Ayindé Howell and Zoë Eisenberg have just released their first book together, The Lusty Vegan. The Lusty Vegan is not only a cookbook full of delicious omni-friendly recipes, it’s also a dating guide (or “relationship manifesto”) for vegans and those who love them. I’ve been in a relationship with a fellow vegan for many years now, but I can remember what it was like to date non-veg guys, and it wasn’t always fun. This book would have come in quite handy when I was single!
You may know Ayindé from his famous Mac and Yease (which I had the pleasure of sampling at the NYC Vegetarian Food Festival a few years ago), from his website iEatGrass.com, or from his recipes, which have been published in the New York Times, Essence Magazine, and VegNews Magazine to name a few places. Zoë is the managing editor of iEatGrass.com, and she also writes about food, dating, and sex on her own blog Sexy Tofu.
I recently had the opportunity to chat with both Ayindé and Zoë, and we talked about veganism, food, and dating.
Chic Vegan: Ayindé, you’re a life long vegan. What challenges did that create growing up?
Ayindé Howell: It was different because all of this vegan stuff was in it’s infancy. So in layman terms I was the weird kid. Being social was the biggest hurdle and I think it still is to this day, not only for me but a lot of vegans which is in part why we wanted to write this book.
CV: Zoë, what motivated each of you to become vegan? Was it an overnight switch or more gradual shift?
Zoë Eisenberg: I went vegetarian in high school. I hadn’t yet made the connection that animal cruelty extended into the dairy industry; I was still blissfuly ignorant there. Then, in college I read Alicia Silverstone’s Kind Life and had my “aha” moment and that was that.
CV: When people learn that you are vegan, what is the #1 question they ask and what is your response?
AH: Where do you get you’re protein? My Response: From yo mama! ..and beans tofu and wheat.
ZE: Some form of “Isn’t that hard?” Often it’s more of a self-reflection, like “oh I could never do that, it seems so difficult,” or, “but the bacon!!” I usually explain that if you’re passionate about the lifestyle, it really isn’t any difficult. It can take a bit more prep work than the standard american diet, but it quickly becomes a part of who you are, and of your day-to-day routine, like exercise or brushing your teeth.
CV: Tell me a little bit about your new book The Lusty Vegan and what inspired you to write it.
AH: I wanted to really explore this interesting and quite private thing that happens when one is in a relationship and you have to merge life experiences and try to make the “us” work. I think it’s important for our generation to have tools as to how to deal with things like eating a different breakfast every morning and the choices that go with that. The world is changing at lightning speed and as we know veganism has a lot of social political overtones to it. So you are eating your politics. So I felt a cookbook and manifesto you can constantly reference apposed to googling or if the neighbors wifi is out- is a great and classic approach to these very new world problems.
ZE: The Lusty Vegan aims to solve a pretty big romantic problem in the vegan community: When you’re vegan, and your partner is not.
I have been writing about the connection between food and relationships on my personal blog, SexyTofu.com, since 2009 — long before I met Ayindé, who was also writing about veganism and dating in his own sphere. After I became one of Ayindé’s original iEatGrass interns, we started talking more and more about how food affects our relationships, and Ayindé asked me to start a column about it on iEatGrass. That is how The Lusty Vegan was born, and it just kind of grew from there once we saw how many vegans out there deal with the same relationship dilemmas that we do — all brought on by their vegan diets.
CV: What’s your number one tip for a vegan dating an omnivore?
AH: Don’t try to convert them.
ZE: Be willing to compromise. This door needs to swing both ways, of course.
CV: Do you have a go-to meal for a first day with an omnivore?
AH: Take them to a place that caters to both get that energy of compromise in the relationship early.
ZE: Well, I’ve been in a serious relationship for years now, but I will say when choosing a restaurant that will be both vegan and omni friendly (remember, compromise!) go with something ethnic. I like Thai or Indian.
CV: What’s your favorite recipe in The Lusty Vegan?
AH: The fried tofu sandwich. I eat them a lot all the time!
ZE: The Bibimbap. I am a semi-stranger to Korean food, and I had never heard of it before Ayindé made it. I still don’t really know how to pronounce it, but I will say that when we did that photo shoot from the book, it was hard for me to control myself and leave enough of the dish to shoot with.
CV: What is your favorite vegan indulgence?
AH: COOKIES!!! Wait PIE!!! Ok anything sweet!
ZE: I have a disastrous sweet tooth. I once went to Sticky Fingers in DC and ordered nearly one of everything on the menu. If you’ve ever been to Sticky Fingers, then you know what an incredible feat that is…
CV: What vegan product could you not live without?
AH: Vegan butter
ZE: Well, this isn’t an edible, but I am pretty attached to my vegan Doc Martens. When I went vegan, the hardest thing for me to give up was not cheese or ice cream, but my shoe collection. I had a pretty expansive leather boot collection, and I was able to wean myself off of it by getting high-quality vegan replacements. I have actually never stepped foot inside MooShoes for fear of the results. We’re doing a signing there soon, and I will probably be leaving with five pairs of shoes.
CV: In your wildest dreams what will your life look like in 5 years?
AH: Wow. Ok
I’ll have a best selling book, a small family (1-2 little vegan Yinde’s running around), an award winning tv show, less worries about money -like a lot less! (books are expensive). A hospitality company to deliver vegan goodies to the world in restaurants and retail to the public. I’ll be home owner. And hopefully knock out another cool project with Zoë.
ZE: I hope to still be writing! While The Lusty Vegan is non-fiction, my passion and background actually lies in creative writing. I have a ton of ideas brewing for novels and screenplays. In five years, I would love to be focusing on those – and still spreading the good vegan word, of course.
