Today I (John) am joined by Angelina and Jen as Colleen is in the middle of finishing off her thesis. The three of us had a lot to talk about today. Angelina temps our tastebuds by discussing her love of Nazareth Restaurant, an Ethiopian place at 969 Bloor St W, west of Ossington. She describes the restaurant as "outstanding" and "not as oily as other places" and raves about the salad and cooked greens. As one who is a huge fan of Ethiopian food I can promise that I will be trying this place out ASAP. The photo is from Ashleigh at OurFaves.com.

Today's question of the week:
How was your vegetarian Thanksgiving?

Jen reports that she made a lot of food, including acorn squash stuffed with rice, cranberries and walnuts, which went over well with her non-vegetarian relatives. Angelina is not celebrating Thanksgiving for a few weeks as she is American, but she is looking forward to her homemade tofurkey recipe that requires ten pounds of tofu. Ten pounds of tofu! She says the secret to a good tofu roast is basting it with toasted sesame oil and tamari. Note: See our vegetarian Thanksgiving page for holiday tips and recipes.

The three of us also share our vegetarian histories. Angelina was raised vegan as a child and then was given the choice to eat what she wanted. She remained vegetarian/vegan. Jen grew up in a small town with a father who hunted and a brother who worked in a meat shop. She went vegetarian for mainly health reasons over ten years ago and has been vegan for all reasons since a year ago. I have been vegetarian (then later vegan) for over ten years. The initial inspiration came from teaching English in a small town in Costa Rica after high school. Animal slaughter was not hidden away as it is in Canada.

We also discuss our favourite vegetarian restaurants in Toronto. Angelina's fave is Fresh, especially their Energy Bowl with tempeh – "comfort on a plate." Jen likes Fresh and Vegetarian Haven and also recommends Sadies as long as you are in the mood for diner food. I like Udupi Palace, Fresh and Buddha's depending on what I am in the mood for.

This weeks podcast is a mouth-watering 23 minutes.

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