Avocados are so temperamental when it comes to ripening but science says eating them has a host of benefits. A study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association this summer found that eating these green-hued berries (that’s right) daily can help lower cholesterol.
Getty
And our big batch of guac has been slowly browning in the fridge ever since.
13Miyoko’s Creamery makes vegan cottage cheese with watermelon seeds
Driven by our desire to end animal exploitation, vegans are a creative bunch when it comes to developing cheese alternatives.
And the queen of vegan cheese, Miyoko Schinner, really outdid herself this year when she showcased the world’s first dairy-free cottage cheese at trade show Natural Products Expo West in March.
What’s in this magical vegan cheese? Schinner used a combination of plant bases, including watermelon seeds.
14Crispy vegan chicken sandwich is a North American sell-out success
Early in 2022, a sandwich sensation took over vegan fast-food chain Copper Branch’s 40 locations in North America becoming a sell-out success. The crispy plant-based fried chicken—a star ingredient of the Nashville Vegan Fried Chicken Sandwich—is made by Atlas Monroe, a Black woman-owned vegan meat brand.
Founder Deborah Torres famously rejected a $1 million deal on Shark Tank, choosing not to give up 100 percent of the company to the sharks because she knows her worth.
15Burger King nixes animal products from kitchen
From London to Berlin to Costa Rica, Burger King’s vegan pop-ups are so common nowadays that we stopped counting them. However, for its newest plant-based location in Lisbon, Portugal, the fast-food chain piqued our interest again when it removed all animal products from its kitchen to avoid cross contamination concerns.
This means that throughout November, the Whopper, Long Chicken, Chicken Nuggets, and other plant-based options at this Burger King never came out of a shared fryer with animal products. Bravo!
16Wicked Kitchen’s vegan ice cream is made from lupini
Lupini beans are actually legumes and are totally delicious as marinated snacks typical to Mediterranean cuisine. Until this year, we had no idea that they can double as a creamy ice cream base, too.
And it’s all thanks to Wicked Kitchen, a brand that released a variety of novelty vegan ice cream bars made with, you guessed it, lupini beans as a key ingredient.
17Netflix hosts Bad Vegan pop-up
One Netflix documentary that had us glued to our screens was Bad Vegan, which detailed the bizarre true story of Sarma Melngailis and beloved New York City vegan restaurant Pure Food and Wine.
To give fans of the film a taste of the menu at the shuttered restaurant, Netflix hosted a delivery-only event with Postmates that made its famous dishes like Caesar salad, Signature Raw Lasagna, and Mallomars available to the public one last time.