Vegan food healthy for you and flavorful, too

If you've ever had an Oreo cookie, drank a Red Bull or made pancakes with Bisquick, you've had vegan food.

"I love to point that out to people," said Angell Darvalics, a volunteer with Athens Vegetarians, a group that is working to debunk the myth that all vegan food tastes like cardboard.

"We're not here to force people into our lifestyle, but just to let them know that this food is good and it can be delicious."

The veggie-eaters wanted to introduce vegan food to new people and decided to start by showing their thanks to volunteers giving back to the Athens community.

In November, they dished out soups, breads and desserts to Athens Area Habitat for Humanity workers building a house on Redfern Circle in Athens.

"We targeted Athens Area Habitat for Humanity because they have a great mission and we wanted to let them know how much we appreciate it," Darvalics said. "They also work very hard, and if anyone's going to appreciate a hot meal, it will be some construction workers."

Habitat always is looking for people to volunteer to feed the workers at construction sites on Saturdays, Darvalics said.

"Thank you so much for thinking of us," said Beau Harvey, the construction manager at the site.

Harvey waited until most of the crew had eaten before he filled his own bowl.

"I like to make sure that all my workers get food first," Harvey said. "Even if I don't eat, these people are my food - they fill me up and keep me going."

The food included a no-meat chili made by Darvalics' husband, Keith; a split pea soup made her mother, Mary; a lentil soup made by Mary Fox; and a tarragon "beef" and barley stew made by Pat Priest.

Priest's husband is a physician at St. Mary's Hospital. They've enjoyed a vegetarian diet since 1991, when they saw a truck on the highway crammed with chickens.

"Since we went vegan (last) January, my husband's been evangelical about this lifestyle," Priest said. "It's so much healthier and I eat so much of a broader palette than most people do."

Shelia McAlister - whose roller derby team, the Classic City Roller Girls, helped build the Redfern Circle house - understands why some people might be turned off by vegetarians.

"I think there's nothing worse in the world than a self-righteous vegetarian, so I don't like to explain to people when they ask why I'm a vegan," McAlister said. "But it's so nice to come to something and be able to choose whatever I want."

Winterville's Artie Alford, also with the Classic City Roller Girls, wasn't surprised that the split pea soup she sampled was tasty, since she used to work at Earth Fare.

"The soup is really good," Alford said. "We volunteered a few years ago building a house out in Madison County, but they didn't feed us like this."

After lunch, Harvey - who is a meat-eater - pocketed the recipes that the vegan group offered.

"The experience was greater than the anticipation," Harvey said.

The Athens Vegetarians have about 150 people members and welcome anyone interested in vegetarian or vegan cooking to join.

"I didn't see a single full bowl thrown away," Darvalics said. "That's what these type of events are all about - getting people to see how good vegan food actually is."

The group's Web site is www.meetup.com/AthensVegetarians.

Awesome Vegan Chili

(Keith Darvalics)

3 cans red kidney beans (or a mix of kidney and red beans), drained

1 can pinto beans, drained

1 large can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 large yellow onion, chopped in large pieces

4 bell peppers, a mix of green, red and yellow, cut into large pieces

2 portabella mushrooms, cut into large pieces

1 package of regular mushrooms or portabella mushrooms, cut into large pieces

Chili powder (equivalent of 2 packages) or 2 packages of

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