Buon Natale e Buon Appetito!

Any Italian holiday is a marathon of course after course of fantastic food. As a young child, you learn to pace yourself. And just because I’m vegan doesn’t mean I’m willing to give up on these beloved traditions; they just require some tweaking. However, Christmas Eve requires a little more effort than usual because the traditional dinner is a seafood extravaganza from start to finish. Even the pasta sauce is usually something seafood-based like red crab sauce or white clam. These days, we substitute a pesto for the pasta course, but we’ve been looking for ways to add some de-lish faux fish to the table as appetizers and main dishes.

Finally, we’ve found faux-fish options worthy of placing next to all the antipasto and side dishes (contorni) that the Discorfano family cooks up for the holiday: meet Sophie’s Kitchen. This new-to-the-scene vegan seafood company offers a variety of plant-based products (elephant yam, used for years in Asian foods, is a base ingredient). SK also has joined the Non-GMO project, so no genetically modified organisms here.

All-vegan products to choose from:

Shrimp (gluten-free)

Shrimp (gluten-free) Prawns (gluten-free)

Squid Rings (gluten-free)

Breaded Fish Fillets (contain textured vegetable protein)

Breaded Calamari

Breaded Shrimp

Crab Cakes

This Christmas Eve, we’ll be adding the Calamari and Breaded Shrimp to the table, hoping that the non-vegans of the family will enjoy them as much as we do. Breaded, with a dipping sauce… probably the best bet for a mixed veg and non-veg crowd.

Awesome Web Site Features

First of all, this web site is just so colorful and pretty, I encourage everyone to at least take a quick look. The Home Page is like something out of a children’s book. Then you can look at the pictures of the products: the unbreaded shrimp and prawn look so much like the real thing! But there are a few other noteworthy features on the site, including some alarming points about fish farms (actually the branch of factory farming that is now growing at the fastest rate) and about the impact of over-fishing on our oceans and its marine life. Also, a list of references/links to find out more about our oceans. Finally, don’t miss out on the downloadable coupon for $1.00 off any product.

Where To Buy

Sophie’s Kitchen products are available at many Whole Foods and other natural food and specialty stores. To locate a store near you, you can contact SK through the web site. For those not near a SK distributor, products are available online at Vegan Essentials and Cosmo’s Vegan Shoppe.

“Giving Back” Policy

LOVE it! 5% of net profits are donated to support preservation of the ocean’s species and their habitat.

Bonus Tip!

If you’re looking for other kinds of faux fish, such as faux salmon, tuna, or lobster, you might want to try items by May-Wah Vegetarian World.

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