinch sea salt
3/4 cup peanut butter or almond butter (all natural)
1 box brown rice crisps cereal
1/2 cup grain-sweetened chocolate chips (optional)

Heat rice syrup with a pinch of salt in a saucepan over low heat. When rice syrup liquefies, add peanut butter and stir until well combined and heated through.

Pour entire box of cereal into a large bowl. Pour rice syrup mixture on top. Use your hands to incorporate everything together (mix in grain-sweetened chocolate chips at this point, if using).

Press down into an 8- ×8-inch or 9- ×13-inch baking dish. Wet your fingers as your press down to keep them from sticking. Let cool for 1 hour before cutting into squares.

Tasty Tostadas

This is the absolute tastiest tostada you'll ever have! It's always nice to have some sort of garnish, so if you like cilantro, you should definitely add a bunch. If not, then try a little chopped parsley. Tofu cream is a great condiment. It's delicious on almost anything. Try it on any whole grain, salad, or any veggie dish. ENJOY!

3 whole wheat tortillas
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup cooked beans
1 cup sautéed vegetables
1 cup alfalfa sprouts
1 small cucumber
1 dollop of tofu cream
1/2 avocado

Heat tortilla on high flame. Layer the following on each tortilla in the order given: rice, beans, sautéed vegetables, alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, tofu cream, and avocado.

Sautéed Vegetables:
1/4 cup half-mooned onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
dash sea salt
1 carrot, julienned
1 celery stalk, sliced thin
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels

Cook onion in olive oil with a dash of sea salt for 2 to 3 minutes or until translucent. Add remaining ingredients with a little more sea salt and stir until just tender, adding water if needed.

Tofu Cream:
1 package firm tofu
1 1/2 tablespoons umeboshi plum paste
1 1/2 lemons, juiced
3 tablespoons Veganaise (a non-dairy alternative to mayonnaise...I promise you will NOT be able to tell the difference!)

Rinse tofu and set aside 10 minutes with weight on top to remove excess liquid. Steam 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Blend tofu in a food processor until smooth. Add umeboshi paste, lemon juice, and Vegenaise and blend until a smooth consistency is reached. Refrigerate and serve when cool.